from EQ mag: "I could hardly wait to get rid of analog

tdbajus · Post by **tdbajus** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 2:18 pm

The intro of this made me laugh: http://www.eqmag.com/article/tape-simul ... l-08/85725

"...when the Alesis ADAT was announced, I could hardly wait to get rid of analog tape... So when digital became feasible, and the signal that came out was the signal that went in, I was relieved."

Ah- if we could only go back to the hi-fidelity and reliability of the Alesis ADAT.

Methinks he's trying a bit too hard to make a point, no?

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 2:58 pm

well, I am not in love with anything I recorded on ADAT. But they were a lot less work to use than a lot of similarly priced tape units of that era. Like the 16 track 1/2" machines. do the math, thats the same track pitch as a cassette deck! While the ADATS had their problems, they pretty much were teh driving force behind the project studio (I cant believe I am going to say it...)paradigm. The Mackie 1604 gets a lot of credit but there were other decent budget boards around. Besides, the original 1604 only had 6 mic pres!
That totally ushered into existance the slew of chinese mics, tube mic pres and dare I say Behringer?
Reminds me, I need to ebay for an ADAT so I can transfer some old tapes.

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 3:10 pm

Caleverasgrandes is spot on. And the writer's description of the initial excitement about ADATs is pretty accurate.

rwc · Post by **rwc** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 4:07 pm

I remember when I was a kid my dad used to think that I was fucking up his ADAT tapes because they would get corrupted or the machine would eat them. It was only a while later once ADAT was considered a practical joke by many for the lack of reliability that he believed I wasn't fucking up his tapes(3 yr olds have little credibility), since I did touch and occasionally ruin every other piece of audio gear he had.

RefD · Post by **RefD** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 5:11 pm

*feels OLD now*

b3groover · Post by **b3groover** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 5:26 pm

Going from a Teac 3340S four track 1/4" reel to reel to the ADAT was, for me, an incredible experience. Then again... I still have the Teac and the ADAT is long gone.

It's an exciting time to be into recording, though, and the ADAT was the beginning of that. It's amazing what you can do now with extremely affordable technology.

The only thing holding you back is drive, creativity, and knowledge (aka experience). Think about what they were using back at Motown and the amazing amount of great songs they made. The technology we have at our fingertips now smokes what they had. So what's lacking?

Creativity and knowledge. And drive.

RefD · Post by **RefD** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 5:35 pm

b3groover wrote:Think about what they were using back at Motown and the amazing amount of great songs they made. The technology we have at our fingertips now smokes what they had. So what's lacking?

Creativity and knowledge. And drive.

i think the first and third items there are the important ones.

the second one you never stop accumulating...assuming you're paying attention that is!

*needs to pay attention more closely*

b3groover · Post by **b3groover** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 5:43 pm

Yes, I agree, but knowledge or experience is very handy if you're working with limitations, like most of us are. I don't have the best mics in the world nor the best room, but with knowledge and trial and error (experience), I've learned to squeeze the best I can from my gear and space.

RefD · Post by **RefD** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 5:48 pm

b3groover wrote:Yes, I agree, but knowledge or experience is very handy if you're working with limitations, like most of us are. I don't have the best mics in the world nor the best room, but with knowledge and trial and error (experience), I've learned to squeeze the best I can from my gear and space.

i've been doing this on and off since the mid-80s so i don't have many excuses left.

ashcat_lt · Post by **ashcat_lt** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 7:42 pm

I was not disappointed when I finally got to have an ADAT of my very own. I never experienced any lack of fidelity that wasn't masked that from the other parts of my recording/mixing chain. As soon as I plugged the thing I forgot how I managed with just 4 tracks on that Portastudio. The lack of tape hiss didn't hurt much either.

calaveresgrande - coincidently I've got a 16bit ADAT (wanna say XT, but I'm not looking at it right now) I need to put up on ebay. PM if you're interested in saving me some listing fees.

ctmsound · Post by **ctmsound** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 7:54 pm

Failure - Fantastic Planet. Recorded on ADAT, sounds amazing.

vatoben · Post by **vatoben** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 1:39 am

ctmsound wrote:Failure - Fantastic Planet. Recorded on ADAT, sounds amazing.

One of my all time favorites. But in their case I think the performances and songwriting could shine through on any recording format. Couldn't you hear "Dirty Blue Baloons" blowing up a Maxell XL-IIS on a portastudio? I think it would still blow my mind just the same.

Smitty · Post by **Smitty** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 4:02 am

Craig Anderton (who wrote the article in question), from what i've read from him, tends to be a very well-reasoned, "use it if it works and forget the hype" kinda guy. very TapeOp.

rwc · Post by **rwc** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 4:14 am

RefD wrote:*feels OLD now*

because you are old now.

joel hamilton · Post by **joel hamilton** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 5:29 am

percussion boy wrote:
b3groover wrote:Think about what they were using back at Motown and the amazing amount of great songs they made. The technology we have at our fingertips now smokes what they had. So what's lacking?

Creativity and knowledge. And drive.
I wouldn't mind some of their Neumanns, RCAs, and Fairchilds either.

But we have plenty to work with, you're right. It's the what's-in-front-of-the-mic part where things can get a little shaky these days . . .

These days? I recorded lots of shitty bands on ADAT, and even before ADAT. I promise, "shaky" musicians existed before protools.

Failure was a great band all around. My old band lost a drummer to Ken's new (then) band, ON.

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from EQ mag: "I could hardly wait to get rid of analog

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