Apogee Releases ADAT8+ Interface Card

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Apogee has released an updated ADAT interface card for users of its popular Trak2 2-channel mic pre/conversion system.

The ADAT8+ card is the latest in Apogee's line of AMBus interface cards that allow Apogee's AD-8000 series and Trak2 to connect to almost any digital audio source or destination. The new card replaces the original ADAT card and handles sample rates up to 96 kHz.

The latest version of the ADAT lightpipe audio format and the ADAT8+ AMBus card both support 24 bit I/O. However, the standard ADAT format only supports sample rates up to 48 kHz. To overcome this limitation, the ADAT8+ card additionally includes the Sonorus S/MUX protocol, which allows sample rates of 88.2 or 96 kHz to be carried via multiple optical "light pipe" interconnects. This mode utilizes two optical connectors for input and two for output in order to achieve eight channels of I/O at 88.2 or 96 kHz. The eight channel signal is essentially split into two pairs of four channels, one down each cable, and can be thought of as "double-wide" for optical. ADAT and S/MUX are standard on a number of digital audio I/O cards, notably the RME 96/52 PCI card and the RME Hammerfall DSP PC (PCMCIA) card. These cards, used in conjunction with the ADAT8+ card, allow an Apogee Trak2 to connect to a PC or laptop running many of the major native or host-based digital audio workstation applications, such as Nuendo, Logic, Digital Performer, Cubase, or any application that supports PCI or PC cards that include ADAT-S/MUX support.

The ADAT8+ is shipping now, with a US MSRP of $495.

For more information, visit their web site at www.apogeedigital.com.