Fostex D-160 16-Track Hard Disk Recording/Editing System

July 11, 1997 -- Supported by a growing market demand by end-users for product that offers a clear and compelling price performance value, Fostex Corporation of America today announced it has begun shipments of its new 16-track Fostex D-160 removable hard disk recording/editing system. Designed specifically to be the first hard disk system of its kind to offer an unprecedented range of price/performance functionality in a single digital audio platform, the new Fostex D-160 system is available in four configurations-Models D-160, D-160B, D-160TC and D-160TCB-to meet clearly defined end-user needs and applications, reports Fostex Corporation of America Director of Sales Phil Celia.

"With the shipment of this remarkable new Fostex D-160 series, this company is clearly demonstrating its ongoing commitment to provide end-users with a broad family of products designed to meet very specific applications," Celia said today.

"We believe that every performance feature carries with it a perceived price value on the part of the user. Our goal is to research, design and manufacture recording and editing systems that offer the most important features necessary to do a job thoroughly and professionally-for a price that can involve the largest number of potential of customers in the widest variety of large and small applications.

"In fact," Celia continued, "we challenge anyone to go out and find another 16-track hard disk recording and editing system that offers as much performance for the money as the D-160 does. It can't be beat!" Fostex is not a hard disk drive manufacturer, Celia pointed out. Thus, it is constantly challenged to forecast demand accurately enough in advance in order to ensure maximum savings for its customers. "Hard disk drive pricing is always in flux. It's a fact of our life that we have been able to work with quite effectively. I hope we can continue to be as successful with pricing in the future. It's certainly our goal."

Underscoring this point, Celia pointed to the entire-and growing-line of Fostex hard disk systems, which include the newly introduced Fostex D-90 hard disk recording/editing system and the new Fostex DMT-8VL digital multitrack recorder and editor. In addition, the company markets a full line of professional DAT recorders, including Models D-30, D-25, D-15 and D-5. For portable applications, the company also offers the new Fostex PD-4 (Version 2) portable timecode DAT recorder.

The new Fostex Model D-160 offers the MI, broadcast and post production markets an entirely new level of price/performance capabilities. The D-160 comes standard with a removable 2.55 GB hard drive for 30 minutes of 16-track and one full hour of 8-track recording capability. It also features 16 dedicated channels of audio plus 8 "virtual tracks", enabling sounds to be grouped for sweetening. A selectable stereo S/PDIF port and ADAT Digital Interface utilize 2 optical I/Os capable of accommodating 16 tracks of ADAT digital data.

The Fostex D-160's editing capabilities are equally impressive and include full random access editing functions and the ability to cut/copy/move and paste across all 16 tracks. In short, up to 16 tracks of ADAT information can be transferred across all 16 tracks and edited in sync.

The full line of Fostex D-160 recorders/editors also offer a range of other enhanced features including:

A more sophisticated file management system which allows for more increased "virtual reels" and automatic back-up functions.
A Vari-pitch function which allows for +/- 6-percent pitch variations in highly precise increments of one-tenth of a percent steps.
A selectable sampling rate of either 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz, which reflect the two most used sampling rate standards in the industry. Furthermore, the sampling rate can be independently set and changed per program.
MMC Rec Track Select Function Key enables individual track arming on a slave machine.
Significant synchronization capabilities, including an MTC-only Chase Function allowing the D-160 to slave to any recorder/sequencer by feeding MTC data without word clock data which, when combined with the D-160's standard ADAT and SCSI interface capabilities, gives the D-160 unparalleled systems networking capabilities.

Fostex Model D-160B, in addition to the above features, offers D-sub 25-pin balanced I/O functionality for professional console interface. Fostex Model D-160TC goes one step further, offering film and video post-production professionals an additional timecode option. The D-160TC's built-in TC/Sync card and LTC-only chase function enables the D-160TC to slave to an external LTC and sync to a video reference signal or word clock. Finally, Fostex Model D-160TCB offers both D-sub 25-pin balanced I/O functionality and built-in SMPTE time code.

With prices starting at $3,995.00 for the basic Model D-160, the Fostex D-160 16-track hard disk based recording/editing system is nothing less than the first truly affordable platform to offer professional audio, broadcast and film/video post-production users the ability to interface with many digital audio environments.

Those interested in learning more about the Fostex D-15 and the complete Fostex product line can visit the company's World Wide Web Site, "Fostex On-line," at www.fostex.com or by sending email to Fostex at info@fostex.com.