Adats for a/d converter

[dnel57]

Call me old,but,I have an adat recording studio which gives people what they want and are happy with.
Just because they came up with new methods,doesn't mean adats all of a sudden sound like crap.

I bought an adat which only has 135 hrs on it.
It is displaying err7.
Heads should not need cleaning after only 135 hrs.
The previous owner used it only as an a/d converter and not recording to tape.

I saw another adat on ebay,that has err7.
Again,that person used it solely as a n a/d converter.
He says he had the heads cleaned and still shows err7.
Question:
Does anyone know if using an adat for a/d converter(no tape use at all)can damage the heads?
Thanks

[Steenamaroo]

Hi there,
Have you seen this thread?

Also, where in the world are you?

[snus]

There is no way I would ever trust the transports on the old ADAT's in a commercial enterprise. But, using them as A/D/A converters is no problem!

Idler Wheel seemed to be the most common problem with them. I learned to replace mine and never had any other problems.

[mixsit]

Question:
Does anyone know if using an adat for a/d converter(no tape use at all)can damage the heads?
Thanks

It's been a while- but would you even need a tape to pass the signals through? (I'm pretty sure you could get levels out w/o having it wrapped' and in pause? Certainly you wouldn't want it if it's just there as a converter-

[dnel57]

Sorry for not clarifying that my intention is to use them for recording not as converters.
But 135 hours sounds pretty low for err7 unless using them as converters affects the heads somehow??
Doesn't make sense to me,but,this makes two that I know of with that same problem,and,they were both only used as a/d converters,not recording to tape.
I appreciate your answers,thanks

[Track Rat]

Just using them as converters won't do anything to the heads. I have two ADATs that I use as converters only in front of a MOTU 2408mkII where my band practices. They work just fine in that capacity but I'd NEVER try to track to tape on them ever again.

[snus]

I would say that instead of trying to fix your current adat's, invest that money into a computer interface that can utilize them and record direct to the computer. You are still giving people what they want, but also capable of giving them so much more! Recording direct to digital tape these days really just doesn't make any sense!

[dnel57]

Thanks for the input.
I can go directly to my pc in my studio.
The reason I still use ADATs beside the fact that I like them is
I do live,on site, recording,and,to my (limited)knowledge,
you cannot record 16 individually separate,editable, tracks
to a computer simultaneously.
Track by track on a computer is great.Also the cut and paste
and copy capabilities are helpful.
I'm sure the day will come that there will somehow be multiple
two channel inputs on a pc.
But,by that time,there will be some new way that everyone will flock to
and pc recording will be deemed crap just like they did with the ADATs.
Thanks again for your info.
Happy tracking

[snus]

Thanks for the input.
I can go directly to my pc in my studio.
The reason I still use ADATs beside the fact that I like them is
I do live,on site, recording,and,to my (limited)knowledge,
you cannot record 16 individually separate,editable, tracks
to a computer simultaneously.
Track by track on a computer is great.Also the cut and paste
and copy capabilities are helpful.
I'm sure the day will come that there will somehow be multiple
two channel inputs on a pc.
But,by that time,there will be some new way that everyone will flock to
and pc recording will be deemed crap just like they did with the ADATs.
Thanks again for your info.
Happy tracking

Well, 8 years ago, I was recording 24 tracks direct to a PC with a MOTU interface using ADAT's as the converters. If anything, that track count could be WAY higher! My old computer was actually capable of recording over 64 tracks at once. With the newer SATA hard drives, I would say you could easily double that!

[snus]

In fact, here is the first song of that recording. All 24 tracks recording at once. Motu 2408 mkII to a AMD Athlon XP PC using ATA-66 hard drive.

http://www.sonusman.com/mp3/FordBros.mp3