Akai DR16
Sixteen tracks of hard-disk recording with no computer in sight. The DR16 has a 320 x 240 dot screen and a 2GB drive that held twenty-four minutes per track.
Overview
The DR16 is a digital hard disk recorder, and what makes it interesting is how little it wants to be a computer. Akai's own literature describes recording and playback as "as straight forward as tape." That tells you who it was for: engineers who wanted non-destructive editing without dragging a Mac into the control room. The machine carries 16 tracks of hard disk recording with 256 virtual tracks. The DR16HD variant ships with an internal 2GB drive good for 24 minutes per track of record time.
The front panel is dominated by a large 320 x 240 dot graphic LCD, and it does more work than a screen that size usually did in this era. Level meters, playlist, EQ curves, EFX settings, and waveforms all share the display. That is the big difference from a tape-based machine in daily use: you can see what you're about to cut before you cut it. The converters are 20-bit A/D and D/A, and there's a 24-bit MT Pro Recording Mode that Akai pitched for headroom rather than for a spec-sheet number.
The I/O count around back is generous for a stand-alone unit. There are 10 audio inputs: 2 balanced XLR-type inputs with phantom power, 6 balanced 1/4" inputs, and 1 stereo digital input on optical or coaxial. The 12 audio outs split across 8 RCA jacks, 2 stereo digital outs, and phones. Two optional 24-bit stereo effects processors (VS8F-2) provide up to 8 channels of independent effects, and a new E7 routing function lets users build the kind of signal paths that would otherwise demand a console.
Akai was selling a family here. The DR16 belongs to a line that traces back to the DR4, and the company built the DR8 and DR16 on custom-designed LSI chips to allow sophisticated recording, mixing, and EQ performance in real time. Sound On Sound (July 1996, p.203) called the whole range a "close-knit family" sharing the advanced component design of the DD1500 post-production workstation. It noted that the DR16 shares the family's powerful non-destructive editing facilities and delivers "a surprisingly low price level per track." The same piece points out that up to eight DR16s and DR8s can be combined, so the expansion path was there from the start.
Studio Sound (January 1997, p.32) took the longer view, observing that while other manufacturers chased the one-stop DAW, Akai had gone largely unnoticed assembling an integrated digital product range with media compatibility and similar operational presentation across the DR8, DR16, and the rest of the line. That's the honest read on this machine: it was never the flashiest box in the room, but it was part of a coherent system.
The editing toolkit is the standard non-destructive set - Cut, Copy, Paste, Move, Delete, Trim, and Scrub - with recording available on any or all of the 16 tracks, including Auto-Punch with rehearse. The built-in 16-channel digital mixer handles level and panning for all 16 tracks, the Master Outputs, two effects sends, and the L/R bus. Those settings can be controlled via MIDI or stored in one of 99 snapshots. An optional digital EQ board offers 4-band mid-sweep digital EQ for either 8 or 16 channels.
Synchronization is where the DR16 earns its keep in post rooms. Support covers MIDI Clock with SPP, MTC, SMPTE, and Bi-phase. MIDI Machine Control and an RS422 interface (allowing control from video controllers speaking the Sony protocol) arrived later. A second SCSI interface supports communication to a computer for editing - optional, not required.
The expansion roster is long, and it's worth knowing before buying a used one, because the accessories are where these units get separated from their full potential: the MT8 Mixer controller, DL16 Remote control unit, IB801S SCSI Interface board, IB802T SMPTE interface board, IB803M MIDI interface board, IB804A ADAT interface board, IB805R RS422 Interface board, IB806B Bi-phase interface board, IB807V VGS monitor interface board, EQ16 16-channel digital EQ board, and the ALX50 Remote Cable. Direct audio CD recording and data backup was possible via the optional VS-CDR-16 CD recorder.
Later in the run, Akai Digital's SuperView SVGA interface and V2.0 operating system upgrade let owners connect a standard SVGA monitor and a computer keyboard directly to the DR8 or DR16, no computer required. That gave a detailed zoomable waveform display, track/take/clip naming, and remote transport and edit control from the keyboard. The SuperView board carried an MSRP of $699. The V2.0 System Upgrade was $39.95.
Anyone hunting one today should check the condition of the drive and whether the option boards are present, since the DR16's usefulness scales directly with how much of the expansion stack came with it. The 2GB internal drive holds 24 minutes per track, and it's the first thing to check on any survivor.
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