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#1
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Sound Samples for DAW mic preamps? Where to find?
I thought it would be easy to find sound samples on line for the Focusrite Scarlett and Steinberg UR series DAW interface preamps. Anyone know where I can find these? Danielle |
#2
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Sound Samples for DAW mic preamps? Where to find?
DanielleOM wrote:
I thought it would be easy to find sound samples on line for the Focusrite Scarlett and Steinberg UR series DAW interface preamps. Anyone know where I can find these? Danielle I did a 1KHz loopback test once with a Scarlett and it had two small harmonic peaks very close to the noise floor. The noise itself was ruler flat. You'd expect that because it's low-hanging fruit. I'll try later to reproduce this and post a link to a picture. Expect the usual Guitar Center class mic preamp performance. These are not the legendary Focusrite electronics but I can't hear them beyond that they're a little better than the ADA8000 for some things. I doubt I could do a double-blind test and identify each. There's nothing top keep you from using outboard preamps for critical stuff and these for less critical stuff. It's the price of a television set. Or get a Cranesong Spider and hook it in ADAT -- Les Cargill |
#3
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Sound Samples for DAW mic preamps? Where to find?
Les Cargill wrote:
DanielleOM wrote: I thought it would be easy to find sound samples on line for the Focusrite Scarlett and Steinberg UR series DAW interface preamps. Anyone know where I can find these? Danielle I did a 1KHz loopback test once with a Scarlett and it had two small harmonic peaks very close to the noise floor. The noise itself was ruler flat. You'd expect that because it's low-hanging fruit. I'll try later to reproduce this and post a link to a picture. This is not exactly what you're looking for, but .... It's a distortion estimate based on a 1/4" guitar cable from an output to an input. Here's CoolEdit's view of a 1000 KHz tone it generated: http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4b842177.jpg And here's the same tone after a trip through the Scarlett http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...ps702d8604.jpg I am pretty sure most of the error is me setting gains a wee bit off plus added noise. I got pretty close. If you put therm in adjacent tabs in a browser you can switch back and forth. We're well into -100 dB territory except for what I presume is 60 cycle noise. I have yet to get 96K working with everything - I use old software for various reasons. My dominant work mode is 44.1 . I imagine ( but can't prove ) that 96K would be even better. Expect the usual Guitar Center class mic preamp performance. These are not the legendary Focusrite electronics but I can't hear them beyond that they're a little better than the ADA8000 for some things. I doubt I could do a double-blind test and identify each. There's nothing top keep you from using outboard preamps for critical stuff and these for less critical stuff. It's the price of a television set. Or get a Cranesong Spider and hook it in ADAT -- Les Cargill |
#4
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Sound Samples for DAW mic preamps? Where to find?
On 5/24/2014 9:35 AM, DanielleOM wrote:
I thought it would be easy to find sound samples on line for the Focusrite Scarlett and Steinberg UR series DAW interface preamps. Anyone know where I can find these? There are likely to be some demo recordings on the manufacturers' web pages, but honestly, what can you really tell from something like that? It would probably be an MP3 file or a YouTube video and you'd be listening to an unknown source through unspecified mics on your computer speakers. Why don't you just buy something that has a suitable number of inputs and outputs for your needs, and the appropriate computer connection. Don't buy the cheapest, give yourself a little more respect than that. Try it out with a couple of typical projects. If you don't like it, return it and try something else with about the same I/O capabilities, from a different manufacturer, that costs twice as much. I'll bet that your first choice will be fine. -- For a good time, visit http://mikeriversaudio.wordpress.com |
#5
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Sound Samples for DAW mic preamps? Where to find?
"Les Cargill" wrote in message
... Les Cargill wrote: DanielleOM wrote: I thought it would be easy to find sound samples on line for the Focusrite Scarlett and Steinberg UR series DAW interface preamps. Anyone know where I can find these? Danielle I did a 1KHz loopback test once with a Scarlett and it had two small harmonic peaks very close to the noise floor. The noise itself was ruler flat. You'd expect that because it's low-hanging fruit. I'll try later to reproduce this and post a link to a picture. This is not exactly what you're looking for, but .... It's a distortion estimate based on a 1/4" guitar cable from an output to an input. Here's CoolEdit's view of a 1000 KHz tone it generated: http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4b842177.jpg And here's the same tone after a trip through the Scarlett http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...ps702d8604.jpg I am pretty sure most of the error is me setting gains a wee bit off plus added noise. I got pretty close. If you put therm in adjacent tabs in a browser you can switch back and forth. We're well into -100 dB territory except for what I presume is 60 cycle noise. Well -100 is inaudible. Reduce the signal by 40 dB and the remaining -60 dB noise floor is still pretty well inaudible in most listening situations. It would be interesting to do the same test via a mic input. Some mic/line inputs like my Crest use the same preamp stage for both mic and line inputs - they simply pad the line level down to mic level. The noise floor you're seeing could be resistor noise on the line input. I have yet to get 96K working with everything - I use old software for various reasons. My dominant work mode is 44.1 . I imagine ( but can't prove ) that 96K would be even better. I refuse to record at frequencies above the range of most speakers, if not most ears. Not to mention that every distribution method available to me will low pass the signal anyway. But I do use the higher rates when I'm running tests on gear - especially my own circuits. Sean |
#6
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Sound Samples for DAW mic preamps? Where to find?
