Akai MG14D
Little is documented about the Akai MG14D outside period trade coverage, and most of what survives is advertising rather than independent review. The record shows a rack-mountable analog multitrack recorder from Akai Professional. It uses Akai's proprietary 12-track, 1/2-inch cassette format and was offered with the ML14, a programmable remote autolocator.
In editorial coverage, Mix (July 1990, p.61) traced that 12-track format back to 1984 and noted that an improved transport had just begun shipping. It listed the MG14D at $5,999.95 with the autolocator, or $5,499.95 without it. The same article kept the analog MG14D separate from Akai's A-DAM digital 12-track system, and placed it alongside the MG1214, which paired a similar transport with an internal 12-channel mixer.
Akai's own advertising supplies most of the remaining detail. A 1988 spread in Studio Sound (January 1988, p.47) claimed the MG14D/ML14 combo offered less noise, less crosstalk, a smaller footprint and lower cost than many professional 24-track machines. It also claimed wider, flatter frequency response, wider dynamic range, and individually switchable dbx Type I professional noise reduction. Earlier ads in Mix (July 1987, p.130) paired the MG14D with an Adams Smith Zeta III synchronizer and claimed a cost of less than $700 per track. Some of those ads called the MG14D a "14 track recorder," even though the editorial record describes it as a 12-track machine. The "14" appears to belong to the model name, not the track count.
- Analog multitrack recorder; 12 tracks on proprietary 1/2-inch cassettes
- ML14 programmable remote autolocator
- dbx Type I professional noise reduction, individually switchable
- Rack-mountable; related MG1214 combined the transport with a 12-channel mixer
- List price in July 1990: $5,999.95 with autolocator; $5,499.95 without
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