Akai DD 8 Plus Owners Manual

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Rev.3 2000/03/03 THE SYMBOLS ARE RULED BY UL STANDARDS (U.S.A.) WARNING!! To prevent fire or shock hazard, do not expose this appliance to rain or moisture. 1-En 5B-En CAUTION RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT OPEN CAUTION: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK DO NOT REMOVE COVER (OR BACK). NO USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL. The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of important operating and maintenance (servicing) instructions in the literature accompanying the appliance. The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol, within an equilateral triangle, is intended to alert the user to the presence of uninsulated Òdangerous voltageÓ within the productÕs enclosure; that may be of sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock to persons. LITHIUM BATTERY This product uses a lithium battery for memory back-up. The lithium battery should only be replaced by qualified service personnel. Improper handling may cause risk of explosion. 24A-En

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DD8 plus Version 2.20 - September, 1998 i WARNING WARNING: WHEN USING ELECTRIC PRODUCTS, BASIC PRECAUTIONS SHOULD ALWAYS BE FOLLOWED, INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING: WARNING Power requirements for electrical equipment vary from area to area. Please ensure that your DD8 plus meets the power requirements in your area. If in doubt, consult a qualified electrician or AKAI professional dealer. 120 VAC @ 60 Hz for USA and Canada 220~240 VAC @ 50 Hz for Europe PROTECTING YOURSELF AND THE DD8 plus ¥ Never touch the AC plug with wet hands. ¥ Always disconnect the DD8 plus from the power supply by pulling on the plug, not the cord. ¥ Allow only an AKAI professional dealer or qualified professional engineer to repair or reassemble the DD8 plus . Apart from voiding the warranty, unauthorized engineers might touch live internal parts and receive a serious electrical shock. ¥ Do not put, or allow anyone to put any object, especially metal objects, into the DD8 plus . ¥ Use only a household AC power supply. Never use a DC power supply. ¥ If water or any other liquid is spilled into or onto the DD8 plus , disconnect the power, and call your dealer. ¥ Make sure that the unit is well-ventilated, and away from direct sunlight. ¥ To avoid damage to internal circuitry, as well as the external finish, keep the DD8 plus away from sources of direct heat (stoves, radiators, etc.). ¥ Avoid using aerosol insecticides, etc. near the DD8 plus . They may damage the surface, and may ignite. ¥ Do not use denaturated alcohol, thinner or similar chemicals to clean the DD8 plus . They will damage the finish. ¥ Modification of this equipment is dangerous, and can result in the functions of the DD8 plus being impaired. Never attempt to modify the equipment in any way. ¥ Make sure that the DD8 plus is always well-supported when in use (in a specially-designed equipment rack). ¥ When installing the DD8 plus in a 19" rack system, always allow 1U of ventilated free space above it to allow for cooling. Make sure that the back of the rack is unobstructed to allow a clear airflow. ¥ In order to assure optimum performance of your DD8 plus , select the setup location carefully, and make sure the equipment is used properly. Avoid setting up the DD8 plus in the following locations: 1. In a humid or dusty environment 2. In a room with poor ventilation 3. In any situation where the unit is not horizontal 4. Inside a vehicle such as a car, where it will be subject to vibration 5. In an extremely hot or cold environment

