AD converters in Inputs 5-8?

[tonybran]

and holy [bleep], i had no idea AD converters cost that much...$1,800 for 2 channels? wow....im probably just gonna get the Sytek....and make do with the 002 AD converters...how bad can they really be?

[BookSix]

No, actually you don't want to go into 1-4 OR 5-8 with an outboard A/D. The only place to get a clean in with no Digi pre's or A/D's is spdif.

[Concious Burning]

Alright so heres the thing, because i think im seeing some confusion in this post. You cannot go into any input on 1-8 from an A/D. These are analog ins, on these inputs you are stuck with the Digi A/D. To use and outboard A/D u must go into 9-16 (ADAT) and 17/18 (S/PDIF), these are digital ins. So heres what i would suggest. Get the Sytek and go into 5-8, this gives you mic ins on these channels. Then i would suggest getting the Focusrite Octopre w/ the A/D ADAT card, this will give you 8 mic ins in your digital ADAT in (9-16). Now you have 16 mic ins, 8 analog usig the Digi convertors and 8 digital using the Focusrite convertors, for around $2000 (im not exactly sure on the price Sytek pres you are talking about so im estimating the price).

[tonybran]

ahh ok, that cleared everything up for me,...thank you

[Bezo]

To use and outboard A/D u must go into 9-16 (ADAT) and 17/18 (S/PDIF), these are digital ins.

How would I use inputs 17 & 18? I'm confused.

Currently, I go through a Presonus Digimax LT for inputs 9-16. And I had to change the clock from internal to ADAT. SPDIF was also an option. I guess my question is, is it possible to use both ADAT and SPDIF? The options appear to be one or the other.


Edit: OK, I knew that was silly. Setting the clock simply determines what everything will sync to. So I could connect another pre/converter via SPDIF and sync to either one, right?

[tele_player]

Not exactly. In order to use both the ADAT input and the S/PDIF input, you'd need to get clock to one of the external units somehow. This narrows the choices for what combination of devices will get you all the way to 18 input channels.

[phanatik]

apogee mini-me

[Bezo]

Not exactly. In order to use both the ADAT input and the S/PDIF input, you'd need to get clock to one of the external units somehow.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding. What I'm saying is use one ADAT devise(Digimax LT) and one SPDIF device and clock to one or the other. Sounds like you're saying the same thing.

My thinking is that I could purchase a 2 channel pre amp that connects via SPDIF and clock to it or the Digimax LT and have all 18 inputs at my disposal. No?

[media673]

I am just about to buy a mini-me and I have noticed that you recommend it. Obviously you are using it as a front end clocked to the 002r via Spdif? If so how much does it improve the signal in say compared with just going through the 002r A/D converters?

Is it really that much better than the 002r alone?

Any feedback on how you use it and have found working with it would be much appreciated.

thanks in advance

[mahler007]

I am just about to buy a mini-me and I have noticed that you recommend it. Obviously you are using it as a front end clocked to the 002r via Spdif? If so how much does it improve the signal in say compared with just going through the 002r A/D converters?

Is it really that much better than the 002r alone?

Any feedback on how you use it and have found working with it would be much appreciated.

thanks in advance

You know, I'm kind of in the same boat...
While I've heard nothing but raves about the Mini-Me, and a search of this forum will prove that, I'm a little concernd because the Mini-Me is pretty much a dead end in terms of upgrade options.

While users report that the Mini-Me's pres and the clock/conversion have made a noticeable improvement in their sound when using the 002, it's a little frustrating to me that the Mini-Me would become a bottle neck if you were to upgrade to a better clock in the future. For example, if you had a Mini-Me and then acquired a Rosetta 800, you could not use the Rosetta as the master clock since the Mini-Me, which has no word clock in, HAS to be the master. Also, since it has no analog outs, you can't use the pres with another external converter, nor could you insert something between the pres and the A/D conversion on the way into PT (like an external compressor, EQ, etc...) The USB option is super cool, though...

I'm thinking of getting a Rosetta 200 instead- this would give me an arguably better master clock, and two channels of D/A conversion as well. Add $900 for a Mini-DAC to the $1300 for the Mini-Me USB and you've got a closed box A/D/A system for $2200 that can't sync to anything else unless it's the master- I don't really like that idea. The Rosetta 200 with the Firewire option is about the same price. You don't get the pres, but you do get a better unit with 2 channels of D/A (nice for running some tracks out of the box), a better master clock, the ability to play more nicely with other units, and the Firewire card would be a viable option to the Mini-Me's USB output (important to me for recording live situations using Logic Express or somethng...)

Anyway, if people have any thoughts they'd like to share about this, I'd love to hear- especially if you could shed some light that would make my concerns irrelevant! I'm just looking for the best deal and flexibility for my money (of course.) The portability of the Mini-Me is really attractive to me, as are the pres, but the more I consider my options, the more I kind of feel like the Rosetta 200 is the better way to go...

Many thanks,
Andrew