what is ADAT and do i need it

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ultrasound

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hey. im just starting to think about making my home studio. i was reading that the most tracks you can record over a firewire or usb is 4 tracks is this true? is ADAT the only way to record 8 tracks at once? i need 8 tracks to record all the instruments of my band. do i need to get a special card on my PC that accepts ADAT signals?
 
ADAT is an obsolete digital tape recording format - you don't need it.

For multiple tracks I would suggest MADI or, maybe, Dante.
 
You simply need to get an interface with more than four inputs. With my motu setup, I can record 32 tracks at once. There are plenty of interfaces that allow for more than four tracks.

I believe they stopped making adat machines almost 10 years ago. If you are talking about adat lightpipe, its just a fiber-optic protocol for transmitting 8 channels of audio between devices. You would need a converter to digitized your signal and some sort of sound card that had an adat input in order to need it. (in that context, your question reads like"do I need a trs cable?")
If you Google audio interfaces or go to a pro sound dealer website, you will find dozens of interfaces to fit your needs.
 
ultrasound said:
i was reading that the most tracks you can record over a firewire or usb is 4 tracks is this true?
Click to expand...

Your source is wrong.

USB2 interfaces are out there with up to 16 simultaneous channels.
With firewire you can go over 100.
 
hi thanks for answering my noob questions. yes i was talking about ADAT lightpipe. its seems i dont need that anyway. ill get an interface with usb or firewire.
 
If somebody has an interface with ADAT lightpipe (or TOSLINK) connectors, you can pick up an old blackface or XT ADAT, don't even use the tape transport, and have an additional 8 channels of input for very cheap.

For example, my brother bought a M-Audio Profire 2626 8 channel firewire interface (which has additional ADAT connectors on the back penal). I gave him a blackface ADAT and that doubled his channel count to 16.
 
Actually, USB 2.0 can do 24 tracks with an interface with ADAT inputs. I run two Steinberg UR824's now. One connects to the computer via USB. The second connects via the ADAT connection. I have not yet tried, but there is a second set of ADAT inputs that run another 8 channels via ADAT. From reviews, it runs flawlessly with 24 tracks.

ADAT is not necessarily a type of recorder these days as John had stated. It is a direct digital connection (post converters) that is used to connect interfaces with ADAT output ability.
 
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