Rack or Plugin?

[SonicAlbert]

Sorry, I thought you were looking for outboard fx, not converters. So, we are talking about converters? How many channels do you need?

 

[Robert D]

I guess I'll have to listen to those now. The last time I heard a TC reverb plugin it was a very unimpressive experience. So you are saying that those TC reverb plugins are better sounding than my M3000 using the digital I/O?

Well, I can't say that I've compared them directly, but probably equivilant, maybe better. The TC Powercore has the equivilant MIPS (millions of instructions per second) of four G4 Macs! The algorthms for the Megaverb are taken directly from TC's hardware units, and I believe the tails are from the TC-5000. The TC Classicverb is more of a high end Lexicon clone.
I agree that I've never heard a native reverb plugin that was worth much, but this is entirely different. Think of it as hardware reverb without the cables and without the latency issues, especially if your audio app has automatic latency compensation for powered plugins. Then there's all the other Powercore plugins that you also get with it..........

RD

 

[SonicAlbert]

I thought there were latency issues with the Powercore hardware. Let's say I don't use latency compensation in my DAW (old version that doesn't have it). Also, are you talking about the Powercore PCI or firewire?

 

[Robert D]

Well, not having auto latency compensation does take some of the joy out of it, but the workaround is a latency comp plugin that you put on a sub buss, then route non Powercored tracks through the latency comp buss, and on to the stereo buss.
There are, of course, latency issues when using outboard hardware too, which generally require recording the return, and then sliding it back in time, which means no real time parameter adjustments. Even without auto latency comp, I find the Powercore stuff much easier to use than external hardware since it intigrates as a VST.

BTW, I use the PCI version. There's a new version coming out called Powercore element, which is the same card, minus the X3 (TC Finalizer) for close to half the cost of the original Powercore.
At around $500 street price, it's really something to think about.

Cheers, RD

 

[colorsound]

Sorry, I thought you were looking for outboard fx, not converters. So, we are talking about converters? How many channels do you need?

Just one I guess, I can apply the effects one at a time to each track. Maybe 2, so I can have stereo...

 

[SonicAlbert]

You'll definitely want two. I was wondering if it was 2, 8, 16 or ?

Price basically determines how good the converter is, and there's no question you want the best you can afford. What price range are you thinking about?

I use a Benchmark Media DAC1 D to A converter and it's very good. list price is $850. They are coming out with the A to D version of it soon, and that will be in the mid teens I believe, as far as cost.

There are a lot of pretty good converters to excellent converters to choose from. The HEDD 192 gets a lot of praise. And in the lower cost category the Lucid two channel converters seem fairly popular.

 

[colorsound]

How about the Art DIO?

 

[SonicAlbert]

I have a couple of those, they aren't bad, actually pretty good for the money. However, if you are going to be running critical tracks through fine vintage gear, I think you owe it to yourself to get something a bit better.

 

[colorsound]

I have a couple of those, they aren't bad, actually pretty good for the money. However, if you are going to be running critical tracks through fine vintage gear, I think you owe it to yourself to get something a bit better.

What do you use them for then?

I"m no expert here, but it seems a bit odd someone would pay $800 for a 2-channel A/D converter when they could get a really nice 8-channel soundcard with awesome A/D converters on it (lynx, aardvark, echo, etc...) for around the same price.

 

[virgoanmethod]

While certain effects are undoubtedly better in the rack, one of my main problems with having lots of hardware fx is the issue of noise. I usually solve this problem by running a plugin noisegate, but it's still a nuisance.

 

[SonicAlbert]

I've used the ART DIO's for a few different things, but mostly as extra fx sends where I need to tie in an analog processor to my DAW or digital mixers.

There's a huge difference between good converters and great converters. The Benchmark DAC1 is a great converter. It's eye-opening when you hear the difference between the middle of the road stuff and something truly fine. If I could afford it, I'd have only top shelf converters. unfortuantely, they are very very expensive.

 

[colorsound]

Do you have to have high quality analog audio (AKA viynl, reel to reel) to notice the difference a top of the line converter makes when you go from A to D? If you go from D to A and back to D, I guess you notice that the quality does not drop on the expensive boxes, right?