cheapest way to get lightpipe I/O?

[runrunrun]

I have a Presonus firestation that i cannot get to work with my pc at all. the unit itself works fine but i have tried everything possible to get it to work and it wont. There seem to be lots of folks on the net who had problems with these.

So the reason for me starting this thread is that i was wondering the cheapest possible way that I can get ADAT lightpipe I/O for my PC. This would let me use the Firestation as 8 I/O. All it needs to have is ADAT I/O, anything else is just bonus.

Is it possible there will be some sort of loss in quality because of this cheap interface, or will it just take the clock from the Firestation and cause no audible effects?

[stinkpot]

If I were in your position, I'd just go on ebay or something comparable and get an old Alesis Adat. They're really cheap these days, and actually have pretty decent converters, IMHO. That'll give you 8 I/O for next to nothing. Even if the Adat motor or heads are bad, you won't need them if you're not recording to it, just through it.

[runrunrun]

If I were in your position, I'd just go on ebay or something comparable and get an old Alesis Adat. They're really cheap these days, and actually have pretty decent converters, IMHO. That'll give you 8 I/O for next to nothing. Even if the Adat motor or heads are bad, you won't need them if you're not recording to it, just through it.

I already have 8 channels of I/O in the firestation (with converters that are better than old adat ones) its just that i cant get my computer to acknowledge the firestation after trying for months and reading everything on the internet and trying to get tech support etc.. The converters work fine and i am currently using the SPDIF I/O. In order to get 8 channels I need a PCI card with Lightpipe I/O, which I would like to get as cheap as possible.

[bplr]

for less than $200 you can get the Behringer ADA8000. it's not the most amazing conversion, but you asked for the cheapest and it's still 8 preamps and A to D to A via lightpipe for under $200 ...

[runrunrun]

thanks for the reply but i am not looking for 8 channels of converters. i already have those, i just dont have an interface for my PC that will accept ADAT I/O. I need that to be able to use the converters I already have.

I have been thinking something like the EMI 1212m or RME Digi 96/8 PAD.

[darjama]

someone in the forums here is selling a multiset (the steinberg rebranding of the rme multiface) with a pci card for $250. That's a pretty good price, plus it will get you another 8 channels of a/d.

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopi ... t=multiset

[earl parameter]

here's what happens when you type " lightpipe +pci " into a google search


http://www.google.com/search?q=lightpip ... CGGLD%3Aen

_

http://www.etcetera.co.uk/products/MED040.shtml

http://www.frontierdesign.com/Products/WaveCenterPCI

http://www.makingwavesaudio.com/prodidi ... rer=MARIAN



it looks like the frontier turns up more then anything else, but its in the high 200's new. id say get rid of the firestation. i can't believe you've put that much work into something that isn't happening. return it or sell it. get something that you know will work. if it doesn't happen in a day or two, return that and try again. the people at presonus are great from what i hear. i'd be surprised if they couldn't figure something out. have you tried a different firewire card. an adaptec maybe. the chipset on firewire cards and motherboards cause a lot of problems with audio interfaces. i was pretty sure they had a messageboard over there but i can't seem to find it.


good luck,
steve

[mfedderman]

Hey,

I got one of these these my Frontier Designs Tango24. New, still in the box. http://frontierdesign.com/Products/WaveCenterPCI

They go for $289 new, so, I'd let this one go for around $200.

Let me know!

-Matt