I Don't Understand Adat I/o On 828mkii..., Can someone help explain this to me!! Options

[Lotus17]

Hello. So I was looking at the MOTU 828mkII and I see 8 in and out analog jacks. Now, what I don't understand is this whole ADAT Optical I/O thingy.

http://www.motu.com/products/motuaudio/828/inout.html

Theres a diagram showing the whole setup, but I don't get the ADAT I/O thing... what plugs into that? Is it possible to get 8 more ins and outs with this and be able to record 16 tracks at the same time? I don't understand what the whole ADAT thingy is... could someone explain what it is and what it does or maybe show me to a site where I can learn myself? Thanks!

-Lotus

[timeflux]

hi lotus,

adat is great, it allows 8 channel in digital, you can buy external AD converter for example which has 8 XLR Mic-Preamps and connect the box to your system via single adat cable (yeah, you should be able to record 16 tracks (some hosts doesn't support so many channel at-once-recording, most should do the job)..
i plan to connect my g5 with pc via 2 adats (2x 8in/8out), so i have 8 stereo in/ 8stereo out digital quality connection.
You can connect quality effect devices, digital mixers, very useful in digital domain..

[Lotus17]

Okay, that makes sense. Thanks a bunch, but now, what about this Apogee Rosetta AD/DA converter. How does this work? I understand it doesn't have the ADAT, but this is another question.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Rosetta800192/

I don't understand where this comes in on the chain of recording... is there a cable you plug into there that gives you the I/Os you need?

One last thing, do you have an example of what interface I could plug ADAT to get 8 more I/O?

This post has been edited by Lotus17: Fri 8 Apr 2005, 18:21