The Lynex Effect!

No not those series of British TV ads dubbed the Lynx Effect, of which there is an Atari Lynx parody, but the Lynex Effect. From the Lynex sampler released by Lynett Systems in 1988, to 4T/FX by D2D Systems in 1993, there is one man which galvanizes various products and companies which innovated sampling and D2D recording on the Atari TOS platform. Who is this man, and what of these companies?

The Man in Question

The man in questions is a certain Michael Lynch OBE, the name may be familiar to some, while others will never have heard of him. However Michael is a very interesting fellow indeed.

Education

A young Michael Lynch went to Christ's College in Cambridge, England studying Natural Science, combining biological and physical sciences along with mathematics. Post graduating, he went on to do a PhD in Signal Processing and Communications at the University of Cambridge entitled, Adaptive Techniques in Signal Processing and Connectionist Models.

Image courtesy of iluvator from Atari Forum

Lynett Systems

Lynex

After education Mike incorporated a company called Lynett Systems Ltd on 17th July 1986, and in 1988 Lynett Systems released the Lynex 16-bit stereo sampler for the Atari ST range of computers. It was not the first sampler for the ST range as some reports suggest, but it was certainly one of the first 16-bit samplers bespoke to Atari, next to the Hybrid Arts ADAP SoundRack.

Cheetah Marketing

Cheetah Marketing, remember these guys? Yep that's right, the company responsible for the very popular Cheetah 125+ joystick, Cheetah Bug, and other peripherals for both 8-bit and 16-bit home computers. Formed by British brothers Howard and Michael Jacobsen out of Wales on 11th October 1982, Cheetah found themselves expanding into the music industry, with products like the Cheetah SpecDrum for the Sinclair Spectrum.

After renaming themselves to Cheetah International Ltd, they would soon become known for inexpensive music instruments, such as the Cheetah MQ8 sequencer and MD8 and MD16 drum machines. So what has this got to do with the price of bananas?

The Cheetah 125+

Well, due to this foray into the music industry, Cheetah collaborated with designers such as Chris Wright, Ian Jannaway and yes Michael Lynch of Lynett Systems. Under the guidance of Chris Wright, the Cheetah MD16 drum machine was realised, as well as a series of MIDI controller keyboards, the Cheetah Master Series, amongst them the Cheetah 7P. With the influence of a certain Michael Lynch, Cheetah released the Cheetah MS800 synthesiser, and you guessed it, a 16-bit sampler in the shape of the Cheetah SX16. Cheetah's final product was arguably their best, the beautiful and mighty Cheetah MS6, designed by Ian Jannaway. After an economic downturn in the UK, the music division of Cheetah International was purchased by Chris Wright along with Nick Owen, both who would go on to form Soundscape Digital Technology Ltd along with Sydec NV. Remember the Soundscape SSHDR1 anyone? Later Sydec would be bought by Mackie, however Soundscape still marched on until 2022. Meanwhile Ian Jannaway would later form Novation, which in turn would be acquired by Focusrite, no introductions needed. Mr Lynch on the other hand, well let's just pause there!

Plasmec Systems

ADAS-ST

In 1991 a UK company called Plasmec Systems Ltd launched the ADAS. The system was available for the Mac, PC and of course Atari ST. The ADAS-ST was a 16-bit Direct to Disk (D2D) recorder, one of very few for the TOS line of computers, which were at the forefront of this early DAW technology with comparable systems such as the ADAP II and Digital Master from Hybrid Arts, DAME from OMT, SON for the ST, Sound Tools inclusive of Sound Designer II from Digidesign, and the Digital F/X Digital Master EX, conceived by Hybrid Arts. Plasmec also produced a few hard drive options, removable options such as the Adisk. However the ADAS itself was designed by D2D Systems, an offshoot company of Lynett Systems and associated again with Michael Lynch.

