[Julien BH]

Hi guys,
I've heard two things lately on the interweb.
One: The interface you use has a minimal impact on the final sound you
get.
Two: The interface you use has a good impact on the final sound.

Ok, that must've been discussed here thousands of times, so I won't
get into that.
My question is:

If I wanted to change my Edirol DA2496 to say, something "better" (i
don't use the pre's on that thing), what would you recommend. Let's
not talk about prices for now.

And the second question is: Will I really hear the difference? I have
difficulty believing that not, since conversion to digital is a big
part of the audio signal path nowadays.

Thanks

[Scott Dorsey]

Julien BH wrote:
I've heard two things lately on the interweb.
One: The interface you use has a minimal impact on the final sound you
get.
Two: The interface you use has a good impact on the final sound.

The converters have a substantial impact in the final sound. If you
are using the converters in the interface, the interface will have a
substantial impact. If you are not using the converters in the interface,
it will not.

Ok, that must've been discussed here thousands of times, so I won't
get into that.
My question is:

If I wanted to change my Edirol DA2496 to say, something "better" (i
don't use the pre's on that thing), what would you recommend. Let's
not talk about prices for now.

You could get outboard converters that plug into the digital input on
the Edirol. If you did that, you wouldn't have to change your software
in any way, and you'd have high-grade converters that you could use with
other interfaces a decade down the road.

Prism, Weiss, and Lavry all make top-grade converters... so does Grimm.
Lavry, Mytek, and Apogee also make some good second-line converters too.
And RME and Benchmark make some converters that are inexpensive but sound
very good for the price.

And the second question is: Will I really hear the difference? I have
difficulty believing that not, since conversion to digital is a big
part of the audio signal path nowadays.

I don't know, audition some converters and find out. The truth is, all
the converters today, even the worst, are better than the highest grade
converters made twenty years ago. On the other hand, most monitors sold
today are even worse than the average monitors sold twenty years ago.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Julien BH]

On May 7, 5:08 pm, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
Julien BH wrote:

I've heard two things lately on the interweb.
One: The interface you use has a minimal impact on the final sound you
get.
Two: The interface you use has a good impact on the final sound.

The converters have a substantial impact in the final sound. If you
are using the converters in the interface, the interface will have a
substantial impact. If you are not using the converters in the interface,
it will not.

Ok, that must've been discussed here thousands of times, so I won't
get into that.
My question is:

If I wanted to change my Edirol DA2496 to say, something "better" (i
don't use the pre's on that thing), what would you recommend. Let's
not talk about prices for now.

You could get outboard converters that plug into the digital input on
the Edirol. If you did that, you wouldn't have to change your software
in any way, and you'd have high-grade converters that you could use with
other interfaces a decade down the road.

Prism, Weiss, and Lavry all make top-grade converters... so does Grimm.
Lavry, Mytek, and Apogee also make some good second-line converters too.
And RME and Benchmark make some converters that are inexpensive but sound
very good for the price.

And the second question is: Will I really hear the difference? I have
difficulty believing that not, since conversion to digital is a big
part of the audio signal path nowadays.

I don't know, audition some converters and find out. The truth is, all
the converters today, even the worst, are better than the highest grade
converters made twenty years ago. On the other hand, most monitors sold
today are even worse than the average monitors sold twenty years ago.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

I'm pretty sure that's the case since most electronic stuff from today
sound like **** while most of the older stuff were well made (chinese
vs Hand made).
I have some KRK RP6, and it's not really "WoW", just okay. I think
they feel a bit cheap and colorful. But at that price, can't complain.
Anyway...
I heard about RME, can't say I have much cash to put on converters,
but if the edirol's are REALLY killing my sound, I feel like I've
wasted a bit my cash on my newly acquired RNP. I heard a change in
sound, but the edirol seems to clip before the RNP...

[Geoff]

Julien BH wrote:

I'm pretty sure that's the case since most electronic stuff from today
sound like **** while most of the older stuff were well made (chinese
vs Hand made).

Chinese v. hand-made ? Haven't you SEEN the photos of the production
'lines' ? Stuff that you would hope was machine-mad, very definitely being
hand-made, seemingly in domestic apartments.

geoff

[Mike Rivers]

Julien BH wrote:

I heard about RME, can't say I have much cash to put on converters,
but if the edirol's are REALLY killing my sound, I feel like I've
wasted a bit my cash on my newly acquired RNP. I heard a change in
sound, but the edirol seems to clip before the RNP...

The Edirol isn't killing your sound. You're killing your sound by not
managing your gain structure correctly. Reduce the gain on the RNP and
you won't clip the A/D converter.

The reason why "most electronic stuff from today sound like **** while
most of the older stuff were well made (chinese
vs Hand made)." isn't because of where it's made. Many recordings made
with modern gear sound like **** because so much of this gear is used by
inexperienced people. Give yourself some time, and learn how to
recognize and fix your problems rather than throw more money at more
expensive gear. There is, of course, a point below which something just
won't sound good, but unless your standards are too high, you're above
that point with just about anything that Edirol makes.


--
If you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring and reach
me he
double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo -- I'm really Mike Rivers
)

[Julien BH]

On May 8, 8:53 am, Mike Rivers wrote:
Julien BH wrote:
I heard about RME, can't say I have much cash to put on converters,
but if the edirol's are REALLY killing my sound, I feel like I've
wasted a bit my cash on my newly acquired RNP. I heard a change in
sound, but the edirol seems to clip before the RNP...

The Edirol isn't killing your sound. You're killing your sound by not
managing your gain structure correctly. Reduce the gain on the RNP and
you won't clip the A/D converter.

The reason why "most electronic stuff from today sound like **** while
most of the older stuff were well made (chinese
vs Hand made)." isn't because of where it's made. Many recordings made
with modern gear sound like **** because so much of this gear is used by
inexperienced people. Give yourself some time, and learn how to
recognize and fix your problems rather than throw more money at more
expensive gear. There is, of course, a point below which something just
won't sound good, but unless your standards are too high, you're above
that point with just about anything that Edirol makes.

--
If you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring and reach
me he
double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo -- I'm really Mike Rivers
)

Ok Mike, that was the answer I was waiting for. I never push my gear
to the limit anyway , I just found my weak link that's all.
It's been about 10 years I track and mix without any diploma or real
studio. So I don't consider myself a sound engineer. More like a
recordist.
...
Or something...