Suggestions for HD interfaces for 24 I/O channels

[sonicam]

Does anyone have suggestions for good interfaces for use with an HD system? I'm considering buying an HD1 with 192 I/O and 2x Alesis AI3. I believe this will give me 24 ins and outs at 24bit up to 96Khz. It seems to be the cheapest way to do it..
I should be running on a dual or quad G5. Has anyone got a system like this? Any problems?
Are there other interfaces that may do the job better?
All suggestions very greatfully received, thanks!

[Howardk]

You can only get 16 simultaneous inputs out of any of the existing Digidesign HD Interfaces. . .

[e_o_a_studios]

actually, most don't get it. but YES you can do that!!!

i run mac osx 10.4.3 on version 7 tdm hd accell.

i have 2 96 i/0's

ONE with a 1622 hooked to the legacy port.
and the other with 2 of the 882/ 20's

AND might i add that both of the 96 i/o's have ( 1 ) adat aI3 hooked to them.

i have a ton of i/o doing it like that. 32 ins and outs per 96 i/o
And YES this does work =D

that's minus the outputs for the 1622 =(

anything else???? heh

[Shawn Simpson]

I'm not sure if you intended to take on a condescending tone over Howard's absolutely correct response, but in case I'm missing something, you're using 3 interfaces. There's no 2 ways about it, a single HD interface is capable of only 16 channels of input and output. Connecting multiple interfaces will yield more. Connecting a legacy interface will yield more. Further, your suggestion doesn't really work for the original poster since your legacy interface will only operate up to 48kHz.

My question to the original poster would be whether you actually need 24 channels of input and output. If you're working in the box, most people can get away with fewer outputs. That would give you the option of using a 96i i/o alongside a 96 i/o to get 24 inputs and 10 outputs. Regardless, you're going to need 2 HD interfaces to do 24 channels of 96k recording. Good luck!!

[e_o_a_studios]

no tone needed. But, if i read the post right, he did not have to have 96k, he wants the cheapest route to 24 ins and outs. besides the fact that you can't get over 48k. the ai3 wont clock over the 48k either, which is in his first post. And my post is also for the people who were told you can't run 32 ins and outs on one interface all at once, because you can.

[e_o_a_studios]

this is really a follow up to the above, but the 192 i/0 is listed to do an additional 16 channels of adat i/o, along with the other 16 it already has. NOT an AI3, but the adat AI4 does do 96k. that's off there wesite.. www.alesis.com but are there no other adat at 96k besides the aI4?

but correct me if i am wrong here, the product page for the 192 says it will do 16 and 16.
so pending the AI4 ( pair ) worked with them... that's 32 in and out on one 192 i/o.... but that's spec for spec off of digidesign and alesis. ????? @ 96k.

[Promixe]

AI4 is Digital-to-Digital conversion only. It converts AES/EBU to ADAT and back. No analog I/O.

[Shawn Simpson]

No, one interface alone will NOT do more than 16 channels of input and output. Your post is fine, but you don't seem to understand what you're doing. You're using MORE THAN ONE audio interface. It doesn't matter what you do, there's no way as it stands right now to run more than 16 channels of i/o with a single peripheral audio interface.

[sonicam]

Thanks for your help folks, but I'm still somewhat confused..

Just to reiterate: I need 24 I/O s running 24bit at 96Khz. (I prefer to mix through the desk Shawn).
O.K, so it seems that each interface can only handle a maximum of 16 I/O's - that's fairly clear.

The 192 I/O is specified as having 16 channels of ADAT, yet only seems to have one lightpipe connector on the back - is this right? I thought you could only get 8 channels down a pipe..
The 192 Digital I/O is advertised as 16 chans of ADAT - it has 2 lightpipe connectors- fair enough.
The 96 I/O is listed as 8 ADAT and seems to have no ADAT connection... I don't get it!

Anyway, given that the AI3 will only go to 48Khz, that rules it out. Are there other interfaces that will do 8 ADAT at 96K, (with 8 analog I/O)?
Somebody mentioned R.M.E...
If there is, I can presumably go for 1 x 192 I/O connected to a 96 I/O, with an ADAT converter on either unit, and a HD1 core.
Otherwise, can I go for 3x 96 I/O's chained together? Can the HD1 handle this?

Does someone have some definative answers? Thanks again!

[JFreak]

Are there other interfaces that will do 8 ADAT at 96K

No. Digi doesn't support ADAT smux, so ADAT i/o is always 48k max. You can get 96k streams via AES and SPDIF, but not via ADAT.

can I go for 3x 96 I/O's chained together? Can the HD1 handle this?

No. One card can handle two interfaces. For three interfaces you would need HD2 (which would be good deal anyway, since you'd get one accel card that you will really need for your 96k sessions)

--> It's not cheap, but the most straight-forward solution for you would be to buy a HD2|Accel core system with three 96i interfaces. That'd give you 24 channels of analog i/o plus plenty of digital i/o as well.