Quality difference in adat / lightpipe or tdif connections?

[antofants]

I was messing around the other day with my dm24 (haven't had it too long) and noticed a subtle yet definitive difference between the signal coming directly into the board from the mic and the one returning from my DAW that I usually monitor. The query lies in the fact that the dm24 is sending/receiving all digital signals (tdif and adat) to and from my motu 2408mkII (all clocked with a genx). I may be naive, but I was impressed that, once you hit tdif/lightpipe, it's a pretty pure path for your signal and any quality differences that occur are basically so minute that they're relatively insignificant. However, this subtlety was not insignificant. I liked the direct sound coming into the board much better that the return from the DAW. The returned signal was just a bit thinner, but mutliply that over and over, and I'm missing some important information.
Any thoughts on what's going on? Is it possible that the motu unit is somehow coloring the signal, even though everything is being transfered digitally? Would a higher quality interface in place of the motu yeild better results?
Thanks.

 

[ez_willis]

I was messing around the other day with my dm24 (haven't had it too long) and noticed a subtle yet definitive difference between the signal coming directly into the board from the mic and the one returning from my DAW that I usually monitor.

I'm not sure I totally understand the question. Are you saying that the signal you're hearing before it hits the DAW is better than after it returns from the DAW?

If so, it's your A/D converters, more than likely.

 

[antofants]

Hey EZ-
Thanks for the replay. That's exactly what I'm saying. However, I'm trying to figure out where exactly the breakdown is. The more I think about it, agreeing that it's the A/D converters (or possibly even the D/A), then the problem would lie within the dm24 more than the motu, wouldn't it? Which would mean replacing the board sooner than the motu. Am I acurate in this assumption? Has anyone else experienced this with the dm24? Everything I've ever heard about it was raves. Not that I don't like it, overall. It's extremely convienient. Just like the direct signal better than what I'm hearing on return.
Thanks.

 

[ez_willis]

Are you certain that the signal isn't being processed or altered in any way from the time it goes digital to the time it reaches your monitors? Maybe it's being panned or something?

What software?

 

[antofants]

Ez-
Thanks again for the reply. The signal is digital right up to the monitors and I'm using Digital Performer 5.
FWIW I think I found my answer. I did a quick search for dm24 and d/a converters and came across a posting from sonic albert (I think that's his username), who I tend to respect around here as having some solid input. Seems that he was coming across some of the same issues with the dm24, his mixes sounding different when monitoring through the different paths. He found a fix with the purchase of another piece of equipment (I can't remember what it is right now). It was at least reassuring that I wasn't the only individual who has had this issue. Again, love the board, the way it sounds and everything else. Just wanna get the best results I can out of it.
Thanks.