...transfer old Alesis ADAT recordings to Sonar? 
 
Here is my project:  I want to bring 24-tracks of ADAT into Sonar.  I do not have an ADAT machine at this time, but I am willing to buy one to get the project completed.  My interface is a Tascam, with but two inputs.  I also have a Zoom R-16, which can be used as an interface, and, I believe, will do 8 inputs.
 
I understand that I am going to have to make multiple passed per song.
 
Is there a device that I can use to do a digital transfer into Sonar?  Or, am I basically stuck with recording the tracks from audio, two at a time?
 
Any advice would be helpful and appreciated.

It would be best to have an 8 track interface, but as long as there is a point at the beginning of each track that you can line up once in Sonar all will be good. 
A trick is to rewind the tape as far as you can before the audio starts, put all 8 tracks in record pause - then record a loud click and stop before you erase the music. 
This will create a obvious transient spike to use for line up of stereo pairs. 
 
But personally I would go rent both an ADAT and a 8 input interface. 
And be warned that not all ADAT's used the same format, some are only 16 bit. 
If you post her there might be someone you could pay to transfer. 

Ideally you would get an interface with ADAT input to do a digital xfer. ADAT inputs are not super-common, but some of the MOTUs and the Presonus 1818VSL have them. As Johnny says, you might just want to find someone who already has the hardware to do it. I have the inputs, but not the player.
 
 

 
ADAT tapes ?  Or ADAT as in Alesis HD24 - harddisk ?
 
If your tracks are on a disk, your best bet is to find someone with an HD24, and an RME FF800 or similar.
2 optical cables, and copy 16 tracks in one go, realtime, no quality loss.
 
If it's tape, you'll probably have 3 tapes with 8 tracks on each?
That'll be a nightmare aligning all that data, if you can only do 2 tracks at a time..
 
 
 
 
 

I don't know if recording the analog stream would be stable enough if you had a multi mic'd drum kit or something with more than two channels on the same instrument. There are many interfaces with multiple ADAT inputs (m-audio lightbridge) that can be had for not too much money. Buy used and resell it when you're done.

I have JL COOPER (ADAT) sync box that I can let you have REAL cheap.
 
I used it do just what you want to do (except I did 8 tracks at a time).
 
Like you I bout a singe ADAT and the sold it after I transferred everything. No one needed the JL Cooper box.

The best way to do it is to use a proper program that Alesis actually produced called 'Adat Connect '. It has a special PCI card installed (cost me $1300 at the time!) that has both the ADAT sync and optical connections both ways. The software actually takes control of the ADAT machine. You can transfer as many tracks as you want eg 24 tracks by just doing three passes. It is all sample accurate.You cannot do three passes analog only and expect everything to be in sync whereas the transfer software ensures all that is perfect sync.
 
I have the software and the ADATS too. I get a bit of work doing this from time to time.
 
You end up with a folder with all the files in it the same length. They are usually at 48 Khz so be aware of that. I can do it for you if you want but you will have to send the tape (s) to me in Australia which you may not want to do.
 
The digital transfer is best because it avoids any D to A and A to D stages and the levels transfer perfectly as they are on the tape. Be careful with analog transfers as you will have to play right through to find the loudest point on the tape to avoid any clipping.

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Jeff, now that you mention it I believe that I did digital transfers via lightpipe. My JL Cooper box allowed me to sync the three tapes as I only had one machine.