San Francisco, CA, AES Convention, Booth #701 — Digidesign today announced the D-Command® Producer’s Desk, a stylish, ergonomically functional add-on option for the acclaimed ICON D-Command® and D-Command® ES consoles.

Responding to feedback from users worldwide, the D-Command Producer’s Desk provides a Pro Tools® Custom (QWERTY) keyboard, mouse pad area, USB hub, and space for a computer monitor or note taking, enabling users to perform editing functions on the same surface level as their faders and encoders, and have an optimal space for their monitor. The Producer’s Desk is designed to match the D-Command form factor, and is available in two color schemes: the original blue color for D-Command and a darker scheme for D-Command ES.

“It’s essential for music and post-production professionals to maintain a position in the sweet spot while they’re working,� explains Max Gutnik, Digidesign’s marketing manager for professional products. “The D-Command Producer’s Desk creates a truly ergonomic work environment. By placing the control surface, keyboard, and mouse all within easy reach, and the monitor at a comfortable height and distance, the Producer’s Desk delivers an efficient and comfortable working environment for D-Command users.�

The D-Command Producer’s Desk is shipping soon and currently available for pre-order, with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $3,995. Visit Digidesign at this year’s AES Convention in San Francisco, Calif., in booth #701. For more information, visit www.digidesign.com.

About Digidesign
Digidesign is a worldwide leading manufacturer of digital audio production systems and the winner of the 2001 Technical Grammy® Award and 2003 Oscar® statuette representing the Academy Scientific and Technical Award for the design, development, and implementation of the Pro Tools® digital audio workstation. Digidesign provides the professional music, film, video, multimedia, and radio broadcast industries with tools for digital recording, MIDI sequencing, editing, signal processing, and surround mixing. Digidesign products are marketed in more than 40 countries worldwide through a distribution network of value-added dealers, distributors, and OEM relationships. Digidesign is a part of Avid Technology, Inc. For more information, visit www.digidesign.com.

About Avid Technology, Inc.
Avid (Nasdaq: AVID) is a worldwide leader in tools for film, video, audio, 3D animation, gaming and broadcast professionals – as well as for home audio and video enthusiasts. Avid professional and consumer brands include Avid®, Digidesign, M-Audio®, Pinnacle Systems®, Sibelius®, Softimage® and Sundance Digital®. The vast majority of primetime television shows, feature films, commercials and chart-topping music hits are made using one or more Avid products. Whether used by seasoned professionals or beginning students, Avid’s products and services enable customers to work more efficiently, productively and creatively. Avid received an Oscar statuette representing the 1998 Scientific and Technical Award for the concept, design, and engineering of the Avid® Film Composer® system for motion picture editing. For more information about the company’s Oscar, Grammy and Emmy® award-winning products and services, visit www.avid.com.

San Francisco, CA, AES Convention, Booth #701 — Digidesign today unveiled the third and newest member of its acclaimed Digidesign® 003® family — 003® Rack+ Factory. Featuring eight high-quality microphone preamps, 003 Rack+ Factory is a powerful option for those needing additional mic inputs to handle more complex recording projects.

“Today, Pro Tools LE users are taking on more demanding recording projects than ever before — both inside the studio as well as on stage,â€? says Dusty DiMercurio, Digidesign’s marketing manager for personal studio products. “The 003 Rack+ addresses a common customer request for additional microphone inputs to record more sources simultaneously without relying on additional outboard gear. We’re very excited to offer the 003 Rack+ Factory to these users as the next evolutionary step in our 003 product family.â€?

With 18 simultaneous channels of I/O, 003 Rack+ boasts the most extensive array of analog and digital audio I/O ever available from a Pro Tools LE® system, making it the ideal nexus of any home or project studio. Topping the I/O list are eight studio-quality mic preamps, which each feature switchable 48V phantom power and 20 dB pads, high-quality analog high-pass filters, and front-panel trim controls. For instruments and line-level connections, it offers eight analog DI/line inputs and outputs, including one DI/line input on the front panel for quick and easy plug-and-play recording. Digital connections include eight channels of ADAT optical I/O and two channels of S/PDIF digital I/O, along with 16 channels of MIDI I/O.

