500 ADAT Expander, Summing Mixer and 8-Slot 500-Series Rack

The Cranborne Audio 500ADAT is the best way to expand your ADAT equipped audio interface and enjoy the sonic possibilities of the 500 series format as your very own customisable analogue front-end for recording.

500ADAT combines cutting-edge digital performance with tried-and-tested ADAT. Utilising high-end converters with 121dB (unweighted) signal-to-noise ratio and ultra-low jitter (<0.5 picoseconds) internal clocking ensures that every subtle nuance of your analogue signal is captured perfectly and sent via ADAT to an interface of your choice.

500ADAT combines a high-current 8-slot 500 series chassis with digital conversion and ADAT - a powerful and accessible way to get your favourite analogue 500 series preamps, compressors, and EQs into your tracking and mixing digital workflow.

Transform your ADAT-equipped audio interface into an analogue powerhouse by adding up to 8 channels of expansion at up to 96kHz or 4 channels of expansion at 192kHz - whilst utilising the 500 series standard.

Move away from clunky software mixers and get your hands back onto the mix by using 500ADAT's two aux busses to create pristine-sounding analogue artist mixes that can be blended with DAW playback, and sent to your musicians with zero-latency.

Give your mix the final bit of analogue character and send instrument groups and stems back-through your 500 series modules and into the discrete analogue summing mixer to be sent back into your DAW.

To create a "studio in a box" where your favourite 500 series modules could shine on your digital recordings, it was critical to ensure our digital conversion and analogue processing is best-in-class. We squeezed every possible .1dB of performance out of 500ADAT to achieve digital and analogue performance that ensures that the only thing colouring your recordings are mic placements and mix decisions.

The implementation of our ADCs result in 121dB (unweighted) signal-to-noise ratio and - 112dB THD+N whilst our DACs achieve 127dB (unweighted) signal-to-noise and -115dB THD+N. Our analogue design stages operate at between 0.0002-0.0004% THD+N to ensure that the only factors influencing the converters' dynamic range are the converters themselves and not the supporting analogue circuity.

A/D and D/A numbers don't tell the whole story. Converters are only as good as the clocks that are governing them. Our internal digital clock reaches atomic-clock level accuracy, for master reference-quality with < 0.5 picoseconds of jitter. Our designs feature isolated analogue and digital ground planes and power rails so that our digital elements receive accurate clocks and our analogue signals are noise- and distortion-free.

Utilising the 500 Series standard as a your own front-end puts you back in control of exactly how audio is received and processed before being sent to the DAW. Mix and match to find the best preamp combinations during recording, and then swap them out with EQ's and comps when it's time to mix.

Each 500 series slot has 3 source select options; Analogue, CAST, and ADAT. Selecting ADAT allows the 500 series module to pickup audio incoming via the ADAT stream, process it in analogue, and then send it back into the ADAT outputs for recording. There's also a Chain switch that allows you to create custom channel strips of your favourite modules.

An abundance of Inputs and outputs allows 500ADAT to integrate with a number of hardware components around your studio. Combine 500ADAT's analogue performance with your own converters or patch outboard gear into each 500 series slot using dedicated TRS insert jacks. Every mix bus has a dedicated output too.

CAST stands for Cat5 Analogue Snake Transport and enables cost-effective and organised cable management around your studio by repurposing off-the-shelf shielded Cat5 Networking cables to transport 4 channels of balanced analogue audio (mic, Line, or Instrument level) over a single cable.

500ADAT has 4 CAST RRTT ports that allow you to connect any of our breakout boxes (to be announced soon) and place analogue I/O where you need it - whether it's in the live room, vocal booth, or the bedroom next door.

Our clever impedance matching means that the signal quality can exceed that of a mic cable for a fraction of the price and over a distance of up to 100m. CAST is 100% analogue and requires ZERO setup. Plug one end of the cable in one box, and the other end into 500ADAT and it just works. No setup. No latency. No fuss. And it sounds great.

500ADAT is the perfect companion for your existing audio interface. With an abundance of popular interfaces offering ADAT connectivity, any existing studio can use 500ADAT to integrate 500 series connectivity into their recording and mixing chain utilising their unused ADAT ports. But If you demand the same high-quality in your audio interface as you have become accustomed to with 500ADAT; our 500R8 is the perfect choice - and it features even deeper integration than you could achieve elsewhere.

Connect 500ADAT and 500R8 via CAST and talkback and artist monitoring is linked between the two to allow musicians connected to 500ADAT to hear talkback and input sources from 500R8 and vice versa.