Mod Bod

Razorwit
Hey ModBod,
You may want to think about an Orion32. It's USB instead of PCI, but it is 32 i/o (16 of which can be ADAT via 4 ports). It'd get you your ADAT i/o and still leave you with 16 channels on the Orion itself. I was skeptical about the USB but it plays nice here...I'm thinking about ditching my Lynx gear in favor of it.
 
Dean

Good.  Ditch your Lynx gear and sell it to me and you buy the Orion.  

Heh...I actually already own the Orion and I'm using both, but if you're interested in buying my LynxAES16e/LS-ADAT/Aurora16 I'd think about selling it...PM me if you're interested.
 
Dean

I've been happy with RME FireFace 800. I do use the adat I/O along with its own converters simultaneously to get 26 channels I/O.

I did have one major issue with static and signal loss on the quarter inch I/O years after I bought it. There was a flaw in some chemical RME used to connect the I/O module that corroded the quarter inch I/O cables. However, RME fixed the unit for free.

Jim Roseberry
Hi Dave,
 
RME would be the way to go...
If you go MOTU, you'll want the PCIe 424 card.

Jim, I only have one PCIe slot and I've got a UAD card in it.

Hi Dave,
 
Welcome to my world... on top of everything else, it is getting difficult to find a motherboard with native PCI slots! And I need two, since I use the Dakota/Montana - tied to three Tangos and a Fostex D-108 (if you like dinosaurs<G>!) I also use the Sierra.
 
There is nothing on the market that compares to the Frontier Design system. I've had no problems (but the lack of any news is unnerving, and there is no PCIe solution on the visible horizon.) One of the things I like most is that the audio and MIDI clocks are locked together - the Sierra has provided rock solid MIDI for me.
 
The system is so good that I have no qualms about giving up on sample rates greater than 48K. Not sure I'd hear the difference anyway.
 
If you want to keep the Tango converters - and I do - you are limited to RME and MOTU for the most part. I think Lynx still sells their PCI-to-ADAT card, but their PCIe cards do not directly support ADAT Lightpipe.

For now I'm considering building an AMD based system for the next DAW (the Q6600 is running out of gas!) simply to keep the Dakota stuff alive one more time.
 
If I were going to make a change it would be down to RME and Lynx - they just sound better, even to my old ears. Not sure exactly how I'd make it all work though!

I happen to have a FF800 that I've been meaning to take some pictures of and post for sale for a decent price. I downsized last fall (to a FF UCX :)), not needing all the I/O anymore... Haven't used it myself w/ Sonar Xx. Drop me a PM if you want to try that route... 

Really sad! Just went to the FDG web site, and the main page is all about their IOS apps, with a link at the bottom (in small type) to their "old audio products".
 
I do not want Barry and company to starve, but I am really sad to see such a great company abandon pro audio!

Well guys, this is looking very interesting to me.  RME Hammerfall HDSP 9652
 
What is intriguing to me is the Total mix system.  It's got two headphone outs and that will allow me to send one to my iso booth and another to a 4 channel headphone amp I have in my control room.  Hopefully the latency will be such that I can send a "more me" feed to the individual headphone channels if someone needs it.

I'm hoping to get some more bang from the buck out of the Tangos but I guess the Sierra is going to Ebay.  Maybe someone will find it useful. 
 

wst3
Really sad! Just went to the FDG web site, and the main page is all about their IOS apps, with a link at the bottom (in small type) to their "old audio products".
 
I do not want Barry and company to starve, but I am really sad to see such a great company abandon pro audio!

Yeah.  The Win 7 x64 drivers seemed to be a half hearted effort and even the user forum has shut down.

Went down a similar road a while back.
 
If you only have one free PCI slot (which hopefully is "native" and not "bridged") and no free PCIe slot, then for 16 channels of ADAT connectivity (2x ADAT I/O) your options are pretty much limited to:
 
A. RME HDSP 9652 PCI (2x ADAT I/O (or 3x with daughtercard))
 
B. MOTU 424 PCI/PCI-X host card + MOTU 2408 (3x ADAT I/O), or
 
C. PCI Firewire card (with T.I. chip) + M-Audio Profire Lightbridge (4x ADAT I/O) or Presonus Firestudio Lightpipe (4x ADAT I/O).
 
The RME and MOTU options have MIDI I/O and are still supported with current drivers and software, but the M-Audio and Presonus FW interfaces may no longer be, dunno. You could always add a USB MIDI interface if necessary.
 
If you opt for the RME 9652, make certain it's the "HDSP" version and not the earlier "DIGI" or "Hammerfall" (not "Hammerfall DSP" = "HDSP") or "Nuendo" versions.
 
Fwiw, I went with the MOTU option for ease of expansion and its analog I/O (but with a 424 PCIe card).

Yow have good options with the suggestions you have already.
 
I am using a RME Radat card but it is pcie.
 
I would suggest that if you are about to spend good money on a new card perhaps its time to consider a computer upgrade to use a pcie interface. Pci is fading fast and there is a good possibility that the pci card you buy now will have to be replaced again when you have to replace your pc.
 
Just something to consider.