Sean Conolly wrote:
"Les Cargill" wrote in message ... Les Cargill wrote: DanielleOM wrote: I thought it would be easy to find sound samples on line for the Focusrite Scarlett and Steinberg UR series DAW interface preamps. Anyone know where I can find these? Danielle I did a 1KHz loopback test once with a Scarlett and it had two small harmonic peaks very close to the noise floor. The noise itself was ruler flat. You'd expect that because it's low-hanging fruit. I'll try later to reproduce this and post a link to a picture. This is not exactly what you're looking for, but .... It's a distortion estimate based on a 1/4" guitar cable from an output to an input. Here's CoolEdit's view of a 1000 KHz tone it generated: http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4b842177.jpg And here's the same tone after a trip through the Scarlett http://i1000.photobucket.com/albums/...ps702d8604.jpg I am pretty sure most of the error is me setting gains a wee bit off plus added noise. I got pretty close. If you put therm in adjacent tabs in a browser you can switch back and forth. We're well into -100 dB territory except for what I presume is 60 cycle noise. Well -100 is inaudible. Reduce the signal by 40 dB and the remaining -60 dB noise floor is still pretty well inaudible in most listening situations. It would be interesting to do the same test via a mic input. It would be. But the outputs are all 1/4" line level and adding a DI box means you're testing the D.I. box. That's worse. Especially with the only D.I. box I have handy. Since these are bi-modal (CombiXLR) inputs ( meaning it's the same basic input but with XLR and 1/4" connectors and some sort of switching) I figure this is about as good as it gets. Update: I actually went and looked at the spec sheet; turns out these are 1/4" TRS, so if I had the proper cabling I could maybe make something work - although I remain unsure of any impedance matching issues. I figure the XLR are still voltage coupled, so it should be fine but I'd rather have a good setup. This is not intended to be a defensible test; it's just a rough order of magnitude thing. I don't work for Focusrite and do not intent to represent this as a serious test - again, just a rough guess sort of thing. Some mic/line inputs like my Crest use the same preamp stage for both mic and line inputs - they simply pad the line level down to mic level. The noise floor you're seeing could be resistor noise on the line input. Easily. It's still pretty minimal. I have yet to get 96K working with everything - I use old software for various reasons. My dominant work mode is 44.1 . I imagine ( but can't prove ) that 96K would be even better. I refuse to record at frequencies above the range of most speakers, if not most ears. Not to mention that every distribution method available to me will low pass the signal anyway. Yep. But I do use the higher rates when I'm running tests on gear - especially my own circuits. I am sure it can be done, but every time I've tried it, I end up not using 96k. I should try that with Reaper. Maybe later; not now. The problem is that when I change sample rate on various things, other things latch up and it gets pretty onerous. Sean -- Les Cargill |
#7
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Sound Samples for DAW mic preamps? Where to find?
On 5/24/2014 3:11 PM, Les Cargill wrote:
DanielleOM wrote: I thought it would be easy to find sound samples on line for the Focusrite Scarlett and Steinberg UR series DAW interface preamps. Anyone know where I can find these? Danielle I did a 1KHz loopback test once with a Scarlett and it had two small harmonic peaks very close to the noise floor. The noise itself was ruler flat. You'd expect that because it's low-hanging fruit. I'll try later to reproduce this and post a link to a picture. Expect the usual Guitar Center class mic preamp performance. These are not the legendary Focusrite electronics but I can't hear them beyond that they're a little better than the ADA8000 for some things. I doubt I could do a double-blind test and identify each. There's nothing top keep you from using outboard preamps for critical stuff and these for less critical stuff. It's the price of a television set. Or get a Cranesong Spider and hook it in ADAT I see the differences in the curves and I gather there's response, slew rate differences. Having not looked at other comparisons, I am not sure how meaningful this is. Thanks for researching and posting. Danielle |
#8
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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Sound Samples for DAW mic preamps? Where to find?
DanielleOM wrote:
On 5/24/2014 3:11 PM, Les Cargill wrote: DanielleOM wrote: I thought it would be easy to find sound samples on line for the Focusrite Scarlett and Steinberg UR series DAW interface preamps. Anyone know where I can find these? Danielle I did a 1KHz loopback test once with a Scarlett and it had two small harmonic peaks very close to the noise floor. The noise itself was ruler flat. You'd expect that because it's low-hanging fruit. I'll try later to reproduce this and post a link to a picture. Expect the usual Guitar Center class mic preamp performance. These are not the legendary Focusrite electronics but I can't hear them beyond that they're a little better than the ADA8000 for some things. I doubt I could do a double-blind test and identify each. There's nothing top keep you from using outboard preamps for critical stuff and these for less critical stuff. It's the price of a television set. Or get a Cranesong Spider and hook it in ADAT I see the differences in the curves and I gather there's response, slew rate differences. I just see noise modulation differences and not much of that. "Slew rate differences" are a pretty unlikely explanation; slew rate hasn't been a serious problem in electronics for a long time now. This is Focusrite we're talking about; they know how this stuff works. Having not looked at other comparisons, I am not sure how meaningful this is. Nor do I. I could not defend the methodology on a bet. Just throwing it out there. Any difference at all is hovering around -100dB. So I'd just say this indicates the spec sheet as published is credible - if it indicates anything at all. I just felt a tiny bit bad saying I'd done this test and hadn't shown the results. Thanks for researching and posting. Danielle -- Les Cargill |
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