I am looking for ideas on how to record a live improve set with Eurorack, I want this to be multi channel preferably 8ch perhaps more. I currently have an ES-8 but looking to expand this with another ADAT i/O pre amp/Mixer.
I would like each of these channels to have a dedicated channel in Ableton Live, so I can master once I am complete.
Does anyone have ideas/experience on what to use to expand on the ES-8?
Any decent pre-amp/mixers with ADAT?
Any that can sync with Ableton?
I would like to have a single connection to the laptop, if possible, to free up USB port for Monome/Arc.
I multitrack with the ES8 and the Behringer ADA8200 expander. The behringer certainly isn’t the highest quality preamp but for the price it can’t be beat. I got mine used for $120. This gives me 12 inputs and 16 outputs. I also own a 12 channel mackie mixer which was also pretty cheap. All of these things combined allow me to do a lot of routing with more ins and outs then I’d ever use at once and all within an acceptable quality level.
I’m using an ADA8200 as well but connected to a UA Apollo. You should have no issues using it with an ES-8. Honestly, it comes down to how much of it do you want to exist in your Eurorack case. There are options for getting more channels out but none are going to be as cost effective as using outboard gear. In my opinion, the question of quality is getting somewhat negligible unless you are willing to spend in the $1,000s. Someone will disagree, but converters have come a long way. You aren’t really using the preamps in the ADA8200 - I believe the line signal still routes through them but its doing very little if anything at all to your signal.
I agree with all of this… and yes, once you connect the optical to and from the ES8 and ADA8200 you will see more I/O appear in your DAW’s preferences.
This is what I wanted to buy but don’t really need the mic pres and at $100 (used from GC online), the Behringer was the better choice for me. There’s kind of a gap in the market - high end converters with ADAT and SPDIF out and that’s it. No preamps. Maybe some clocking inputs. Could even be a small box with DB25 connections. Does that exist?
I’ve had a pair from Radio Shack since well before I had a modular and I have a pair I got recently from Control and they are both quite functional. bonus points to the ones from Control for being blue.
I use an ES-8, ES-3, and ES-6 for 6 mono channels and 2 strereo channels into my DAW. Of course I could also just record all 10 channels as mono feeds too. This setup also supplies me with 16 channels of CV or Audio back into my Eurorack. I no longer use a hardware mixer at all as all of this CV/Audio travels via USB and my DAW is adequate for my requirements. BTW, I use Bitwig and love their work with CV enabled tools.
i have been using these for almost a year and haven’t run into any issues at all. this is including lots of moving around/gigging/and playing my modular in all different places indoor and out.
I bought some Erthenvar 1/4 to 1/8 cables that I would NOT recommend. The 1/8 jack of one end of a long patch cable is cut off and a (fairly decent quality) 1/4 jack soldered on. I’ve had to resolder them all multiple times. I think I’m this case, the cheapy Hosa may be the best design.
I recently got myself a Mackie 1642 VLZ4 mixer for that task. The only drawback so far have been the fader caps, they kinda feel toy-like cheap. Trying to replace them eventually.
I love all the rest though, 4 sends with stereo returns and 8 direct outs that go to my motu ultralite mk3.
I have a cheap and cheerful solution to this based on the random evolution of my system.
I had an old NI audio interface - Komplete Audio 6 I think with four channels. I then got hold of a couple of the Roland Eurorack fx units (scooper and demora) as they were being sold off cheap.That equals eight channels of in/out. Set them up as an aggregate device on the Mac, it works perfectly.
My workflow is to multitrack live patching from the modular and then tidy up and mix a little after in the box, but as little as possible.
However, I do toy with the idea of getting a rackable single unit with 8+ inputs - there seems to be a decent amount of choice out there.
