"Margaret von Busenhalter" wrote in message
...
My 78 RPM archiving project is progressing fairly well -- 330 done, 4,002
to
go. And no clay pigeons so far! So far I've decided to record them with
ML-5
open reel deck using 1/4 inch tape at 15 ips. I did try to go digital
twice.
First with my Philips Acoustic Edge soundcard which is one of the better
sounding consumer cards IME and then with a Roland VS-2480 DAW. When I
listened the digital recordings with Genelec 1031A monitors, they sounded
VERY good and not that different from the analog ones. However, when
played
through the Avant Garde horns, the digital recordings sounded
unsatisfactory, especially the ones made with the Philips. It is really
hard
to verbalize what was wrong with them but lets just say that they were
lacking dynamics, coherence and bass. They also sounded glassy and somehow
flat. I got other opinions as well and then turned the recording task to
someone who does it for living, just for kicks. Many pairs of ears
preferred
the analog, no one preferred the digital recordings. Given that these are
very old recordings, these results do not seem to make any sense. However,
I'm willing to try to top notch ADC to see what happens because I really
want this stuff on CD as well for anyday & anywhere use. Please advice
which
units I should try.

Thanks and Cheers!

MvB



How would you pros rate the VS-2480? Is the ADC really that bad? Are the
Yamahas any better sounding?


Cheers,

Margaret

In article writes:

How would you pros rate the VS-2480? Is the ADC really that bad? Are the
Yamahas any better sounding?

It's not bad sounding, but it's misused a lot by people who know
little about recording and mixing. The Roland recording workstations
by default use a data compression method which does change the audio
more than a straightforward A/D converter, but it's not that bad in
its mildest form, and I believe the 2480 can record in an uncompressed
mode. I would suspect that the similar Yamaha units have potential for
sounding a little better, but bad sound with these things is mostly in
the hands and ears of the operator.




--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )