Question: Akia DSP 16

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How do I back up and save projects. I have a Cd burner. Can I save on that? If not anyone know of a inexpensive DAT that will work or is it cheaper to buy a computer? And if so what kind of software do I need?............All good questions. Any help is appreciated.
 
do you have a SCSI burner(plextor, ricoh...) or a standalone(phillips, tascam...)?

If you have a SCSI burner you just hook it up to the DPS's SCSI port and backup from the PROJECT menu.

If you have a standalone i don't think that you can back up to it, but I am not sure.
 
Nope.......

Just found out I need anything with a scsi. And I don't have it.
 
not just ANYTHING with a scsi..you must use one of the akai supported brands/models....trust me.
 
drdrew.....................

Do you know any of the brands. I E mailed Akia and they have not responded. Thanks
 
i use the ricoh mp7060 SE (E for External) very important!

i don't remember the others...but akai should respond...
 
Where did you get it at.

I did a search at Musicians Friend and got nothing. Thanks in advance.
 
On the Akai website http://www.akaipro.com they have a list of compatible drives. The DPS16 uses a SCSI 2, not just any drive. You might have to download Acrobat reader to read the list....I don't know why.

I wish I knew more about backing up data and the most efficient low-cost way, but I'm still learning this part. Salespersons in the music stores are generally clueless about this stuff.

Someone needs to start a thread on Akai users and what they back up with and mix down to.
 
I don't really think that any back-up media can really compare to CDR/W. Sure the drive costs a little more than most others, but the cost of media more than makes up for the initial cost.

I don't have a SCSI yet, but its coming in the very near future. Actually, I'm making 2 of my friends I share a studio space with buy it as a 1-time fee for use of the recorder.

If you've done many projects on the machine you know that a single 16 track project can consume over a gig of drive space, even at 16 bit. To back that up on CD-RW would have a media cost of about $3. Compare that to ZIP! $50-100!!! And the hassle of reloading a project that is spread across 10 disks...

I don't think that its too high a price to pay to back up projects complete with track separation and track data. That said, I'll be doing actual mix-downs to my computer for the ease of encoding MP3's and convenient CD software.

So you can get by with one CR-RW if you have a SCSI-2 port or are willing to make your PC SCSI compatible. I think that costs about $150 and a big headache (it would for me anyway). I already have an external USB burner for my computer so the SCSI will be used almost exclusively for data back-up.
 
If you buy a stand-alone CDRW that can use data format recordable CD-Rs, can you back up song data to it ? I have read that you can back up two tracks at a time that way but not all 16 tracks at once. In other words, you could do a quick mix of your song on tracks 15 and 16, and dump that on a CD-R for a back-up. Would that work ?

I'm not going to invest in anything until I've figured it out. I'm using a Sony Minidisc to mix down to at the moment, but I want/need a CD recorder.

Thanks
 
I don't have a DPS16, but I'm almost pretty much decided I will get one.

From my research, you can use a compatible SCSI CDRW drive to backup your work and create audio cds. These are two different processes. The backup process saves the entire project/song - which includes all individual tracks (including virtual ones), scene memory, locate points etc. The audio cd process is your standard mixdown-to-2-stereo-tracks.
 
To my knowledge, the Akai can only export that kind of data through the SCSI port, not through the S/PDIF.

It seems the key difference we're talking about has to do with the difference between a mixdown and a back-up.

You can indeed dump stereo tracks out of the box to just about anything. What you have is a mixdown just like your minidiscs. When you back-up through the SCSI method you actually back-up all of your data; tracks, eq, fx, mix scenes, etc. The difference is that you can reload this into the machine and play with everything again.

If you're dumping mixes to a standalone CDR, minidisc, computer you can still reload the stereo mix by recording it in as a new project. The limitation is that you don't have the same capabilities with regard to individual track information. You can't separate them after you've joined them in a stereo mix. Any eq, fx that you change will apply to the whole deal.

With all this in mind, I've decided that it's effectively the only way to go.
 
The stand-alone CD recorders I am looking at don't have SCSI, but they do have S/PDIF and rca connections. For instance, the Sony CDRW33 and Tascam CDRW700. Can I back up the data using the S/PDIF out of the DPS16, and into one of those recorders ? ( both record with data format discs as well as CDR audio)

I agree with Lazyboy at the moment. I think you can only go SCSI out to back up data....unless you are only backing up two tracks at a time.

Very confused.
 
If you're considering a standalone CD recorder that does not have SCSI (like the ones you mentioned), you will not be able to backup your DPS16 data. You can burn non-audio discs with those recorders, but not from the Akai - it won't let you. The Akai's SPDIF output can only be used for your stereo mixdowns, with one exception.

(The one exception: the only time you can use the SPDIF output to backup your data is if you use a DAT recorder as your backup device - and you can only do this with 16 bit recordings. Hope this additional tidbit doesn't confuse the issue further, but I thought I'd better be as accurate as I can.)

Bottom line: if you're going to get a DPS16, it's better to get a SCSI CD writer. You can use it to make backups of your work, as well as burn audio cds of your stereo mixes.

My plan is to get the DPS16 and a compatible SCSI cd writer
(such as a plextor or ricoh).

I recommend you download the DPS16 manual at the akai website: - http://www.akaipro.com/manuals.html

Also, you might want to check out the akai dps12 list at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/akaidps12. This group addresses both the DPS16 and its predecessor, the DPS12.

There's also an FAQ for this list at http://www.seriously-productions.freeserve.co.uk/dps12faq/, which also has info for both the DPS12 and DPS16. Lots of good info.

Hope this helps.
 
I got a DPS16 last September and since then I have logged many hours and nearly filled the 10 gig hard drive. I have a Yamaha CD burner, model CRW8424SX connected via a SCSI cable and it works great. The DPS operating system contains all the software you need, and the user interface is built into the DPS16. No sweat.

Basically, there are two routines in Project Mode:

1. Backup which backs up a song (or project) as it exists in the DPS16. The backup contains all tracks (including virtual ones) effect and level settings, etc. etc. You can delete the project from the hard drive and then reload it (another built in function) later and totally redo tracks, remix, whatever.

2. You can write two of your tracks to a CD, one song at a time. What you do is mix your tunes down to two tracks, and there's your stereo mix, ready to write to CD. Once you have written all of the tracks you want, the DPS16 allows you to perform a 'Finish' routine. The CD can now be played on any CD player. Easy peasey

One thing to watch when writing your two track songs, do not use the 'max' write speed setting. It will frequently cause the write function to crash, and this track will be wasted on the CD. Set the speed parameter to 2x or 4x or whatever your burner can handle. I found this out the hard way but Akai's technical people straightened me out and it's been clear sailing ever since.

Everyone is welcome to give a listen on http://www.MP3.com/theloniousmonkey Suggestions and critiques are most welcome.

Cheers
 
Thanks everyone

I ordered a Plextor 8220 for my back ups. They were very helpful and knew the recommended model I needed for the 16. The only downside was that all they had was refurbished. I agree we need an Akia Dps thread for tips and info. If anyone is wondering about buying one, I highly recommend it.I haven't run into any problems with my unit and the sound quality far exceeds my Fostex 8. In addition to having all the flexability of virtual tracking, waveform editing, effects onboard, no cable patching, ect.... The price cost me less than my Fostex/mixer/effects setup. Again thanks for all the info.
 
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