D888 Overview
New recording frontiers
The new D888 Digital Recording Studio goes where no digital recorder has gone before. Its intuitive, real-time design assures immediate results. At home, the D888 provides an intuitive mixer layout that allows your sound modules and instruments to stay connected to the mixer inputs so you can start recording whenever the mood strikes you without having to change any connections.
Lightweight and portable, the D888 is also perfect as a live or location "capture" recorder for recording band rehearsals and gigs and other applications. In the field, the versatile input and output sections allow the D888 to record on location without interfering with the P.A. system's house mix. The output section is also ideal for feeding into a cue mixer, a larger recording system, or other audio applications. With eight-track simultaneous recording you can capture the performance with enough separation to allow overdubs, corrections, and other production steps at a later date.
Back in the home studio, tracks can easily be transferred between the D888 and a computer-based editing/recording environment thanks to native WAV format recording. A high speed USB 2.0 connection moves the data quickly, with the entire hard drive showing up as a mounted disk on your desktop. The MIDI output transmits MIDI Time Code so other equipment can sync up to the D888.
Mixer masquerade
The D888 offers an interface like no other digital recorder. As with a traditional analog mixer, each channel has its own channel strip, complete with trim, 3-band EQ, effect send, and pan controls - each element offering its own dedicated real-time knob. This allows a quick check of the current mixer settings by simply glancing at the knobs.
The Mic inputs provide both XLR and TRS balanced inputs, and phantom power is available. This thoughtful arrangement allows a wide variety of sources to be connected for additional flexibility. High-quality mic preamps are teamed with professional A/D converters for excellent sound.
Throughout, the mixer uses 40-bit, 44.1 kHz processing for a clean audio signal that surpasses CD quality. The eight individual output arrangement is incredibly versatile, allowing the D888 to be the perfect choice in many audio situations. In the Individual Mode, each output is directly tied to a particular channel, perfect for "in-line" live and studio connections. With the Individual Mode off, outputs 1 & 2 become the Monitor outputs, and outputs 3 & 4 serve as the Master outputs. A digital S/P DIF output is also provided. Each of the two headphone outputs is thoughtfully equipped with its own level control.
"No conversion" WAV format recording
All eight tracks can be recorded or played back simultaneously. Eight virtual tracks exist for each track, bringing the total track count to 64. You can bounce tracks together digitally - with no fidelity loss - to free up more tracks. The entire mix can be bounced down to the stereo Master Track. In fact, you can make eight final mixes and then choose the best one. All tracks are saved as WAV format files, for easy sharing with other recording systems.
Non-destructive editing tools point to the power of the recorder section, allowing you to copy entire sections of the song, swap tracks, erase, etc. Undo and Redo commands allow you to hear both the "before" and "after" versions of any edit before you commit to any changes. In addition to regular recording, punch in and punch out recording allows precise overdubbing and fixing any sour notes. Each song allows you to store four edit locate points, as well as one hundred mark points, for quick navigation to various locations in the song.
The internal 40GB hard drive allows a maximum total recording time of over 120 hours.* For ease of use, the recorder section uses traditional transport controls. A backlit LCD provides metering and other pertinent information.
Effects at your fingertips
Eleven different effect types are provided for the Master effect, and are instantly selectable from the front panel. Each channel has its own send knob, and a global return knob allows you to set just the right mix. In keeping with the D888's real-time approach, effect parameters are also editable from a dedicated front panel knob. And of course, the effect settings are memorized with each song.
An internal metronome is provided. The metronome can be sent from Master and Monitor outputs, or just the Monitor outs alone, so musicians can follow a click-track during recording or performance.