Interesting Converter Comparisons ...

TravisinFlorida said:
other than the crispies, i don't prefer one over the others. what are you guys basing your preferences on? don't be a smartass and simply say "sound". if i sit here all day long and listen over and over, i may develope a slight preference but what's the point?
Click to expand...

I analyzed high-frequency distortion of a very short clip of all three samples.
 
TravisinFlorida said:
other than the crispies, i don't prefer one over the others. what are you guys basing your preferences on? don't be a smartass and simply say "sound". if i sit here all day long and listen over and over, i may develope a slight preference but what's the point?
Click to expand...

What's your monitor set-up?
Listen for clarity, stereo imaging, and compare transients (i.e. drum/cymbal hits etc).
 
chessrock said:
Easy, killer. Rough mixes. Through 4 generations of a/d before mp3 conversion no less. Looking for thoughts on the differences in a/d. Christ.

.
Click to expand...


I wasn't attacking the mixes - just the use of them for a test of this nature. Sorry if it seemed a bit harsh......
 
I say if you have to actively listen to the samples to tell a difference, especially after being sent through the converter 4 times, then they all must be somewhat decent. :cool:
 
NL5 said:
edit - and for the record I'm saying the are in order 1,2,3 - Guessing 3 is not exactly "high-end" though.
Click to expand...

Alright, then. So you're saying this is in order from worst to best, or best to worst?

.
 
chessrock said:
Alright, then. So you're saying this is in order from worst to best, or best to worst?

.
Click to expand...

worst to best. 1 and two sounded pretty close, with three being slightly better to me.....I still don't think it is a fair test though.......
 
teainthesahara said:
What's your monitor set-up?
Listen for clarity, stereo imaging, and compare transients (i.e. drum/cymbal hits etc).
Click to expand...

i've been listening thru my phones (not listening for imaging). i'm listening for clarity of low's/hi's/mid's/, transients, noise, artifacts, etc. my chain is sony mdr-v600 phones, hp4 headphone amp, 1010lt card, and cubase sx. the phones are on the bright side with very good low's and i trust them for critical listening over my monitors.

sound, tone, and musical wise, i have no preference here. if i rated them, it would be based on the crispies factor. 1 being extra crispy, 3 being original, and 2 being unbattered.
 
NL5 said:
worst to best. 1 and two sounded pretty close, with three being slightly better to me.....I still don't think it is a fair test though.......
Click to expand...


What would be a fair test, then? 24-bit files? A sample with long reverb tails and lots of hand percussion?

Just curious.
.
 
chessrock said:
What would be a fair test, then? 24-bit files? A sample with long reverb tails and lots of hand percussion?

Just curious.
.
Click to expand...

Something with some top end to it. Some air. Something recorded with high-end converters.

Take a nice sounding professional cd track (ripped to the HDD) - say North Dakota - from Lyle Lovett. Run it thru a Soundblaster, a Delta, an RME, and a high end converter. Even once. Put all 5 samples up at let people see if they can hear a difference. I've done it here - except for the rme (I used Rumour converters) - even my wife could tell a difference (my test to see if something REALLY makes a difference or not - LOL)
 
chessrock said:
What would be a fair test, then? 24-bit files?
Click to expand...

It need not be a long file. 10 second .wav should do. Listening to chunks longer than that makes it difficult to discern differences by ear. If there isn't a difference in 441,000 samples . . .
 
mshilarious said:
It need not be a long file. 10 second .wav should do. Listening to chunks longer than that makes it difficult to discern differences by ear. If there isn't a difference in 441,000 samples . . .
Click to expand...

i agree with that. i found myself chopping these samples up using markers to compare small sections. i ended up with 10 markers from beginning to end. on the other hand, there are different things to focus on in every section.
 
chessrock said:
Alright, so I have, in my posession, three different types of converters... What I did is take an existing rough mix of one of my clients, and I ran it through each converter.
Click to expand...
I don't hear a lot of difference in quality beyond the brightness of No. 2, which I don't think makes it better. I've compared converters before with solo guitar and found a huge difference between them while tracking live to each converter at the same time. Personally, I think it gets harder to hear in a "rough mix" such as this than with a solo instrument.

Tim
 
I concur that the differences are subtle, at least on my low end monitoring setup and with my less than stellar ears.

IMO, clip 2 sounded "best" to my ears, with pretty good definition of the parts and, possibly, slightly more "punch" to the lead guitar.

Clip 3 was second, and very close to clip 2.

Clip 1 sounded worst to me, but it wasn't grossly worse. Just not as good.

I'm awaiting the news that all three clips are exactly the same and we've all been had. :rolleyes:
 
Guys, just so you know ... I don't know yet which is which either. :D

I did this with the help of a friend of mine, and had him put the .wav files in a random order, so that I could take part in the comparison myself.

My thoughts on this are pretty similar to the general consensus so far. And that is that, for some reason, I kind of lean towards 2 and 3 a little more myself. But it's not like any one of them just jumps right out and exerts it's clear and undisputed superiority over the others.

I was thinking I'd like to try this again using a 10-second clip of a comercial CD and have my buddy shuffle the order again. Thanks again, guys.

.
 
I'd guess that 3 was marginally better... a toss up between the other two...

I paid more attention to the crowded section of the mix...

I'd love to see the results if you were to repost the samples and rename them... how many people could pick the same order of preference??
 
And lets not forget that every listener has one more level of DA conversion that's different... mine was a MOTU 2408
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top