D824 info needed

H

Havoc

New member
I was thinking about getting a d824 for location recording but the Fostex site is not exactly overflowing of information, therefore...
Are there any users of the D824 out there that can answer the following questions:
1: can you use the d824 as a AD/DA from analog <> ADAT without recording? This way it could also be used with my PC setup.
2: It is stated that you can backup to SCSI media as .wav file. Do they mean you can hook up a SCSI disk (widoze formatted) and just copy to it? This would be an ideal way to transfer to PC.

Thanks.
 
I have the 1624, which might as well be the same thing. And the answers to your questions are yes and yes, sort of. I use the converters in the D1624 in record-pause mode to track to Cubase on my DAW all the time, and also to play back out of Cubase via the ADAT ports when I need multiple analog streams.

Backing up to SCSI media is slightly more dodgy. Hard drives work great, but only a limited subset of CD-R drives will interoperate: for example, my Yamaha will _not_. It's not a big problem, since I have a Hammerfall and just dump the data directly to Cubase in parallel- and then back it up from there. However, check the list of supported drives on the Fostex web site very closely if you intend to try backing up to CD-R.

I find shipping data around via ADAT to be very much prefereable to trying to sneakernet a hard drive between one machine and the other. Both the Fostex and the PC are masters, so you'll have to power down, connect to one, move data onto the deisk, power down, connect to the other, and pull it in. There's no way to simply dump data from Fistex to PC via SCSI without moving hardware...

The D826/1624 family only understands the older FAT16 file system, as well. So you'll need to format your SCSI disks as DOS FAT16 volumes to move data in or out as .wav files. If you let the Fostex format the media, it will format it in their proprietary FDMS format, which can't be read by anything other than other Fostex equipment.

The 824/1624 family is good stuff: I really like mine, and it has been 100% reliable since new. Check the other 824/1624 posts here for more details.
 
Skippy,

I agree with havoc; the Fostex website is a little short on info. I am thinking about getting a 1624 for recording remote tracks and then dumping to mac/protools back at the studio (AKA my basement). My questions:

1) How many tracks will the 1624 record at once (via analog I/O)? Is it less with 24 bit?

2) Will the base model 1624 sync by MTC/MMC trigger or do you have to have the sync option. It seems from the specs that it will do MTC trigger recording, but you need the sync option for word clock, etc. Is that right?

3) Do you have to buy extra HDD cradles to switch disks or can you just reuse the one that comes with it?

Any help appreciated.
 
The 1624 has 8 internal A/D channels, so you can only record 8 channels at a time with the internal converters. Use external converter boxes to fly data in via lightpipe, and you can record all 16 at once. Channel count is not affected by bit depth. However, if you want to work at 24/96, you do effectively reduce the machine to an 8-track machine, whether you are using the internal converters or not (due to disk bandwidth limitations).

The base 1624 works very well with MTC sync, right out of the box. The 824/1624 does come with word clock I/O by default- it is not an option. I set mine up to be the master, and slave Cubase to it via MTC, using the 1624's word clock out as the system clock for my Hammerfall. It is seamless. Haven't really tried using the 1624 as the slave yet, but didn't have very good results when I tried... Didn't try very hard, though, becuase in my working model the 1624 is the primary recorder, and Cubase is just a curiosity.

The add-in sync option is SMPTE/LTC sync specific, and I don't have it. It only seems germane if you plan to do a lot of sync-to-video work, which holds no interest for me.

You can buy the HDD cradles from Fostex- I have 4 all told, and they are about $60 each from there. I'm sure that this is just a standard item, and someone with time to dig through Computer Shopper could find them significantly cheaper. I had a couple of projects that were hot at the time, so I just called up Fostex Parts and ordered them: 800-936-7839, and ask for Maggie. You can also just reuse the one that comes with it (they simply snap together around the drive), but I get in a hurry when I need to change projects, so I like to keep them ready to just slam in.

Actually, if I'd had more time while I was in there doing my acoustic noise reduction work, I would have changed out the drive carrier for a more standard one, like the Kanguru. The drive mount is absolutely a normal, industry-standard 3.5"-into-5.25" piece, so you could swap it for one of the more bulletproof aluminum units for road work, better cooling, or whatnot. The machine is really very simple and straightforward mechanically, so you're hardly stuck with their choice of carriers.

For more info on my noise reduction mods, see http://www.homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?threadid=19703
 
Thanks skippy, think I gonna have a talk with the bank.
Anyway, this forum is fast!! Makes you wish product support was always that fast.
 
Just one thing that popped up reading the specs once again:

You can record in 24/96, but how do you get this through an ADAT pipe? If you do smux, you need 2 pipes for input and 2 for output when transporting 8 channels. As the 824 is 8-track 24/96, it misses one adat I/O. Same goes for the 1624, this one misses 2 I/O's to transport 16 channels at 24/96. How does this mode works with the adat interface? Is it only disk swapping or is it a special interface format?
 
You can't: 24/96 is an internal-converter format only. The ADAT ports are useless at 24/96, as you'd expect.

It makes sense: since you can only do 8 channels at 24/96, and you do have 8 24/96-compatible converters built in, then why bother with an external converter box? After all, if you really believe that 24/96 somehow magically offers an unbeatable sonic advantage (and I don't), but you don't like the Fostex converters- then the Fostex boxes are probably not the right machines to buy anyway...

24/96 is of no interest to me- but if it is to you, that might well need to be figured in on your decision making. ADAT lightpipe in its raw form doesn't apply.
 
Indeed as expected. Rest assured, I have nothing against fostex convertors and do not expect magic from 96kHz. Nor my ears nor my speakers go over 25kHz. More interested in transfer between recorder and pc (or mixer when budget......). You never have a backup to much.
Thanks
 
Yup- if you need to work at 24/96, your backup options are realistically limited to sneakernetting a hard drive back and forth between the Fostex and a PC. That's always worried me just a bit, because the high-density 50pin SCSI connectors aren't really very reliable for very many mate/demate cycles.

I like going slow enough for the lightpipe to be able to keep up! Anyway, best of luck on this: let us all know what you decide, and how it goes during the startup phase. The Fostex manuals are an interesting form of Jinglish, and oddly organized to boot: if you run into difficulties, give a yell...
 
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