newbie to ad/da converters

  • Thread starter Thread starter electronicdreaming
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electronicdreaming

New member
hey everyone,
thanks for reading and helping a newbie out. I don't know JACK about AD/DA converters...but i'm reading all over the place that this is very important. do i need to invest in something like a lucid ada 8824 to get a high quality sound is what i'm asking.? Here is my setup.
Computer: P4 2.8ghz, 512 RAM, 80 GB HD w/an Audiophile 24 bit/192khz sound card (64 bit w/breakout cable), which you can view here: http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-MII-AP192.html

by the way, could someone tell me what a breakout cable is? :confused:
i'm recording new wave/synth music w/vocals and guitars. my synth is an alesis ION, guitar is ibanez 570 RG, mic is marshall mxlv67g, preamp is a Studio Projects VTB1, just as a note. thanks again for this site, i am in debt to you all for your knowledge!
Cheers!
-justin
 
Your card/interface has converters. There are better ones which you may eventually want to invest in.

A breakout box is simply an external interface that connects to your PCI interface via some sort of cable.
 
I have an Echo Mia card. I could afford to replace it with an Emu 1212, which is supposed to have good converters.

Just wondering whether I should bother, or if the Echo already has good enough converters for home recording.
 
electronicdreaming said:
do i need to invest in something like a lucid ada 8824 to get a high quality sound is what i'm asking.?
Click to expand...

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. While the Lucid is a splendid piece, I doubt that it can make a cheap sound card and a cheap mic sound much better.

It seems like you are dabbling in the budget league but taking advice from strangers who think you are in the pro league. It's not against the rules but, plugging a $99 mic into a $2000 converter kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it? Try to keep your system in proportion. If you are planning to eventually upgrade your entire system then yes, you would be headed in the right direction.

Good Luck
 
The point of the Lucid would be to AVOID using the cheap soundcard's convertors. no? Thus, the only thing that matters on the card's end is that it supports the digital protocol of the Lucid, e.g., ADAT. A card with poor convertors but ADAT woudl be adaquate for the job, I think.

The mic is a concern, though - with garbage in (althogh I do not know the Marshall mic, and am not commenting on it), all you would be doing is polishing a turd.
 
the mxl is a decent mic. Granted it cost a hundred dollars and is no ksm. it will get the job done and is defintly not his weakest link
 
Elmo89m said:
...is defintly not his weakest link
Click to expand...

Well, perhaps but, my advice still stands.

I still say a $2000 converter is way overkill for a “Home Recording Newbie” who doesn’t even know what a breakout cable is yet.

We are here to help one another. Is anybody with me on this one? :o
 
RawDepth said:
Well, perhaps but, my advice still stands.

I still say a $2000 converter is way overkill for a “Home Recording Newbie” who doesn’t even know what a breakout cable is yet.

We are here to help one another. Is anybody with me on this one? :o
Click to expand...

I agree. One of the first things I think anyone should take into consideration is what they're going to use their system for and try and keep things balanced. I'm all for investing in better equipment to give yourself some room to grow into but the scenerio being described in the original post warrants that he take the time to sit down and consider the overall picture. Then if that's what he decides he wants.... it's his money.
 
fraserhutch said:
The point of the Lucid would be to AVOID using the cheap soundcard's convertors. no? Thus, the only thing that matters on the card's end is that it supports the digital protocol of the Lucid, e.g., ADAT. A card with poor convertors but ADAT woudl be adaquate for the job, I think.

The mic is a concern, though - with garbage in (althogh I do not know the Marshall mic, and am not commenting on it), all you would be doing is polishing a turd.
Click to expand...

Not to muddy the water here, but don't assume that all SPDIF interfaces are of equal quality. A crappy soundcard is probably going to have a crappy digital interface that introduces jitter.
Having said that, yes, a $2000 converter is a waste of money unless the other equipment is up to par. The difference is heard much more on a $2000 mic or a $2000 pre. Given a limited budget, balance IS the key, and you should really do your homework before buying any gear. There's a certain path that takes you to your recording goals with the least amount of wasted money on gear that either doesn't take you towards your goal, or does but is soon rendered useless by way of upgrade. At the same time, spending your entire year's budget on one piece of gear just so that you'll never have to upgrade it doesn't make sense if it leaves the rest of your setup sorely lacking. It's a balancing act.
-RD
 
thank you so much for the replies, ....very educational and helpful!
-justin
 
i wasnt saying that he should get new converters...if it were me i'd get a better pre
 
Robert D said:
Not to muddy the water here, but don't assume that all SPDIF interfaces are of equal quality. A crappy soundcard is probably going to have a crappy digital interface that introduces jitter.
Click to expand...

Perhaps, the real point I was getting at was that you want to bypass inferior convertors. I would agree that using good AD/DA with a consumer soundcard will not do the convertors justics, but there are many budget cards that will do well if sync'd to the good ad/da unit.
 
fraserhutch said:
Perhaps, the real point I was getting at was that you want to bypass inferior convertors. I would agree that using good AD/DA with a consumer soundcard will not do the convertors justics, but there are many budget cards that will do well if sync'd to the good ad/da unit.
Click to expand...

Your point was well made, especially the second part. My "muddy the water" preface was because I didn't want to cloud the point you had made. I just wanted to point out that the balance of quality issue applies also to digital interfaces. Much better to have a good A/D feeding a run of the mill digital interface than the other way around. But a lot of the depth and air that is captured with great pres & converters can be smeared away by jitter in a poorly clocked interface.
Regards,
RD
 
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