need more input; mac or pc? how many channels are to be recorded in one pass?

Hi Kurt.
PC. I dont want to record anything from the other source than daw and be able to control e.g. 20 tracks from Cubase on my Zed24. Purely mixing purposes.

Thanks
Tom

ok i had to look up the zed 24 to see what you are trying to do.

so you are limited to one stereo return from the computer and you want to be able to mix 20 channels or stems. so what you need is a d to a converter. the good news is there are a lot of them available. bad news is you will probably have to settle for both a to d and d to a and 16 channels ... or opt for a much more expensive solution of multi interfaces (3 - 8 channel or 2 -16 channel) or a 24 channel box.

do you have fire wire or thunderbolt on your computer? do you have a preference for any particular protocol? ADAT? USB? Firewire? Thunderbolt? AES/EBU? is 24/48 enough or do you need 24/96? there's a lot of choices. it helps if we can narrow it down.

any way you approach it, it's not going to be cheap unless you opt for a beerslinger box ...

I have the new Antelope Orion32 coming next week. Its a usb or madi interface and 32 channels going both ways! Yup, we now have 32 channel ADDA for under $3000.

This is one of the ways I operate, but when I do this I use the analog I/O of either one or two Alesis HD24XR recorders connected via multiple ADAT lightpipes into a PCI card in a computer slot. These recorders work well as high-quality low cost-per-channel converter boxes. With this configuration of 1 or 2 HD24XRs, I get 24 or 48 channels of analog I/O at standard rates (44.1/48 KHz) or 12 or 24 channels at higher sampling rates (88.2/96 KHz). So if you can find a second-hand HD24XR (not the standard HD24) and a PCI or PCIe card having at least 3 ADAT ports in each direction, this would give you the lowest-cost route to getting 24 channels of high-quality audio I/O. You could configure this as 22 outputs going to the mixer and 2 inputs from the mixer back to the PC. Alesis discontinued the HD24 and HD24XR a year or two back, but there are more now on the second-hand market than ever as their users turn from them in favour of ITB recording and mixing.

Beyond that, you would have to get an expandable FireWire, USB or Thunderbolt audio interface, and then bolt on enough expansion units to take you to the required number of analog channels. It can be tricky with outputs, as there are fewer outputs than inputs on many interface units. The preference interface with today's gear would be FireWire, as Thunderbolt is a little too new to offer much choice and USB can run out of steam well before 24 channels. The new Orion32 that audiokid mentioned is well worth a look, as they seem to have cracked the USB problem.

Kurt, yes I thought about da/ad converters as a required gear and motu 24 io as interface . That's the only solution i thought about . Regarding preferences usb or FireWire,24/48 is enough.
Thanks

the [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.sweetwat…"]Antelope Orion[/]="http://www.sweetwat…"]Antelope Orion[/] does look like the best choice. if i were looking for converters right now i would not get Thunderbolt (unless i had a Mac) and i would also at least consider how long Firewire is going to be around.
the USB option on the Antelope Orion is a real plus for me. 3 grand ...

but you say 24 48 is enough but as i have been doing a search it seems no one is making 48 k converters any longer. probably for the best anyhow .. some day you're going to want 96k ability.

The Orion mixer looks great too.

I have awesome converters here, some of the best on the planet as far as I'm concerned. I hope its a winner. 32 channels all in one box sounds so good. I will let us know how it goes.

Read up on the 10M. Everyone I have talked to, that knows anything about this clock raves how it is the most significant improvement added to their system. I have a colleague in LA that shared a before/after with that added and I was amazed how detailed that track was, Kurt. Not just a bit, but a lot! The sound difference would put any studio way above the crowd right away. I'm trying to get one here. I just have to hear it for myself.

I'm just told the Orion32 will arrive Wed.

I have the Zed 428 as a monitoring console in the studio. I wouldn't mix on it. It's not good enough for that. Of course it will give you that amazing feeling of control but It will not improve the sound, like a "proper" console would do. If you have outboard rack units just connect them in Cubase VST Connections and sum the signals ITB. Try second hand RME Multiface (v2 is better) as a converter - they sell cheap now.