Apogee Rosetta 200? or room treatment?

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monkie

monkie

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I've been doing quite a lot of research and read lots of recording forums from different sites about the Apogee Rosetta 200 that i was thinking about purchasing it as my next gear purchase.

Well, first off here's my gear list:

OS: Windows XP SP2
Interface: DIGI 02R running Pro Tools 7
Monitors: EVENT ASP8 with Aurolex Mopads and Mackie Big Knob
Preamp: UA-610/Focusrite Octopre (thinking about selling this one)
Mic: Rode K2
Plugins and Softsynths: Waves/Antares/Native Intruments/Spectrasonics
Instruments:Fender guitar, Ibanez bass, a couple of keyboards and a Motif Rack


I just realized a few weeks ago that since I've been making music for a few years now and the reason my tracks didn't sound that good is because I don't have a very good converter besides the 002R.

Some say that the Rosetta is good only if you haven't heard of the others such as Lucid, Mytek, Lynx Auroa, UA 2192 and others...

I've been reading that people who bought other converters besides Apogees argues that Apogee is known for making high quality equipment that's why their stuffs are more expensive than the other guys. If the others are better than Apogee's, then why are 90% or whatever the number of records in America uses Apogee's converters? (as what I've read in other people's posts). Is this just personal taste? Can you really hear the difference between qualities? I mean they all do the same thing, don't they? That's where the confusion hits me. I also talked to a salesperson at Guitar Center about the Rosetta 200 and he said that it will make a huge difference in quality. I guess he kind of convinced me to believed him a little. He also stated that he was embarrassed and ashamed to even make music without one. I mean... really???

Well, while reading through so many of the posts, i've also come across where some people say that it doesn't matter if you have the top of the line converter, if your room is not acoustically treated right, the converter is not going to be of much a benefit to you or your sound. Is this true? Well, I understand the importance of having a nice treated room is. Say, if your room is not really that good does that mean your not going to hear any difference or improvement at all; even with a decent converter? If that's the case then i'll probably consider treating the room first. But the problem with the room is that I don't think it's a very good recording room. I live in a studio apartment unit that is shaped like an "L" with a living room dimension of 17'x10' and the kitchen 8'x7'.

So my plan is that if i go with the Rosetta 200 (assuming that i can hear the difference) then I'll go that route and continue making music until I move out and get a better room; because I really need good qualities going in and coming out and have confident that I know my tracks are good (or at least for my level of experience). Otherwise, if i can't hear any improvement in sound quality i'll probably go with treating the room first, which can be quite frustrating because i only rent the place so i don't know if there's much i can do about it here.

Please..... any recommendations or advice would really be of great help. Thanks for hanging in throughout!!:):D:D:cool:
 
If you aren't happy with your sound, changing other parts of the chain may have more of an impact than converters. Converters do matter, but the impact is certainly more subtle than IMHO (in order, although some would quibble) talent, material, room, mics (including positioning), monitors and pres.

I recently upgraded from an Aardvark Q10 to a Lynx Aurora 8. Can I hear the difference? Definitely. But then I've already upgraded virtually everything else (my room and my chops still need some work). Is the difference as substantial as shifting from a SM57 to a Gefell M71? Moving a mic from off the 12th fret of a guitar to the lower bout? Moving from the Aardvark's pres to API or Pendulum? Nope - not even close. While it is nice to have good converters (and I bought the Aurora figuring I wouldn't feel obliged to upgrade for quite a while), as long as I had something acceptable (and I view the Aardvark converters as entirely acceptable), converters would be the last thing on my list to upgrade.
 
Thanks so much pohaku. I feel much better now that I know what I need to work on before going the converter rout. I was actually feeling frustrated over the last couple of days about getting this converter thing. Well, guess what? You just made my day! :DI guess the next thing is treating my room as it has horrible acoustics.

Thanks
Have a nice day!
 
monkie said:
some people say that it doesn't matter if you have the top of the line converter, if your room is not acoustically treated right, the converter is not going to be of much a benefit to you or your sound. Is this true?
Click to expand...

Yes it's true. If you're not satisfied with the sound of your productions, the weak link is always the room. It's never the convertors unless maybe you're using a 10 year old SoundBlaster card. And even then...

--Ethan
 
Thanks for dropping by Ethan Winer.

BTW do you have any recommendations on how to treat a room? I mean, if you were me where would you start with? I've been reading some peoples' posts and all of them say that you should always take care of the low end first. The high is not as big of an issue as the lows. It seems right; the lows in the corner of my studio is just huge if I stand there. Before, I used to monitor the lows by standing in the corner where the lows are at its best. I figure that was pathetic, but sometimes I like it low down and deep just like in a car stereo. The when come back and sit in the sweet spot, all the nice deep lows are thin and weak.

Any comments on that is appreciated.:D
 
cusebassman said:
Hey Ethan, how did you film all those layered parts of yourself playing in those videos? (i.e. where did you find the space to green-screen, and what camera/editing software do you use? :D)
Click to expand...

I assume you're kidding, but if you're not, buy my DVD where it's all shown and explained. Even if you are kidding, buy my DVD anyway! :D

http://www.ethanwiner.com/video/

--Ethan
 
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