In order to keep the tape handling as fast as possible, the system constantly monitors the machine's winding performance and 'relearns' the transport characteristics continually, allowing it to compensate for overshooting when fast‑winding and so on.
#Alesis adat xt service manual software#
Though I have no in‑depth details, I understand that a radically new set of control software has been developed for the XT which provides dynamic braking. The outcome is that the fast‑wind time is about 40 times play speed which, although not quite as nippy as a DAT, is actually quite close. It is now possible to go into disengaged mode by hitting Stop twice to double the fast‑wind speed, but this is unlikely to be needed unless you're completely rewinding a tape. But unlike the previous model, where you had to disengage the tape from the head to achieve a good fast‑wind speed, the XT keeps the tape engaged at all times in normal operation (unless the machine is left idle for several minutes, in which case the tape unlaces itself to prevent head wear). Essentially, the transport has been modified so that it is capable of winding around four times faster than before. If you've heard anything at all about the ADAT XT, it's probably that the transport winds significantly faster than it did on previous ADATs, but at heart it is based on the same Panasonic SVHS mechanism. Paradoxically, where the greatest change is evident is the area that has changed least in hardware terms - the transport. The optical ADAT interface and sync cable setup is exactly as it was on the original machine, allowing up to 16 recorders to be locked up to provide a 128‑track system. I'm told the chassis alone weighs seven pounds.Īnother change is evident in the converter section of the machine where new 18‑bit, 128 times oversampling A/Ds and 20‑bit, 8 times oversampling D/As produce a very healthy signal‑to‑noise ratio in excess of 92dB and a 20Hz to 20kHz frequency response flat within half a dB. Inside the casing, new ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) have taken over completely from LSI (Large Scale Integration) chips, and the whole mechanism is now supported on a rigid, cast aluminium chassis, making the XT machine rather heavier than its ancestor. To touch the XT is to want to possess it, and I've already bolted the two review models into my rack and filed the heads off the mounting screws! Unfortunately, certain of the button legends are a little difficult to read in subdued lighting conditions, especially Format and Edit Value which are printed in dark colours on a dark background.
#Alesis adat xt service manual professional#
Many of the features previously accessible only via a BRC (Big Remote Control) are now directly served from dedicated front panel buttons, and all the controls have been designed to look and feel very professional and 'expensive'. The brushed and sculpted aluminium front panel looks like a block of stainless steel, while the custom plasma metering system wouldn't be out of place on a top‑flight DAT machine. As is evident from our photograph, the XT is quite different from the original ADAT, and the difference is even more apparent when you see one close up. Obviously they didn't want to fall into the old trap of announcing a product before they were in a position to deliver it. What's New?Īlesis have kept very quiet about ADAT's successor, the ADAT XT machine, and although I got wind of it around a year ago, I was sworn to secrecy. However, by the time you read this, the familiar ADAT will have been out of production for almost three months and supplies of discounted, end‑of‑line stock will be dwindling. The operating software and the transport have both been revised since the machine was first launched, and ADATs have proven themselves to be tough little workhorses, with some owners apparently reporting up to 10,000 hours of use from a single machine (at today's ADAT prices, this works out at little more than 25p per hour running costs!).
Inevitably there were teething problems, but ADAT has become an accepted and respected part of the audio community, both in amateur and professional circles, with a good many hit records to its credit.
When Alesis first introduced ADAT to a sceptical world, nobody was quite sure whether an 8‑track recorder based on a souped‑up domestic video transport would last the course, but history bears witness to its staying power. Paul White reports on the rebirth of a classic.
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