Akai
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Akai (Akai Electric Company, Ltd.) is a Japanese consumer electronics producer founded in 1929.
The manufacturer's most notable product was of Reel-to-Reel (more notably, the GX series) audiotape recorders, tuners, audio cassette decks, amplifiers, video recorders, and loudspeakers.
Many AKAI products were sold under the name Roberts in the US. In late sixties, along with Tandberg, AKAI has pioneered Cross-Field recording (using extra head), which facilitated high frequency recording. Later they switched to Glass-ferrite epitaXial (GX) heads, famous for reliability.
The most famous open-reel models are GX-747, GX-77 (unique model with auto-loading). Prominent cassette decks included three-head, closed-loop GX-F95, GX-9, GX-R99.
The company limited its consumer Hi-Fi product line in the United States in the 1990s.
Currently, the consumer electronics company is under a sort of major re-exposure, which began in early 2003. The company markets various rebranded video products manufactured by Samsung, and has various distributors around the world. In the same year, Akai began to distribute various home appliances (HVAC units, vacuum cleaners, water filtration devices, and even refrigerated store showcases).
Akai Electronic Musical Instruments Corporation, was started in 1984 as a division of the company.
The first product released by the new subsidiary, the S612 8-bit digital sampler, was the first in a series of affordable samplers.
Some of their other early products include the AX-80 8-voice analog synthesizer, and the AX-60 6-voice analog synthesizer. The AX-60 borrowed many ideas from the Roland Juno 106, but used a real VCO, and had the ability to have a split keyboard.
The S612 was superseded in 1986 with the introduction of the new professional range of digital samplers, starting with the 12-bit S900 in late 1985, the 16-bit S1000 in 1988, and the S3000, complete with writable CD-ROM and Hard disk Recording. They have recently released the Z4 24-bit 96kHz sampler.
Akai also produces several Digital MIDI sequencers and digital synthesizers such as the MPC range (MIDI Production Center), a line of integrated sampler/drum machine and MIDI sequencers that look like a drum machine.
External links
- Akai (http://www.akai.com/)
- Akai Professional (http://www.akaipro.com/)
- Akai tape decks (http://www.analogaudio.narod.ru/handbook/akai.htm)ja:AKAI professional