AD/DA Converters

T

TripleM

Well-known member
This is a follow-on to my other thread of woe in this forum.

So my old XP machine died and I'm going to need something new.

I still have a Great River preamp that I like and still want to use. I have a Delta 44 that I used for AD conversion. I also used the Delta for playback - the outputs went to a Mackie mixer that, in turn, went to my monitors. I originally wanted to continue to use these components and just get a new computer. But the scarcity of computers with PCI slots for the Delta give me two choices: 1) a rather expensive new computer, or 2) the risk of getting an old computer off ebay. Both of those options are possibilities. But...

I also thought of getting small-to-midsize replacement computer and something to replace the Delta. Something that would: 1) provide AD conversion, 2) act as the output for playback, and 3) support a typical small-to-mid computer (which don't come with PCI slots anymore). So I did some looking around....

But in shopping online I'm having some difficulties. One is with the available converters. At the low end they either seem to be from companies I've never heard of (e.g., Cambridge audio) and don't know if I can trust. Or companies I have heard of (Behringer) and don't want to mess with. At the high end (e.g., Lynx) the damn things cost almost as much as a car. I'm sure they're good, but I doubt I'd notice much difference from my Delta.

The other difficulty is with playback. I can't figure out how these things connect to a computer and if they can drive playback.

I just want something to replace that damn Delta, do it fairly cheaply, and support a modern, midsize computer. I can't figure the crap out.
 
TripleM said:
1) a rather expensive new computer, or 2) the risk of getting an old computer off ebay.
Click to expand...

I still think you should pop a new HDD in the old computer, unless there's more to the problem?
If not, sure, ebay's an option.
Ask around. Chances are you know someone with an older box sitting in their attic or garage.
Local ads are good too. More often than not people just want the space. No one's looking good money for an XP p4/c2d box.

TripleM said:
The other difficulty is with playback. I can't figure out how these things connect to a computer and if they can drive playback.

I just want something to replace that damn Delta, do it fairly cheaply, and support a modern, midsize computer. I can't figure the crap out.
Click to expand...

Basically, you want an audio interface with line ins and outs. That's all the delta was.
You'll struggle to find that without some degree of 'unnecessary' extras. On board preamps, spdif etc etc.
Be sure to get something with dedicated line inputs though....Better safe than sorry.

The US 1800 is a great option. Scarlett 6i6 is another.

I'm sure there are simpler ones out there that I don't know about.
 
TripleM said:
But in shopping online I'm having some difficulties. One is with the available converters. At the low end they either seem to be from companies I've never heard of (e.g., Cambridge audio) and don't know if I can trust. Or companies I have heard of (Behringer) and don't want to mess with. At the high end (e.g., Lynx) the damn things cost almost as much as a car. I'm sure they're good, but I doubt I'd notice much difference from my Delta.

The other difficulty is with playback. I can't figure out how these things connect to a computer and if they can drive playback.
Click to expand...

The Lynx has an option slot that accepts either a Firewire or USB card to connect to your computer. The other and more robust option is to get the Lynx AES16e card and connect to your computer via AES/EBU. Lynx makes specialised cables for this. In that case the AD/DA converter acts as a standalone converter and hands off the signal to the computer via the AES/EBU protocol. Therefore, the AES16e (or any other AES/EBU PCI/e card, such as the RME version) will act as your audio interface, fed from the AD/DA converter.

The beauty of the AES16e is that it can accommodate 16 bidirectional channels at 192kHz and with the ADAT daughterboard it will allow up to 32 channels at 48kHz or 24 channels at 96kHz.

Cheers :)
 
How many separate channels do you need? USB audio interfaces like the aforementioned US1800 or Sapphire 18i20 (if you need that many simultaneous tracks) would be what to look at.
 
Thanks guys. You've given me some ideas to research. Let me do that and I'll probably come back with some questions.

Steeno - you might have missed a post in the "other" thread. I tried to go back one more time and salvage the harddrive, and when I did the PC wouldn't even power up. It was a weird situation. It was working fine just before this. I got home from work a couple of nights ago, fired up the PC, made a couple of tweaks to a mix and exported to a new WAV. I went up and had dinner while that was chugging. So it was working fine - no indication that anything was wrong. When I went back, the PC had blue-screened. A couple of reboots hung at the Windows screen. I couldn't reinstall Windows over the original installation because it was corrupt. I tried reformatting the HD, and it sat at 0% for over an hour. I went back the next night to try again, and as I said - it wouldn't even power on.

