alternatives to CRAP! Behringer ADA8000 Ultragain Pro-8 A/D/A Converter

[Stitch333]

Ima bump this post as it very informative.
FWIW: Gyraf is a genius.

Originally Posted by drtechno

crackaly noises are cased by bad optical cable or improper sync settings. Its best to run these things as slave adat and your interface as internal sync.

I encounter it at times with the one connected to my m-audio FireWire 1814 system. I just turn off/on the ada8000 and its ok.
I have never had it mess up on my Event EZ8 ADAT card system.

once you bypass the mic pre's you have a very nice line level a/d converter.

the a/d converter is an Alesis/Wavefront Semiconductor chipset
they set up perfectly with my soundcraft studio board's direct outs.


this is how the mod goes - this is done on the skinny board in the front on all channels:

this is what you have to do for each channel:

1. remove both sets of 47uF capacitors
2. remove both 6.8k resistors (I just cut all of them out with some clippers)
3. remove both glass surface mount diodes
4. remove both 825 ohm resistors
5. remove both 2.49k resistors
6. remove both A1316 pin in hole transistors
7. remove both A06 surface mount transistors
8. install jumper wire across where the 47 uF caps were
9. install jumper wire across where the base to collector juntion of the A1316 pin in hole transistor was.


And there you go, if you feel that you cannot perform this mod yourself, consult your local TV/VCR repair shop. They would have the knowledge and equipment to do this task. and trust me, this mod is worth it.

attached is the schematics for it, GYRAF submitted it in the original thread. print it out and take it to the shop. Happy mods

[Samuelito]

HI everyone!!!!

I'm needing some help.
I acheived the mod and worked great for a moment, but suddenly the only thing I could hear was noise.
Opened the box and found a blue cable disconnected. I tried to solder it to the power source as I thought it should go there, but as I reconnected the ADA, one of the caps blew away.
So, changed the cap, disconnected the blue cable again and everything was as before.
Still noise and no signal.
Does anyone know were should that blue cable be connected???
Can someone open this F...... box and guide me???
I leave a photo of mine for u 2 see what I'm talking about.

Thx in advance


Sam

[tampa]

Originally Posted by S.F.Sorrow

I've heard many say that the best results are with the pres turned all the way down on the ADA8000. Problem is, when turned down the signal out is considerably lower than a normal line level signal. I have to turn i up around 3-4 steps to get a "normal" signal out of it. Is my unit faulty or is this normal for the ADA8000? And is it normal that some steps boost the gain a lot more than others (but the same on every channel)?.

I've tried contacting Behringer about this but they just gave a very vague reply that didn't really answer the question. After that they simply stopped answering any questions at all...

Your unit is not defective. The ADA8000 is what it is, it is a very cheaply built unit on many fronts. I got rid of mine a while ago and never looked back.

[Jidis]

Sam (had one disconnected right beside me with one screw holding the cover on )-

On this US model, it's from the back of that power jack/fuse assembly on the rear panel (in the upper right corner of your picture). It looks like it goes to a pin on the far right side the way yours is facing. Mine's wrapped in electrical tape. The wiring looks different than your model, but one of your pins will probably look like something broke off. It should have had a little segment of heatshrink tubing on it like those other connections.

Hope that helps!

George

--Just attached a pic

[Samuelito]

Thanks George!!!

That was exactly what I thought on first instance, but the third pin from the power jack/fuse had notthing. Clean!!! I solder it there anyway cause I was sure that was the position, but then the cap exploted.

Now I looking again and the third pin (left 2 right) of the power jack/fuse is linked to the fuse and gets inside the PS by the red cable that comes out from the other side of the fuse.
The first pin of the power jack/fuse goes straight to the power on button and back into the PS.
The second one is the mass, earth, whatever...connected to the chasis.
The blue cable comes out of the PS...
Considering that the PS has both sides of the power entrance, should the blue cable be connected to the chassis also???

I must be ********!!!!!!

[stagefright13]

I had one of these for over a year no problem. I piped my adat signal from my Trango24 converter wich has an extra adat out to it and it synced perfect. It was the slave in tracking room. No pops or clicks. And I used a ridiculously cheap and long and thin light pipe cord.

I have heard these 8000's blow up but I keep all equipment cool. I suggest not working in a hot environment. And keep your rack well ventilated. Converters and reverbs can run VERY hot. And need some special care.

Another post that is just as useful as tit's on a nun.

John

[Samuelito]

Thx John!!!

I think I'll go to church this Sunday and check out the nuns in town.

Anyone else with and idea for reparing this piece of s.h.i.t.???

I need it for the time being till I buy a AI-3 or a Tango 24 and send it to BLA for a mod.

Cheers,


Sam

[Samuelito]

George.

Hope is not much to ask.
If you still have the ADA8000 beside you, could take of the tape and take a photo of the jack/fuse connection?
Or even just tell me exactly were the blue cable is connected.

Sorry for bodering you again, you are the only one who gave me some info.
And thank you very much for your time.

Cheers,



Sam

[Jidis]

Sam,

No problem. I started to do that the other day anyhow.

I'll attach a CAD sketch too, but keep in mind this is the US model. I'm not sure how yours was originally wired.

