Digi 003 rack, how many analog inputs can I use at once?

[sneakyimp]

I have a DIGI003 rack and would like to record as many distinct tracks at once without relying on the ADAT inputs (I simply cannot afford any such gear at the moment).

Am I correct in understanding that I can only use the 8 mic/line inputs? Is it not possible to use the AUX inputs as two additional channels? I seem to recall that you can route these to a recording channel in ProTools but that they go to input 7/8 rather than some additional pair of tracks -- this would replace inputs 7/8 and I would still be limited to just 8 simultaneous recording tracks.

Any help much appreciated.

If I could affordably expand the number of inputs by connecting some kind of ADAT interface, I would welcome any recommendations for the long term.

[Top Jimmy]

Yes. 8 is what you get with the 003.

[sneakyimp]

Originally Posted by Top Jimmy

Yes. 8 is what you get with the 003.

Thanks so much for your response. Just to be uber-clear, I have the Digi003 RACK+ (note the plus-sign).

Also, I suppose it would be nice to know what sort of hardware I might get (affordably) that would allow me to make use of the ADAT inputs so I can record more than 16 tracks at once.

[Top Jimmy]

Regardless of which of the 3 versions of the 003 you have, you get 8 analog inputs, 8 channels of ADAT input and 2 channels of S/PDIF input.

Behringer, Presonus and Focusrite all make 8 channel mic preamps with ADAT output.

[sneakyimp]

Originally Posted by Top Jimmy

Regardless of which of the 3 versions of the 003 you have, you get 8 analog inputs, 8 channels of ADAT input and 2 channels of S/PDIF input.

Behringer, Presonus and Focusrite all make 8 channel mic preamps with ADAT output.

Thanks so much for the clarification and the tip. Sounds like I should search for "mic preamp" then and check the specs for ADAT-compatible interface? The DIGI003 refer to the word "Lightpipe" -- is that the official term for such connections? Or is ADAT the correct term?

Also, does AVID offer any kind of compatibility list?

[Top Jimmy]

Alesis coined the name "Lightpipe" to refer to the optical cable and format for transmitting 8 channels of 44.1/48 digital audio over a single optical cable. The cable and connectors themselves were adaptations of Toshiba's Toslink optical. An ADAT optical cable is a Toslink cable. Toslink commonly uses optical S/PDIF as the format transmitted down the cable. S/PDIF is limited to 2 channels.

Your 003 has the ability to use S/PDIF over a coaxial cable, S/PDIF over an optical cable or ADAT over an optical cable. When S/PDIF is set to coaxial, the optical port is available for ADAT. When S/PDIF is set to optical, ADAT is unavailable.

Avid has no ADAT compatibility list as ADAT is a standard and anyone who uses it adheres well enough to that standard.

[sneakyimp]

Originally Posted by Top Jimmy

Alesis coined the name "Lightpipe" to refer to the optical cable and format for transmitting 8 channels of 44.1/48 digital audio over a single optical cable. The cable and connectors themselves were adaptations of Toshiba's Toslink optical. An ADAT optical cable is a Toslink cable. Toslink commonly uses optical S/PDIF as the format transmitted down the cable. S/PDIF is limited to 2 channels.

Your 003 has the ability to use S/PDIF over a coaxial cable, S/PDIF over an optical cable or ADAT over an optical cable. When S/PDIF is set to coaxial, the optical port is available for ADAT. When S/PDIF is set to optical, ADAT is unavailable.

Avid has no ADAT compatibility list as ADAT is a standard and anyone who uses it adheres well enough to that standard.

Thank you thank you so much. I'm seriously considering the FocusRite OctoPre Mk II. I can't help but wonder if the additional 8 tracks (16 total) will require some kind of RAID or special storage configuration. My calculations suggest that 8 tracks of 44.1hz at 24 bits per sample yields a data rate of about 1MB/second. Doubling that would get about 2MB/sec. Am I correct in thinking that your typical 7200 RPM hard drive can handle that data write rate without breaking a sweat? Unless I'm mistaken, you can expect data write writes for modern 7200 rpm drives of around 40MB/sec.

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by sneakyimp

Thank you thank you so much. I'm seriously considering the FocusRite OctoPre Mk II. I can't help but wonder if the additional 8 tracks (16 total) will require some kind of RAID or special storage configuration. My calculations suggest that 8 tracks of 44.1hz at 24 bits per sample yields a data rate of about 1MB/second. Doubling that would get about 2MB/sec. Am I correct in thinking that your typical 7200 RPM hard drive can handle that data write rate without breaking a sweat? Unless I'm mistaken, you can expect data write writes for modern 7200 rpm drives of around 40MB/sec.

Any decent 7200 rpm drive will be able to handle dozens of tracks, and all 18 inputs that the 003 can provide. As I just moved from using the 003, let me give you some details to help. Assuming you work at 44.1 or 48K, you can have a total of 18 ins(and outs) with any 003 variant. That's 8 analog, 8 via lightpipe and 2 via SPDIF. Here is a list of SOME hardware that can fill your needs:
Lightpipe preamps(8 channel)
Behringer ADA8000(cheapest route and totally functional)
Behringer ADA8200(better preamps but still under $250)
Focusrite Octopre Mk II(8 more inputs, but no more outputs)
Focusrite Octopre Mk II Dynamic(my pick for best value), also adds 8 more outputs(handy for headphone mixes) and compressors(not an 1176, but still useful)
Presonus D8, Digimax or FireStudio(FS works well, but is a PITA to configure)
Focusrite ISA428/828 w/digital option(expensive but serious quality). The 428(which I own) allows you to bring in 4 outboard preamps thru the lightpipe so its great for using analog preamps from any company. I had Neve and API clones patched thru this setup.

SPDIF preamps(2 channel)
DBX 386, 586
ART Digital MPA
API A2D

In all cases, clocking must be handled correctly or you will get pops and clicks on the digital inputs. Simplest would be to get BNC cables for wordclock. Go OUT from 003 to your lightpipe preamp(set preamp to use external wordclock). If you add a SPDIF pre, another wordclock cable is all you should need

[sneakyimp]

Dave that is a supremely helpful post for which I am very grateful.

So the optical lightpipe cable doesn't accomplish the clock sync and I'm also going to need a BNC cable? My bandmate has ordered a PreSonus DigiMax D8. I was hoping for the FocusRite OctoPre but we got the D8 for $295.

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by sneakyimp

Dave that is a supremely helpful post for which I am very grateful.

So the optical lightpipe cable doesn't accomplish the clock sync and I'm also going to need a BNC cable? My bandmate has ordered a PreSonus DigiMax D8. I was hoping for the FocusRite OctoPre but we got the D8 for $295.

You CAN do it with only lightpipe for clocking, with this "warning". With the D8, you only have a single lightpipe(FROM the D8 and TO the 003). So, the D8 must be the master(in PT, you go to Setup>Hardware>set Clock Source to Optical). The "warning" is because PT will "forget" this setting each time you shut down(so you need to remember to reset every time you boot your computer).

If you use a wordclock cable(just a single BNC) from the 003 OUT to the D8 IN, you can set the D8 to use external clock and leave PT set to Internal clock source(which it defaults to on boot). Now you can make an informed choice BTW, I ran a D8 for a while and it works quite nicely