Cranborne Audio 500ADAT 8-Slot 500 Series Rack/ADAT Expander

The Cranborne Audio 500ADAT is the perfect tool to increase the I/O count of any ADAT-equipped audio interface.

It’s an 8-in/8-out ADAT expander that combines a 500 series rack with high-performance AD/DA conversion and ADAT I/O that allows any engineer to integrate the 500 series format into their studio using free ADAT I/O on the back of many popular audio interfaces.

500ADAT features analog essentials that unite digital and analog production workflows such as an 8-into-2 analog summing mixer, zero-latency artist mixer with 2 reference-quality headphone outputs, and true ADAT & SMUXII/IV transmission to enable operation at sample rates up to 192 kHz

The Best of Analog Character

By capitalizing on the vast and ever-growing 500 series market, you can configure your 500ADAT to suit your tastes of analog flavor. By installing your favorite 500 series modules into the 8 available 500 series slots, you can create your ultimate analog front-end/preamp stage that can be multi-track recorded directly into your DAW.

Fill 500ADAT full of vintage preamps for recording drums. Fill 500ADAT full of clean and pristine preamps for recording strings. Fill 500ADAT full of Preamp, EQ, and Compressor modules to create your own custom, analog channel strips. The possibilities are endless and every 500ADAT is unique to your sound.

Integrating 500 series modules into your workflow doesn’t stop after the recording. Dedicated module source switches for each 500 series slot allow you to send ADAT outputs from your audio interface, into 500ADAT, through the 8 installed 500 series modules, and back into your audio interface for recording (with that analog ‘mojo’ applied). Think of 500ADAT as a bank of 8 external analog plug-ins.

For a more hands-on, all-analog approach to mixing, 500ADAT also features an 8-into-2 high-headroom analog summing mixer with dedicated level and pan controls that you can use to create your own high-headroom analog mix before recording it back into your DAW using the dedicated 1/4” mix output jacks on the rear panel.

Digital Precision

In order to capture every subtle nuance of your analog signal, 500ADAT features reference-class AD/DA conversion with 121dB (A-wtd) dynamic range and THD+N of <0.00032% (@ -4dBFS, 1kHz, A-wtd), all governed by 500ADAT’s master-reference grade internal clock with <0.5 picoseconds of jitter. You can also slave your audio interface’s clock from 500ADAT’s internal clock to benefit from 500ADAT’s low-jitter design.

The combination of highly-accurate, low-jitter clocking and high-performance digital conversion ensures that every ounce of analog character is captured with the utmost detail – free of unwanted digital artefacts from the conversion process and with a wide dynamic range thanks to 500ADAT’s high-headroom analog design and low noise floor.

8-in/8-out ADAT Interface

ADAT is tried, tested, and still one of the most widely available interfacing protocols in the audio industry, however it often remains unused and under-utilized by many audio engineers and producers. Almost all major audio interfaces on the market feature a pair of ADAT lightpipe ports – simply connect 500ADAT to those ports and you can enhance and expand the possibilities of your studio.

By containing its own converters and using ADAT to transport audio to and from the 500 series format, 500ADAT removes analog cabling spaghetti between your rack and interface while eliminating the worry of mismatched analog operating levels between interface inputs and 500 series module outputs. 500ADAT is compatible with any session running from 44.1kHz to 192kHz and can achieve 8 channels of I/O expansion at 44.1kHz to 96kHz or 4 channels of I/O expansion at 176.4/192kHz.

Summing Mixer

analog summing can give your mix the final bit of analog character required to achieve professional and polished sonic results. What makes 500ADAT’s 8-into-2 channel summing mixer so special is that it is positioned after the 8 500 series slots – allowing you to insert saturation or subtle ‘bus-compression’ modules and create a stereo mix using 500ADAT’s dedicated analog level and pan controls beneath each module. 500ADAT’s summing mixer also has a dedicated line output which can be used to send your stereo mix into your audio interface for recording.

Zero-Latency Artist Mixer

500ADAT moves away from clunky “virtual” software mixers and gets your hands back onto the mix. By using 500R8’s high-headroom analog summing mixer, you can create zero-latency, all-analog mixes of live sources that can be blended with the Aux Input and sent directly to the recording musicians via C.A.S.T. or the local headphone outputs.

CAST Equipped

C.A.S.T. stands for Cat 5 analog Snake Transport and enables cost-effective and organised cable management around your studio. C.A.S.T. repurposes off-the-shelf, shielded Cat5 networking cables to transport 4 channels of balanced analog audio over a single cable.

500ADAT has 4 C.A.S.T. IN ports that allow you to connect C.A.S.T. enabled breakout boxes (such as the Cranborne Audio N22 and N22H) to 500ADAT and relocate analog I/O wherever it is needed around the studio.

Connect mic/line sources into the C.A.S.T. breakout box and that signal travels through the Cat 5 cable and directly into the modules installed into 500ADAT. At the same time, the analog mix created on 500ADAT is sent through the same cable and into the connected breakout box. This allows for seamless analog audio connectivity between the control room, live room, vocal booth, or the bedroom next door!

C.A.S.T. is 100% analog and requires no setup in order to operate. It can easily work at distances up to 100m when Cat 6e or Cat 7 cable is used and a complete cat 5 studio cabling infrastructure costs a fraction of what analog multicore would cost. No setup. No latency. No fuss. And it sounds great.

Designed and Engineered in the UK

To ensure that every product bearing the Cranborne Audio name is worthy of studio environments big or small, every 500ADAT is carefully assembled by a skilled workforce with immense attention to detail and every product is tested thoroughly by a skilled engineer before shipping to destinations around the world.

Features:

• 8-in/8-out ADAT expander
• High-performance A/D conversion
• High-performance D/A conversion
• Master reference-quality internal clock
• Analog summing mixer
• Zero-latency artist mixer
• Reference-quality headphone outputs
• High-current 8-slot 500 series rack
• C.A.S.T. compatibility
• 24v, 5 amp external locking power supply
• Designed and engineered in the UK