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Is there anything available for an ADAT input for laptops? I'm wanting to use my Lavry AD10 without my fireface 800 (selling it). ADAT direct into my PC would be so excellent. Is there anything available?

Thanks!

Comments

Boswell Fri, 12/09/2011 - 02:22

Chris, the Lavry AD10 does not use ADAT protocol, it uses S/PDIF optical (Toslink). When you were running it into your FF800, my guess is that you had the second optical port switched to S/PDIF. The AD10 is also supplied with an AES-RCA adaptor cable so you could use electrical S/PDIF into interfaces that had RCA inputs, although you would not get the ground isolation then.

Now if you had a Macbook Pro, you could connect the Toslink optical output directly into the line input 1/8" jack, as this is an electrical/opto combo jack. Otherwise, you need something like the Creative Audigy 2 ZS Notebook adaptor (if you can bring yourself to use a Creative product!), which will get you optical S/PDIF input via a break-out unit. I think there probably other Cardbus boards that will do this job, but that was the first one I came across.

audiokid Fri, 12/09/2011 - 08:29

Bos, what would we do without you here.
Yes, this is what I did. I always wondered about that in the FF800 but never used toslink before so never fully understood it. Another mystery solved. Thanks!

When you say I wouldn't get a ground, what happens? Can you get a ground loop or buzz ?

The Creative Audigy 2 ZS Notebook adaptor is cheap. Definitely solves my budget issue now.

Boswell Fri, 12/09/2011 - 09:07

If you can go optical, it avoids the chassis grounds of the two pieces of gear being connected together as they would be when using electrical S/PDIF via RCA connectors. It's normally not much of a problem, but when you have serial links to top-quality A-D or D-A converters, if it's feasible to keep the computer ground isolated from the converter ground it will help minimize the amount of digital noise being injected into the converters.

BTW, I have no experience of that Creative Audigy 2 ZS Notebook adaptor - it's just one I came across with the right sort of specification.