Anyone use an ADA8000 to record sources OTHER than triggers?

[nwright]

I hear that the ADA8000 is a nice piece of gear for cheap for tracking non critical audio like drum triggers, but does anyone use it for tracking critical audio. If so, how do you like it?

I'm thinking about selling my 2 Firepods and going for an M Audio Profire 2626 and potentially getting an ADA8000 to go with it. I'd use the 8000 for triggers, but also potentially for supplemental drum miking, like cymbal pairs, room mics, etc.

Any advice or thoughts are appreciated!

 

[Torniojaws]

Afaik the general concensus is that it's completely bollocks for anything more than triggers, when it comes to using it as a preamp

 

[Ermz]

As a set of converters on the other hand....

 

[nwright]

As a set of converters on the other hand....

...yes?

 

[Ermz]

In a nutshell, there was a thread on GS where a vast majority of people preferred the sound of the ADA8000 to a Lynx Aurora in a blind shoot-out.

 

[nwright]

haha!

I'd still wanna use it's preamps in some form for true audio capture, so I'm not sure if this is the right step for me.

The Profire sounds really cool, though.

 

[t-rave]

the preamps on on par with any of the bedroom studio grade stuff ( motu, M-audio, presonus, etc.)

 

[006]

I use mine for triggers and for mic'ing scratch guitars. There is probably only one thing that does bug me is the stepped input gain on the preamps, really irritating when you just need a little more to get a good hot signal that isn't clipping but the next NOTCH makes it straight clip. For triggers this isn't a real issue and it's not like I ever expected the 8000 to perform for anything other than triggers and scratch guitar tracks.

I can actually try and do a quick comparison for you, mic'ing my Mesa 4x12 with an SM57, reamp a single guitar DI once through that and into my MOTU 8Pre and once through the ADA8000 so you can hear the difference in the preamps. From my Saffire Vs. 8Pre comparison the 8Pre's preamps are a little darker than the Saffire's, but I still dig them a lot.

~006

 

[nwright]

thanks!

I'm on the fence.

I have 2 Firepods now that I like, but I'd like to potentially upgrade/crossgrade if I could. I know I'm not going to see huge improvements at these price points, but if I could snag a Profire 2626 on it's own and get an improvement over my Firepod, I'd be happy.

Also, looking at the new Steinberg interfaces...

 

[006]

Honestly I think the 2626 will be better than the Firepod, but that's just going by what I've heard. I haven't had too much experience with the Firepod myself, but I haven't heard bad things about it really and I've had zero experience with the 2626, though I am looking to get one while I save up for a 1200F

~006

 

[Melodeath]

In a nutshell, there was a thread on GS where a vast majority of people preferred the sound of the ADA8000 to a Lynx Aurora in a blind shoot-out.

True, but preference does not mean more accurate. From what I understand, the Behringer "sounded better" b/c of an inaccurate, hyped top end. In a converter you want accuracy (for D/A at least).

Also, I don't think you can use the Behringer A/D without running through the preamps, so it's essentially useless, if the preamps color the line inputs.

 

[ze kink]

I'm actually in a similar situation too haha, I've got a FP10 and an ADA8000 (which I obviously can't use with the FP10) and want to get a Profire 2626. I'm probably going to use the ADA8000 for triggers only though, maybe as some extra channels for some weird stuff too though, like a "next room mic" or "sm57 in the bassist's ass" or something

 

[xconnyx]

i have been using two ada8000 for about 4 years now. i use them with a vsl2020 (rme card sold by steinberg) and all i can say is that i want to get rid of those now.

all of the 16pres are sounding different now. i cant say if this is from the beginning or just because this thing is old now. i cant say. the difference in between the quality of the pres is tremendous. also pre 1 and 2 of the ada8000 which is in a not so good condition are sounding reallyawefull now and cant be used for anything else but triggers.

i am going to buy two motu 8pres and will use the ada8000 which is in a better shape for trigger inputs. i will also use the ada8000's outs for monitoring mixes, click and things like that. but i will not use the ada8000 for signals which have to have a good sound.

the outputs of the ada8000 are good though, just like day one.

BUT!
i know a lot of guys who use the ada8000 for live sound to expand digital desk's outputs. those units are used in live situations for everything in germany. from presentations with a 01v96 in front of 50 people, or on big festivals as foh expanders on a m7cl or pm5d, also used for inear mixes and lghtpipeconverter. most of the guys love that unit. maybe mines are just broken because they're used a lot and "old".

or maybe it's just that these pres of the ada8000 are not good enough for studio use.