ADAT to DAW?

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magritte
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ADAT to DAW?

Post by magritte » Mon Jul 08, 2013 12:15 am

Hey guys. I recorded a record years ago on ADAT and there were always things about it that bothered me. I was wondering if it would be possible to get those tracks into my PC and rework them?
I assume I'd need an ADAT player, original tapes, computer...what else? And is this possible? I really want to remove the old vocal tracks and re-record them.
Thanks.
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kslight
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Post by kslight » Mon Jul 08, 2013 5:01 am

You can get an ADAT machine for less than $100...at least on my Craigslist.

Then you need a sound card with an ADAT input. And of course an optical cable going from the ADAT deck to the sound card.

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Nick Sevilla
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Post by Nick Sevilla » Mon Jul 08, 2013 7:36 am

Hi,

You can do two things :

1.- Do as kslight suggests, and buy an ADAT machine and hook it up to a DAW via a converter which has ADAT lightpipe connectors. Then re-record to your heart's content.

or

2.- Rerecord the whole thing. I say this because I have seen the depths of artists re-recording and re-editing and re-mixing old material, and really, it is a huge enormous waste of time, for several reasons. Firstly, it shows that you have a terrible disease : That of not being able to let go of things. Work on that, and be a happier human being. Secondly, if you have any sort of a fan base, once you re-release the resulting re-worked product, you will inevitably split your fan base into two camps : happy ones, and angry ones. And there is no going back. It is always better to not piss off your fan base whenever possible. Thirdly, by now, many years later you are, or should be, a lot more talented than before. So, why on Earth would you put out something again that you do not like to begin with?

or

3.- With this said, I say do something new and exciting, that reflects you in the present. This is far better in my book.

Cheers
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magritte
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Post by magritte » Mon Jul 08, 2013 11:40 am

Thanks, guys.

Nick, I respect your points, but our band broke up long ago and always felt this record was done haphazardly. No chance to reunite and do it again since everyone is old/married. This is more of a project where I fix something that always bothered me. We don't have any fans so no big deal on that front.

Do you guys think bringing the tapes to a studio and having them convert everything to .wav is a good idea? I'll get some quotes. If they do that for a reasonable price maybe it's better than buying an ADAT machine and learning how to use it.
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Post by Nick Sevilla » Mon Jul 08, 2013 3:06 pm

magritte wrote:Thanks, guys.

Nick, I respect your points, but our band broke up long ago and always felt this record was done haphazardly. No chance to reunite and do it again since everyone is old/married. This is more of a project where I fix something that always bothered me. We don't have any fans so no big deal on that front.

Do you guys think bringing the tapes to a studio and having them convert everything to .wav is a good idea? I'll get some quotes. If they do that for a reasonable price maybe it's better than buying an ADAT machine and learning how to use it.
No problem. It may indeed be better to have someone transfer to a computer for you, to avoid the hassle of the DIY thing.

Cheers
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Post by kslight » Mon Jul 08, 2013 6:50 pm

magritte wrote:Thanks, guys.

Nick, I respect your points, but our band broke up long ago and always felt this record was done haphazardly. No chance to reunite and do it again since everyone is old/married. This is more of a project where I fix something that always bothered me. We don't have any fans so no big deal on that front.

Do you guys think bringing the tapes to a studio and having them convert everything to .wav is a good idea? I'll get some quotes. If they do that for a reasonable price maybe it's better than buying an ADAT machine and learning how to use it.
If it were me, I'd buy the ADAT and ADAT capable interface (if you don't already have one) and do the transfer, then sell the ADAT machine and interface if you don't want them hanging around. Shouldn't cost you much, if any money.


Since you are doing a digital transfer, as long as you have a vague idea how to use a DAW and ADAT machine (they aren't rocket science), there isn't much a studio can offer you that you can't do equally well (its not like there's a factor of converter quality, being a straight digital to digital thing).

So if you do it yourself, you're basically paying nothing after reselling the equipment, + the cost of your time. Or you could find a studio that still has an ADAT machine that will do it for you...I'm not sure how common that is anymore...but wouldn't be impossible I don't think. Up to you really, it seems like though since you posted here...you want to DIY...and like I said...if it were me...if you can find a cheap used working ADAT deck locally go for it.

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magritte
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Post by magritte » Tue Jul 09, 2013 10:33 pm

its not like there's a factor of converter quality, being a straight digital to digital thing).
Ah. I was thinking of having a studio do it because I'd have to learn about conversion. e.g. I just transferred VHS tapes to my computer and it was a steep learning curve. That was analog to digital, though. You're saying this is much simpler since both are digital? That is good to know. Are there any issues with converting?

Also, can anyone tell me the exact cables and possibly an interface I'd need?
3 of the tapes are actually DARS that used a tascam d-88. The other two are ADAT. So I'd need two machines. This is another reason I was thinking of having a studio do it.
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Post by kslight » Wed Jul 10, 2013 5:02 am

Pretty much any mid-level interface has at least one ADAT I/O. Each ADAT I/O is 8 tracks at 44.1/48khz. You only have 8 tracks on each tape, you haven't said whether these are sessions that used multiple tapes (for example, 16 tracks or 24 tracks in one song).


The cable is just a basic toslink fiber optic cable, one required for each set of 8 inputs. Punch ADAT in to Amazon or Sweetwater and you'll find it.


Digital to digital means there will be no degradation in sound quality, so provided you avoid any anomaly (funky machine, incorrect DAW/sample rate setup) you should be fine.

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darjama
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Post by darjama » Wed Jul 10, 2013 2:00 pm

If some of it's d88 and some of it's adat, go to a pro. I don't know of anything cheap that will interface digitally with a d88's TDIF interface.

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Post by The Scum » Thu Jul 11, 2013 10:30 am

A MOTU 2408 (Mk 1, 2 or 3) has 3 DA88 interfaces on it.

A bigger concern would be that the ADAT and/or DA88 is in functional condition. They're consumer-grade tape transports, and are 10+ years old at this point. I'd imagine there are a lot of white elephants on CL/ebay.

I'd find studios to do the transfer (or find friendly souls on TOMB), where it's their problem if the decks aren't working.
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magritte
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Post by magritte » Thu Sep 26, 2013 11:11 am

hey can anyone here do this job?

the tapes are in portland, oregon. my friend can drop them off if you have a studio with this equipment. we'll pay market rate. thanks.
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davidollard
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Post by davidollard » Sat Oct 05, 2013 5:35 pm

I know someone who can do these transfers for you, and funnily enough he is in Oregon!

PM me.

Regards

David

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