i said to myself.."i went adat"

[t_ebrontosaurus]

Hi,
So i decided to pick up a used blackface 8 channel recorder the other day. 16-bit with 8 1/4" ins and outs (sure you guys probaly know) and its been working out alright. I seem to run into the machine saying the tape isnt formatted (this is after i have formatted the whole tape already) when i either run the tape for a while, or go back to location one. It didnt bother me so much until it said it during a session, and stopped the recording. any reasons for this?

i wanted to ask also if it was worth it to trade this one in and pay 20 bucks more for an lx 20 that has 8 rca ins and outs (...is this annoying for anyone? whats their purpose? thatll make me buy special cables and adaptors. grr.)

the lx 20 is newer and is 20 bits rather than 16...

think its worth it to have 20 over 16?

sorry for so many questions.. but i am enjoying the machine when its working. a very nice addition to really amateur studio that trys to stay away from computers.

thanks,
Noah

 

[Fishmed]

Hi,
So i decided to pick up a used blackface 8 channel recorder the other day. 16-bit with 8 1/4" ins and outs (sure you guys probaly know) and its been working out alright. I seem to run into the machine saying the tape isnt formatted (this is after i have formatted the whole tape already) when i either run the tape for a while, or go back to location one. It didnt bother me so much until it said it during a session, and stopped the recording. any reasons for this?

i wanted to ask also if it was worth it to trade this one in and pay 20 bucks more for an lx 20 that has 8 rca ins and outs (...is this annoying for anyone? whats their purpose? thatll make me buy special cables and adaptors. grr.)

the lx 20 is newer and is 20 bits rather than 16...

think its worth it to have 20 over 16?

sorry for so many questions.. but i am enjoying the machine when its working. a very nice addition to really amateur studio that trys to stay away from computers.

thanks,
Noah

If you want to go with the ADAT tape format, try to get your hands on an XT. They are quite inexpensive these days.

 

[kid klash]

Hi,
So i decided to pick up a used blackface 8 channel recorder the other day. 16-bit with 8 1/4" ins and outs (sure you guys probaly know) and its been working out alright. I seem to run into the machine saying the tape isnt formatted (this is after i have formatted the whole tape already) when i either run the tape for a while, or go back to location one. It didnt bother me so much until it said it during a session, and stopped the recording. any reasons for this?

i wanted to ask also if it was worth it to trade this one in and pay 20 bucks more for an lx 20 that has 8 rca ins and outs (...is this annoying for anyone? whats their purpose? thatll make me buy special cables and adaptors. grr.)

the lx 20 is newer and is 20 bits rather than 16...

think its worth it to have 20 over 16?

sorry for so many questions.. but i am enjoying the machine when its working. a very nice addition to really amateur studio that trys to stay away from computers.

thanks,
Noah

How many hours are on the two machines? And what version blackface is it that you have - blue silkscreen logo (first version) or the chrome badge logo (later version)? Does it have v4.03 software in it? If it's the chrome badge logo version with low hours and v4.03 software, I'd keep it, and buy the LX20 too... incredibly low cost for sixteen good sounding tracks... but hey - that's just me...

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=243009&highlight=ADAT

 

[t_ebrontosaurus]

How many hours are on the two machines? And what version blackface is it that you have - blue silkscreen logo (first version) or the chrome badge logo (later version)? Does it have v4.03 software in it? If it's the chrome badge logo version with low hours and v4.03 software, I'd keep it, and buy the LX20 too... incredibly low cost for sixteen good sounding tracks... but hey - that's just me...

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=243009&highlight=ADAT

Yeep! what a scary idea. that this machine may soon eat my tape!
i dont think it will, really, its running quite smoothly. (talking about the lx20, which i switched with the blackface today)

I dont remember how many hours the Blackface had on it But the LX20 has nearly 2500!... at what point should i start worrying about wear and tear on the drums and heads?

im sure there is a post somewhere i can scrounge up on this schnuff. Thanks for your help already

I would love to have sixteen tracks, but i cant have the blackface fall out of format during a session again. simply unnacceptable! but if i did have that blackface, i would probaly find myself a meter bridge.
( i already ordered a lrc for the blackface...which i hope will work with the LX20 as well. i think it should...)

