2 channels of A/D with S/PDIF out

  • Thread starter Thread starter Adam P
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Adam P

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I'm looking for an inexpensive unit to add two channels to my Layla interface via the S/PDIF input. I eventually plan on getting an HD24 but until thats in the cards the Layla has to do the trick. Since that only allows my 8 channels of A/D and I record live drums while doing scratches of other instruments, I figure that having two extra channels would help out quite a bit.

Since I'm not planning on using this setup forever, I'm not looking to get into a Benchmark or an Apogee Mini-Me or anything to that effect. Just something to take the outputs from some pres and convert it to a S/PDIF output. Anybody have any recommendations on an inexpensive unit that will do this? Would my best bet be to get a unit like the TC M300 and use it for the digital conversion, and get myself some usable effects to boot? Or would I be better off with a dedicated unit?

Thoughts, suggestions, and recommendations are all welcome.

Thanks.
 
By the way, you can bypass the ART preamp via the inserts to access the A/D convertors directly.
 
That JoeMeek looks interesting, even though I wasn't really looking for pres. Any idea how much it's going to sell for? Alan? Anybody?

Thanks for the suggestions, btw.
 
$799 in the U.S. - $995 in Canada. I asked the question on another thread recently.
 
A good little unit that has AD and DA along with SPDIF I/O is the ART DI/O. It goes up to 96k and costs less than $150. I have three of them, handy little devices.
 
The DIO seems really decent for the price. The DPSII combines the two channel pre with toslink/ADAT Optical/SPDIF ins/outs, and inserts to patch directly to the converters. I was looking at both, but needed the toslink ins/outs, which the DIO didn't have, so I went with the DPSII.
 
Is the "Tube Warmth" function on that DI/O totally useless? It seems thats the consensus on most of the ART "tube" products. Other than that, this seems to be more in the scope of what I'm looking for, although I do favor the Behringer's rackmountability. And that JoeMeek is still looking mighty nice...
 
I wouldn't say that it's totally useless, just not as apparant as with a higher end tube pre. I've done A/B comparisons with my Focusrite Voicemaster, and although the ART is not quite as clean, it definitly has a slightly rounder sound to it. For clarity, the Focusrite wins, but the ART is not a bad preamp. It has it's uses for sure, plus it's very versatile as far as the digital connectivity is concerned. It is definitely usable for drums, as a D.I. etc. I use it sometimes with my mobile Korg D16 recorder to bypass the internal preamps.
 
Sorry about that ... I thought you were talking about the DPSII! I didn't know that the DIO has a "tube warmth" control on it. :-)
 
For cheap, my vote goes to TC Electronics M300. $200. It's a pretty good little reverb and FX box with a fair compressor, and quite good A-D D-A conversion. It is, however, a cruddy de-esser. 24bit 96khz. Best $200 box I have ever bought.-Richie
 
Thanks Richie (Richard? whatever.) I take it you've used the A/D conversion on the M300? How easy is it to use, and how does it sync up to another clock (I don't remember it having a word I/O). Also, would it be able to pass independent left and right channel info digitally in the Dual Input mode? I'm thinking that this may be the way to go. I'd rather spend the extra few bucks and get some usable effects out of it. Besides, the extra A/D will most likely be for scratch tracks so they don't need to be anything spectacular.
 
How does it work? simple. Use either S/PDIF in or 2 1/4" balanced analog ins. Engage the "bypass" button, which disables the FX and reverb, everything except the makeup gain. Send S/PDIF or balanced analog out. 24bit 96hz A-D processing. Yes, it keeps the left and right signals separate, and works just fine as a pure A-D converter. And if you want, you can even use it for an FX box. For $200, what's not to love?-Richie
 
As far as the ART DI/O tube effect, I've removed the tubes from my DI/O's. I didn't mind the sound of the tube, but it really heated the unit up. Since I am not using the tube feature, and have the DI/O's stacked on top of each other, I wanted them to run cooler. Without the tube they run quite cool.

I also bought bigger power supplies for them, which improves the sound. With the factory power supply they are a little starved for power, especially with the tube. I put bigger Stancor power supplies on them, and there is definitely an improvement.

The ART units sound surprisingly good, but of course I use better converters for critical applications. These are perfect for fx sends and bussing from the DAW though.
 
Richie, Albert...thanks.

Thomas...who retails them? I only found one site that said they were discontinued.

Thanks a lot!
 
I got it from steves music in Toronto Canada. It was bought less then a 9 months ago, so some places must still sell them. The only website i could find that sold them was at the link i posted.
 
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