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iv DD8 plus Version 2.20 - September, 1998 WARRANTY AKAI professional M.I. Corp. warrants its products, when purchased from an authorized ÒAKAI professionalÓ dealer, to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 12 (twelve) months from the date of purchase. Warranty service is effective and available to the original purchase only, and only on completion and return of the AKAI professional Warranty Registration Card within 14 days of purchase. Warranty coverage is valid for factory-authorized updates to AKAI professional instruments and their software, when their installation is performed by an authorized AKAI professional Service Center, and a properly completed Warranty Registration has been returned to your ÒAKAI professionalÓ dealer. To obtain service under this warranty, the product must, on discovery of the detect, be properly packed and shipped to the nearest AKAI professional Service Center. The party requesting warranty service must provide proof of original ownership and date of purchase of the product. If the warranty is valid, AKAI professional will, without charge for parts or labor, either repair or replace the defective part(s). Without a valid warranty, the entire cost of the repair (parts and labor) is the responsibility of the product's owner. AKAI professional warrants that it will make all necessary adjustments, repairs and replacements at no cost to the original owner within 12 (twelve) months of the purchase date if: 1) The product fails to perform its specified functions due to failure of one or more of its components. 2) The product fails to perform its specified functions due to defects in workmanship. 3) The product has been maintained and operated by the owner in strict accordance with the written instructions for proper maintenance and use as specified in this Operator's Manual. Before purchase and use, owners should determine the suitability of the product for their intended use, and owner assumes all risk and liability whatsoever in connection therewith. AKAI professional shall not be liable for any injury, loss or damage, direct or consequential, arising out of use, or inability to use the product. The warranty provides only those benefits specified, and does not cover defects or repairs needed as a result of acts beyond the control of AKAI professional, including but not limited to: 1) Damage caused by abuse, accident, negligence. AKAI professional will not cover under warranty any original factory disk damaged or destroyed as a result of the owner's mishandling. 2) Damage caused by any tampering, alteration or modification of the product: operating software, mechanical or electronic components. 3) Damage caused by failure to maintain and operate the product in strict accordance with the written instructions for proper maintenance and use as specified in this Operator's Manual. 4) Damage caused by repairs or attempted repairs by unauthorized persons. 5) Damage caused by fire, smoke, falling objects, water or other liquids, or natural events such as rain, floods, earthquakes, lightning, tornadoes, storms, etc. 6) Damage caused by operation on improper voltages. IMPORTANT NOTE: This warranty becomes void if the product or its software is electroni- cally modified, altered or tampered with in any way. AKAI professional shall not be liable for costs involved in packing or preparing the product for shipping, with regard to time, labor, or materials, shipping or freight costs, or time or expense involved in transporting the product to and from AKAI professional Authorized Service Center or Authorized Dealer. AKAI professional will not cover under warranty an apparent malfunction that is determined to be user error, or owner's inability to use the product. THE DURATION OF ANY OTHER WARRANTIES, WHETHER IMPLIED OR EXPRESS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED CONDITION OF MERCHANTABILITY, IS LIMITED TO THE DURATION OF THE EXPRESS WARRANTY HEREIN. AKAI professional hereby excludes incidental or consequential damages, including but not limited to: 1) Loss of time. 2) Inconvenience 3) Delay in performance of the Warranty. 4) The loss of use of the product. 5) Commercial loss. 6) Breach of any express or implied warranty, including the Implied Warranty of Merchantability, applicable to this product. WARNING

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Page 9 DD8 plus Version 2.20 - September 1998 INTRODUCTION - 1 FRONT PANEL - INSERTING AN MO DISK Assuming you have an MO drive installed, the disk is inserted thus: WRITE PROTECT SWITCH (This side)WRITE PROTECT SWITCH (Other side) The side you wish to use is inserted face up. Power must be on for the disk to be accepted as the load mechanism is motorised. Disk Activity Led Eject switch When the disk is in use (i.e. playing back, recording, saving, loading, etc.), the DISK ACTIVITY LED will flash. To eject the disk, press the DISK EJECT button. Power must be on for the disk to be ejected as the mechanism is motorised. NOTE: If there is some problem ejecting the disk and/or power is not applied to the drive, you can eject the disk by inserting a small metal tool in the small hole alongside the disk eject button. Something like a rolled out paper clip will do it but a special tool is recommended. This tool may accompany the drive unit. It is possible to write protect MO disks to prevent accidental erasure, editing, formatting, etc.. To do this, slide the WRITE PROTECT switch to the PROTECT position. If you only intend to playback from the disk, it is a wise precaution to write protect the disk to prevent accidental damage to a project.