Dedicated studio monitor outputs and alternate control room outputs allow for connecting two sets of speakers, and dual discrete headphone outputs are ideal for providing separate mixes for the artist and recording engineer. Also included are a host of professional features, including BNC Word Clock I/O and alternate source input for external device monitoring.

003 Rack+ Factory comes bundled with Pro Tools LE 7.4 software; initial purchasers will be eligible to receive a free software upgrade to Pro Tools LE 8 when it becomes available. 003 Rack+ Factory also includes over 80 professional effects and virtual instrument plug-ins (valued at over $3,000), supports a wide variety of third-party plug-ins and software options, and allows for powerful expandability through Digidesign toolkit software options.

003 Rack+ Factory is available for pre-order, with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $1,695. Digidesign has also reduced the price of the 003 Rack Factory to $1,495 (reflecting a $200 price drop). In addition, Digidesign offers a unique hardware exchange program, allowing legacy Pro Tools LE and select competitive product owners to trade in their hardware for a discount toward the purchase of a new 003 system; the program will be extended to include the new 003 Rack+ Factory as well.

Visit Digidesign at the AES Convention in San Francisco, Calif., in booth #701 to see 003 Rack+ Factory and Pro Tools® 8 software in action. For more information, visit www.digidesign.com.

About Digidesign
Digidesign is a worldwide leading manufacturer of digital audio production systems and the winner of the 2001 Technical Grammy Award and 2003 Oscar® statuette representing the Academy Scientific and Technical Award for the design, development, and implementation of the Pro Tools digital audio workstation. Digidesign provides the professional music, film, video, multimedia, and radio broadcast industries with tools for digital recording, MIDI sequencing, editing, signal processing, and surround mixing. Digidesign products are marketed in more than 40 countries worldwide through a distribution network of value-added dealers, distributors, and OEM relationships. Digidesign is a part of Avid Technology, Inc. For more information, visit www.digidesign.com.

About Avid Technology, Inc.
Avid (Nasdaq: AVID) is a worldwide leader in tools for film, video, audio, 3D animation, gaming and broadcast professionals – as well as for home audio and video enthusiasts. Avid professional and consumer brands include Avid®, Digidesign, M-Audio®, Pinnacle Systems®, Sibelius®, Softimage® and Sundance Digital®. The vast majority of primetime television shows, feature films, commercials and chart-topping music hits are made using one or more Avid products. Whether used by seasoned professionals or beginning students, Avid’s products and services enable customers to work more efficiently, productively and creatively. Avid received an Oscar statuette representing the 1998 Scientific and Technical Award for the concept, design, and engineering of the Avid® Film Composer® system for motion picture editing. For more information about the company’s Oscar, Grammy and Emmy® award-winning products and services, visit www.avid.com.

San Francisco, CA, AES Convention, Booth #701 — Digidesign, a part of Avid Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVID), today offered a preview of Pro Tools® 8, the next evolution of the widely-used music creation and audio production software. Completely updated with a new user interface, over 70 plug-ins and virtual instruments, fully-integrated MIDI and score editors, and an expanded array of editing features, the new Pro Tools 8 software (which includes Pro Tools|HD®, Pro Tools LE®, and Pro Tools M-Powered™), provides everything users need to create, compose, score, record, mix, produce and broadcast all in one powerful application.

“Pro Tools 8 benefits from the valuable feedback we received from our dedicated Pro Tools creative community, along with Avid’s passion for creating great audio and video tools that move technology forward,� explains Dave Lebolt, Avid senior vice president and chief technology officer. “Our customers provide a comprehensive real-world knowledge base that we draw upon for inspiration and guidance. It’s a synergy of size and scope unique to Pro Tools in the world of audio. We are very excited to deliver the latest results of this partnership back to our customers in the form of Pro Tools 8.�

At first glance, the most noticeable new feature in Pro Tools 8 is its striking user interface, which has been stylishly enhanced with a more modern color palette, as well as higher-contrast text and graphics. This redesigned user interface frames a dramatically expanded set of creative tools and a host of features for music creators, editors, mixers, and post production professionals. All the key Pro Tools functions that users rely on are still right where they should be, but enhancements, such as dockable Editor windows and a configurable Edit window toolbar, make it easier to navigate than ever before.

