Preamp/Converter & Mastering Processor
I’e been looking at these two pieces for the last 6 months or so because I want to round out the I/O for my system. My sound card has light pipe and spdif I/O so I could add both of these and gain a 10 channels of I/O- and on stereo pair would be high quality via the DEQ 2496.
Qhat do people here think about these units- anyne ever try them? Do you think the sound quality lives up to the specs.
The ADA8000 has to be about the cheapest preamp/converter combo per channel and would seem to be good for quickly adding lots of inputs.
I’ve looked at high end converters and it their specs aren’t far above the DEQ2496 but the price definitely is. Plus this unit has lots of EQ and dynamics processing and other functions. I know its not the greatest but 113dB is probably more than good enough for the best music I’m going to record.
Thanks
nocents
I’m thinking of popping for an ADA8000. Sound On Sound gave it a good review. 8 mic/line inputs via light pipe for $200.00 ain’t bad.
TG
The ADA8000 is pretty sweet. I haven’t actually recorded with it yet, but when auditioning through the mic pre’s they sound decent. Having 8 more inputs is going to be awesome when we start recording our next album.
Just remember it can only record at up to 48khz (or 44.1khz) - so no 24/96 recording with it if you care (I don’t).
I auditioned one at Guitar Center in Atlanta. In their pro-sound/recording room, they had an GT LD Tube Mic into a MOTU 828mkII via FireWire to a Mac running Digital Performer 4.0. It sounded really good with an open, transparent quality. The ADA8000 mic pres did not color the signal. Straight into the MOTU’s mic pre…well…I liked the sound of the Berry better.
I think I’ll go put my flame proof undies on now!! 
TG
I read the SOS review also, but the most comelling evidence is the input I’ve received from successful pro studio owners. Several have praised the ADA8000 under heavy fire from audiofiles and could list a number od bands recorded using a rack full of them. One studio owner told me that he bypasses his noisy mixing desk with 6 ADA8000s and gets a much better result lacking the noise the board gives him. I never heard of the ADA8000 until I saw it being argued on another DAW program’s message board.
What about the DEQ2496 as an audiophile stereo A/D/A ?
I want at least one stereo pair thats “audiophile quality” for certain instrumenst and voices and as a monitoring channel. Any comments on that?
no cents
I’m afraid I’m not familiar with the DEQ2496. Sorry. Is it a two channel SPDIF enabled preamp?
TG
I have the ada8000 and personally feel the pres aren’t too bad. they’re nothing stellar that makes you say wow, but they’re surprisingly clean and sound very neutral. For $200, they’re an EXCELLENT deal.
BTW… most cards with ADAT and S/PDIF only allow ONE set of digital inputs to work at a time, meaning you’ll either get 8 channels with ADAT, or 2 with S/PDIF, but not 10 with both.
you could always get two ADA8000’s and find a dual ADAT input soundcard… 16 channels of goodness… 
I have been waitin for a reason to track 16 simul inputs and I was going to ask the same question…
me too. just wish I could find an inexpensive card that had two adat input/outputs.
| Quote (guitars69 @ Oct. 29 2004,14:42) |
| BTW... most cards with ADAT and S/PDIF only allow ONE set of digital inputs to work at a time, meaning you'll either get 8 channels with ADAT, or 2 with S/PDIF, but not 10 with both. |
One of the reasons I chose the Emu 1820M. You CAN have ADAT AND SPDIF at the same time. Take the EMU Synch I/O card and make it the Master and send wordclock to the Berry AND an SPDIF two channel AD....presto....rock solid 10 channel digital goodness. Plus the eight analog inputs on the Audiodock...you get 18 simultaneous inputs.
1820M $500
ADA8000 $200
ART DPSII $250
$950 for 18 simultaneous inputs. Not a bad deal!
TG
EDIT: You don't have to do the wordclock thing. I just like the idea of all of them running on the same clock and not have to rely on the ADAT and SPDIF stream for the clock signal.
very nice. I used to own the dspII as well. not a bad pre. the voicings aren’t as spectacular as they claim. but useful.
those e-mu cards are supposedly pretty awesome.
Hey
Better yet pick up a motu 2408mk11(24bit/48k) and 3 behringer ada8000’s and you’ve got 24 tracks for around 950 I used the ada with an 828mk2 and it worked great. The only thing I wasn’t crazy about was the xlr outs. They should of given a 1/4" option for the outs. I tracked drums with it and it did a surprising job. I tried like heck to get it to overload and it wouldn’t. Must have a built in limiter?
you couldn’t clip the ada8000? I can. 
not sure if that’s a good thing though.
the 2408 mk11 has 3 adat lightpipes? hmmm… gas coming on…
Hey
The 2408mk11 has 3 lightpipes:) . I had 3 adats linked to them and it worked great. I tried to get the 8000 to clip but it never would. My wav forms were clipped off but no distortion. Motu has a older 24/48k unit called the 24i. 24 analog ins and 2 outs. Good for someone tracking with an analog board.
A Dakota plus the Montana expansion card and 4 ADA 8000’s will give you 32 simultaneous inputs at just under $1500.
Here is a thread from the SAWStudio user group that has a link to some material recorded using three ADA 8000’s.
any idea if the Dakota can run S/PDIF and its two ADAT inputs at the same time? or do I lose one ADAT lightpipe when S/PDIF is enabled?
So I just found a Brand New Dakota on Ebay for $170 with 2 hours to go. So I bought it
final price for the new card? ($420 new) with 20 seconds to go? $192.50
last second, greg_97 jumps the price up to $240 and I lose!!!
I’m pissed! it was a great deal. I missed out on a hammerfall 9652 for around that price too. suck.
Don’t you just love those stealth bidders. 
I guess that’s the way to do it if you really want something. You’ve got to keep your eye on it every second and bid accordingly.
As far as the ADAT SPDIF usage, I haven’t a clue. It just looked like an affordable multi-ADAT Lightpipe interface.
-Edit- From the Frontier Design Groups Dakota FAQ …
Q3: Can I use all of Dakota’s digital audio inputs and outputs simultaneously?
Absolutely. And you can add the Montana expansion card to Dakota for even more digital audio I/O. …
Looks like a YES to me … You can use them all, provided you are using Coaxial SPDIF and not Optical.