Dom Franco
New member
The heads must be cleaned, and some parts wear out, Maintenance is required, so there is a "cost" of ownership and use!
Sincerely;
Dom Franco
Sincerely;
Dom Franco
D
dan
New member
Hey ADAT users, ive never owned an ADAT but I was curiose about the importance of hours on the machine. When I see an add for an ADAT i always see how many hours it has clocked.
How important is the hours?
Is 400-500 alota hours?
How does alota racked up time effect the machine?
How important is the hours?
Is 400-500 alota hours?
How does alota racked up time effect the machine?
sonusman
Banned
These "hours" that they are refering to are the "on head" hours of the machine. Meaning, how many hours a tape has actually been on the head stacks, which of course read the data and record, etc....
These hours cannot be modified by the user, unless the battery the supplies the backup power for the machine has been removed. In this case, the "on head" hours would reset to 0. I don't even know how to remove the battery backup power, and I am sure that few do, except autorized repair shops, and Alesis themselves. So you can usually trust the hours that are displayed on a machine.
400-500 hours in "technically" mid-life for the head stacks on a ADAT. Generally, you can get about 1500 hours out of a head stack. Some studios that implement rigerous maintnance schedules on their machines have gone as high as 6500 hours on headstacks, but this should be considered the exception rather than the rule.
The headstacks do require cleaning, but this is not really something you should try yourself. It is really easy to destroy the record head on these head stacks. Let an autorized Alesis ADAT shop do this maintnance.
There are other things that need more frequent replacing on ADAT's. The idler wheel, the tension arm, etc....The hours displayed can give you an indication of any upcoming repairs you may need to do. Always ask for documentation of any repairs and/or upgrades that have been done on the machine when buying used. Every repair shop will supply this information upon repair, and any decent owner will retain these records. Don't take someones word for it. If you are looking at buying a used ADAT that has more than 400 hours on it and no repairs or scheduled maintnance has been done, expect to pay an additional $200 for these things to be done. If someone is trying to ask $1000 for the machine and it hasn't had these things done to it, you may want to offer $700 so as to make up the cost of the eventual repair.
Good luck.
Ed Rei
Echo Star Studio www.echostarstudio.com
These hours cannot be modified by the user, unless the battery the supplies the backup power for the machine has been removed. In this case, the "on head" hours would reset to 0. I don't even know how to remove the battery backup power, and I am sure that few do, except autorized repair shops, and Alesis themselves. So you can usually trust the hours that are displayed on a machine.
400-500 hours in "technically" mid-life for the head stacks on a ADAT. Generally, you can get about 1500 hours out of a head stack. Some studios that implement rigerous maintnance schedules on their machines have gone as high as 6500 hours on headstacks, but this should be considered the exception rather than the rule.
The headstacks do require cleaning, but this is not really something you should try yourself. It is really easy to destroy the record head on these head stacks. Let an autorized Alesis ADAT shop do this maintnance.
There are other things that need more frequent replacing on ADAT's. The idler wheel, the tension arm, etc....The hours displayed can give you an indication of any upcoming repairs you may need to do. Always ask for documentation of any repairs and/or upgrades that have been done on the machine when buying used. Every repair shop will supply this information upon repair, and any decent owner will retain these records. Don't take someones word for it. If you are looking at buying a used ADAT that has more than 400 hours on it and no repairs or scheduled maintnance has been done, expect to pay an additional $200 for these things to be done. If someone is trying to ask $1000 for the machine and it hasn't had these things done to it, you may want to offer $700 so as to make up the cost of the eventual repair.
Good luck.
Ed Rei
Echo Star Studio www.echostarstudio.com