2x adats in sync??

[Spider]

hi all , just wondered how this goes ?? i dont know stuff all about adats so please help.. There 8 tracks right ? so what im after is being able to digitally record 16 tracks , simultaneously if neccessary, then be able to send individual tracks , once again simultaneously , back through an inline mixer and mix down to a stereo signal using a guillemot isis soundcard ... Is this possible , mainly im worried about how it all syncs up ?? the isis has S/PDIF , coaxial and optical in and outs ... do adats have the same thing? And could someone explain how i would set this up ... i hear something about setting things to chase ... that sort of thing ..am i warm?? Also would it be possible to record on both adats while also using the ins on my soundcard (8 of them) , so thats 24 in total at once ..??of course as long as i have a decent pc to keep up.. though thats really what i do know with the isis , eight at once i mean... That would be a kick arse amount of tracks to simultaneously record.. not that i would , but it would be handy to have at your disposal.. dot u think..?? What do adats go for nowadays anyway ? is there better options available now?? anyway , hope someone can help or direct me to a previous thread..cheers all ...
spider

 

[BigKahuna]

No problem

Any ADAT will sync with another ADAT (type I or II) with just a simple 9-pin cable. I'm really not sure about the ISIS card ... but for what you describe, it sounds to me like you'd need a card with lightpipe input. ADATs use lightpipe for the digital I/O.
I'm a little confused when you say "...through an inline mixer and mix down to a stereo signal...". Does that mean you want to go to a mixer before computer and just use the computer for 2 track mixdowns? I'm not sure because it sounds like you want 8tracks on computer later on in that same paragraph. If you only want to use the computer to mix to ... the soundcard you get will just have to connect to the mixer you use ... which is probably just balanced or unbalanced analog.

Anyway, like I said I'm not sure about the isis card ... but the ADAT PCR card was designed to operate as a 'virtual' ADAT. Basically it has the same sync interface as a normal ADAT and lightpipe I/O. You first record 8trks on one ADAT, transfer those 8 to PC and then fill up the original 8 tracks with new audio. Because it's synced with a master deck, it will always play back in time. I know there are onther cards that offer lightpipe I/O ... but I don't know about the ADAT sync.
The only bad thing ... I've heard quite a few negative comments about the PCR card. I don't own one ... so I can't judge ... I'm just mentioning what I've heard.

Hope that helps... Good luck spider!

 

[Spider]

sure did bigkahuna , cheers for that .. Well basically thats all i want the pc for , just to mixdown to , but seeing as though i already have a soundcard in there i thought i would try and use those inputs as well .. So basically ill be recording 16 tracks to adat then route these back through the mixer and into two of the inputs on the isis card.. there will still be six inputs left on the isis card so i was wondering if i would be able to use these for recording aswell ?? so basically record 22 tracks at once , 16 on the adats and six through the isis .. Then on mixdown i could just route these six tracks out the pc and into the mixdown stream then back into the pc incorporated into the mix... The problem is i would want these six tracks to be in sync with the sixteen from the two adats.. Maybe im pushing it and should just be happy with sixteen tracks at once.. Well ive heard a few bad things about those cards to , but looking at it , it seems to have the same plugs (optical s/pdif is it?) as the ones on the isis breakout box , so should i be able to sync everything up in something like logic or cool edit?? well cheers for that bigkahuna ,
spider

 

[LongWaveStudio]

hmm

Optical SPDIF and ADAT lightpipe look the same but they transmit different data. You coudn't connected the adat lightpipe out on the ADAT to the optical in on the ISIS. I use the ISIS sometimes for vocals. i use pro tools for anything digital though, and 2" Studer/Otari for anything analog!
-rox