SSL alphalink or firewire???

S

smuffjules

New member
Hey guys,
I'm in a quandry as to whether to go the SSL Alphalink AX into my PC with the madi card, or stick with firewire so that other engineers can use my space with their own laptops..

Can I do both so that somehow I can use the SSL converters and rig it so I'll have a firewire out to another laptop???

I've heard great things about the SSL's..I would expect nothing less from them..but I've also been recommended an Apogee AD 8000 as an extension to my Motu 828 MKII

The Motu's are a little unreliable..and the reason for the upgrade is for precisely this reliability reason. Any suggestions?? Thanks
 
The Alphalinks are great converters and they have a great price per channel, too. Problem is that they are standalone and require a digital protocol PCI card like MADI or AES/EBU or ADAT, etc. I don't think they make a FW version either.

The other converters you mentioned aren't in the same league as well. Except maybe the AD8000 (I have one). They still sound great after 20 years. They were some of the best converters Apogee ever made, IMO, and the feature set is awesome. Only problem is that they don't go above 48kHz.

One solution I can see is that if you get the AX version which comes with ADAT ports, you can then purchase an ADAT to Firewire unit like the M-Audio Lightbridge or the Presonus Firestudio Lightpipe. Both these units accept up to 32 i/o channels, which will enable you to record through firewire. Just remember that you get 24 channels up to 48kHz and 12 channels up to 96kHz.

Also, I can't vouch as to the reliability of the Lightbridge or the Firestudio Lightpipe. That will be the weakest link in your chain and I would seriously investigate their compatibility with your system first before buying.

Cheers :)
 
Thanks Mo. I do already have a couple of Motu 828's....They are adat compatible too....does that mean I can hook one up to an SSL alphalink via ADAT and then go firewire into a laptop??
 
Yeah, you could, but the Alphalink is 24 channels so you would have to have the relevant amount of ADAT ports. If you've got at least 24 ADAT i/o channels you should be good to go.

Cheers :)
 
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