ADAT hatred?

assfortress · Post by **assfortress** » Fri May 23, 2003 7:18 am

what is it about adats people hate so much, other than the breaking down constantly? Is it the converters? or something else.

Im curious be cause ive got the korg 1212 sound card with adat ins andd outs. I was planning on buying the ai3 to use as an A/D converter. but I was thinking i could use an adat for that purpose most the time(putting no wear on the heads or moving parts) then if i wanted to do some remote recording i would then have that added option. would the adat be a really bad idea here.

brian beattie · Post by **brian beattie** » Fri May 23, 2003 12:13 pm

I still love my adats. Thay have been easy to maintain, much easier than most pro tape machines. I think the problem is that they are utterly unflattering sounding. It's possible to do great dramatic sound design with them, or skrewed up, every thing is tortured to death sounding recordings, but if you want to something that just sounds nice, or plain and natural, it just doesn't have the voodoo to pull it off. If I want to approximate plain and natural with them, I always have to carefully cram a bit extra harmonic distortion into the tracks, compress gently, and then it starts to sound "real" to me. When I record straight into my analog reel to reel, I don't need to baby the sounds so much to make it sound right.
If I weas going to use an adat for a to d conversion, I would use an adat m-20, or, even better, a studer v8. I would bet they undoubtably have the best converters of the adat bunch, and I'm sure you can get them for pretty darn cheap at this point. (compared to how spendy they used to be. )
brian

eh91311 · Post by **eh91311** » Fri May 23, 2003 1:22 pm

I know of no one who "likes" the way ADATs sound. These days, they're inexpensive used, media is relatively cheap, and you can get good results from units that have been serviced with reasonable care. An XT20 would serve as a good A/D converter/front end for the 1212, probably less expensive used than the AI3. Stick to the original blackfaces and XT20's, or a M20 at a really good price,

thearnicasync · Post by **thearnicasync** » Fri May 23, 2003 2:10 pm

I've heard some great things on an M20...but last I checked they weren't super cheap. Like you're going to pay $1000 for one, at least. You see xt20s going for less than 500 on Harmony Central every other day. I thought about getting one just because they were so incredibly cheap. I dunno, you could find something to do with it.

Remember when ADAT were new technology? Huh. I better start looking for a coffin.

eh91311 · Post by **eh91311** » Fri May 23, 2003 2:44 pm

Remember when ADAT were new technology? Huh. I better start looking for a coffin.

thearnicasync, me too.

My ADATs have been reliable so far, I don't use them in a pro situation wveryday, but everytime I turn them on, they work. I've had more trouble with bad S-VHS tapes than the ADATs themselves.

Katsu · Post by **Katsu** » Sat May 24, 2003 8:52 am

I have found the original Blackface ADATs to be fairly unreliable, chewing tapes too often, and the A/D converters too "grainy", probably because they are early 16-bit chips.

The LX and XT's are a lot better sounding, and seem more reliable, definately a good choice for A/D and location recording.
The 20-bit convertors sound much nicer than the Blackface's.

assfortress · Post by **assfortress** » Sat May 24, 2003 10:54 pm

Katsu wrote:I have found the original Blackface ADATs to be fairly unreliable, chewing tapes too often, and the A/D converters too "grainy", probably because they are early 16-bit chips.

The LX and XT's are a lot better sounding, and seem more reliable, definately a good choice for A/D and location recording.
The 20-bit convertors sound much nicer than the Blackface's.

Thanks, perfect timing. I was about to ask if it would be worth $30 extra for the XT rather than the Blackface.

Thanks again.

eh91311 · Post by **eh91311** » Sun May 25, 2003 3:34 am

Katsu, I agree that the XT20's converters are an improvement over the original blackfaces, but I have known people who actually prefer the blackfaces as they sound more "aggressive". No matter what model you use, the quality of the sound going in greatly affects the outcome.

moogplayer · Post by **moogplayer** » Sun May 25, 2003 9:43 am

I use 2 blacface ADATS on a regular basis, and I actually prefer the sound and the 1/4" connects to the newer XT machines with RCAs. Yes, your front end does matter when recording to this medium. But that doesn't mean you need to spend some $2K on a mic pre to compensate.

tony moore · Post by **tony moore** » Sun May 25, 2003 3:55 pm

i'm also a long time adat user. a friend is STILL using my old black faces with unbelievable hours on them...

i upgraded to xt20's a few years ago and love them. reliable and sound good. and moog is spot on. just use decent pres (i use aphex 207, rnp, etc) and it helps alot. i still record gigs, rehearsals and even impromptu group sessions with my adat because it's just so simple and dependable. then transferring the tracks via the digi 001 adat lightpipe is just as easy!

prosumer really ain't so bad

tony

brian beattie · Post by **brian beattie** » Sun May 25, 2003 10:29 pm

I'm gittin kinda teary eyed... I think this is my first adat luv-in!!!
I'll always remember this, guys!!!!
brian

assfortress · Post by **assfortress** » Sun May 25, 2003 10:34 pm

Sweet. Ive got an XT on the way. The hours are a little higer than I wanted, 750, but thats alright because I'm just using it for the A/D converters for the most part. The only time I think I will record to it is if, no, WHEN I record in a forest, or cave.

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