okie day, Im currently looking to expand my channels from 2 to 12 or 16. Im doing this because I'm starting to record drums now, and after getting some really good Micing techniques from you guys, I am not happy with a guitar cab unless it has at least two mics on it. so I was looking at the MOTU 196 HD system and the Lynx AES 16 channel card.
the MOTU is 12 channels straight forward stuff, I understand it.
But the Lynx AES16 is a card that has 16 channels on the card but I dont understand how to use it. It doesnt have a breakout box or Cables? It says it has Aes/Ebu digital I/O. I dont really know what this type of connection is, because until now I have just been dealing with the little usb/firewire boxes. I was wondering if someone could tell me how to really get 16 channels out of this type of card? What kind of device does it connect to? Also some setup ideas that you think would work best?
Thanks for reading :tu:
This is a purely digital card that has 8 AES/EBU inputs and the
This is a purely digital card that has 8 AES/EBU inputs and the same number of outputs. AES/EBU (or it's consumer cousin SPDIF) are the "regular" digital formats. SPDIF, e.g. is found on the back of most CD players as the "digital output". AES/EBU is the "professional version" but does essential the same thing - transport two channels of digital audio (usually Left and Right).
If all of your signals come from digital outputs (e.g. the digital output of a Pod Pro unit or a mic pre with a digital output) your are in luck - you only have to connect those outputs to a single input on the Lynx and you have your stereo digital signal coming into the card. If your signal source is analog it gets a little more complicated. You basically need a device that converts 8 analog signals into 4 stereo digital outputs in the AES/EBU format. I don't remember having seen such a thing but maybe others have.
Frankly, I would go for an RME Hammerfall 9632 card and pair it up with one or two AD/DA converter boxes that fit your budget (e.g. RME ADI-8PRO, APogee, Mytek or for a cheaper version try the Alesis AI-3).
Hope this helps,
MisterBlue.