Zefiro Acoustics ZA2

[BigKahuna]

Anybody heard any pros/cons regarding this card?
I'm considering buying this because I definitely need AES/EBU connections to make a seamless connection with my board and can't seem to find many others that support this format. I don't need a multi-channel card because I use ADATs for tracking.
My goal is to mix directly into my PC, edit/master using Sound Forge and then fly the finished mix back out to a Tascam CDRW5000 cd recorder. Also, this would help me avoid the recording of a CD just to rip into an mp3 file. It seems like this set up would work well for me ... what do you guys think? Any cautions regarding this card?
Here's a link to their site: www.zefiro.com

Any comments are appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[drstawl]

I can't say I've ever heard the card in action; I found it doing a search for AES/EBU
compatible devices. Does that TASCAM burner have S/PDIF as well or just AES/EBU?
As to the ZA2; they describe it as plug and play, then proceed to say that the IRQ must be chosen from 10, 11 or 12. That's kind of a contradiction. Same deal with the DMA selection. Only the upper three are supported. And then it's an ISA card as opposed to a PCI card. Just plain slower. And those jumpers on the card are a limitation, not a "customization" feature.

 

[BigKahuna]

The tascam also has s/pdif. My board, however, has AES/EBU which is what I'd need to connect to the card for mixdown. Actually, after looking at it ... it appears to be switchable between the two formats. But, still uses XLR-type jacks .. so I guess I'd need an adapter for that if I went with s/pdif.
Thanks much for the info. This makes me pause a little before believing the rosy picture Zefiro paints regarding this card.


[This message has been edited by BigKahuna (edited 07-24-1999).]

 

[drstawl]

No, thank YOU. I've been going in circles trying to determine if S/PDIF is supported by the TASCAM CDRW5000. A friend of mine just bought one and I've been trying to give him a recommendation on what CD drive to get to do limited digital copies. The sales maggots down at &^#$*% $#&(** were trying to sell him a separate CD duplicator for another $1000 instead of a player with a compatible digital output. Now that I know S/PDIF is supported that makes it a lot easier. Musician's Friend catalog says the CDRW5000 has both optical and coaxial jacks.
Is this correct?

 

[BigKahuna]

Yep that's right.
Both coaxial (RCA) and optical ins and outs which are for SPDIF
as well as XLR for AES/EBU in (no out ... which is frustrating)
As far as analog ... it's got both balanced and unbalanced.
I had the same thought as far as making dups ... A CD player with s/pdif digital outs should work just fine.
He shouldn't need a separate duplicator.
I can see how those sales guys don't know what format these inputs are because the CDRW5000 doesn't display spdif anywhere on it display. It visually switches from "Coaxial" "Optical" and "AES/EBU" ... no mention of the s/pdif format at all.
In the manual, however it tells you that both Optical and Coaxial inputs are for s/pdif format. God forbid those guys would open a manual!


[This message has been edited by BigKahuna (edited 07-24-1999).]