A16Ultra - can it be used to convert Z-Link <-> ADAT?

hesnotthemessiah · Post by **hesnotthemessiah** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 9:47 am

Cheers Markus. Looks like I will be probably be doing a swap for one of my Z-Link plates - a fellow forum member has offered the choice of either a Classic or Plus plate. So, whilst losing 2 Z-Link connectors, I would gain an extra 8 mono ADAT in/outs. Plus I would still have my 2 -Z-Link connecors on my other card for when I get the urge to dig out my old midi gear!

But I would still really like someone to confirm, from first hand experience, whether they can connect ADAT outs to Z-Link via an A16Ultra.

kylie · Post by **kylie** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 11:03 am

hesnotthemessiah wrote: But I would still really like someone to confirm, from first hand experience, whether they can connect ADAT outs to Z-Link via an A16Ultra.

since I'm still interested to know that, even if it was just for curiosity, I will do that test a.s.a.p.
I have a swissonic ad converter (somewhere) to try that with, and there's the possibility to check if s/mux works as expected as well.

I tell you when it's done.

-greetings, markus-

ps. if adat is most important, and you could live without the additional analog and digital i/o from the classic or plus plate, you could still check if you can get an adat plate.

kylie · Post by **kylie** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 11:51 am

ok, I can confirm at least a few things:

currently I have an A16U connected via z-link to a pulsar2 (with the z-link plate, what else

). a swissonic AD8 is hooked to the adat in ports of the A16U.

-- start of OT information ---
since I'm still busy with digitalizing old treasures of my mother in law from tape to cd I have a small onkyo tape drive connected to 2 of the inputs of the AD8 (it's mainly a mic preamp but can do line as well with gain pot down).
at this very moment I'm listening to an old tape I bought on my first trip to england in 1990. bonnie tyler sings about islands right now

-- end of OT information --

so I can confirm at least that the manual is right about the fact that you can feed an adat device via z-link into a scope card. sorry ali

lacking an adat DA I cannot prove the reverse direction. and due to limitations in my setup I cannot confirm that it works with 96kHz as well (but I expect that).

-greetings, markus-

hesnotthemessiah · Post by **hesnotthemessiah** » Tue May 01, 2007 7:40 pm

Thanks for the info markus.

So, if I understand correctly, you have an Onkyo tape drive's analogue outsgoing into an AD8 (pre-amp thingy) analogue inputs. Then going via the ADA8's ADAT outputs into the A16Ultra's ADAT inputs. Then via the A16Ultra's Z-Link outputs into your Z-Link connectors on your Creamware card.

So the A16Ultra can convert it's ADAT inputs to it's Z-Link outputs.

Mr Ali Fawaz's (of Creamware USA & Canada) mistake has actually saved me money. I cancelled an order for an A16Ultra after the very helpful chaps at JRRShop got in touch with Mr Ali Fawaz , on my request for them to find out if there were any problems with my proposed setup. They were advised the A16Ultra could not do ADAT to Z-Link. At the same time I purchased an extra Pulsar2 card at a very good price (with some nice additional synths) from this forum and it gave me additional ADAT inputs. Plus I now realise I can swap for my Z-Link plate, quite easily, for an ADAT plate and will probably do so very soon with a fellow forum member. So I must say thankyou to Mr Ali Fawaz for making the mistake!

kylie · Post by **kylie** » Wed May 02, 2007 12:36 am

hesnotthemessiah wrote: So, if I understand correctly, you have an Onkyo tape drive's analogue outsgoing into an AD8 (pre-amp thingy) analogue inputs. Then going via the ADA8's ADAT outputs into the A16Ultra's ADAT inputs. Then via the A16Ultra's Z-Link outputs into your Z-Link connectors on your Creamware card.

exactly. I equipped the chinch cable (the onkyo has the common consumer I/O) with chinch-to-trs adapters that go into the receptacles (the AD-8 has combo xlr/trs inputs) of the converter. since it has no other output than adat (two, in fact, since it can do s/mux) there is no other way to connect it to the A16U than adat. the A16U is then connected to my pulsar2 via z-link.

