Masterlink or ADATedit???

dirtdog

New member
I am planning to upgrade from my Tascam 4-tracker to an ADAT machine. With this journey into the digital world, I ultimately want to make CD's of my music, rather than the cassettes I currently make. Being quite computer-phobic, I prefer the tape method over the Roland harddrive units. My question is this: will I be able to master and burn CD's with my computer using the ADATedit, or should I save up an extra $1400 and go for the Masterlink?? Bear in mind that my computer knowledge is minimal....I received some advice over in the "recording techniques" section, but was advised to seek sonusman's expertise in this Alesis forum....
thanks in advance for any help anyone can give me!!
-dirtdog
 
This question is very vague. The ADAT PCI card and the Masterlink are really two different devices for two different things.

The PCI card is used to get tracks from your ADAT to a computer so they may be edited, or whatever. If you want to mix on the computer (something I don't recommend for a number of reasons) then I would recommend a real soundcard (something the ADAT card is not very good at) with A/D/A converters on it.

ADAT's are a modular recording system. 8 tracks at once. You will need a mixer to hear tracks that are already on tape. The ADAT PCI card is not a stand alone recording soundcard because A) it does not have A/D/A converter, you need an ADAT to do A/D/A conversions B) they have latency issues that Alesis has not overcome yet that effect it's ability to record to the hard drive and monitor tracks on the hard drive at the same time. Not only can this card not do that presently, but there are still the latency issues.

The Masterlink is more like a DAT machine. It is used to record to. It contains I guess software to edit and "master" the stereo tracks it just recorded, and also has the ability to create Red Book standard CDR's. It has A/D/A converters so you can hear your work. But with it, you need some kind of recording medium (a multitrack machine) and somekind of mixer. It again is not a stand alone multitrack recording system. It's purpose is to provide a storage medium for stereo mixes that are mixed to it.

So, they are two different things.

My advice? Get an ADAT XT 20, a good mixer, whatever effect and dynamic processing you need, and a good 24 bit soundcard with A/D/A converter so you can mix to the computer. Get some decent recording software for the computer to use to record the mixes coming into the computer from your mixer, and of course a CD-RW drive with the authoring software to burn Red Book standard CDR's.

If you don't understand all of this, well, you are not ready for it then. You need to get up on multitrack recording techniques and some computer recording techniques. In that case, just get the ADAA/mixer combo, and some kind of digital mix down deck (like a stand alone CDR burner) and go to town.

If you are not comfortable with a computer, and don't want to spend hours upon hours learning about it, soundcard/software solutions is not going to be easy for you.

I really don't know what more to add. You are asking for advice that is very general about two different devices altogether. If you don't understand the differences between them already, you have some learning to do... :)

Concerning "crossing Ed" that was stated in another post in another forum, that is a bunch of bullshit. I tell it like it is. I get "crossed" when people want to jump up to professional level recording with very little knowledge of recording techniques in general. If you want to learn to record like a pro, then get an apprenticeship at a good studio, or, buy the equipment that the pro's use and start playing around. Read some books. Don't get discouraged when the results are less then desireable. Hell, I bought my first multitrack recorder in like 1989. I have put months worth of hours behind a mixing board and recording machine. I didn't start getting very good until just a 4 or 5 years ago. I read everything I could find, much of it just he same old stuff that didn't seem to be pertinent. But in time, it all starts to come together. Recording is an "art", and you don't learn art until you do it for a long time. You can learn any technique in a short amount of time, but learning where to apply that technique, and to what degree is the "art" part of it, and there is no way around the good old "experiment alot" process.

Ed
 
Thanks for the advice, Ed......I was inclined to opt for the Masterlink to mix down to from the ADAT machine, and you have reinforced that idea. I just feel more at ease recording and mixing without frogging around with the computer. I have a friend with a DAT recorder in his studio who will help me master my ADAT recordings until I can come up with the $$$ for a Masterlink. I appreciate your response and I have enjoyed reading your posts in this and the other forums. I never worried about "crossing" you!
-dirtdog
 
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