HD24 vs. HD24XR

[zozoe]

What real benefits could one look forward to by getting the better XR model? Thanks all!!

 

[Gilliland]

Benefits: The ability to use the internal converters to record at 88.2 and 96KHz, and the improvement in audio quality even when recording at 44.1 and 48KHz.

 

[chris-from-ky]

Sure but, if you can't make a good quality recording at 48khz, you aint gonna at 96khz. And when you record at 96khz, it cuts the track count from 24 to 12. Not worth it IMO. The standard converters will do fine if the other elements of the signal chain are up to par.

Put the extra $$$ into acoustic treatment, pres, or mics.

 

[Ford Van]

Sure but, if you can't make a good quality recording at 48khz, you aint gonna at 96khz. And when you record at 96khz, it cuts the track count from 24 to 12. Not worth it IMO. The standard converters will do fine if the other elements of the signal chain are up to par.

Put the extra $$$ into acoustic treatment, pres, or mics.

Amen. The studio i work at "upgraded". The owner seems to think the new converters sound better at 48K, but, I didn't hear a lick of difference. It is a hard thing to qualify.

Unless you are doing some pretty snazzy work for clients, or going to release your "hit" CD under Columbia, save yourself the $600 and get the older unit.

 

[Gilliland]

The owner seems to think the new converters sound better at 48K, but, I didn't hear a lick of difference. It is a hard thing to qualify.

The audible differences between AD converters is rarely going to be as discernable as, say, the difference between mics or mic pres. Nonetheless, the XR has better converters than the standard HD24. Whether or not any given individual can hear the difference will depend on many factors.

 

[Track Rat]

I wish I could hear them side by side. I suppose the type of stuff you'd be tracking makes the upgraded converters a point of diminishing returns. More solo acoustic stuff would benifit more from better converters than garage band rock. I know my stock converters clocked with the GenX6 sound pretty damn good.

 

[snatchman]

Actually, I 've just heard this in comparison side by side. In my quest for better audio, I compared the HD24...HD24-XR...XT-20. you could here slight difference in the units when using lower quality sources. ( mic, pre, etc.) But when I went to the higher quality sources ( Soundelux mic, Great River Pre) all three sounded even less different..good even.! The XT-20 even at 20 bit sounded alot better than I remembered! So.....If it wasn't for the awkward, and clumsy transport of the XTs, I'll just keep the XTs and call it a day and get better front end gear! (YMMV).......