High End AD/DA

  On 2/11/2011 at 10:01 PM, Awepittance said:

even still having a $2,000 new Roland Vsynth would be a lot cooler than something that does A/D

pretty much the first thing that comes through my head whenever somebody I know invests ridiculous amount of money in things that make 1% difference to the music itself.

  On 2/12/2011 at 12:03 AM, kakapo said:

  On 2/11/2011 at 11:14 PM, acidphakist said:

 

Kakapo:

 

My signal chain IS shit hot. The weak link is, in fact, the prosumer-grade AD/DA that EVERYTHING must pass through. Please explain to me how tight room acoustics have ANYTHING to do with crystal clear recordings? You are confusing mixing/mastering with recording.

 

 

You're asking about DA as well as AD. That implies you're concerned about your monitoring chain, not just your recording chain.

 

  On 2/11/2011 at 11:14 PM, acidphakist said:

 

"Stand alone high quality A/D and D/A are invariably stereo and usually used in different circumstances"

 

Not true at all. Do some research. I can provide links to products that defy you, if you'd like.

 

It may simply be a question of terminology/semantics, but you need to clarify exactly what you're asking for advice on. Stand alone high quality AD and DA units are usually used in the scenarios I mentioned. Devices that combine multichannel AD and DA are usually referred to as an 'interface', and more often than not will have some direct way of interfacing with a computer, or as an option. Yes there are individual multi channel AD and DA devices as well, but that doesn't seem to be what you're asking about. Usually they'd be used as adding additional analogue or digital inputs to an existing 'interface'.

 

My advice stands. If you want high quality multichannel AD/DA for $2,000 look at high end 'audio interfaces', something like the new RME or a multichannel Apogee or Lynx if the budget can stretch.

The d/a is actually for other reasons, but I dig. Thanks for the tips.

  On 2/12/2011 at 12:00 AM, Awepittance said:

apologies to everyone else for my outburst, when someone argues that something being more expensive equals better in the audio world it kind of sets me off

Another strawman as I'm not arguing this at all. But can I put you on record as saying a $200 interface isn't noticeably different from a $2000 dollar interface?

  On 2/11/2011 at 11:31 PM, Awepittance said:

  On 2/11/2011 at 11:22 PM, acidphakist said:

PS-

 

I'd like to head this off at the pass because I can already feel it coming, Awepittance, but no! I'm not somebody that thinks throwing money at gear makes better music.

 

I just figured I'd better burn your strawman.

 

i think you took me too personally there buddy, i was not saying you were this person. I was trying to say where i think one's priorities should be on a modest budget when looking at new studio components to by.

 

and yeah read my fuck off message above if you want

 

nipped what in the bud? the lies you told?

 

edit: not everyone here is 'jealous' of your ability to buy expensive gear my friend, although it seems you want to project that view for whatever reason.

Honestly man, I don't know what you're on about. I've lied about nothing, and I certainly don't care what others think of my studio purchases.

Do you have anything to add besides ad hominem attacks?

acidphakist, i apologize, my tone was uncalled for. If i have anything valuable to add i'll jump back into the thread.

welcome to page three of this bullshit! in cause you're just tuning in, we've put together some highlights:

  On 2/11/2011 at 11:14 PM, acidphakist said:

My signal chain IS shit hot.

  On 2/11/2011 at 11:25 PM, Awepittance said:

fuck off, i have a bachelors degree in audio sciences

There's a point in the second half of this video in which Ethan Winer demonstrates what he feels are the negligible differences in focusing on high end A/D converters versus relatively cheap consumer-grade converters. The test, if I recall correctly, involves him running an audio file through sixteen generations of A/D --> D/A conversion with the a cheap pair of converters and then running a fresh copy of the same initial recording through the high-end converters sixteen times. He then toggles between the two as they play back simultaneously and challenges the listener to figure out which of the two recordings are the nicer converters.

[youtubehd]BYTlN6wjcvQ[/youtubehd]

Now some of you may point out that Youtube compresses audio files, thus rendering the test moot. Well, Ethan has provided a link to his website in which you may hear the test with it's original fidelity here.

By the way, that entire video is worth watching, in case you were wondering.

some mad poppy crum cornin here

Actually I am quite drunk, and my answer isn't entirely coherent as I've just reread Acidphakist's first post and also seen that he's asking for multiple DA outputs and a single AD input rather than the other way round which would be more conventional. Is this to feed out from the PC to a mixer/summer and back in again?

... but my answer would still be the same. Just having the one device, a multi channel audio interface, avoids questions about digital interfacing and other components and clocking, and is also going to get you the best quality for your budget and spec list.

get a Soundblaster

gamers keep telling me this is the best you can get

its a good idea to get a soundblaster with SIMM slots so you can upgrade your wavetables

just look at that FM chip Larry, just look at it

  On 2/12/2011 at 2:04 AM, Blanket Fort Collapse said:

even my jpg is more high-end dude

Dayum you're right hat, that's a fine piece of hardware. I would take your grandma out to Red Lobster for that beast if you would have me, think it will run my fruity loops demo @ 10 khz 8 bit or is that too hi-fi?

crisp 2.1mb soundfounds my friend -- high end soundfonts, naturally.

your high res picture is missing the FM synthesis chip, therefore is not an SB16, dude i just PWNED YOU SO BAD

  On 2/12/2011 at 6:13 AM, Awepittance said:

your high res picture is missing the FM synthesis chip, therefore is not an SB16, dude i just PWNED YOU SO BAD

if you say so dear.

If you want to get a $2000 interface then get an RME Fireface. RME actually writes their own drivers so their gear is always stable as fuck.

As fair warning, I still record everything to cassette, and if I want it on the computer, it goes through the line-in built into my motherboard. So don't take my advice ever. EVER.

Also, I'm thinking about upgrading from cassette to DAT. It is 1990, after all.

i have an rme fireface and it is fantastic. if i ever need more channels i can just get some adat lightpipe stuff... but i don't, really.

A+ thread btw

if i had enough dosh to throw around

www.sonic-core.net/shop/product_info.php?language=en&info=p172_SCOPE-XITE-1.html

Kakapo, you are correct. I want to send multi outs through various outboard and only bring the stereo pair back in.