Suggestions for 8 channel A/D converter

A

artr

New member
Hey guys, I´m recording to tape and I need something to bounce it to the computer. I have a 4 track tape machine right now, but might be expanding to 8 at some point, so I´m looking to buy something that has conversion for preferably 8 tracks, but at least 4. I have an Audient iD14 and iD22, but neither are capable of more than 2 inputs at once. They have ADAT though, so I´m thinking, is there a standalone A/D converter, that I could use via the ADAT? It doesn´t need to have preamps, maybe actually better with just conversion. I´m looking for something that´s fairly inexpensive, max maybe 300$. If there´s nothing that´s pretty good in that range, I´m thinking I might sell the Audients and get a Fireface 400 instead, they have 8 line ins, so I´m guessing that would do the job. Any suggestions or thoughts are welcome
 
I've got two - a Presonus Firepod and a Tascam 16/8 - but again and older one. If I had to replace one, I would probably go with the Presonus Studio 1810C - or the latest Tascam - the new 16x8, but I note that the Presonus has ADAT input, which for me isn't important but could be for you. Both are sensible rather than crazy money and probably I'd go with the Presonus if I wanted to freestanding it, otherwise the Tascam in the rack format would be a straight swap for me. I can't hear any sonic differences between the two I have at all, nor any difference with the mic input noise - so either would keep me happy. The Presonus being smaller means to feed in 8 lines, half go to the back, half to the front? This I can cope with, but the mics on the front, lines on the rear could work better for some people?
 
I've got the Tascam 16x08 and it works fine. You have 8 line inputs plus 8 mic preamps if you want to record direct. They are still available for $360 new from the Tascam store on Amazon. You can do transfers at 96/24 which should be plenty adequate. I've done transfers of old records and a few tapes and everything worked flawlessly.

Two front line ins have faders, the back 6 are direct and can accommodate either -10 or +4 dBu.
 
I had the ADA8200 for a while (before I had my linked F8s) and it worked just fine adding 8 inputs to my Focusrite. (You are limited to 48kHz when using all 8 through a single ADAT input, if it matters to you.)
 
Thanks a lot for the suggestions everyone! I´ll do a bit of research on the Tascam 16x08 and the Behringer, they both seem to do what I need!
 
The Behringer ADA8200 is a good problem solver. One thing I noticed the other day is that Focusrite in the UK are doing a good deal on a refurbished 18i20 interface which can either be used as an 8 channel interface in its own right or it can work as a standalone preamp/AtoD convertor which will plug in to your Audient interface. It might be worth checking whether Focusrite in the US have similar offers.
 
I don't see anything available in the US. The 18i20 is $550 everywhere, even at the Amazon Focusrite store. There is the 2nd Gen 18i20 on Reverb for $350. If you're just using it for the ADAT/Preamps, it should work fine for 8 more channels as long as you stay with 44.1/48kHz. You can use 4 channels for 88/96k.
 
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