Hardware - storage solutions available on the market - Statistical Data Included

Emedia Professional, June, 1999

Princeton Disc Targets Pro Audio Market with New Duplicator

Princeton Disc has introduced the CDXpress Plus, a new CD recording system targeted at pro audio enthusiasts. The CDXpress Plus attaches directly to your stereo (it resembles standard stereo components) and functions as a full-featured CD player; it also copies every type of CD. The CDXpress can record and edit from digital or analog sources on-the-fly. For converting LPs and cassettes to CD, the CDXpress provides user-defined auto-recording silence and offers a "pop" removal feature for automatic audio clean-up. The CDXpress can import audio from DAT, MiniDisc, or any digital audio source. The CD audio track grabber allows users to extract just the desired songs from a CD for customization. All hard drive-staged audio files, whether extracted or recorded, can be played, moved, or deleted and additional tracks can be added or overwritten. An internal digital signal processor automatically converts 32 or 48KHz sample rates to 44.1 KHz in real time. Digital connectors include COAX, XLR, and fiber optic. With a SCSI storage device such as a ZIP or JAZ attached, the CDXpress will perform conversion to an ISO 9660 CD. The CDXpress supports various CD recorders, including the Panasonic 4x8, the Yamaha 4x6, Teac 6x24, and Plextor 8x20 as well as the rewritable Yamaha 4x4x16 and 2x4x6. The CDXpress also supports the Nistec single-drive autoloader. Princeton offers frequent software upgrades to purchasers, the next of which will enable the CDXpress to be an MP3 player and encoder. The list price for the 4X version is $1,599; $1,999 for the 6X; $2,399 for the 8X; and $1,799 for the Yamaha 4X4X16-based rewritable version.

(Princeton Disc, 600 Bay Avenue, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ 08742; 732/892-5655; Fax 732/892-6186; http://www.princetondiskette.com)

LaCie Reconfigures Flexible RAID Solution LaCie has announced new configurations of its professional TX8000 RAID storage systems. The standalone TX8000 and rack-mounted TX16000 solutions are geared towards businesses with data-intensive environments, from database management on NT or NetWare to video editing or imaging in the pre-press and content creation sectors, using PC or Mac platforms. LaCie's TX8000 system has a capacity of 36 to 144GB for 10K RPM drives, and 36 to 288GB for 7200 RPM drives. The TX1600 doubles total capacity to over 500GB. The controller host supports either a 40MB/sec transfer rate for Ultra-SCSI or 80MB/sec transfer rate for Ultra 2/LVD, depending upon configuration. For fault tolerance, the TX8000 provides redundancy of disks, fans, and power supplies; hardware controllers offer caching and reliable fail-over features. LaCie offers a choice of AIT or DLT backup modules that can be added to the enclosure as an option. Pricing for LaCie RAID solutions is $6,999.

(LaCie, 22985 Northwest Evergreen Parkway, Hillsboro, OR 97 124; 503/844-4500; Fax 503/844-4501; http://www.lacie.com)

Essential Data Releases Super 8X CD-duplicators

Essential Date has announced the release of its Super-8X CE) duplicators. The standalone towers can be configured with from two to eight Plextor 8/20 CD recorders in three different case sizes. An integrated hard drive and controller allows the Super-8X to copy to all recorders simultaneously. A 4.5GB hard drive allows the user to store multiple CD images to use for later duplication. The LCD display provides direction for copying many CD-ROM formats. The duplicators come with a SCSI connection, which allows users to create a master from a PC, Mac, or UNIX host system. Prices range from $4850 for the one-writer version to $6695 for the eight-writer model.

(Essential Data, Inc.; 9222 Marysville Road, Oregon House, CA 95962; 800/795-4756, 530/692-2459; Fax 530/692-1221; http://www.essential-date.com)

Yamaha Introduces First 6X Record/4X Rewrite Drives

Yamaha Systems Technology, Inc. has introduced the Yamaha CRW6416S, the first 6X recorder with 4X rewritability. The internal SCSI-2 CRW6416S offers a maximum 10MB/sec burst transfer rate (synchronous transfer); a 2MB buffer; and uses an LSI chip set and optical head. (Yamaha Corporation of America, 6600 0rangethorpe Avenue, Buena Park, CA 90620; 714/522-9011; http://www.yamahayst.com)

Maxoptix Demonstrates Optical Super Drive Technology

Maxoptix has announced the successful demonstration of its Optical Super Density technology. The demonstration held on March 30 was performed using a prototype drive in an effort to prove that elements of OSD technology, when integrated, achieve performance that meets the company's design specifications. Maxoptix believes that OSD technology will be the basis of its next generation of removable storage devices. They demonstrated that it can achieve 20GB per side capacities, 15MB/sec date transfer rates, and direct overwrite. Like all of Maxoptix's multifunction storage solutions, these new drives will offer compatibility with Windows, Mac, and UNIX-based environments. Production is expected to begin in 2000 and both drives and media will be available through OEMs, distributors, VARs, and system integrators.