[linux-audio-user] Recording ADAT inputs on RME hammerfall 9636/52

[Stephen Cameron]

--- R Parker <rtp405 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hi Stephen,
> 
[...]
> > I've got fibre cables connecting them together.
> 
> Do you mean ADAT cables?

Yes.

> If your talking about transfering a file rather than
> doing a realtime record pass then you are correct;
> assuming your using ADAT cables. I'm not aware of an
> alternative cable for the 4416 and the RME cards are
> ADAT. You can't use those interfaces for file
> transfer.

No, I'm not talking about transferring files, I
mean realtime recording.  (I *wish* there were a
nice way to transfer tracks as wav files to/from the 
AW4416, but there just isn't.  I think the newer
(but smaller) AW2816 or 16G might have a usb port 
that allows something nice, but I'm not really sure.

> 
>   I would estimate less
> > than ten
> > people on the entire planet (and that is my inflated
> > guess)
> > have an RME hammerfall AND are using the ADAT
> > interfaces.
> > Is that about right?  Am I that far out in the
> > weeds?
> 
> The AW4416 has a SCSI interface, it runs Linux
> (irrelevant for this issue but see Tux during the
> boot) so you could figure out the AW filesystem
> format, build and mount a drive for both systems and
> use that to transfer files. I suppose. Try fat32 or
> whatever is used in Windows. There's a Windows
> application for extracting files from AW archives. I'd
> try running it in Wine.

The SCSI interface is only used for backups.

However, the hard drives in the AW are easily
pluggable... might be possible to rig a usb/ide
interface for easy access to the hard drive
from a linux host... BUT...  I think this has 
already been tried by smarter people
than me.  It's a proprietary filesystem called 
SFS, iirc. 
http://ampfea.org/pipermail/a-list/2001-May/004596.html

Someone has had some success making a program to read
the backup CDs, but it's not open source, and windows-only
(AWextract) and has other limitations (doesn't really 
understand the complete backup format.)

> Otherwise, I imagine Ardour to be the most intuitive
> solution for realtime recording. The AW will slave to
> Ardour MTC which works well as master for multiple
> passes of eight track groups. My last tests of Ardour
> as the slave weren't successful...it's been awhile.

This is my plan, eventually.

> 
> > I would really like to get this working...
> > otherwise, I've
> > just blown $700 (RME + yamaha ADAT interface +
> > cables) 
> > for nothing , and I'm back to burning CDs to
> > transfer 
> > tracks between AW and PC.
> 
> Are you using an HDR because of mobility?

That (computer is not in the music room)
and because I've had it for ages, and 
it's basically got the majority of an O2R 
digital mixer in it, which is not a bad 
little piece of gear.  Even if I didn't use 
the HD in the AW, the mixer section and 
preamps/compressors/eq's and so on that are in it
would still be useful.

It's really a very nice, convenient machine for 
tracking.  Not so good for editing, and there's no nice
way to get things into or out of it.  Mostly
what little music I do is internet collaborations,
so I end up with a process like this:

download/decode tracks (mp3 ->wav), burn cds,
import tracks to AW, record my parts, burn cds,
import tracks to pc, encode/upload.  Rather tedious.

Would be nice to transform that process to:

download/decode tracks, transfer to AW over ADAT
cables, record my parts, transfer to PC over ADAT
cables, encode/upload tracks.

That's where I'm trying to get to.

-- steve



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