Something I haven't said yet... We have another slightly newer XP machine that the family uses. So I've commandeered it temporarily to see how easy/difficult it would be to get an XP machine to where I want it. If it's easy enough, maybe I'll get one off ebay. But it's been a challenge. Sonar is locking frequently, its "now" marker doesn't move when playing/recording, I'm missing some plugins that I can't get back, etc. And hey - if anyone has the Waves Q10 v5 install file, could I get a copy? It needs an install code (which I have). I just don't have the install file anymore and Waves doesn't have v5 available for download anymore. Since I have the install code, I don't think that would be considered pirating.

I'm starting to think it's time to upgrade the rig.
 
The fact that the machine won't even power on now makes me think it was never a HDD issue.
Sorry man. Bit of a mess to sort out if you're not into that kind of thing.

TripleM said:
And hey - if anyone has the Waves Q10 v5 install file, could I get a copy? It needs an install code (which I have). I just don't have the install file anymore and Waves doesn't have v5 available for download anymore. Since I have the install code, I don't think that would be considered pirating.

I'm starting to think it's time to upgrade the rig.
Click to expand...

I think the retail version that I bought was 5.9.7. Is that any use?
I'll have a look to see if the CD is still there.
 
Steen-o - the power problem didn't happen until the next day. But I'm with you, I don't think it was a co-incidence. I wouldn't trust that machine now, even if I got it working.

When I logged on my my Waves account last night, it just told me I had Q10 v5. So I would assume that your v5.9.7 version would be correct. I remember getting an .EXE download. I remember backing it up too. Now I just can't find the CD I backed it up to. It was probably over 10 years ago. Anyway, if there is an EXE you could put on Google drive or somewhere, that'd be great.
 
OK I did a little looking at the options mentioned here. Let me make sure I have this right (sorry it's been a long time since I've looked at the HW landscape). I think I'll get a new Win7 PC - kind of middle-to-low-end of the pack in terms of power. Then, as an example, I might get the Tascam US-1800. These new pieces would compliment a couple of components I already have: 1) my Great River preamp, and 2) my Event PS5 monitors (which are powered).

To make sure I have this right, here is how I think I would hook things up (correct me where I'm wrong please):

1. I could plug a mic into one of the 8 XLR jacks in the 1800 and use its pre's. Or if I wanted to continue to use the GR, I can connect it to the 1800 via a 1/4'' TRS cable to one of the inputs on the back of the 1800.

2. I can connect the monitors to the 1800 again using 1/4'' TRS cables by plugging them into the outputs on the back of the unit.

3. The 1800 has a "phones" input on the front for headphones.

4. I assume the 1800 connects to the PC via a USB 2.0 cable supplied with the unit. Right?

When I plug in the 1800 to the PC, I assume Windows is going to ask for drivers to be installed. I again assume those drivers either come with the 1800 or are downloadable.

Do I have this right?

If so, I'm thinking a ~$250 US-1800 and a ~$450 PC would do me just fine. So for about 700 bucks I can get back to recording and use as much of my current stuff (mic pre and monitors) as possible.
 
TripleM said:
OK I did a little looking at the options mentioned here. Let me make sure I have this right (sorry it's been a long time since I've looked at the HW landscape). I think I'll get a new Win7 PC - kind of middle-to-low-end of the pack in terms of power. Then, as an example, I might get the Tascam US-1800. These new pieces would compliment a couple of components I already have: 1) my Great River preamp, and 2) my Event PS5 monitors (which are powered).

To make sure I have this right, here is how I think I would hook things up (correct me where I'm wrong please):

1. I could plug a mic into one of the 8 XLR jacks in the 1800 and use its pre's. Or if I wanted to continue to use the GR, I can connect it to the 1800 via a 1/4'' TRS cable to one of the inputs on the back of the 1800.

2. I can connect the monitors to the 1800 again using 1/4'' TRS cables by plugging them into the outputs on the back of the unit.

3. The 1800 has a "phones" input on the front for headphones.

4. I assume the 1800 connects to the PC via a USB 2.0 cable supplied with the unit. Right?

When I plug in the 1800 to the PC, I assume Windows is going to ask for drivers to be installed. I again assume those drivers either come with the 1800 or are downloadable.

Do I have this right?

If so, I'm thinking a ~$250 US-1800 and a ~$450 PC would do me just fine. So for about 700 bucks I can get back to recording and use as much of my current stuff (mic pre and monitors) as possible.
Click to expand...


