mic pre and a/d converter

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cpstudios

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Pardon my newbieness, but I needed some clarification. I have been reading the forums and eveyone seems to state that the mic pre and the A/D converter are very important parts of achieving a great sound.

My question is 'what does an a/d converter actually do, and why do i need one?' I have a DIGI003 Rack and wasn't sure if it had one built in..

Secondly, the DIGI003 has 4 mic pre's, but i heard they suck. what is a good mic pre for around $1000? also, should they have a built in compressor in them.

thanks and sorry for my ignorance
 
cpstudios said:
Pardon my newbieness, but I needed some clarification. I have been reading the forums and eveyone seems to state that the mic pre and the A/D converter are very important parts of achieving a great sound.

My question is 'what does an a/d converter actually do, and why do i need one?' I have a DIGI003 Rack and wasn't sure if it had one built in..

Secondly, the DIGI003 has 4 mic pre's, but i heard they suck. what is a good mic pre for around $1000? also, should they have a built in compressor in them.

thanks and sorry for my ignorance
Click to expand...

a/d converter changes the analog signal into digital so your computer can use it. An audio interface will typically have mic pres and a/d and d/a converters. You would only buy an a/d converter or mic pre if you were unhappy with the ones in your interface now, or to add a bit of variety.

Some good pres in the $500-1000 range:

Clean sound pres:
Daking Mic Pre One
Grace m101
Sytek MPX 4Aii (4 ch)

Tube sound pre:
UA Solo 610

I personally think your room treatment and mic choice are more important than pre and converter, so look at your entire chain and identify what is your weak point before investing your $$$. Experiment with and know your existing equipment well so you can determine what you are missing - before making any purchase.
 
A mic preamp boosts the voltage of a microphone signal so it can be used by other analog audio equipment like mixers and other line level devices. An A/D converter changes analog audio into digital audio for digital devices. Computers can't necessarily take a simple digital stream but usually need it directed through a USB or Firewire connection, or a PCI slot card. Your 003 has preamps, A/D converters and provision for connecting to a computer. You can upgrade the preamps by using outboard ones by using outboard ones, and you can add external A/D converters. Preamps will probably have a bigger sonic effect than converters, but converters will give you more simultaneous inputs to your system via the ADAT Lightpipe optical connection.
 
Thank you

Thanks a million. I just wasn't sure exactly what the A/D converter did. Do the A/D converters actually make a difference in the sound quality? The DIGI003 is 24 bit and 96khz.
 
Yes they do. And the numbers (pretty much any converter can do 24/96) don't matter much. Somewhat contrarily, I've several converters that actually sound much better at target rates than they do at high rates.
 
One of the other options to consider is to do a search on Digi002/Digi003 modifications. There are a couple of companies that specialize in upgrading the AD converters and preamps in the above units. These guys do a great 002 upgrade- don't know about the 003:

www.blacklionaudio.com

Best of luck-Richie
 
Post a little bit more about your recordings, and what you do.

I say this often, but I would find it hard to believe that the converters or pres in the 003 are anywhere near the limiting factors in your recordings.

I've made some great sounding recordings with the 003, and with far worse pres and converters. It's more about you and the source than anything else.
 
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