The drawing is of the rear (connection) side of the assembly. The red & blue at the top go to the transformer. The black at the bottom left heads to the front power switch, and the green is chassis grounded.

Hope that helps!

George

[Samuelito]

Amazing!!!!!
Thanx George!!!!!

I only have one question. the fuse goes between the red and the blue???
Yesterday I tried to connect the blue one to ground and at least it didn't explote.
I have to put some signal through it and see what happens.
Anyway, I'll re-check everything with your sketch and photos before soldering.

Thanks again for your time and have a good weekend.


Sam

[Jidis]

Hey Sam,

I guess we don't know how that fuse part is wired internally, unless we find a similar one somewhere online. The red and blue are just the outside connections.

If you have enough trouble with this issue, you may want to try posting into one of those threads over at the Prodigy forums or wherever most of that mod info used to be. I remember some pretty long threads so I'm guessing there are a bunch of guys who are quite familiar with ADA guts out there.

Take Care

George

[nedorama]

The ADA8000 does have a known quality problem that many describe as a "frying eggs sound" that's different from a sync issue. Google will show multiple instances of it; however I'm not sure what the preventative care is if at all.

In some cases, people never have this problem; a lot of live sound people who use them as 01v expanders carry 2 so that when one dies (not if) they've got a backup.

I don't have a horse in this race, but at one point did have an Alesis AI3 which seemed stable; I believe Black Lion is still modifying those. No preamps, but at that pricepoint that's probably a good thing.

[goodone]

yeah, presonus digimax series is good -- i don't have the D8 but went for the FS model because it has inserts on all channels, which is worth the extra bucks to me. i use it via ADAT to my 1814 and the pres are a significant improvement to the onboard ones on the interface, to my humble ears. one change i made a little while in to using it was to run BNC from the FS to the 1814 and sync them that way -- having dedicated sync apart from ADAT seemed to clean up noise and weirdness a lot.

[Jidis]

Nedorama & Sam,

I actually have an AI-3 here as well, which is what I "upgraded" from. I liked the pres in the ADA enough for drum mics and it saved me an extra unit and cabling for that. I think an AI-3 is a bit dated in 2010 unless you get one super cheap. Its sync features are a bit limited. It auto clocks to external if there's ADAT input present, and there's no WC input. This posed a problem for me as it didn't seem to approve of the ADAT clock from my MOTU 2408mk3 and made really subtle clicks and fuzz. The Behringer worked fine feeding both directions simultaneously. My AI-3 also has a couple malfunctioning LEDs (seems to be an "Alesis thing" here). If you're set on a non-Behringer, there might be an SM Pro Audio or something out there in that same range.

Take Care

[Samuelito]

Thanks everyone!!!!

I appreciate all the info u've posted.
I'll tell how the story goes for me at the moment.
My setup is:

* Digi 002R BLA mod (Signature series) (no BNC input or output, just ADAT in/out)

* Behringer ADA8000 modded (as on the thread) (worked till that cable disconnected)

*Amek Scorpion 12 channels (mic pres)


The idea was always using the ADA8000 as line inputs (the preampos don't work no more) clocked to the 002 as slave and use the board for tracking. EQ's + outboard gear.

I want to keep the signal as clean as possible that's why a AI-3 or a Tango 24 would do the work (modded would be my salvation), but they are just hard to find sometimes.
The thing about SM pro audio is that the card has only ADAT output and I can not lock it as slave to the 002 (s.h.i.t.y thing cause I like does pres - really clean).

I think prodigy is the answer but first I'll try to ground that blue cable and see if works. Is the only possibility left. At least it didn't explote the cap when I tested.

George,

Would you consider selling the AI-3 if u don't use it?? I might be intrested as I think u are in the US and I could send it directly to Black lion audio, get that thing modded and end this story ones and for all.
I'll understand if u want to keep it as a backup.

Well..

Thanks again to you all, and have a nice weekend.

Cheers,


Sam

[Jidis]

Hey again Sam,

I'm out of a studio right now, but I'm hanging on to the AI-3 for line level i/o to the handful of analog stuff I still have left. the Behringer stayed in the tracking room near the drums. I'd still look around for others though if you need an 8x8 converter with no pre's. With the cost of modding there may already be something comparable new.

George

PS- You know those ADA's have the same Wavefront Semi converter chips as the Alesis? (not that that's all there is to the circuit though)

[Samuelito]

Yes I knew that. That's why I tried to mod the behringer.
They say is practically a copy of the schematics aswell for one model of RME that I don't rememeber right now.
The BLA mod is around 250 bucks + 250 for the gear, I don't think I'll get something that good for that price.

I've been following BLA since their early years when they started with the SM pro audio PR8 mod and I really trust the guys. I think they do a great job.
IMHO one of the outbreaking companies in recording industry of the last years. (don't know if I'm using the term correctly)

Take a look, I've just found one modded on ebay.
Hope the seller will agrre shipping it outside US.

Alesis AI3 with Black Lion Mod Pro Tools LE - eBay (item 260652874714 end time Aug-25-10 20:14:26 PDT)

Cheers!!!


Sam