Carbon Expanded - ADAT

[MarkH]

Does anyone know if there’s a way to get Mark Corbin’s attention on this thread? Would love his input.

[MarkH]

I reached out to Mark and he was receptive to the feedback about enabling Carbon Pre ADAT ports in an Expanded configuration. Max sample rate would be 96k due to some limitations. I don’t foresee an issue there and it would be a welcomed addition instead of the ports not being usable at all. It’s on the roadmap but not committed, which usually means it’s 6+ months out in my experience. I’d love to see this scoped and committed sooner than that.

[abc1mce2]

Originally Posted by MarkH

I reached out to Mark and he was receptive to the feedback about enabling Carbon Pre ADAT ports in an Expanded configuration. Max sample rate would be 96k due to some limitations. I don’t foresee an issue there and it would be a welcomed addition instead of the ports not being usable at all. It’s on the roadmap but not committed, which usually means it’s 6+ months out in my experience. I’d love to see this scoped and committed sooner than that.

This is good news to me since I'm now considering the Carbon Pre.

[mickglossop]

I recently upgraded my whole Pro Tools system from the old 192-based system to a new one based around Carbon & one Carbon Pre.

I re-designed my workflow and re-wired my studio in order to access the (anticipated) 48 channels of I/O.

Imagine my disappointment to discover that the ADAT interfaces on the Carbon Pre do not work within a Carbon Expanded system, which means that I have only 32 channels of I/O.

This limitation was never made apparent in any Avid promotions I saw.

As pointed out above, there's little point in including ADAT interfaces which do not function.

OK OK they work in standalone mode, but I would bet heavily that the vast majority of Carbon users around the world are Pro Tools users, wanting to take advantage of the DSP/low latency in the Carbon.

Please - Avid - make this happen. I would be happy even if the allegedly restricted AVB data flow meant that use of the Carbon Pre ADAT ports was restricted to 96 kHz (or even 48 kHz).

[MarkH]

Originally Posted by mickglossop

I recently upgraded my whole Pro Tools system from the old 192-based system to a new one based around Carbon & one Carbon Pre.

I re-designed my workflow and re-wired my studio in order to access the (anticipated) 48 channels of I/O.

Imagine my disappointment to discover that the ADAT interfaces on the Carbon Pre do not work within a Carbon Expanded system, which means that I have only 32 channels of I/O.

This limitation was never made apparent in any Avid promotions I saw.

As pointed out above, there's little point in including ADAT interfaces which do not function.

OK OK they work in standalone mode, but I would bet heavily that the vast majority of Carbon users around the world are Pro Tools users, wanting to take advantage of the DSP/low latency in the Carbon.

Please - Avid - make this happen. I would be happy even if the allegedly restricted AVB data flow meant that use of the Carbon Pre ADAT ports was restricted to 96 kHz (or even 48 kHz).

I'm in a similar situation. I purchased Carbon and one Pre with the intention of buying a second Pre to run a full Carbon Expanded system. I had to hold off on the my second Pre purchase to see what the roadmap looks like. I was not aware the ADAT port on the Pre units cannot be used in an Expanded system. I've reverted back to my Galaxy 64 with the Carbon interfaces sitting in the box. I love the sound of Carbon and it's an amazing high quality interface with fantastic Pro Tools integration. The constraint on I/O is holding me back. I'm hoping my email to Mark Corbin incentivizes the Avid team to allow the use of the additional ports. I think they would sell more units if this was the case.

[patmaki]

Hi all, new to the forum. I bought PT's last year after using Logic for 13 years (w Apollo X). I love PT as a DAW, and decided to take the plunge and invest in Avid hardware to get a more seamless tracking experience. I have a Carbon and an HD I/O 16x16 on order. A rep at Sweetwater told me I could connect the HD I/O to the Carbon via ADAT AND the DSP from Carbon would work on the 16 HD I/O tracks during tracking/mixing. Can anyone here confirm if this is true?

[dominicperry]

I don't know what config you have ordered for the HD I/O but the photo on Thomann (https://www.thomann.de/gb/avid_hd_i_o_16x16_analog.htm) shows only one optical port in and one out. If that's S/PDIF, then it's only 2 channels. If it's ADAT, then it's only 8 channels at 44.1/48k.
So you won't be able to get 16 channels into the Carbon over ADAT, only 8.
And those 8 will be at 44.1/48, not at higher sample rates.

Does that answer the question??

Dominic

[MarkH]

Originally Posted by patmaki

Hi all, new to the forum. I bought PT's last year after using Logic for 13 years (w Apollo X). I love PT as a DAW, and decided to take the plunge and invest in Avid hardware to get a more seamless tracking experience. I have a Carbon and an HD I/O 16x16 on order. A rep at Sweetwater told me I could connect the HD I/O to the Carbon via ADAT AND the DSP from Carbon would work on the 16 HD I/O tracks during tracking/mixing. Can anyone here confirm if this is true?

Something doesn't seem right. Avid discontinued the HD I/O. For a Sweetwater rep to recommend this now and sell you the unit seems suspect. The HD I/O units are intended for HDX systems.

[K Roche]

Originally Posted by patmaki

Hi all, new to the forum. I bought PT's last year after using Logic for 13 years (w Apollo X). I love PT as a DAW, and decided to take the plunge and invest in Avid hardware to get a more seamless tracking experience. I have a Carbon and an HD I/O 16x16 on order. A rep at Sweetwater told me I could connect the HD I/O to the Carbon via ADAT AND the DSP from Carbon would work on the 16 HD I/O tracks during tracking/mixing. Can anyone here confirm if this is true?

Yes I just checked the HD 16 info and it does only have 8 channels of ADAT not 16 (and as Dominic noted only @ 44.1 and 48 K ) So at a price of $5k it is not a very good choice.
Me depending on how many simultaneous channels of analog inputs I needed.

If 16 or less I would just get the Carbon Pre to go with the Carbon it's only $3k And in my opinion is better mic pre's and converters than the HD I/O

If you need more than 16 then you can add another Carbon Pre but it will be another $3k

OR you might consider something like the the MOTU 16A 32X32 (@ $1500) which will give you 16 channels of ADAT (but again only at 44.1 and 48 K) which may or may not matter ..

[BScout]

Originally Posted by patmaki

A rep at Sweetwater told me I could connect the HD I/O to the Carbon via ADAT AND the DSP from Carbon would work on the 16 HD I/O tracks during tracking/mixing. Can anyone here confirm if this is true?

Cancel your order and get a new sales rep. That is 100% not true. You can't use a HD I/O standalone. And there is no shared DSP between a Carbon and HD I/O. You need an HDX or HDN card to use the HD I/O.

This is 100% wrong and embarrassingly so for a dealer to say it. Also a massive waste of money.