AKM, Crystal, Digi converters ...ack! Gidge, Charger?

G

geekgurl

New member
I'm hella confused on the A/D conversion thing.

Anyone: Is the Delta 1010 is as good-sounding as say the Motu stuff? Are the Digi 001's converters really crap?

Charger (since you worked at Digi): If Digi's not using AKM like everyone else seems to be using (except the manufacturers using crystal), what are they using and is it any better than, say, a consumer card codec?

Gidge: Did you ever find out if the 1010lt's codecs sound comparable to the racked 1010?

I'm in the market for something with as high quality a converter as I can afford, and I only need 4 ins, max. Don't care about outs, because once it's a file in the 'puter, it stays there until i take the file to a pro studio for mastering/finalizing. I have Cubase right now and don't know if I can export those files to a format that a Pro studio (probably running Pro Tools TDM) can use. The recording hw/sw I have is a sort of inherited hodge-podge mess and I just want to get the right stuff when I clean it up. The actual computers (a built PIII and G3) meet even Digi's cranky compato requirments, so that's not at issue. What is at issue is spending $$ only once to get set up with the right system. For me, this converter factor is key.

Thanks in advance for your input.
 
But what about the A/D conversion issues I hear about with Digi? Are they that bad, or, for that matter, improved at all in the MBox/ new LE software versions?
 
Being in the industry, I can tell you that most audio card companies are using either AKM or Crystal. Similar specs and performance. I doubt seriously whether anyone could tell them apart in a controlled blind test.

The key to a good sound is how the electronics are layed around the converters...with the clocking technology being key. Not to sound our horn too much...but our master clock, AardSync II is the industry standard because it makes the 888s sound better with improved stereo imaging. We use a similar clocking technology in our Q10, along with discrete mic preamps of course.

The clock tells the A/D converters 'when' to take a sample at that particular point in time. A/D converters are at the mercy of the clocking technology used. A faulty clock will result in the A/D converter to work less efficiently.

My point is: Dont put too much emphasis on the particular brand of A/D converter used because other factors are involved.

Thomas Adler
Aardvark
 
Hi Thomas, thanx for your insight. OK, so what you're saying is, there's an internal clock that comes into play when multitracking *analog audio* ... that's a different clock, or different application of clocking, than like SMPTE or MTC, which I'd use to transfer tracks from a hard-disk recorder into the system via S/PDIF.

I'm assuming the internal clock you're talking about performs the same function as word clock but is a different technology? I know you have a bias because you work for Aardvark, and thank you for being up front about it, but could you tell me whether I'd get better results than even the best-clocked card (and you state Aardvark's are right up there) if I were to bypass the internal clock and go with say a Lucid word clock and slave a card that supports word clock?? If that's the case, maybe converters truly are the main issue for me.

It sounds like, from your post, that the converters these days are on pretty even par. That makes me really unsure, then, why the Digi 001 is regarded as having poorer A/D conversion than the Aardvarks, M-Audios, and Echoes of the world. Hell, if putting word clock on a Digi (if that's possible, have to do a quick check) will sound as good as the other cards mentioned, maybe I oughta do that, because I'm willing to get new software, too ...

Sorry if I sound petulant or stupid, but I'm trying to cover my bases here and be thorough; I'm trying to graduate from a Roland VS system to a PC-based one with better sound. I have some $$ to spend (up to $2K) and I want to choose wisely, and once (if possible).
 
Thomas may be bias, but his clock claims are true....Aardvarks have some of the best clocks out there in comparable cards.....
 
over the last week i've worked on motu2408mkII and my delta 1010, my delta sounds much better no doubt. the digi001 i heard has real good converters
 
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