I've been having a look but can't find any low-cost dedicated ADAT I/O (Firewire or USB). Obviously there are interfaces that feature ADAT, but I was looking for anything low-cost that might pair up with a Behringer ADA8000.

Am I missing something obvious again, or do such basic interfaces simply not exist?

Not sure that there are any particularly low cost ones - especially if it has to be Firewire or USB. There are some cheaper PCI ones available secondhand, like the original RME Hammerfall cards but they're not necessarily supported by 64 bit versions of Windows.

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

Dunno about USB, but for FW, either M-Audio Profire Lightbridge or Presonus Firestudio Lightpipe, both now out of production so...

Ok, so possibly an option for the WinXP desktop rig...

I was hoping it may be interchangeable with the laptop, but I think I'm asking too much.

How about that is Cardbus?

RME is probably about your only hope with Cardbus - again, it will be pricey unless you can find a used bargain.

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

Quote James Perrett:

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RME is probably about your only hope with Cardbus - again, it will be pricey unless you can find a used bargain.

James.

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These do turn up on eBay now and again. I've been tempted but never reckless enough.

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Ohm's Law states, "Your PA isn't as powerful as you think it is".

I think the cheapest PCIe card is the EMU 1212M (currently £119) but given you could spend a bit more money and get full desktop/laptop flexibility then I don't see the point in compromising on a PCI card.

The portable device that offer the best value would be the Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 (currently £199) but thats firewire which is on its way out as a standard.

A more future proof USB version would be the Focusrite Scarlett 18i6 (currently £239) but I guess this is a bit wide of the mark of a simple low cost interface that just offers ADAT.

My killer recommendation would be the Presonus AudioBox 1818VSL (currently £389). This offers two way ADAT which means if you wanted you could flick the Audiobox to output through all channels and have 16 separate channels of audio to mix. Obviously you'd need a large analogue desk and that'd be a pretty specialist application.

The Presonus AudioBox 1818VSL would give you the best quality and if the price tag is a bit much then sell the ADA8000 on eBay and utilise the superior Presonus preamps. Obviously if you have other uses for the ADA8000 then thats not going to work.

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Music Matter - Music Technology Store

Quote Magic Matt:

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Ok, so possibly an option for the WinXP desktop rig...

I was hoping it may be interchangeable with the laptop, but I think I'm asking too much.

How about that is Cardbus?

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The previously-mentioned M-Audio and Presonus FW ADAT interfaces also work with a Cardbus FW card in a laptop.

As a dedicated ADAT I/O for an XP 32-bit desktop rig, a used RME Digi96xx, Frontier Design Dakota or Marian Marc PCI ADAT card would work given an available "native" PCI slot.

If you only need a single ADAT I/O, another XP desktop option is a used E-Mu card with onboard ADAT I/O, and the external I/O box with an E-Mu Cardbus card does laptop ADAT I/O duty as well.

Another ADAT I/O option would be an RME Digiface outboard box connected with an RME PCI/PCIe/Cardbus host card, but for that kind of money you might do better with a FW or USB audio interface with included ADAT I/O, of which there are quite a few.

Thanks for the suggestions. I was offered and ADA8000 cheap (which I bought) and I was thinking perhaps it would be cheaper to use that with an interface, than buy an actual interface with 8 XLR inputs. It's actually a tough call.

It works with my current PCI DSP24 rig, but I didn't appreciate that is only if you disable the 8 i/o channels on the breakout box - ie you can't use both at once.

I'll probably make do with what I have for the moment until I can afford a proper USB or Firewire interface with the 8 XLR pre inputs, which is what I originally thought I'd have to buy.