spdif vs. analog

[VirtualSamana]

And in this corner weighing in at 1/4 its the reigning champ, the dynamic veteren fighter who packs a low-capacitance punch "Analog!!" and in this corner the challenger weighing in at 01010 the amazing digital kid from sony and phillips corporationn "Spdif!!"

OK, OK I am getting a little carried away.

Seriously what do you guys think of the whole new digital I/O explosion?

Will the future be all spdif? I know more and more companies are offering their products with digital I/Os. I believe even Johnson's J-station has done this.

What do you guys think? I know its great to keep everything in the digital realm but is the sound quality really that noticeable to your ears...be honest now. Does anyone put their digital I/Os to good use (excluding DAT I am thinking more along the line of outboard effects, digital mixers, monitors etc.)

OK, I admit some of this comes from digital I/O envy. I do own the now discontinued Darla 24.

 

[ola]

S/PDIF vs. Analogue is an odd competition. If you have a soundcard/audio interface with good A/D converters, you don't need to use the S/PDIF input. Digital outboard effects seem odd to me if you use your computer. There are plugins that does the same job - it's all about math. Using analogue effects might not be a good idea as performing several A/D - D/A conversions is lethal to the sound. IMHO of course. There will always be an A/D or D/A conversion when you go from audiable audio and S/PDIF and the quality is never better than the converters. Maybe the D/A converters in some "digital" monitors are better than the ones in your soundcard but I doubt it.

I'm looking at getting a high quality stereo A/D converter and plug that into my S/PDIF but until then, I have no use for it.

/Ola

 

[tubedude]

123

Well, the cool thing about spdif and outboard gear... once you are digital, you can go into, say, a high quality lexicon reverb, and back to the computer without ever doing that D/A and back to A/D conversion. It stays digital. This is good. This in effect is the same as having a plug in. But the plus side is, you can take that Lexicon box and go run live sound with it. I think the spdif thing is very cool, especially on cheaper soundcards. If you get something with better converters, you dont need to upgrade the soundcard, just plug in and go!

 

[keith turner]

ola, checkout the lucid ad9624. just got mine today and it rocks! macmidimusic has them for $659,good people. full compass has b-stocks ,for less, if you are so inclined. using mine thru the spdif in on my 2408.

 

[ola]

Thanks for the tip. I need to upgrade other gear first but I've been eying that exact model.