For composers and musicians, Pro Tools 8 provides powerful functionality for streamlining the creative process, as well as a robust bundle of over 70 plug-ins and virtual instruments, which deliver the most versatile sonic palette ever available out-of-the-box for Pro Tools. New music creation features include:
•Fully integrated, dockable MIDI and Score Editor windows for greatly enhanced MIDI editing functionality and professional score editing and printing
•A sizable collection of music creation and sound-processing plug-ins, including 20 all-new AIR effects and five new virtual instruments—Mini Grand piano, Boom drum machine, DB-33 tonewheel organ, Vacuum tube-modeled synthesizer, and Xpand!2™ sample player
•High-quality amplifiers simulation thanks to Digidesign’s acclaimed new guitar amp emulator Eleven™ Free as well as Tech21 SansAmp® amplifier emulator by Bomb Factory®
•A large bundle of high-quality loops

For music and post production professionals, Pro Tools 8 offers:
•Revolutionary new Elastic Pitch makes it easy to transpose music in real time right in the Edit window
•10 inserts per channel
•Enhanced controller integration with Digidesign® and M-Audio® control surfaces
•ICON integration enhancements that dramatically increase speed and efficiency
•HD QuickTime support on Mac OS X for dramatically increased versatility

Pro Tools|HD 8 enhances the extensive capabilities of Digidesign’s flagship Pro Tools|HD audio hardware, with support for the new Satellite Link option, which allows users to control up to five Pro Tools|HD systems as one. For the ultimate in post production efficiency, the Media Composer®-based Video Satellite option brings Avid® HD/SD video playback into the Pro Tools|HD audio workflow, while the Video Satellite LE option brings QuickTime HD/SD or Avid SD video playback into the Pro Tools|HD audio workflow, all without sacrificing audio track counts or processing power.

For project studio owners, Pro Tools LE 8 and Pro Tools M-Powered 8 have been expanded to support up to 48 simultaneous audio tracks. Adding the new Music Production Toolkit 2 or DV Toolkitâ„¢ 2 (Pro Tools LE only), gives users access to up to 64 audio tracks. And for serious Pro Tools LE users, the new Complete Production Toolkit (Pro Tools LE only) combines the content of both toolkits above, and offers up to 128 simultaneous audio tracks AND 7.1 surround mixing.

Pro Tools 8 software is expected to be available in late 2008 for Windows Vista- (32-bit Business or Ultimate), Windows XP-, and Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)-based Pro Tools|HD, Pro Tools LE, and Pro Tools M-Powered systems.

Visit Digidesign at AES 2008 in booth #701 to see Pro Tools 8 software in action. For more information, visit www.digidesign.com.

About Digidesign
Digidesign is a worldwide leading manufacturer of digital audio production systems and the winner of the 2001 Technical Grammy® Award and 2003 Oscar® statuette representing the Academy Scientific and Technical Award for the design, development, and implementation of the Pro Tools digital audio workstation. Digidesign provides the professional music, film, video, multimedia, and radio broadcast industries with tools for digital recording, MIDI sequencing, editing, signal processing, and surround mixing. Digidesign products are marketed in more than 40 countries worldwide through a distribution network of value-added dealers, distributors, and OEM relationships. Digidesign is a part of Avid Technology, Inc. For more information, visit www.digidesign.com.

About Avid Technology, Inc.
Avid is a worldwide leader in tools for film, video, audio, 3D animation, gaming and broadcast professionals – as well as for home audio and video enthusiasts. Avid professional and consumer brands include Avid®, Digidesign, M-Audio®, Pinnacle Systems®, Sibelius®, Softimage® and Sundance Digital®. The vast majority of primetime television shows, feature films, commercials and chart-topping music hits are made using one or more Avid products. Whether used by seasoned professionals or beginning students, Avid’s products and services enable customers to work more efficiently, productively and creatively. Avid received an Oscar statuette representing the 1998 Scientific and Technical Award for the concept, design, and engineering of the Avid® Film Composer® system for motion picture editing. For more information about the company’s Oscar, Grammy and Emmy® award-winning products and services, visit www.avid.com.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, OCTOBER 3, 2008 — Sound Devices announces the latest firmware update for its best-selling 788T Digital Recorder at this year’s AES show (Booth 1231). The 1.5 firmware upgrade adds AES 42 digital microphone support, sampling rate converters, and new metadata handling to the recorder. more