For number 1, if you are going to use preamp, I would use the backend for that and save the fronts for other areas that may need phantom and pre's as the Tascam preamps are pretty good.

For 4, it does interface via USB and has it own drivers. Then you select it in the DAW as an ASIO device. When you record the track, you will get 16 inputs to select from, you will select the input you want that track to use. I download the drivers since I always know they are the latest.

Hope this helps.
 
TripleM said:
To make sure I have this right, here is how I think I would hook things up (correct me where I'm wrong please):

1. I could plug a mic into one of the 8 XLR jacks in the 1800 and use its pre's. Or if I wanted to continue to use the GR, I can connect it to the 1800 via a 1/4'' TRS cable to one of the inputs on the back of the 1800.
Click to expand...

Correct. Inputs 11-14 are balanced line inputs, suited to your preamps.

TripleM said:
2. I can connect the monitors to the 1800 again using 1/4'' TRS cables by plugging them into the outputs on the back of the unit.
3. The 1800 has a "phones" input on the front for headphones.
Click to expand...

It's a phones output but yes, the 1800 handles all your IO.

TripleM said:
4. I assume the 1800 connects to the PC via a USB 2.0 cable supplied with the unit. Right?

When I plug in the 1800 to the PC, I assume Windows is going to ask for drivers to be installed. I again assume those drivers either come with the 1800 or are downloadable.
Click to expand...

Yup. Absolutely.
 
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I just found my Waves CDs. Seems like it's actually version 5.0, but the install CD just has a one-size-fits-all .exe installer, rather than individual components.

I'd be happy to run the installer on an old windows box and see if I can just send the specific files that you need. That might work.
Is it just Q10 you have a license for?

PM me, if you like.
 
DM60 and Steen-o - you guys are awesome. Thank you.

Steen-o - my original Q10 install file was an electronic download. If you have a CD installation, I doubt it's going to work for me. To answer your question, yes I paid for the Q10 way back when. I still have the install code. I just lost the installation file. I can't download it from the Waves site anymore because it's an old version (v5). Waves doesn't support that version anymore and doesn't host the download. But thanks for trying. It looks like I can pay $50 and upgrade. I'll probably just do that.
 
TripleM said:
DM60 and Steen-o - you guys are awesome. Thank you.

Steen-o - my original Q10 install file was an electronic download. If you have a CD installation, I doubt it's going to work for me. To answer your question, yes I paid for the Q10 way back when. I still have the install code. I just lost the installation file. I can't download it from the Waves site anymore because it's an old version (v5). Waves doesn't support that version anymore and doesn't host the download. But thanks for trying. It looks like I can pay $50 and upgrade. I'll probably just do that.
Click to expand...

Whichever suits man. I can install the suite and send you copies of the waveshell and the q10 plug file.
If you know where to put them and they work out, problem solved.
Can do within the next 2 hours, if you like. :)
 
Steenamaroo said:
Whichever suits man. I can install the suite and send you copies of the waveshell and the q10 plug file.
If you know where to put them and they work out, problem solved.
Can do within the next 2 hours, if you like. :)
Click to expand...

OK let's give it a shot. Can't hurt to try. Thanks.
 
You should get a decent midrange machine. Also, you need to look for audio interfaces instead of AD/DA converters. If you search converters, you will end up looking at high end component stuff that still needs some card to interface with the computer. You need a decent USB or firewire audio interface. There are tons of them at sweetwater, zzounds, musicians friend, etc...
 
TripleM said:
OK let's give it a shot. Can't hurt to try. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Here ya go.

Unzip this then simply move the entire waves folder into Program files.
It's an untouched copy of what the Waves 5.0 CD installed on my old PC.
Hope it works for you.

If it doesn't (or even if it does) I'm sure I could find away to make an image of the DVD/CD available to you for the long term.
 
Thanks DM60. Yeah, osx will natively create ISO and various other formats. Only issue is it's a DVD/data combo disk so the total contents are around 4.5gb.
I do have a web server available to me but I'd need to check my quota first.

Hell, I could post the fella a copy. :p
 
Steenamaroo said:
Here ya go.

Unzip this then simply move the entire waves folder into Program files.
It's an untouched copy of what the Waves 5.0 CD installed on my old PC.
Hope it works for you.

If it doesn't (or even if it does) I'm sure I could find away to make an image of the DVD/CD available to you for the long term.
Click to expand...

Thanks Steen-o. I got the zip file DL'd. The new PC arrives on Friday. I'll let you know how it goes.
 
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