Converters

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kindofblue

New member
hey guys,

i've got an Maudio delta 4/4 and I'm not sure I really like the converters on it...what would be the difference between Maudio converters and say a company like apogee? I know converters are mathematically complicated and it goes into alot of algorithm jargon etc. But are there any qualitative/naked ear differences I would notice?
 
I do not have first hand experience on this matter (actually looking into convertors myself) but i remember reading a post awhile back where some people compared the convertors of a similar delta unit to a lynx two system... I didnt hear it myself but they said the difference was pretty clear.

...and thats just with a lynx two sound card. do you know how much money apogee would run you? Do a search for apogee... lucid... lynx.
 
There are significant differences between the two, but make sure that it's the converters -

Take a "world class" recording from a CD and run it into your 4/4. Extract the same song digitally. Line them both up in (a program) and make sure the volume is the same.

Listen to them - A/B, back and forth.

If the recording still sounds "world class," it's likely that the weak link is somewhere else.
 
For multitrack recording, a similar situation to mic pres can happen with converters.

Throwing a mackie mic pre on ONE track on top of a stereo mix, sounds ok, noone's gonna die

Running that same pre on like 15 tracks, and you start to get upset

So many converters use the same AKM chips to do the actual converting, you would think theyd all sound the same. There are a lot of other issues going into it though. Youll find usually the same anamolies from the same chips no matter what the converter, but you will see that they are more pronounced on the cheaper implementations. There is like anything else just about, an analog front end that MUST be designed well, or else! And that is an impossibility in the physical size and topologies of many of these units. Then the LPF and anti aliasing system MUST be good, or you end up with the ADC version of the UAD-1 plugins. Lots more factors.

I guess the point is, with one or two converters, you most likely wont be running home screaming about the difference, but with a full songs' tracks worth?

Its the difference between getting a good early faders up rough mix, vs. EQ'ing and compressing like hell just to get a basic rough
 
so you're saying all the little things addd up! I myself am a gut instinct producer/engineer...sometimes I use shit gear to get the results I want...sometimes I crank the EQ knobs to 12. Im trying to discipline myself now thinking that if I do invest in better converters these little "extreme techniques" of mine will be more forgiving with better A/D gear. I guess a good A/D converter is the difference between a 3rd grader doin the math on your card or einstein.

dave
 
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