Obscure Mac software for a Roland DM80 hard disc recorder? Circa 1993!

[nickbirkby]

Hello all, i have been offered a Roland DM80-8 hard disc recorder by a closing down studio ( for free!!)
This is one of the very first hard disc recorders from the early 90's. I didnt even know they made a recorder like this so long ago!

Reading the manual it says:  "The DM-80 can be run using a Macintosh computer and the Roland Track Manager software, thereby eliminating both the remote controller and fader unit"

Im not sure whether the unit has its remote control, but hopefully it should as the unit cant really be used without it.

Im wondering if the software still exists? Anyone heard of this? Or know where to look?
Thanks, Nick

[mrhappy]

Can't say no for THAT price!!

[MacOS Plus]

  Looks like that software came along too early to make it to the internet.  Amazingly Roland actually has the manual online in PDF format though - http://cdn.roland.com/assets/media/pdf/DM-80_OM.pdf.  What I did note while reading through it was you needed an additional interface unit when connecting it to a computer to translate between Mac serial and the DM-80 control bus.  Without that the software isn't going to do anything.

[IIO]

seems the software was optional and USD 650 https://www.rapmag.com/a/1990s/273-93/aug93/1050-test-drive-the-roland-dm-80-multi-track-disk-recorder?showall=&start=3

[Knezzen]

IIRC Cubase Audio on the Atari and Cubase Audio on the Mac supported these (connected through MIDI between Cubase and the DM80).
Might be worth a shot.

Cubase Audio can be found here: http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/cubase-audio-20

[nickbirkby]

Thanks for the interesting info! Yes I spotted that interface- it doesnt look like something one would find easily. I will look at Cubase Audio and see if I can find the manual. I was idly wondering if Sounddiver might control it but thats probably wishful thinking

I suspect the controller is there as it cant work without it. I am going to the studio on Friday morning so will know then...

I think gear like this might be collectable one day. Perhaps fairly far into the future though.

[IIO]

of course you could also replace the thing with an iphone 2, which is also only 25 USD and requries less energy and space.

[IIO]

and its 24 bits and has more memory

[ssp3]

Hello all, i have been offered a Roland DM80-8 hard disc recorder by a closing down studio ( for free!!)
This is one of the very first hard disc recorders from the early 90's. I didnt even know they made a recorder like this so long ago!

Reading the manual it says:  "The DM-80 can be run using a Macintosh computer and the Roland Track Manager software, thereby eliminating both the remote controller and fader unit"

Im not sure whether the unit has its remote control, but hopefully it should as the unit cant really be used without it.

Im wondering if the software still exists? Anyone heard of this? Or know where to look?
Thanks, Nick

Hi Nick,

I not even heard about it, I actually used it many moons ago. And I have a copy stored on one of my MO disks somewhere.

Best,

[MacOS Plus]

@ssp3:  It would be great if you can find and post that software.  Perhaps we can help save many of these recorders from being tossed in the dumpster.  BTW, as per your username, are you a SonicStudio Classic user?  It would be nice to have another one here on these forums.

[ssp3]

@ssp3:  It would be great if you can find and post that software.

Sure, but that might take some time. My both DM-80s are stored away and so are the software backup MOs.

Perhaps we can help save many of these recorders from being tossed in the dumpster.

I highly doubt that there are so many around. Maybe a handful, not more. These machines were very expensive back in the day and, due to their closed architecture, not that popular.
There are no tools to read the disk contents on the Mac (or PC), for 8 tracks two drives are needed which are connected in some sort of RAID configuration. 2GB (or was it 4GB?) drive size limit and so on.
On the plus side, they sounded very good - much better than anything available at that time (1990), topped, perhaps, only by some very high end gear. And, they were standalone..

BTW, as per your username, are you a SonicStudio Classic user?  It would be nice to have another one here on these forums.

Yes, I am.

Best,

[MacOS Plus]

BTW, as per your username, are you a SonicStudio Classic user?  It would be nice to have another one here on these forums.

Yes, I am.

  Cool, I've got far more of that gear than anything else, too much really!  All types - SSP/USP,  MediaNet copper/fibre, Nubus/PCI, and just about every accessory in multiple.  If you ever have any questions, PM me.

