1U 8ch good mic pre w/ ADAT?

[noamraz]

Originally Posted by Remoteness

I would attach the support to the rack and not the device, so you can remove the unit anytime you want.

Also, wrap or glue some foam on that support.

This is what i found when desigining my new racks:
Penn Elcom : Racking - Rack Strip & Rail=

Penn fabrication holds some nice solutions, installing the R0883 Rack Strips initially allows you to install shelf support (R0855-R0858) later-on.

though this is partial solution if you carry the racks upside-down somtimes since shelves are gravity-dependant.. ;-)

[Remoteness]

It's true, a transportable rack must be supported in all directions!

[Enginearing]

sweet.... those will be perfect mounted above the unit to support when wheels go to jebus, and my old Behry unit that only serves as DA will be in the back of the rack, supplying support beneath the audient


The behry still has 2 perfectly good functions for me...

[espasonico]

Originally Posted by noamraz

This is what i found when desigining my new racks:
Penn Elcom : Racking - Rack Strip & Rail=

Penn fabrication holds some nice solutions, installing the R0883 Rack Strips initially allows you to install shelf support (R0855-R0858) later-on.

though this is partial solution if you carry the racks upside-down somtimes since shelves are gravity-dependant.. ;-)

Can you please post a photo of how it ended. I have an Audient and I´m very interested.

Thaks

[che_guitarra]

Mackie 800R user here. Owned for three years, and it's a great piece of kit. If it got stolen i'd buy another in a heart beat without even considering an alternative.

[NHAttak]

Digimax LT clocked by my Ensemble. The better clock helps a lot. Great deal for $400.

[zoom]

I have the Audient ASP008 in use here (with additional ADAT and AES/EBU outputs) and there is really nothing to complain and I'm really happy with it. This 8 channel preamp does its job perfectly, just amplifying what it gets from the mics, without adding any own sound or artefacts - just perfect! A/D converters are great. I think for all preamps in this class selfnoise should be always on the lowest limit what is technically possible- and for sure this little thing is quiet.

The switcheable input impedance is not very useful (for me) probably a nice feature if you have some dynamic mics.

Furthermore I like the possibility to split up and route the 8 channels to the 3 different outputs: analog, ADAT and AES/EBU.

In my opinion the ASP008 is highly recommended. ...but only if you can live with following restrictions:
-> The 8channel ADAT-out is limited to 48kHz/24bit due to its standard (the 96/24 4 channel ADAT-out which is technically possible is not 'officially' specified, so it is not implemented) 96/24 is available for AES/EBU only.
-> I would recommend for this preamp to have 2U or at least 1U more space above in the rack, because the unit becomes quite hot. There is a newer version of the ASP008 with a little fan built in which probably generates some (acoustical) noise. Mine is without a fan and absolute quiet. I never had heat issues due to additional 2U in the rack.

cheers
stefan

[Gerax]

I'd consider the Audient if only it would add the dual ADAT S/MUX feature, as my way of recording on location uses two parallel HD recorders which get the same signal form all my ADAT loaded preamps (very handy digital split). I chose the Octopre because it had that feature, I also wrote to Audient to know if they'd eventually consider putting out a new digital option with the dual ADAT port...but they replyed it wasn't in their plans yet...so...

[Gerax]

...oops...just as I wrote this message I hopped on the Audient website and what I saw? Now the digital option supports 96KHz AES/EBU e ADAT S/MUX...!!! So now there's no more excuses...

[gareth.h.rees]

Originally Posted by Gerax

...oops...just as I wrote this message I hopped on the Audient website and what I saw? Now the digital option supports 96KHz AES/EBU e ADAT S/MUX...!!! So now there's no more excuses...

Be sure to check that it supports dual 44.1 though - I have a Presonus Digimax FS which has SMUX, but it does NOT duplicate the output on to both ADAT outputs in 44.1 mode. Rather annoying!

Gareth

[LX3]

I have a bunch of the Audient pres too, which I like very much. The newer ones do indeed feature a digital board with 96k SMUX ADAT outs.

I believe the Audient has always had that internal cooling fan. All of mine do, but it's very small and quiet. Some of my ASP008s are four or five years old, others about a year old.

Actually, I don't know of a 8-channel 1U mic pre that doesn't get red hot, so most of these sort of pres are fan-cooled - Octopre, Mackie 800R too I think.

[mpdonahue]

I would take a look at the Aphex 188.
We just bought 4 of them for a flypack system. The one we had here on demo worked very well, it has full remote capability via laptop and cat5, analog out on 25 pin and dual ADAT output for SMUX operation.
This preamp has decent transformer coupled inputs (lundahl) and sounds like a clean modern preamp. Am I getting rid of all my Millennia, Grace and Hardy preamps? No. But these are a perfectly acceptable modern preamp.

At $1250 on the street, you could do far worse.

All the best,
-mark

[Remoteness]

That says a lot coming from you, Mark.

[bishopthomas]

I'm glad to see the 188 getting such positive reviews. Those will be the preamps that my new rig will be based around. Do you control the preamps through software or the physical remote control? If software, how easy do you find it to "grab" a knob and twist in the heat of the moment? I downloaded the software and it seems decent enough, I'm just a little concerned about the quickness of it when there's not a lot of time for sound check.

Have you used the Anaconda snake, Mark? I've heard mixed reviews but it has the right features and right price (for me and my budget). I'll definitely be going with a digital snake. Right now it's between that and an RME MADI system, but I like the price of the Aphex. It also has redundant power supplies and redundant fiber i/o.

[mpdonahue]

Originally Posted by bishopthomas

I'm glad to see the 188 getting such positive reviews. Those will be the preamps that my new rig will be based around. Do you control the preamps through software or the physical remote control? If software, how easy do you find it to "grab" a knob and twist in the heat of the moment? I downloaded the software and it seems decent enough, I'm just a little concerned about the quickness of it when there's not a lot of time for sound check.

Have you used the Anaconda snake, Mark? I've heard mixed reviews but it has the right features and right price (for me and my budget). I'll definitely be going with a digital snake. Right now it's between that and an RME MADI system, but I like the price of the Aphex. It also has redundant power supplies and redundant fiber i/o.

Unfortunately the Anaconda was a non starter for us. It looked like a great product, but it has a few glaring flaws that made it unworkable for us here. It is 48/96k only and the fiber output is a proprietary format that only talks to another Anaconda. For a live sound this may be fine, but we need all the available frequencies and optical MADI for our applications.
The lousy thing here is that we will be buying the more expensive RME product that has less flexibility and physical IO because it has the missing features of the Anaconda.
All the best,
-mark

[zoom]

Originally Posted by LX3

I have a bunch of the Audient pres too, which I like very much. The newer ones do indeed feature a digital board with 96k SMUX ADAT outs.

I believe the Audient has always had that internal cooling fan. All of mine do, but it's very small and quiet. Some of my ASP008s are four or five years old, others about a year old.

Actually, I don't know of a 8-channel 1U mic pre that doesn't get red hot, so most of these sort of pres are fan-cooled - Octopre, Mackie 800R too I think.

...interesting, how much ASP008's do you have? I've purchased mine in 2004 (I own only one) and it has definitively no cooling fan, I was surprised when I saw a newer one some time later. Anyway, with some space in the rack there is no heat issue.
And the ADAT S/MUX thing I didn't know until yesterday ;-) ...I fear an upgrade would be quite expensive, so better for me to use the AES3-outs for 96/24 even this is not so handy.