Am I correct in assuming that the converters in the Lucid are superior to those in the Direct Pro? Am I also correct in assuming the mic pres in the MAudio DMP3 are superior to those in the Direct Pro? If that's the case, am I going to hear any difference between the Lucid/MAudio combo [approx. $600 used] and the Aardvark Direct Pro all-in-one setup [$300 used] for recording vinyl to my hard drive? Or is the Lucid/MAudio combo overkill? As a note, I don't have a preamp so I need gain from my phono stage. Thanks.
Lucid AD9624 + MAudio Micpreamp OR Aardvark Direct Pro for Vinyl Recording
- Thread starter rontokyo
- Start date
I don't have the Lucid, but I have the Aardvark and like it. For good, straight, clean recording -- it would work very very well. Both the Aardvark and the Lucid were among the very few cards to score "excellent" in the pcavtech tests.
http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/
Probably a bigger issue in transferring from vinyl will be the turntable, stylus, and especially how clean the records are. If you are serious about doing it right, consider getting something like the "Nitty Gritty" cleaning machine -- it will REALLY make a difference in the audio you get out of the record.
-lee-
http://www.pcavtech.com/soundcards/
Probably a bigger issue in transferring from vinyl will be the turntable, stylus, and especially how clean the records are. If you are serious about doing it right, consider getting something like the "Nitty Gritty" cleaning machine -- it will REALLY make a difference in the audio you get out of the record.
-lee-
Blue Bear Sound
New member
Don't forget you also need a phono-preamp for the RIAA eq curve.
Forgot about the phono curve. I've been doing CDs so long... <grin>
FWIW - here's some info about the curve that I found:
The "ideal" EQ is constructed of straight line segments. It has a flat 20 dB
boost from 0 to 50 Hz, then descends 20 dB/decade to 500 Hz. Response has a
flat 0 dB gain from 500 Hz to 2120 Hz, and then falls 20 dB per decade above
2120 Hz.
The "practical" curve is roughly two first-order lowpass filters in
parallel. Gain is +17 dB at 50 Hz, +2.6 dB at 500 Hz, -2.6 dB at 2 KHz,
and -19.6 dB at 20 KHz.
Looks like you could emulate it in software after recording, but gains/cuts of that magnitude are not great with plugins.
-lee-
FWIW - here's some info about the curve that I found:
The "ideal" EQ is constructed of straight line segments. It has a flat 20 dB
boost from 0 to 50 Hz, then descends 20 dB/decade to 500 Hz. Response has a
flat 0 dB gain from 500 Hz to 2120 Hz, and then falls 20 dB per decade above
2120 Hz.
The "practical" curve is roughly two first-order lowpass filters in
parallel. Gain is +17 dB at 50 Hz, +2.6 dB at 500 Hz, -2.6 dB at 2 KHz,
and -19.6 dB at 20 KHz.
Looks like you could emulate it in software after recording, but gains/cuts of that magnitude are not great with plugins.
-lee-
Last edited:
Blue Bear Sound
New member
Thanks, guys. No, I've got a phono preamp, but gain is insufficient plus I need a way to adjust that gain when I record--hence the need for mic pres. And I'm cool with quality TT, vacuum disc cleaner, etc.
But back to my original question, would the Lucid/MAudio combo provide any sonic improvement over the Direct Pro 24/96? I've been making vinyl transfers for several years now--it's very time consuming so I want to ensure that my time's not wasted. Meaning I want to get the very best results I can so that I won't have to do it all over again should I upgrade anything in the chain.
But back to my original question, would the Lucid/MAudio combo provide any sonic improvement over the Direct Pro 24/96? I've been making vinyl transfers for several years now--it's very time consuming so I want to ensure that my time's not wasted. Meaning I want to get the very best results I can so that I won't have to do it all over again should I upgrade anything in the chain.
Blue Bear Sound
New member
I don't know about the Direct Pro, but the Lucid converter is sonically excellent...
I don't know why you'd need the M-Audio unit though.... you can feed a -10dBV signal to the Lucid and if you're using a phono preamp anyways, it should be putting out at least a line level signal.
I don't know why you'd need the M-Audio unit though.... you can feed a -10dBV signal to the Lucid and if you're using a phono preamp anyways, it should be putting out at least a line level signal.
