Found An A16

[dawman]

What are the best cables to use?
Never used Z Link so apologize for my ignorance.

Will also be using 2 x ADA8200 ADAT @ 48k.

Should I buy a clock box or something like that?

Ankyu

[sunmachine]

For Z-Link you'll need 6 Pin FireWire 400 cables.

[dawman]

Thanks brotha man Sun.

Also needs specs for exact power requirements to order a custom psu from Jameco.


Ankyu

[garyb]

12v AC 18.5va

[dawman]

Ankyu

[YiannisK]

Use wordclock to slave the behringers when using Z-link master.
I believe also you can use the 16 inputs from Z-link along side with the 16 Adats i/o's on the A16 Ultra.
Maybe you can just sync with Adat as well but in my setup word clock is needed because of other digital gear.
Great ad-da the A16!!

[dawman]

Great news for sure.
What's I like about revive audio and black lion audio mods are the increased sound quality.
But mostly because ADAT in of each unit gets a TC Fireworx.
The other 6 channels can use line level or Mic pre.
Very versatile.

[jksuperstar]

I've used 30' (5m) long FireWire cables without any issue between Xite-1 and (your old) A16. I've also used 1' long ones in the same box.

Two $20 cables to link 16 channels of 96kHz audio 30' away is better than any snake

[krizrox]

I just responded to a prior thread in the Xite section about almost the same issue. I've been a long-time user of the Z-Link interface going all the way back to the original Luna 2496 boxes. If there was ever an attempt to test the ADAT feature here in my studio, it didn't yield anything meaningful. In fact, I seem to recall some conversations about this very topic on the old Creamware forum. It seemed to me users were more or less preferring Z-Link. I agreed and I followed their lead and never looked back. Until just recently.

I suppose you could go back to the Xite forum and read through all that for your own edification. But I will save you time by stating that switching over to ADAT and using my A16 as wordclock master made a significant difference in the sound quality of my recordings. I noticed the difference right away - especially with the drum tracks I was recording here in my studio. The difference was more than subtle. In fact I was so startled at first, I wasn't sure if I trusted what I was hearing. But I've run a few sessions now and am confident I am hearing a big improvement. I credit the use of a wordclock cable. Any ADAT tests done previously were made without a wordclock cable. I assume this accounts for the difference. This setup also seems to have eliminated any random popping or clicking that I was getting with Z-Link. If you experiment and don't agree, that's cool. My results might (for whatever reason) be different than your results. Some users weren't seeing any improvement using the newer Ferrofish A16 so who knows.

Also should mention I've used different lengths of Firewire cables over the years. There didn't seem to be any difference to my ears if they were long cables or short cables. I would say just use the best cables you can afford. But be aware that the end connectors on some of these cables are thicker or wider and it makes it difficult to plug the two cables into the ports on the back of the A16 (the jacks are very close to each other). Good luck!

PS - about the power supply - my very first A16 Ultra was the Creamware version (with the gray cover). It came with an "in-line" power supply (not the wall wart type). It just sat on a rack shelf inside my rack. Later, I obtained a replacement which was a standard wall wart style. The problem with the wall wart version is it's very heavy. So heavy in fact, that it doesn't want to stay put in the receptacle. If you're moving your gear around frequently, you're going to want to find a way to fasten or secure that thing inside your rack. Just FYI.

[dawman]

Which Word Clock cable would you suggest Kriz?
I want to try other ways but my 3 Fireworx have SPDIF and the XITE-1 has the cable tv looking thing.

Ankyu

[krizrox]

Which Word Clock cable would you suggest Kriz?
I want to try other ways but my 3 Fireworx have SPDIF and the XITE-1 has the cable tv looking thing.

Ankyu

I bought a ProCo 3 foot premium canare cable

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/WDCS3

[dawman]

My favorite guy is Brian Van Derkee.
Ordering now, thanks Krizrox...