ADAT or ADAT HD

[Outlaws]

This is a fairly general question.

First question.

I am looking into purchasing either the 24 track harddisk recorder, or a couple ADATs. I don't know that I need 24 tracks, but that is beside the point. This 24 track HD, does it see empty areas of a track that are not recorded, so no space is being taken up? Meaning that if I record on say track 1, then stop recording for the chorus, then start again, does the whole area take up space on the HD. I don't think so, but the Alesis website gave me that impression.

Second question.

What is the differnce in the Blackfaced ADAT and the other one? Just 16 and 20 bit? The beige one has both right? What about head life? If I get a couple used, what is a realistic life expectancy. Some have 1500 hours, others only 70.

Okay, so the last one was like 5 questions

[foreverain4]

ok, first of all, the isnt just two types of adats. there is an xt as well that is just 16bit. if you want 20 bit you must look into the xt20 or an lx20. i have 2 xt20's and an xt and love the whole adat thing. but honestly, i really want to go with a HD recorder. i have been researching 2 pretty heavily. first off, the HD24 records linearly. which is what you said above. if you are recording on one track, you may as well be recording on 24. but, by doing this you can use standard (cheap) 5400rpm ide drives. the cost is the same per track as an adat. that was there whole marketing thing. the other unit i was looking at was the mackie SDR. this unit records non linearly, but, you can only use mackie media drives i beleive. this is suposed to be mackies answer to the HD24. supposedly though, the alesis has better a/d converters. i would go with the HD24, then ad an adat later to give you compatibility with other studios. you can go in just about every pro studio and find at least one adat. also, you will really love the 24 bit resolution as opposed to 20bit. it is possible though to record on adat xt20's at 24 bit. you have to have an external a/d converter such as a digital mixer or standalone unit. you will only be able to get 6 tracks per machine if you do this.

[foreverain4]

also, the HD24 would be less maintenance.

[Outlaws]

What about head life?

Reel to reel is a pain in the ass.

[foreverain4]

that is what i mean by "less maintenance". you dont have to worry about head life with a HD recorder.

[Outlaws]

What is it, and what is involved with the mainanece.

[hasbeen]

Go to the Alesis website and read about the HD24. I love it. I had the old adats before and you can get them on ebay pretty cheap, but then you gotta link them etc. HD24 is easy, upgradable and sounds great...

http://www.alesis.com/products/hd24/index.html

[Outlaws]

So I was at Musicians Friend (I don't buy I just browse) and they have 2 different ADAT HDs. HD24XR and the HD24. I don't know if it is a typo, but the XL has 113dB of ADA, and the other only has 103. Is that the only difference? I don't even see the XL on the Alesis website.

And what about the upkeep of ADATs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hasbeen]

With the old ADAT's you are using tape. Therefore you need to maintain the heads by cleaning them. I have done this myself by removing the top and cleaning the tape path and drum heads. You also need to buy the tapes. Eventually the heads wear out but I have never witnessed that personally. With the hard drive ADAT you dont need to maintain anything, really. It uses a hard drive not unlike your computer. You should back up your data though. You can buy more hard drives and they are cheap!

The HD24 unit has 24 tracks at 24-bit/48kHz, 12 tracks at 24-bit/96kHz. It can be updated later to the XR version which has 24 tracks at 24-bit/96kHz.

[Outlaws]

Thank you.

[DDev]

For what it's worth, in regards to head life, I have a blackface ADAT with over 3000 hours on it and it still works like a champ. These are a very cheap way to get into recording to try it out.

Darryl.....

[Outlaws]

How well does an ADAT and the HD24 sync up? I mean, when you fastforward, rewind, punch in, etc?

[foreverain4]

the HD24 is made to work with adats. it would hook up the same and have all the transport controls.

[mixsit]

Just to through one more thing into the mix, and that is noise level. When i was switching from adats to DAW, I tried the mackie HD recorder (not the Alesis though). The fan (and drive?) noise was horrendous. Where a pair of adats were fine in the background, these would require a machine room.
No way you'd want to mix with them in the room let alone record.
Maybe other units are not as loud, don't know.
Any way it's something to consider too..
Wayne