I have limited experience with it and the Mackie unit. Both seem quite decent for what they are.

I'm under the impression that ADAT as a tape format is all but dead, but the transfer protocol (8 ch i/o on fibre optic) is still very much alive and well; a "Standard" for the industry. The Tascam DA-x8 format is certainly not far behind on the path to obsolesence, either.

Regardless of the system (dedicated stand-alone HD rigs, or DAWs) I'd go right to some kind of HD system as soon as you can; tape in general is passing away, or becoming a severely nich'd market. With the passing of Quantegy, it's probably going to drive up the price of analog (and eventually digital) tape; hoarders and collectors will certainly get into the act, and the price of tape will become out of reach of the regular (little guy) studio owners.

Properly done (analog) tape is of course wonderful, but if you're looking for the most cost-effective way these days for digital multitrack work, archiving and data storage, HD is the way to go. 120, 160 and even 200 gig drives are getting stupid-cheap, and it's all but whacking us over the head now as the most cost-effective way to do it.

Tape dissappearing...maybe in audio, but video its alive and well.
When WWE was at my building a few weeks ago they did their
live Monday broadcast, when they went to load up their tape machines it hit me after seeing they had flight a flight case 8' x 4 ' with hundreds of stock. Video tape is still being made by the tons and will be for years to come.
Sony and Maxell Betacam-Digibeta-JVC Digitial S-and consumer VHS is used in staggering numbers in broadcast. Sold a video item to the production house who does Jeopardy, asked what they use for their production...all linear-period. Its just faster...
Every broadcast of every sporting/live event in every market in the US is all tape. Not to mention news ENG shooter/editors in every city, and satelltie uplink and downlink thats captured.

I'm bummed just like everyone else about Quantegy, but someone will step in, if theres enough demand that is.

Local studio here bought the last few M20s just for the converters...the owner loves them, has a JH24/Amek/Trident and has been around for 20 + years. If you like your machine and your confortable with it keep it. As long as it doent get in the way of creativity...

8-) Just my 2 cents..

Sorry to hijack this thread, but don't kid yourself; Videotape for production/broadcast will fall, as well. Perhaps later than sooner, but it will go. It's just a matter of time.

For field work and production shoots, the Sony tapeless videocams are already a reality, and catching on fast. (No ramp-up time for recording on the fly; it all goes to ram first, then off to HD.) Lo-res clips can go back to the shop first, via internet, then the real files come back,and can be tagged & edited just as quickly. Video is recorded as AVI files (and the like) and so there's no rendering or transfer-from-tape wait around time. People who've used it are sold immediately on the workflow alone. Any new recordings get put on the drive as a new clip, and nothing has to be linear if you don't want it to be. Any clip can be moved or played back independently of the others.

As they all move to HDTV formats, they will also begin to drop the use of tape and go to HD or other solid stage memory. Again, it's just a matter of time and cost. Sure, it hasn't happened yet to the extent of audio, but give it a little more time, and you'll see the overall seachange happen. (VHS is already tits-up as a consumer format; DVD's have taken that right out of the game. It'll be the same or similar for pro broadcast next.)

A studio I work with has a pair of Alesis 24's. They love them, been falwless and is the only way to go over ADAT with outboard compatability, analog desk.

I see ADATS going for 65 bucks each these days. A 4some of HT's went on ebay with a BRC for 295 a month or so ago.

I keep one for archiving only. Think of the folks that bought multiple M20's

What you say may be true in the future, but when the production trucks come in to cover NHL, NBA and NCCA just in my arena, I cant even imagine all the iso's and program going to harddrive or a ram card. Not to mention concerts, shows, and industrial one offs just in my building...its hard to grasp.

We've got two different channels of fiber also i.e. VYVX, and not many ENG crews even know how to use it let alone the cost of getting the switch turned on. When they show up to cover a press conference I have to help them patch just to get it to their truck towers. (which goes live to the station, recorded on Beta on site and at the station). I can tell you this, if they were to try and capture and send it through the internet from our building our IT dept would have a fit! Plus the charge for each TV station covering an event at about $200 a peice for DSL. We'll get 10-20 different ENG crews and cameras normally.

FWIW I would love nothing more than to get rid of my 3 Beta 75's and Digital S machines...its going to be a long time before we see the end of video tape, just the amount of HD storage used is crazy.

I've been using Vegas 5.0 at home and DVD architect 2.0 and its scarry what can be done with a few DV cameras and lots of hardrive space..but its a far cry from the MTV truck that was in a few months back. (BTW there was 18 Digibetas recording cameras)
How do you hit "record" on all of them at the same time?? With no remote!? lol I wouldnt want that job...

I'll keep my eyes open to see whats new at the NAB comming up...
I'm curious about that Sony stuff you mentioned I 'll check into it.
8-)

Good to hear, Dean! (Like your stories about Video production, too).

I'm also a Sony Vegas 5.0 and DVD Architect 2.0 user. LOVE it, it's soooo well done, and trouble-free. We try not to send ANYTHING out on VHS or Beta anymore; it's all recordable DVDs.

I hear what you're saying about all those live feeds, and so much data to crunch; I agree it's still easier to dump to tape. For now. :-)))

GIve it time (and check out those Sonys!) As soon as they get the price down on storage, it'll start changing over fairly quickly.