Don't want to sound like a newb

jeff5xo

jeff5xo

New member
What are A/D convertors? I've just been upgrading my equipment to go into my brand new studio, and have been reading alot in this forum. I'm ASSUMING that A/D stands for converting audio to digital, and D/A is turning digital to audio. Is that correct? How does this apply? I don't mean to ask a stupid question, it's just I've always used 4, and 8 track machines, and then went to 12 track digital, and now I'm going to 24 track digital. Do these converters apply to effects? I'm using a Roland VS2400 all in one work station, what do I need convertors for?? Blue Bear talks about having good ones to make quality recordings, and I respect his opinion very very much. I blew most of my studio budget on the actual building of the studio, and the rooms sound outstanding!! But if I NEED a convertor I will get it. Can someone explain?
 
You have convertors built into the vs2400. I don't think that will be your biggest concern. You could make a noticable difference if you get a super stable clock source and some outboard mic preamps.

The only problem I have with those all-in-one studios is that most of them have a 24 bit mix bus. There is nowhere near enough headroom to mix 24 channels with that.
 
You are correct A/D is coverting audio to digital and D/A brings it back out to audio.

If you've always recording analog to tape you have not had to deal with this issue. However, more and more people record to hard disk (or even digital to tape (ADAT, DAT, etc).

Since the converter is the primary signal router, the quality of the converter is a siginicant deal. Many people with lower quality converters complain about the recorded sound being too "harsh" or "not warm enough".

As a general rule, the converter is critical when the sound goes into the machine and back out. While the sound is in the machine it stays in the digital domain (so if your work station has built in effects, you are adding digital effects to a digital sound).

In a stand alone workstation what ever converters you have are what you have (they came with the machine). Whereas people who record to a PC or Mac can choose what converters they want in the signal chain.

Now in your case, if you are burning direct to CD in your machine you never really convert back to audio (until the CD player makes the conversion) so your concern is the quality of the A/D.

But don't get too hung up on the technology. If your ears tell you you are getting a good recorded sound, than you probably are - which means your converters are good for your application.
 
Great explanation Mike.........thanks! I thought it was something like that, I just wasn't positive.
 
Little humor here...

"I don't want to sound like a newb!"

"THEN DON'T RECORD LIKE ONE!"

First thing that popped into my head when I saw this thread. Of course it isn't relevant, but I had to share.

:)
 
D/A (digital to analog)

Perhaps one of the most important issues )when dealing with a studio that is running analog signal into digital gear) is having a quality D/A converter that will let you hear exactly what is happening to your mix in the digital realm. Lots of converters have different flavors of sound, just like preamps, but the idea is to get the most neutral or accurate sounding converter when going from digital mix bus to you monitors. I would recommend checking out the DAC1 from Benchmark. They have a slew of well respected people using their converters (including Bob Katz, mastering guru, and Michael Wagoner, mixed for Janet Jackson, Metalica, etc.), and I know I hear things in my mixes with my DAC1 that get covered up by equipment that doesn't handle jitter well. You also need to know about jitter if you ar4e dealing with digital audio. Recommended reading:

Benchmarkmedia.com has some application notes about jitter that are fantastic! Check them out for free!!!

Digital Audio 5th edition by Ken Pohlmann (found cheap on Amazon.com)

Mastering Audio by Bob Katz (also on amazon or at digido.com which is Bob's website. His website is also a great source for knowledge.)


Good luck and welcome to the wonderful world of digital!
 
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