Bargain hunting

[Liquid Len]

I'm looking for a way to convert optical ADAT spdif to a stereo analog signal. A cheap way. Is there any single-purpose item like that available anywheres? The reason for this is - for playing live I send the vocodizer output to ADAT1/2 and the instruments to the analog outs. This way I can send two separate signals (from the Noah) to the mixing board. Right now I'm using an optical SPDIF to RCA convertor and just sending that to the board, which happens to have a digital in. But the reality, in my part of the world, is to expect mainly analog mixing consoles, at least at the venues I'm playing for the foreseeable future hehe. I need a way to convert the signal to analog. I'm looking at a few converters, Behringer's 2496 ultra-pro-match-ultra is by far the cheapest, but I'm in no particular hurry and am wondering if there's a cheaper way.

[Shroomz~>]

As far as I know, the cheapest of the cheapest of cheap methods of ADAT to analogue conversion would be a second hand fostex VC-8. They are good little converters for the money (anywhere between £40 - £70 on ebay). The only downside is that they have unbalanced RCA phono analogue I/Os, which require the use of phono > 1/4" jack cables for use with most analogue mixers. Still, an 8-way phono > jack loom can be had pretty cheap.

[Liquid Len]

Thanks for the help Shroomz and Stardust. I just checked out the manual for these two, looked at their specs. I would try to stay away from using an RCA connector like the Fostex unit onstage, because (1) I'd be afraid of shielding problems, using RCA plugs and (2) Bars around here often have surprisingly WRETCHED electric systems, there's bad wiring and 2 or 3 neon signs running, and the unshielded AD/DA converters would pick that up. Ahh, playing the small bars and legions. That's why I'm not worried about 'compromising the sound' of the Noah by going analog - recording is one thing, but live, a lot of details can get lost.

The AdCon is much solider design, but the price - a bit more than I have right now. I would want to get a piece of gear like this brand new, I've bought second hand gear before and got burned.

I'm just playing in small bar bands now, we bring the gear in our cars and vans and set it up and usually recruit a friend to keep an eye on the mix during the night, maybe someday we'll be able to hire a production company, or even just a pro soundman, to take care of those details but not today. When that day occurs I will need a DA converter for sure. Right now I can bring my behringer 3216 mixer, and it takes digital in, but we've had a few gigs where we had to use someone else's mixer, and I had to bring the 3216 along just to 'do the conversion' because most of the sound systems around here do not incorporate digital, they're great sounding analog systems and aren't going to be replaced any time soon. Not only that, but when we use the 3216 mixer for a show, I have to run an RCA line parallel to the snake to carry the SPDIF signal. A rackmount converter that I could carry around with the Noah would make it more convenient, make my gear more standard.

So far the Behringer's still the cheapest option but I might hold off and get something like the AdCon that does the full 8 channels, DA conversion probably a bit better quality than Behringer's too.