Mackie MDR 24/96 vs. ADAT-HD ????

formerlyfzfile

formerlyfzfile

New member
I have the oportunity to purchase a Mackie MDR 24/96 (used) for about the same price as a new ADAT-HD.

I was leaning towards the ADAT because it takes regular (cheap) IDE drives as opposed to the proprietary Mackie Media drives...... (anybody know how much these are??).

I like the fact that the MDR has virtual tracks and an ethernet port.
But the ADAT would be new and warranteed and cheap storage although linear.

Anyone with any experience or opinions about this????

It will be part of a setup with most probably (99%) a DA7 console.
I'm finally stepping it up.

-mike
 
Hey Mike,
Mackie's HD recorders (the HDR/MDR/SDRs) actually don't need to take proprietary drives - a regular hard drive with a Lian-Li RH-58 tray (each costs about $20) works fine. The Mackie-made extra hard drives are just modified RH-58's with no fans. Anyway, a big plus to the Mackie drives is that you can either install a dock in your PC or build an external one with a firewire enclosure - then, you can directly take files off the drive for editing/mixdown. This is much quicker than FTP'ing, and leaves the recorder available for use all the time. My computer's had no problem at all with reading files - the Mackie drives are in Fat32 format, and the sound is recorded in broadcast wave format. With the ADAT, you need to buy their firewire adaptor, since they format their drives with a proprietary format.
If that's not important to you, though, the differences might not be so huge, except for one very big thing - the MDR can only work with hard drives no larger than 32 gigs. The HDR has an upgrade kit that can supposedly be adapted to the MDR, but it's not officially supported, and requires some work and bravery. The MDR has also been discontinued for close to a couple years - there are still lots of them out there, but those numbers aren't going to increase.

Hope all this helps; sorry if I was long-winded.

-Dave
 
Thanks Dave.

I was wondering about the Mackie format.

Of course the official Mackie info implies that the formatting is propritary also but I guess not.

I think though that I am now leaning towards the ADAT.
It actually does have a standard ethernet port and I would be most just do projects on one very large drive and then back up to a smaller one.

Plus I actually will have the bucks to buy new and warranteed.

But I am still looking for input.

-mike
 
Mike,
If you're planning on looking around a bit more, and don't mind ordering online, it might be worth checking into one of the Mackie SDR's. That's the one I have, and I really like it. I got it for something like $1200 a year or two ago, well before it was discontinued earlier this year. I wouldn't be surprised if you could find a new one for $1000 or less now. It has basically the same functions as the MDR and the ADAT HD-24, except it does not have the hard drive limit (well, it has a limit, but it's 2 TB) of the other Mackie recorders, and it can record at 24/96, if that's your thing, for 12+ (they officially say 12, but it's pretty easy to get more, especially if you change a couple options) tracks.
Of course, the SDR is still a discontinued product. Mackie's promised to service them for a long time, and any reports I've heard back this up, but there won't be any updates or anything. It was a choice between the Mackie recorders and the ADAT for me when I bought the SDR, and I still feel pretty good about the choice. Saving a few hundred dollars let me get the remote for it and a few other things. I'm sure you'll be happy with whatever you decide to go for. Good luck!

-Dave
 
I think Ozat covered almost everything, but I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents worth. I've got a Mackie MDR that I picked up for $900 new about a year ago (it was a store demo unit that had never been recorded with). I absolutely love it. I've never had a glitch that I didn't cause (like filling up the hard drive without saving a live session).

I installed a Lian Li RH-58 drive bay in my PC and have a second one in a Firewire drive, and this allows me to backup files directly into my PC, or when I travel I can use the Firewire drive and mix with my laptop. True, there is a 32 Gb limit on the drives, but they're not too hard to find online, and with a huge drive in my studio PC I just dump my sessions there and then have the drive back if I need it.

I was leaning towards the Alesis HD24 when I found this one on sale, and I have not regretted it one bit.

Good luck,
Darryl.....
 
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