[splitpoint]

I have a DM-80.  To connect to a mac requires a piece of hardware (roland IB-1) in addition to the software, good luck finding one.

For storage the DM-80 can address 4GB disk space total per scsi buss and I've successfully used Seagate ST-15150n as well as Syquest Syjet with mine.  Remember your disks can only add up to 4GB per buss for a total of 8GB.  You can backup data to a scsi 4mm DAT drive.  I had an old exabyte 4mm for mine before the tape drive bit the dust.

The basic model is 4 tracks and can be upgraded to 8 tracks.  Most of the ones I've seen in the last 20 years have the 8 track upgrade.  The DM80r remote is required to use it if you aren't using the IB-1. The DM80f remote is optional. 

One kind of cool feature is that you can use it as a phrase sampler.  Each track can be assigned to a midi note and you can play it back using the keyboard.

As a very early Hard Disk recorder it is slow to use and kind of cumbersome but was cutting edge for it's time. 

[ssp3]

I have a DM-80.  To connect to a mac requires a piece of hardware (roland IB-1) in addition to the software, good luck finding one.

Actually, IB-1 is nothing more than a simple MIDI IN/OUT on 2 x 5 pin DIN connectors to MIDI IN/OUT on 1 x 8 pin DIN connector translator. ROLAND DM buss IS MIDI, just different connector.

I borrowed a IB-1 from a friend and reverse engineered it back in the '90s. There was nothing fancy inside, just a bunch of 74xx logic chips.

At the end I took two Midiman Mini Macman interfaces (one for each DM-80) and simply soldered 8 pin DIN connectors parallel to existing 5 pin ones with a couple of wires. Simple and elegant, no IB-1s needed.

And, by the way, with similar trick one can use DM-80 fader unit as MIDI controller. Just add PSU.

http://www.mes-musik.de/Roland-IB-1-DM-Buss-to-Midi-Converter-fuer-DM80

[widdly]

I found some treasure today. Its the manuals for the DM80 and also the software.  The huge box for the single floppy is just silly.

It is of no use to me.  If someone wants it I can mail it to them.  Otherwise I could upload the software if someone can explain how to do that using modern PC's and a USB floppy.

[fenrisulfr]

Hi Widdly I'd love to get these off of you as I've got a full DM-80 setup and running a mac se/30. I joined this site and a few others specifically for setting up this as an old school DAW. I'm also in the process or trying to get a SCSI2SD to work with the DM-80. I don't have the IB-1 but have read the posts here and have ordered a midiman mini from*bay to try to mod as mentioned. These DM-80s much like the old macs can really be brought back to life. They record at 48k which is what basically every "classic" album recorded digitally  from the 80s were recorded at...

[DieHard]

I found some treasure today. Its the manuals for the DM80 and also the software.  The huge box for the single floppy is just silly.

It is of no use to me.  If someone wants it I can mail it to them.  Otherwise I could upload the software if someone can explain how to do that using modern PC's and a USB floppy.

Step One: Take some "clear" pics of the floppy disk; Mac diskettes are a real pain in the ass and sometimes used "variable speed" hardware / floppy drives to read and write more data than was designed to fit on it...

...this is also the reason non-Mac computers can’t mount 400K and 800K Mac floppy disks

Read Here:
http://lowendmac.com/2016/floppy-disk-compatibility-and-incompatibility-in-the-mac-world/

Step two: We need to get this diskette to a member with a drive that is compatible so it can be "imaged" and uploaded.  The PC won't cut it

[WhiteWarlock]

looks like very useful pro Roland recording gear especially for free...
make it happen
congrats

[cyberish]

https://www.rapmag.com/a/273-93/aug93/1050-test-drive-the-roland-dm-80-multi-track-disk-recorder?showall=1&limitstart=

[fenrisulfr]

I had a little stroke of luck as it turns out the system I just got in fact includes the DM-80-S software as well as the IB-1 MIDI interconnect. Unfortunately I have no working MIDI interface for my SE/30 right now, so the software will only load as far as the "connect" window. I've made an image of the DM-80-S disk for anyone who may want it. What's the best way to upload it?

I cannot post any images for some reason. It keeps telling me the file is too big (which it's not) or it's "taking too long" (which it also isn't).