Flashback: Digital Sound Recording arrives w / The 3M Digital Mastering System

From the Files of db- 
The Sound Engineering Magazine: 
February 1980.
The world's 1st Multi-track Digital Recorder -
The Digital Mastering System by 3M, 
arrived in the late 70's.
It was expensive, carrying with it
 a price tag of just under $150,000.
It wasn't the 1st Digital Recorder -
( that was The Soundstream DTR)
But it was use to produce the world’s first
 digitally recorded commercial release.
The compact disc was still three-years away.
More importantly- ( and Not as well-known) 
This was the system that was used to
produce The Empire Strikes Back Radio Drama
@ Studio M in St. Paul - Minnesota in 1983.