Converter Question

C

CUSETOWN

New member
I'm not sure which forum category this belongs in... But I read somewhere that the quality of a mic pre is most evident when one upgrades to quality converters, so here I am. :)

I use a digi002 and for pre's I use the brick, a joemeek vc6q and of course the onboard 002 (focusrites?)..

Anyway, I just bought my 1st "high end" mic.. A c414 xls, (high end in my budget anyway).. And I've always been happy with the brick as a pre, but I want to see if better converters will add some depth or spaciousness.. I've read all kinds of things about converters saying it's a boring purchase and rarely will drop your jaw.. & I've also read the opposite..

Anyway, Any suggestions on a quality converter under or around $1000?
I'm kinda drawn toward the apogee mini-me because it adds 2 preamps, which is always nice... But can I get a converter of the same quality for less and skip the pres? Or are the pres just gravy & the converters worth every penny?

Also, Are D/A converters every bit as important as A/D? I don't bounce mixes.. I prefer to record to an external burner so I can use my outboard stuff...

I can only afford one at a time... A/D will be the 1st purchase so I can at least capture the best audio I can.

Feedback is appreciated!
THANKS!
 
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D/A probably isn't AS crucial as the A/D, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

When you get in to conversion, it's always a good idea to use the best possible equipment that you can reasonably and justifiably invest in. Just like with anything else. And Apogee is certainly a name you can trust in that area.

The degree to which you can take advantage of quality conversion depends on everything else in your signal chain, and the level of seriousness you have towards the project. For demo purposes, most of the prosumer level stuff is more than adequate, and improving all the time. For serious projects that are intended for mass distribution and/or radio play, then obviously the extra $$ spent on things like converters is more than justified.
 
Thanks

Thanks bro! I've checked this forum alot and have always respected your opinions..

I do a fair amount of soundscape work.. CSI miami & some stuff for MTV/Bunim-murray... So yeah, I definitely want to be sure my sound is best it can be... Are RME/Lucid &others just as good as the apogee?
 
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The Apogee converters are generally considered to be a step above the RME and Lucid converters. The Mini me however does not use the same converters as the rest of the apogee stuff. In your $1k area you should be able to get converters by Apogee (the mini me ora used Rosetta), Mytek, Lucid, Lavry, RME and Benchmark. In my opinion all of those are a fairly significant step up from the stock 002. On the othr hand, you may want to consider a clock like the Big Ben instead. All initial reports that I have seen concerning the Big Ben has been incredible. Basically it almost makes newconverters out of what you already have:)

Personally, I don't find that A/D is really any more important technically than D/A. However, I would certainly reccomend putting your money into A/D before D/A. A lot of two channel convertersout there actually do both though. My reasoning is that the A/D happens first. Basically, if you have a cheapA/D converter and a really nice D/A, the end result will be an incredible recreation of a shitty process. At least with a good A/D converter first you can add a D/A later after you have already tracked and still reap the rewards:)
 
One vote for the Lucid 9624. It sounds great at least compared to the converters I was using (MOTU 828) and it comes in well under the 1k mark. The Mini Me adds two preamps and about $500 to the price tag compared to the Lucid. You are also getting a USB connection but I'm not sure that's of much value unless you are going portable with a laptop. If you want additional preamps, you might consider buying the RNP ($475) in addition to the Lucid.
 
CUSETOWN said:
Thanks bro! I've checked this forum alot and have always respected your opinions..

I do a fair amount of soundscape work.. CSI miami & some stuff for MTV/Bunim-murray...
Click to expand...


That's really cool, Cusetown. I'd be really interested to hear more about what you do. Feel free to PM me anytime or email if you ever wanted to talk offline: snailinajar@yahoo.com

Yea, for what you're doing, I'd say go for it. Sweetnubs mentioned the Myteks, which are pretty much top of the line. Lucid is kind of the entry-level of the "gear snob" territory, but certainly impressive. :D But yea, Apogee, Mytek, Benchmark, Lucid ... it's all good stuff. Conversion technology has gotten to the point where even some of the computer Soundcards are kicking ass -- namely the Lynx, as well as some of the RMEs and even EMUs, to an extent.
 
Also, the clock in any hgiher 2-channel converter you get is likely to be a step up from the internal clock in the 002; so you can set it up to use the external clock from your converter and improve the performance of converters on the 002 has mentioned previously.
 
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