Anybody know about ADAT machines?

[EdwardofHuncote]

Try this guy. Flat5.com He used Alesis ADAT machines extensively from the first generation on. If he doesn't have them, he's guaranteed to know who will. Super-cool engineer to work with too. Been using Flat 5 for years.

 

[AlexanderB]

Yeah, both the original, black ADAT, the later XT and finally the 20-bit machines were very unreliable.
I remember doing FOH work for original musicals back in the late 90s. We used three synced ADATs to capture the shows.
At one time we had three consecutive evenings going to tape for "live recordings". IIRC, of the 3x36 songs/acts, there were THREE OR FOUR full songs, where the three ADATs were in sync throughout. Luckily, I had taped everything from the desk to my DAT recorder.

The hard disc ADAT XR24HD is a different animal, reliable, easy to maintain, flexible and sounds great.

 

[seamonkey]

I'd just search for an ADAT to Wave transfer service.
It's going to be less than buying an ADAT

 

[Jim Nazium]

ADAT?

 

[GreyBeard]

If you buy a 20 bit and it is a 16 bit tape you will still be OK as it can be set to 16 bit. But, I doubt a 16 bit machine will play a 20 bit recording.

 

[Fernando Costa]

I would do that in a professional studio. Several studios do this type of service with adequate equipment and knowledge, and probably also with lower costs than purchasing an ADAT.

 

[DirtDog]

Alesis ADAT-XT20 Type II 20-Bit 8-Track Digital Audio Recorder | Reverb

Holy crap. A grand! I’ve got two of these things in storage at the moment...with the remotes! Finding ADAT tape for them got to be a challenge.

 

[Tosh]

I found that S-VHS tapes work(ed) OK....and apparently, there's NOS to be found on ebay

svhs tape in Blank VHS Video Tapes | eBay

 

[byacey]

Yeah, both the original, black ADAT, the later XT and finally the 20-bit machines were very unreliable.
I remember doing FOH work for original musicals back in the late 90s. We used three synced ADATs to capture the shows.
At one time we had three consecutive evenings going to tape for "live recordings". IIRC, of the 3x36 songs/acts, there were THREE OR FOUR full songs, where the three ADATs were in sync throughout. Luckily, I had taped everything from the desk to my DAT recorder.

The hard disc ADAT XR24HD is a different animal, reliable, easy to maintain, flexible and sounds great.

I still have 4 Xts, but I haven't used them in years. Never had sync issues, but one machine used to get the head gap plugged up all the time requiring frequent cleaning. The rubber idlers needed changing often depending how heavily they were used.