Digidesign
Assumes Worldwide Distribution of QDesign's i-Media Audio MPEG-2 Software
Vancouver, Canada (March 22, 1997) - QDesign Corporation announced
today that Digidesign, Inc., a division of AVID Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVID),
will assume worldwide distribution of QDesign's i-Media Audio MPEG Pro
stereo compression software.
i-Media Audio MPEG Pro was introduced last Fall as the industry's first
real-time, studio-quality MPEG-2 audio encoding and decoding software
to operate on standard multimedia PC's without the need for proprietary
MPEG hardware. i-Media Audio's compression fidelity and unsurpassed performance
have enabled studio and multimedia audio professionals to take advantage
of the MPEG standard for efficient audio archival and distribution.
i-Media Audio MPEG Pro is a stand-alone 32-bit Windows 95/NT program that
is designed to work with any MPC-compliant audio board. This enables audio
professionals to produce MPEG compressed audio with their AudioMedia III
or CardD at the high end or with their Sound Blaster card for basic multimedia
applications. i-Media Audio creates transparent CD-quality audio at 6:1
compression and Internet-audio quality at up to 60:1 compression.
Digidesign announced the distribution of i-Media Audio for Pro Tools at
the 101st Audio Engineering Society Convention last November. "Since that
announcement we've gathered extremely positive feedback from the market
encouraging Digidesign to distribute the stand-alone PC-version of i-Media
Audio MPEG Pro," states Ed Gray, Manager of the Digidesign Third Party
Development Partners Program. Gray observes that, "Digidesign's customers
in the broadcast and new media markets are demanding superior audio compression
technology with unprecedented enthusiasm. The i-Media Audio MPEG products
offer a perfect compliment to Digidesign's portfolio of products for both
the Macintosh and Windows environments."
"Distribution of i-Media Audio MPEG Pro through Digidesign and its network
of dealers and distributors will make QDesign's MPEG II stereo compression
technology more accessible to audio professionals throughout North America,
Europe and Asia," says Richard J. Beaton, president of QDesign. "Digidesign's
customer support and industry reputation are unrivaled. We are extremely
confident that this distribution agreement between QDesign and Digidesign
will be a successful one for both our companies and our customers." i-Media
Audio MPEG Pro version 2.0 will be available from Digidesign beginning
mid-April 1997. The i-Media Audio Pro Tools version 1.0 will be commercially
available by mid-1997. All i-Media Audio MPEG-2 technology licensing inquiries
should be directed to QDesign. A FREE demo version of i-Media Audio MPEG
Pro is available for download at QDesign's website,
www.qdesign.com.
About Digidesign
Digidesign, a division of AVID Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVID), is the
leading digital audio production software and systems manufacturer for
the professional music, film, video, multimedia, and broadcast radio industries.
Digidesign's products integrate the tools required for CD-quality digital
recording, random access editing, advanced signal processing and digital
audio mixing applications. Digidesign products are marketed in over thirty
countries worldwide, through a distribution network of value-added dealers,
distributors, and OEM relationships.
About QDesign
Based in Vancouver, Canada, QDesign Corporation develops state-of-the
art interactive multimedia technologies and applications for the broadcast
and new media industries. With world-class expertise in compression technologies,
digital signal processing and advanced communications, the company offers
a platform of products and technologies which allow content providers
to compress, archive and distribute multimedia via any private or public
transmission network, including the Internet and private Intranets. QDesign
is located on the Web at http://www.qdesign.com.
Contact:
QDesign Corporation
media@qdesign.com
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