 

[kid klash]

Yeep! what a scary idea. that this machine may soon eat my tape!
i dont think it will, really, its running quite smoothly. (talking about the lx20, which i switched with the blackface today)

I dont remember how many hours the Blackface had on it But the LX20 has nearly 2500!... at what point should i start worrying about wear and tear on the drums and heads?

im sure there is a post somewhere i can scrounge up on this schnuff. Thanks for your help already

I would love to have sixteen tracks, but i cant have the blackface fall out of format during a session again. simply unnacceptable! but if i did have that blackface, i would probaly find myself a meter bridge.
( i already ordered a lrc for the blackface...which i hope will work with the LX20 as well. i think it should...)

I'd begin worrying about the head fairly soon... they're supposed to be good for around 3,000 hours (maybe more if it's been well maintained). That's why low hour ADATs are commanding higher prices.

I'm guessing that if your blackface was falling out of sync, or stopping, or other similar problem while recording, it needed to be cleaned, or it had LOTS of hours on the heads, or both.

The LRC will work with the LX20.

If you ever decide to buy a BRC, remember that they won't work properly with a blackface ADAT unless the blackface has v4.03 software (this I found out the hard way). That's why the chrome badge blackface ADATs with v4.03 software and low hours are the most sought after.

Good luck!

 

[t_ebrontosaurus]

this machine seems to be in great physical condition but it again has the same problems.. a little less frequent.

But i refigured my subgroups and added some compression and a preamp to everything today and the results were just phenomenal today.
everythgin was clean and gorgeous. sooo niceeee.

well i have to say... it didnt start out this way. I formatted a tape in the lx20 for about fifteen minutes and then tried to use the tape. Upon playback everythgin sounds likeeee crap. absoloute crap. nothing was clipping on any meter anywhere before or after recording, but the playback sounds like this high thin noise that sounded liek terrribbble clipping. i used a 16 bit tape and it worked perfectly... and then after i reformatted a whole tape but i havent tried it yet.


thank you so much for all the info and help.
these machines are really a joy to work with after using 4tracks for so long. i really enjoy keeping multitracking off of the computer, and having it all in my rack is just so satisfying. mmm

thanks,
Noah

 

[kid klash]

these machines are really a joy to work with after using 4tracks for so long. i really enjoy keeping multitracking off of the computer, and having it all in my rack is just so satisfying. mmm

thanks,
Noah

Yeah - they're probably the easiest to use recorders in the world. Just press "record" and go. Never a wasted thought, vibe, riff or muse with ADATs.

On formatting your tapes - ALWAYS do the whole tape... don't stop at 15 minutes on a 42 minute tape.

And a "learned the hard way" tip : be sure to back up your masters onto another tape.

 

[t_ebrontosaurus]

I have another question.. i formatted a tape full way through, 20 bit, and upon playback te exact same thing happened. This terrible crackling on all the recorded tracks. .. i have to use the 16 bit tapes i formatted with the blackface before i gave it back.

could i be using a wrong tape? this is my only geuss right now. are s-vhs's absoloutly needed? i geuss theres no super or s on the tape case.

 

[Fishmed]

I have another question.. i formatted a tape full way through, 20 bit, and upon playback te exact same thing happened. This terrible crackling on all the recorded tracks. .. i have to use the 16 bit tapes i formatted with the blackface before i gave it back.

could i be using a wrong tape? this is my only geuss right now. are s-vhs's absoloutly needed? i geuss theres no super or s on the tape case.

What is your whole recording setup? Are you using any digital I/O to the ADAT? When I hear the word "crackling", I think of a digital sync problem.

 

[eh91311]

You absolutely must use S-VHS or ADAT certified tapes on a ADAT. You should use the best tapes you can find, TDK, Maxell, BASF/EMTEC ADAT or equivalent. No-name/cheap brands will just shed a lot and cause problems. Your recorder probably needs cleaning. If you're not sure of doing it yourself, have it done by a service center. If you use ADAT/S-VHS tapes and have had the LX20 tape path cleaned and it still crackles while recording or playing back audio, return it, it's got issues.

 

[t_ebrontosaurus]

What is your whole recording setup? Are you using any digital I/O to the ADAT? When I hear the word "crackling", I think of a digital sync problem.

Theres no problem with any kind of syncing or clocks, im running completely analog into the recorder..and in this situation the monitoring always was clean before hand.