D2D Systems 4T/FX

D2D Systems

Falcon D2D, D2D Edit and 4T/FX

Not only did D2D Systems design the ADAS, but they were the forerunners of affordable D2D recording software, as the name of the company would suggest. They produced the first D2D products without the need for external DSPs for the Atari Falcon with Falcon D2D, the Falcon's bundled D2D software package. Soon after, D2D Edit and 4T/FX hit the market! These products were released along a similar timeframe to DAME for the Falcon, and prior to Steinberg Cubase Audio. Whereas Falcon D2D, and the more fully fledged D2D Edit were 2 channel D2D recorders and editors respectively, moreover stereo, 4T/FX was a 4 channel D2D recorder, more intrinsic to a multitrack hard disk recorder with sample rates up to a frequency of 50kHz, and the first of its kind offering more than 2 channels for the Falcon. In support of these software applications, D2D Systems are said to have also released the SPDIO, a SPDIF digital interface for D2D Edit, and the 4I/4O, an interface providing 4 analogue inputs, 4 analogue outputs and SPDIF for 4T/FX.

The Entrepreneur

The entrepreneurial nature of Mike Lynch is evident throughout his legacy he left for the Atari TOS platform. However Mr Lynch Esquire would progress onto much bigger and brighter things.

In 1996 he founded software company Autonomy, an enterprise software company specialising in automated analysis of big data, becoming the UK's largest software business by 2010 amidst the dotcom boom. Autonomy was sold to Hewlitt Packard in 2011 for reportedly circa £8.7bn. However HP claim the British entrepreneur over inflated the cost of Autonomy's sale, whereas Mike Lynch claims HP haphazardly acquired Autonomy, destroying the company in the process, and are seeking to be compensated for their alleged incompetence. It didn't take long for things to accumulate, and so legal proceedings got underway to what has now culminated into the UK's largest ever fraud case, and escalating into a legal case between the US and UK, Mike having since been acquitted as of June 2024.

Amongst this infamous case, Mike founded Invoke Capital after being fired. His achievements are seemingly endless, as a member to the board of Cambridge Enterprise, and arguably a forerunner in promoting Cambridge as the UK's Silicon Valley, was the UK's Entrepreneur of the Year in 1999, served as a non-executive to the board of the BBC, and was an adviser to the UK government as a part of the Royal Society, the UK's independent scientific academy. Quite a CV, and it is perhaps not close to half of his achievements. You cannot say this lineage is not interesting!

In Memory

Tragically Mike Lynch has been all over the news in this last week beginning Monday 19th August 2024. After being moored off the coast of Sicily near Porticello, Mike, friends and family onboard his yacht the Bayesian were caught up in a storm which ultimately sunk his ship. Sadly, it has since been confirmed Mike was one of the missing people who went down with the Bayesian, along with his young daughter. A brilliant life cut short at the most cruel time, just weeks after he was acquitted of the infamous Autonomy case.

A life which has achieved so much, ironically two lifetimes worth of accolades and achievements to reach his pinnacle, only for his troubles to begin, and subsequently for his life to end.

Often described as the British Bill Gates, which in many ways although flattering, is perhaps anything but, because he was his own man, Michael Lynch, an inspiration from his early beginnings and creations which I am proud to own, through to his undoubted influence on British business and technology, a leading light, a resilient character, a brilliant mind who will sadly leave a void behind him. Goodbye Mike Lynch, and thank you for providing joy, and being an inspiration to many!

This article is not a complete history of Lynex Systems, Plasmec Systems and D2D Systems. It merely serves to highlight what interesting products were available for the Atari platform for nostalgic and tributary purposes from the same.

Article written December 2021 and published January 2022

Article updated August 2024 due to the tragic events which took Mike Lynch's life

Bibliography: Sources not already linked include ST Format 41.
Old Cheetah and Lynex logos and marketing materials are trademarks of the once Cheetah Marketing Ltd, Lynett Systems Ltd and D2D Systems Ltd respectively.

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