Class A Converter?

[PHILANDDON]

Hey all, a couple of questions:

I have a Roland VS-2000, which I'm coming into via Grace 101 preamps. I've heard it through the grapevine that the converters in the Roland aren't that good. Is this true?

I was thinking of bypassing the Roland converters and using the converters in my Alesis Masterlink. I'd then come into the Roland via it's S/PDIF input. Is this a good idea?

I spoke to tech support at Roland about this idea, and the woman said that Roland's converters are "class A". Is this true? If so, what does it mean?

Lastly, are converters so good these days that I'm worrying myself over nothing. Is there a big difference between high end outboard converters and those included in SIABs (Studio in a Box).

Thanks for the help.

 

[Kryptik]

I doubt those are "class A". These are "class A" . Try not to drool too much like I do . But in terms of getting noticably better conversion than some of the higher end SIABs, you're talking $$$ and probably won't be worth the expense. At least it wouldn't be to me. OTOH, the weakest link on most of these SIABs is usually the preamps, so doing the bypass might be worth while if you can't bypass the preamps. I've never worked with the Roland stuff though, but having one good signal chain is better than having a bunch of mediocre ones IMO. I'm sure there are other people here that can tell you better when in comes to the roland stuff. But I wouldn't put the money into it.

Edit:
I just reread you post.

I really don't know what they mean by "class A". Usually I see "class a" as being refered to as a way opamps are hooked up. (or is it the transistors???) Marketing departments usually like to mention it in the specs because it sounds good, but it really just indicates how the internal amp is set up. It has nothing to do with whether the amp is good or bad. I've never heard of converters as being refered to as "class A" and it really doesn't make sense to me. Somebody else is going to have to explain that one.

 

[snatchman]

A friend of mine uses the Roland 2480. He uses the spdif input via. Rosetta 200. Sounds awsome! He also uses the Masterlink, but he goes into digitally. ( bypassing the converters on the Masterlink which I think you can do with your Roland(?))

 

[Farview]

I don't know which is the problem on the Roland stuff, the preamps or the convertors. Anything you can do to avoid either would be a step in the ring direction.

BTW using an outboard preamp and plugging into the line inputs doesn't bypass the internal preamp, it simply runs your signal through a pad. That introduces one more cheap circuit in your signal path.