Digidesign's SampleCell II Plus Now for Windows 98

September 28, 1999 -- Digidesign announced availability of the SampleCell II Plus PCI sampling card for Windows 98. This adds to the existing support already found in Windows NT- and Mac OS-based Pro Tools systems. Digidesign also announced the inclusion of the Bitheadz Osmosis conversion utility with SampleCell II Plus. Osmosis is an easy to use application for converting Akai S1000 CD-ROM sample libraries to Unity DS-1 or SampleCell format.

In addition to cross-platform compatibility, SampleCell II Plus includes 32 MB of RAM as a standard feature. The Windows 98/NT versions support Macintosh CD-ROMs, providing users with immediate access to a huge variety of sounds from existing sample libraries in either major platform.

SampleCell II Plus plays 16-bit, 44.1kHz and 48 kHz stereo and mono samples, supports AIFF (Mac OS and Windows NT), .WAV (Windows NT) and Sound Designer II (Mac OS), and features 32 dynamically allocated voices, eight polyphonic outputs and dynamic digital filters. Users who need more voices can simply install additional SampleCell II Plus cards in their computers. The included SampleCell Editor software provides detailed waveform displays on the computer monitor, enabling precise, powerful sample and loop editing capabilities. The intuitive, graphic interface makes it easy to perform such tasks as managing sound files, creating Key Groups and mapping instruments.

With the optional TDM Module, SampleCell II Plus adds fully integrated sample playback capabilities to TDM-based Pro Tools systems. This option is exclusively for Windows NT and Mac OS. Each of the Sample Cell II Plus card's eight outputs appear as direct, 20-bit digital inputs on the Pro Tools virtual mixer, making the card the only sampler on the market that provides eight digital outputs. These outputs can be routed to Digidesign audio interfaces for digital and analog I/O, providing a professional-quality interface to external studio gear.

SampleCell II Plus comes with four CD-ROM discs (two for Mac OS and two for Windows 98/NT) that each include more than 650 MB of ready-to-load sounds. Users can also transfer sounds directly from audio CDs played in the computer's CD-ROM drive.

Osmosis has a single window display for Akai CD partitions, banks, programs, and samples. Conversion is accomplished by simply dragging desired data to the hard drive. All multi-sample and program voicing parameter data are retained. Samples can be auditioned directly from the CD, then transferred to hard disk in AIFF, Sound Designer II, .WAV, or Unity DS-1 format. Akai "Left/Right split" samples can be automatically merged into a true stereo file.

The MSRP of SampleCell II Plus is $1,295. The optional TDM Module is $395. The Mac OS and Windows NT versions of SampleCell II Plus are currently shipping, and the Windows 98 version is expected to ship in late '99. Current SampleCell shipments will include Osmosis bundles for Mac OS. Osmosis support for Win 98/NT will coincide with SampleCell support of this platform. For additional information please visit the Bitheadz website at www.bitheadz.com.

For more information, visit Digidesign at www.digidesign.com.