double pressing the sample rate button while in z-link operation mode switches to adat mode (the display reflects that). the led meters on the unit seem to monitor the analog inputs of the A16U only. the unit will be controlled by the computer, btw, so setting sample rates on the front panel will not work while being set to this mode.

since my current output device is still a SB Live I avoid recording and listening to 96kHz audio (I have to use headphones at the moment, and for the old tapes higher samplerates are not necessary anyway)

(but I expect to situation to be improved soon)

-greetings, markus-

hesnotthemessiah · Post by **hesnotthemessiah** » Wed May 02, 2007 12:43 am

Cheers Markus

Looks like I will be keeping one Z-Link card, with the main reason being I will then have the option of a reasonable amount of analogue inputs, should I ever need them. But, it is useful to know I could use the Z-Links for ADAT inputs, using an A16Ultra.

Thanks again.

kylie · Post by **kylie** » Wed May 02, 2007 1:14 am

hesnotthemessiah wrote: Looks like I will be keeping one Z-Link card, with the main reason being I will then have the option of a reasonable amount of analogue inputs, should I ever need them. But, it is useful to know I could use the Z-Links for ADAT inputs, using an A16Ultra.

the amount of analog inputs was the main reason for me to get the A16U. having the option to feed an adat only device into it is a nice-to-have for me, too

-greetings, markus-

AudioDan · Post by **AudioDan** » Wed May 30, 2007 6:28 pm

Hi I just want to throw "my two cents worth" here as succintly as I can.

YES! The A16 Ultra DOES CONVERT ADAT TO AND FROM Z-LINK.
The A16 Ultra MUST be in Z-Link Sync Mode for this to work.
Once the unit is synced to Z-Link Press the Sample Rate button twice and you'll see the word "ANALOG" come up on the Peak Meters. The second time you press the Sample Rate button (quickly in succession that is) the word will change from "ANALOG" to "ADAT" this means that the A16 Ultra is now bussing ADAT input to the Z-Link Source Modules in SFP and audio going to the Z-Link Destination Modules in SFP will go to ADAT outs. In addition to this, whilst in ADAT <-> Z-Link mode the Analog Outs mimmic the ADAT outs. That is, signal being bussed out the ADAT ports is also bussed out the Analog out at the same time.
From memory, though, I don't think the Analog ins get bussed to Z-Link at the same time as ADAT ins....which would make a lot of sense anyway.
Sorry if I'm repeating what other have said, but I hop that helps.
Cheers,
AudioDan

p.s. the section in the manual that describes this function is VERY shady and hard to find and understanding considering how much of an important function this is. But this function is one of the main reasons I bought the A16 Ultra, and it has proven extremely useful. DON"T GET RID FOR YOUR Z-LINK PORTS!!!

hesnotthemessiah · Post by **hesnotthemessiah** » Sat Jun 02, 2007 4:09 pm

Thanks for the confirmarion AudioDan. Much appreciated.

Shayne White · Post by **Shayne White** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 12:53 pm

So the A16U is really a three-way converter -- tridirectional. Pretty ingenious, I'll say!

Can't wait to get my hands on one.

Shayne

kylie · Post by **kylie** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 4:23 am

it was, as I just realized after talking to ralf, mere luck that I was able at all to test that. I used (for cable routing reasons) only the last 4 or 6 inputs. when I checked the others they appeared to be dead...

my unit is in repair this very moment, and after having a nice talk with The Keymaster [tm] I feel my A16U is in good hands right now...

-greetings, markus-

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 6:11 am

whoa guys! that is so cool

I need to bump this as i'll be starting to make tests in a short while. I have a luna card in a second pc running gs3 and an a16U collecting dust on a shelf. Right now the luna sends 1 stereo track to the main daw through spdif:

gsif -> luna spdif out -> main DAW spdif in. Does the above research mean it could go like this:

gsif -> luna zlink out -> A16 zlink in -> A16 ADAT out -> main DAW adat in?

it would mean 4 strereo tracks out to the main DAW then

anyways, thanks for the info