Roland

Roland DM-800

1993 8-track digital audio workstation

Description

The DM-800 packs a hard-disk recorder, digital mixer and non-destructive editing into a sub-6 kg box. As a sound engineer, I see it as an ancestor of the DAW: eight real tracks, 300 virtual tracks and an automated 12-channel mixer, all without an external computer, at a time when multitrack was still overwhelmingly analogue.

Technical

Specifications

Inputs / Outputs

Inputs / outputsOptional ADAT communication bus (DIF-800 interface); optional RS-422 interface

Processing

Bit depth16 bits
Sample rate16-bit linear recording; selectable 48 / 44.1 / 32 kHz sampling
Channels12-channel digital mixer: 8 dedicated faders (gain + pan), 2 stereo aux returns, 1 stereo master fader
EQ24-bit 2-band semi-parametric EQ, automated, on all channels

Surface

Physical faders8
TouchscreenNo

Recording

Onboard recordingNo
Recording8-track hard-disk recorder, 300 virtual tracks

Networking

Networking & protocolsADAT
Redundant PSUNo
Redundant networkingNo

Other

ApplicationsNon-destructive editing, time compression, video display output, MIDI

Editorial & artists

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