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Page 11 DD8 plus Version 2.20 - September 1998 PRE-READ CONNECTOR This connector can be used to replace the Ã-pre-readÕ output generated by some dubbers that have a second playback head mounted before the main playback head. Note that the DD8 does not generate an audio signal here. Instead, it uses an oscillator which is switched on and off as the playback signal reaches a preset threshold. INTRODUCTION - 1

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Page 37 DD8 plus Version 2.20 - September 1998 In this case, PROJECT 1 is selected for backup. The left hand side of the LCD will show how many files are selected. In this case, just one. You may also select several files for backup in this way. As in other disk pages, arrows appear to indicate files that are Ã-off-screenÕ. Use the DATA +/- keys to scroll through the list. Files selected by mistake can be de-selected by pressing the SELECT key (F4/F5) a second time. Once you have selected the file(s) you want to backup, press EXIT (F6) to return to the main SCSI BACKUP page and proceed with the backup. BACKING UP ALL PROJECTS AND/OR LIBRARIES If you have selected ALL PROJECTS, ALL LIBRARIES or ALL PROJS & LIBS, all you need to do is press the ENTER key. All the projects and/or libraries on the disk selected in the DISK ID field will be backed up. If any projects and/or libraries use audio from any other connected disks, these too will be backed up to the destination SCSI tape. The exact amount of time the backup will take depends on the amount of material being backed up. Backup speed is approximately five times real-time (i.e. ten minutes of audio will take ap- proximately 2 minutes to backup). BACKING UP AN ENTIRE DISK As well as selectively backing up chosen files or backing up all projects and/or libraries, you may also make a duplication of the disk by selecting ENTIRE DISK in the BACKUP TYPE field. NOTE: Although ENTIRE DISK may seem the same as ALL PROJS & LIBS, there is a differ- ence. ALL PROJS & LIBS will backup everything from the selected disk but it will also backup any audio from other disks that are used in the projects and/or libraries being backed up. EN- TIRE DISK, on the other hand, only backs up the audio on the selected disk, not any audio referenced on other disks. ALL PROJS & LIBS, therefore, is more suitable for backing up your work whilst ENTIRE DISK is a better selection to make if you just want to make a safety copy of a disk. PERFORMING THE BACKUP Regardless of the backup type you have selected, to actually perform the backup, simply press the ENTER key. You will then see this screen: Here, the DD8 is getting the tape ready for the backup. First of all, it will look at the tapeÕs directory to make sure that there is no backup of the same name. If a backup of the same name exists on the tape, you will receive this message: In this case, press ABORT and give the backup a new name and try again (i.e. press ENTER) or insert a new tape and press CONTINUE. NOTE: You will need to specifically go to your tape drive and use the front panel EJECT key to eject the current tape and insert a new one. DISK PAGES - 7

