Layla + Berhinger ADA 8000 question

[Thekajunpimp]

Hi Everyone.... this is my first post. I hope I'm clear...sorry if I dont speak the lingo (yet).
Anyhoo.....
I have a 20 bit Layla, I'm also using Nuendo. All works well together. I would like to be able to record live off the floor with my band. (Ihave a POD so i would go direct to the layla, as would my basists with his DI) but for the vocals and drums i'm wondering if the Berhinger ADA 8000 would be ok? I dont have a lot of money and need the 8 pre-amps. I dont have an ADAT so I obviously would't utilize all of the ADA8000's capabilities.

WIll i be succesfull if i use each of the XLR outputs of the ADA 8000 directly to the Layla resulting in 8 seperate tracks in Nuendo? (Obviously i know i'll need to buy 8 XLR to 1/4 inch).

In my research I came across this bit: "an ADAT litepipe cable from the I to the O of the behringer acts as a pass-through so you can use it as an analogue in to analogue out preamp system all in one. Don't own one yet, so can't vouch for this, but it makes sense based on what the manual has to say about it. " But I have no idea what that means.

Were not looking for a pro recording....just something for a quick demo for a contest and recording jams in the future.

Any thoughts you may have would be great to hear and definately appreciated.

Thanks
TKP

 

[Thekajunpimp]

Sorry for the duplicate post....Didn't think the first thread worked.

 

[daav]

WIll i be succesfull if i use each of the XLR outputs of the ADA 8000 directly to the Layla resulting in 8 seperate tracks in Nuendo? (Obviously i know i'll need to buy 8 XLR to 1/4 inch).


Yes exactly, it will work fine.

Lots of thought on the quality of the ADA 8000, but you have hte idea right.
The lightpipe is something you probabaly want to set o nthe shelf for now, I think the layla only has 2 digital imputs anyway.

If you needed all 10 channels of the layla, you could theoreticaly use 2 digital changes from the light pipe (jsut a fancy way of saying "digital out") and put that through the 2 digi inputs of the layla, along with the 8 channels of analog input. The trouble is though that the ADA 8000 will be doing the conversion to digital and might not be as good as the lalylas converters.

Daav

 

[RAK]

Here's the deal with the ADA8000 (I do own one, but this is also explained in the manual).

The analog INs of the ADA8000 route directly (and exclusively) to the ADAT OUT. Conversely, the ADAT IN routes directly (and exclusively) to the ANALOG OUTs.

The workaround you came across in your research was saying that you can take an optical cable and plug the ADAT OUT back into the ADAT IN. Essentially your routing would look like this:
ADA8000 Analog (XLR or 1/4") IN--->ADAT OUT--->ADAT IN--->Analog (XLR) OUT---->LAYLA ANALOG IN. Theoretically I suppose it could work, although I've never experimented with it. I guess you would just set the clock source on the ADA800 to Master (44.1 or 48k) since it's clocking to itself in that case.

Another issue to think about, the analog XLR outputs of the behringer put out a line level signal. Make sure you have 8 Line Inputs to use on the Layla (not familiar with that).

 

[Thekajunpimp]

Thanks guys. REally not all that familiar with the recording world but i'm making my way.

with regard to the Layla's inputs...here is what i could find.

Frequency Response: 10Hz-22kHz, +0.5dB
Dynamic Range: >98dB
THD: <0.005%, 20Hz-22kHz, A-weighted
Host Interface: PCI bus card
Breakout box PCI bus master interface featuring
Eight ¼" TRS balanced analog inputs with precision 20-bit 128x oversampling analog-to-digital converters
Ten ¼" TRS balanced analog outputs with high-performance 20-bit 128x oversampling digital-to-analog converters
S/PDIF digital I/O with up to 24-bit resolution
On-board 24-bit Motorola 56301 DSP (80 MIPS)
24-bit data resolution maintained throughout internal signal path
Word clock / Super clock I/O
MIDI in/out/thru
MIDI Time Code Sync
EasyTrim automatic input gain adjustment circuitry
Multiple sample rates from 8kHz to 50kHz with single-Hertz resolution

Do I still need that work around you mentioned?
DOes anyone have any info or sources that explain the "clock" theory? I have a basic idea...(i.e. everything needs to be in time) but beyond that...nothing.

Thanks in advance.

 

[daav]

Wow this is confusing, i know nothing about the ad 8000, but from what RAK is saying, it is made to convert to digital ONLY. This means that there is not analog out (which the layla wants for 8 channels), so that work around would be the only way to get your 8 1/4 inch analog outs to the layla.

My guess is that this is not the tool youa re looking for. It will be converting the signal from analog to digital and back for no reason, and probaably makign it sounds extra crappy as well.

But a mixer with as many preamps as you need, and make sure each channel has a direct out of one kind or another, so you can feed each of these to your layla.

Daav

 

[amra]

+1 to the mixer idea.
Instead of rigging the ada800 and making it's cheap AD converters do multiple conversions, look for a mixer with 8 preamps and use the send part of the send/return plug to go out to your layla. If you are lucky you could find one with direct outs. I am sure you could find one one ebay for close to the price of the ada800.

 

[jonnyc]

+1 to the mixer idea.
Instead of rigging the ada800 and making it's cheap AD converters do multiple conversions, look for a mixer with 8 preamps and use the send part of the send/return plug to go out to your layla. If you are lucky you could find one with direct outs. I am sure you could find one one ebay for close to the price of the ada800.

I'd go that route as well. Don't A&H mixers have direct outs for each channel? Anyway I wouldn't spend the extra money for digital capabilities when all you need is analog ins and outs.

 

[RAK]

While the ADA8000 may not be your best option, to clarify, it DOES have analong outs: 8 XLR Line Level Outputs. The thing about the ADA8000 is that the analog ins route only to the digital outs and vice/versa, as I explained before, so if you bridge the ADAT OUT to the ADAT IN, then theoretically you're passing signal from the Analog Ins to the Analog Outs (with a D/A A/D conversion in the middle).

Now with the Layla having 8 Ins on TRS connections, you'd either have to get 8 XLR-->TRS cables (or a snake), or get individual XLR-->TRS barrels.

It is a handy little box, and cheap, so if you thought you might expand to a sound card with ADAT I/O in the future, it might a good investment now. If not, look for a mixer with 8 direct outs (or inserts), get an 8 channel TRS snake (individual cables will work as well) and connect that to your line ins of the Layla.

Digital Synchronization (sp?) is a huge topic, but basically all your digital gear needs to be locked to the same clock source. The ADA8000 can act as a Master clock source, sending out the clock information (how fast are we going) via the ADAT Output at either 44.1 or 48 kHz sample rate. All digital devices slaved to the ADAT would have to be at the same sample rate.

The ADA8000 can also act as a slave via the ADAT Input or via a Wordclock (BNC) connection. For example I use my ADA8000 with a MOTU 828mkII, The MOTU is my master clock source and sends out clock data via its Wordclock output to the ADA8000 Wordclock input which is the slave. If I change my sample rate on the MOTU for example, the ADA8000 follows.

There is another question sync can address besides "how fast are we going" and that is "where are we?" Protocols such as Wordclock, S/PDIF, & ADAT do not have a reference to Time. Timecode sync types include SMPTE, & MTC (MIDI Time Code),


That's probably way more than you wanted, and I started out trying to keep it simple, but I don't know if I was succesfull. Obviously there's a lot more to it, and none of this clock stuff relates to the analog world anyway.