Whats a good A/D converter w/o preamps?

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juststackit

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I am trying to expand my digi 001 to 16 ins and outs, but I might upgrade to a more powerful system before too long. SO I don't want to spend more than 900 bucks, and I don't want to use the interface's preamps to "color" the sound. I have looked around at the Behringer, Alesis, M Audio and the Focusrite. Some can bypass the preamp but none really get nitty gritty about how good the conversion chips are, etc. I don't want something that is going to sound bad, but it will be my secondary interface. What sounds closest to an Apogee but still affordable?
Please don't remind me that I get what I pay for!!!
This is my first post. This website ROCKS!
 
I don't know much about the MOTU HD192 but since it's 192kHz it must be good but a lil steap on the $$ side. Anybody ever use the MOTU HD192?
 
For 900 bucks I imagine you could score something pretty decent second hand. Lucid might have something, I don't know. Or hey, a good ADAT would likely do the job, I've seen 'em together with digi001's before. Alesis AI3 would work too. As long as you stick to mono signals it's really not that big a deal, as you'll primerily hear the effects of bad ad/da with stereo signals (lack of depth, etc).
Did that make any sense at all? It's early in the morning here... :)
 
"I might upgrade to a more powerful system before too long"
-Probably because you're outgrowing your current system....same goes for AD converters in my opinion.

Not the answer I think you are looking for but....

If you're going to spend your hard earned money on converters, then I would go with something top shelf like Lucid (your budget is $900....$850 will get you a http://www.mercenary.com/lucidad9624.html. Otherwise your ears will outgrow whatever you buy in a matter of months (probably) and you'll be dissapointed with your purchase AND you will still need to upgrade to even better converters later....again. Unfortunately, I'm speaking from experience here. Then, after that, spend the money on a good word clock....it makes a big difference (not a subtle difference to my ears at all). A clock will also make your other converters sound better also. I'm using a friends clock until I can afford one....I'll never track again without a dedicated word clock.
 
Try looking around for an older Lucid or Apogee A/D converter. I'd bet that even a 20 bit older interface would be better that what you have now. For new stuff the Digimax or Digimax LT (by PreSonus) should be decent...not great but decent. Not sure how iany of the above compares directly to the Digi 001.
 
fldrummer said:
I don't know much about the MOTU HD192 but since it's 192kHz it must be good but a lil steap on the $$ side. Anybody ever use the MOTU HD192?
Click to expand...

Why does 192kHz have to be good? That's just the sample rate, not the quality of the conversion.
 
cominginsecond said:
Why does 192kHz have to be good? That's just the sample rate, not the quality of the conversion.
Click to expand...

I know it's not the quality. I was thinking the converters had to be decent due to the high sample rate. I may be wrong.
 
Yeah, there's no relationship between the quality of the converters and the sample rate. They could be the crappiest converters you've ever heard and still spit out 192,000 words per second.
 
The HD192 are very good bang for the buck, over at gearslutz a while back they did a shootout between the LUCID 8824 and the MOTU and it won hands down.
 
Lynx II convertors are hard to beat in your price range.
 
The MOTU HD192 is not going to work with his Digi001 and ProTools though. He needs an eight channel standalone converter with lightpipe I/O.

Another converter to consider would be the Frontier Tango. Perhaps take a look at the RME stuff.
 
Lynx is amazing for their cost. I don't know how they do it.

Oh one thing...

I hear people shouting about converters... and how a pro-sumer converter may share the same chip as in a more "pro" unit... but remember that the weakest link in A/D/A is usually the analog stage.

You can have the latest, sweetest "crystal" chip in a box but if it's got a sub-par analog circuit, that defeats the purpose real quick.
 
I love what you are saying, and I have looked more and found a few more things. I believe the Lucid is a two channel converter, as is the Mini Me. I need 8. The RME ADI-4DD looks great. It is around $650. Is the behringer, M Audio or Alesis stuff in the same league?
The whole point is that this is probably only for a couple of years, and definitely secondary, used only when I am recording more than 8 tracks at once. I want the bulk of my money to go towards the front end gear! So does spending the 650 still make more sense than the 2-3 hundred Behringer?
 
I think so. The quality and results of my tracks jumped up to pro level when I went with better convertors. On the low end solutions, the analog stage can skew the frequency curve and throw off your mixes.

I had one of the $150 M-Audio cards and was always having problems with the midrange. After I stepped up to Lynx I realized that the M-Audio card was pushing the midrange excessively to make the card sound hotter. I was always chasing a proper balance across multiple sound systems because of this.

So, as was stated above, its not always the convertor chips you end up using but the quality of the electronic stages going in and out of your card or external box that make the real difference.
 
I use Nuendo's 96K 8 i/o. I think they are repackaged RME's, but they sound pretty damn good to me.
 
I don't need a card. I need something to plug 8 XLRs into so I can light pipe it to my digi 001. I don't think Lynx makes a full interface.
 
juststackit said:
I don't need a card. I need something to plug 8 XLRs into so I can light pipe it to my digi 001. I don't think Lynx makes a full interface.
Click to expand...


Get an Alesis AI3, and use XLR to TRS cables.
It's much better than than the Behringer, but then, it costs more.
 
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