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Page 59 DD8 plus Version 2.20 - September 1998 DD1000 OUT A CUTS OUT AB CUTS OUT B CUTStrack 1 +2 (track 1 if mono) track 1 + 2 (track 1 if mono) track 3 + 4 (track 3 if mono) DD8 If all the cuts use the same outputs (for example, all cuts are assigned to output A), the following track assignments will be used on the DD8Õs project. For example: Mono cut Stereo cut 1 Stereo cut 2 Stereo cut 3 New cut is played back overlapped Track 1 Track 2 Track 3 Track 4 The cuts are assigned to tracks 1+2/3+4 in a similar way to the manner in which the DD1000 assigns cuts to voices. In other words, where cuts in a DD1000 Qlist overlap, whereas on the DD1000 they will play correctly (owing to the DD1000Õs Ã-voiceÕ assignment), on the DD8, they will be placed on adjacent tracks so as to play correctly. SAVING PROJECTS TO DD1000 DISKS When a DD8 project is saved to a DD1000 disk, a DD1000 Qlist of the same name is automati- cally created and saved to the disk in addition to the DD8 project itself. This allows you to play simple projects created on a DD8 on a DD1000. The DD8 makes its best attempt to store cues for playback on the DD1000. It starts at track 1 and then continues until all the tracks are stored or all 256 DD1000 cues have been used up. After saving a project to a DD1000 disk from the DD8, the next time this disk is used you can choose to load the DD8 project rather than the DD1000 Qlist by pressing the SELECT key (F5/F6) on the DISK SETUP page. WARNING: If you load a DD1000 Qlist into a DD8, work on it and then save it again on the DD8 you will lose any FADE and MIDI events that may have been on the original and you will lose all cut names. PLAYING DD1000 DISKS CREATED ON A DD8 ON A DD1000 Some degree of backwards compatibility is also possible between the DD8 and DD1000 and any DD1000 disks you have worked with on the DD8 may still be used on a DD1000. Recordings can be made on the DD8 to a DD1000 disk in the usual manner (i.e. select a track for record, press PLAY+RECORD) but the DD8 uses the following rules to decide whether a recording is mono or stereo when recorded on a DD1000 format disk. Â¥ Adjacent channel pairs of tracks enabled for record are recorded as DD1000 stereo takes. Â¥ Non-adjacent and remaining channels are recorded as DD1000 mono takes. REC ENABLE track = 2 REC ENABLE tracks = 2+3 REC ENABLE tracks = 2+4 REC ENABLE tracks = 2+3+4+52 = MONO 2 + 3 =STEREO 2 = MONO, 4 = MONO 2 + 3 = STEREO , 4 + 5 = STEREO 1 2 3 4 NOTE 1: When recording in stereo, the first track of the pair is always assigned to the left channel of the DD1000. For example, in example number 2 above, track 2 would be assigned to the left channel and track 3 to the right. DISK PAGES - 7

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Page 89 DD8 plus Version 2.20 - September 1998 NOTE: YOU MUST SELECT ONE OF THE SMPTE/EBU+RS422 OPTIONS AT A FRAME RATE APPLICABLE TO YOUR AREA WHEN USING RS422 MASTER. These options are available at all frame rates. SMPTE/EBU from the VTR is still connected as usual to the LTC option boardÕs input and the SYNC key must be switched on. The DD8 will receive timecode information in playback from the LTC connection but, when working in slow motion, it receives timecode over RS422 making locking of the two machines tighter. Switching on the SYNC key engages the RS422 function. Because of the frame accuracy limit imposed on the DD8 by the VTR over RS422, it is sometimes necessary to Ã-isolateÕ the DD8 for greater editing accuracy. To do this, simply switch off the SYNC key - this will allow the DD8 to be used Ã-stand aloneÕ. As a practical example, letÕs say you are trying to sync a door slam sound effect in the DDÕs project with the picture on video. You could, of course, do everything referenced to frame accu- rate picture but, you just cannot get the door slam precisely in sync. By switching off the SYNC key, you can momentarily disengage the VTR, Ã-isolatingÕ the DD8 and you can place the sound effect, nudging it backwards or forwards in sub-frame increments on the DD8 until you think itÕs at the right position. You can then re-engage the VTR by switching on the SYNC key again and trying it out against picture. You can repeat this process until itÕs perfectly in sync. LAYBACK FUNCTION IN RS422 MASTER LAYBACK is a process where you have material on the DD8 that you wish to Ã-masterÕ onto a VTR or other such RS422 equipped machine (such as an RS422 DAT machine). For example, you may receive a video tape with just dialogue on it. This is sync-transferred to the DD8 where it may be edited and tidied up if necessary and sound effects, music and other Ã-sweetenersÕ can be added using the DD8Õs multi-track capabilities. Finally, the whole thing is transferred back to the VTR. To use the LAYBACK function, press LAYBACK (F4/F5). You will see this screen: The parameters are: LAYBACK TO TRACKS Here you may select which of the VTRÕs tracks the material will be recorded to. You may select VTR tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (mono) or 1+2, 3+4, 5+6, 7+8 (stereo) or 1-4, 5-8 or 1-8. TRACKS ENABLED Here you may select whether the layback (i.e. the mixdown) will be to the VTRÕs analogue tracks or its digital tracks. You may also select ANALOG+DIGITAL which will cause the layback to be re- corded to both the analogue and the digital audio tracks of the VTR. SYSTEM - 8