Hi,

Going to buy a new AD converter, for classical music recordings. It's a
replacement for the good old Tascam DA30 DAT recorder.
Which one is the better choice?
dCS 900 (44.2/24)
Lavry Blue (96/24)

The dCS is absolute top, but at a lower sample rate, can the Lavry
compete with the dcs at the same sample rate? And thus perform even
better at 96khz?

Regards,
WB

Walter wrote:

The dCS is absolute top, but at a lower sample rate, can the Lavry
compete with the dcs at the same sample rate? And thus perform even
better at 96khz?

Go to the Lavry web site and read Dan's article about high sample rate
operation.

Most converters out there actually perform worse at the higher rates.

I will tell you that I think the Lavry is a step up from the dCS, but you
should also look at the Prism and Weiss stuff which may be in your price
range if you buy used.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Walter wrote:

The dCS is absolute top, but at a lower sample rate, can the Lavry
compete with the dcs at the same sample rate? And thus perform even
better at 96khz?

You would spend that kind of money based on replies in this newsgroup?
Use your own ears. Either one is going to slay your old DAT machine.

--
ha

Unfortunately, I can't try the Lavry... my dealer where I just brought
back a device that couldn't stand up to my wishes has no experience
with it... I can try the dCS, and gather as much information as
possible on the Lavry. As long as everybody agrees on the quality,
it'll be fine. Apogee also was an option, but people are divided in
their opinion, so that's not a recommendation.

And maybe I decide to buy the old stuff, and use the money saved to buy
a very good EQ plugin, the combination might be stronger than a better
AD with standard EQ (for the rare occasions that I need one).

Walter

Walter wrote:
Unfortunately, I can't try the Lavry... my dealer where I just brought
back a device that couldn't stand up to my wishes has no experience
with it... I can try the dCS, and gather as much information as
possible on the Lavry. As long as everybody agrees on the quality,
it'll be fine. Apogee also was an option, but people are divided in
their opinion, so that's not a recommendation.

Don't even THINK about buying this stuff without an audition, because
the differences are subtle ones.

Send Lavry an e-mail and ask how you can get a demo unit for trial.
I know Prism will also loan you gear out on deposit, although the postage
will kill you in the US.

And maybe I decide to buy the old stuff, and use the money saved to buy
a very good EQ plugin, the combination might be stronger than a better
AD with standard EQ (for the rare occasions that I need one).

Buy the converters that sound best to you. Then worry about everything
else. All the EQ in the world won't help bad conversion.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Living in The Netherlands, folks.... Lavry is hardly known here! My
dealer (a real pro one) will try to arrange something, I'm curious what
he will come up with.

Buy the converters that sound best to you. Then worry about everything
else. All the EQ in the world won't help bad conversion.

Don't worry, I won't use EQ to correct the AD! In fact, I hardly use
EQ,

In article . com writes:

The dCS is absolute top, but at a lower sample rate, can the Lavry
compete with the dcs at the same sample rate?

Pretty likely

And thus perform even better at 96khz?

This doesn't always follow, but in the case of the Lavry, I'd say that
if there's any content above 20 kHz going into the converter, it will
be accurately digitized at the higher sample rate. Whether the rest of
your system is capable of doing anything with this information is
another story.

If you're going to continue using it for whatever you were using your
DA30 for, I'd say that 96 kHz isn't really significant. So if there's
a reason that you'd prefer the DCS if it wasn't for the lack of 96 kHz
sample rate, then I'd suggest that you go for the DCS. If it's a
tossup and the 96 kHz is a tie-breaker, I'd say go for the Lavry.

Even though you're just looking for an A/D converter now, one nice
thing about the Lavry products is that they're modular, so you can add
a D/A converter in the future. He also makes a mic preamp that fits
into that chassis (takes two module slots, so it would be an A/D with
two preamp channels) and you might find that to be an attractive
option for location stereo recording.



--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

Walter wrote:
Living in The Netherlands, folks.... Lavry is hardly known here! My
dealer (a real pro one) will try to arrange something, I'm curious what
he will come up with.

In that case you missed your chance to do a serious demo at the last
AES show in Amsterdam last spring... Lavry, Prism, Apogee and dcs stuff
was all represented!

I know the RN guys in Hilversum have a whole stack of the older Prism
converters that you might be able to bum an afternoon demo from. I can
dig up a name and number if you really need one.

If you're up there, you might also be able to get the RTW converters,
which are modular boards that plug into the RTW system racks but which
can probably be used alone. RTW has basically no representation worth
talking about in the US, but they are out of Germany and sell a lot of
gear to broadcasters in the low countries. They are also in the same
league, I think.

Buy the converters that sound best to you. Then worry about everything
else. All the EQ in the world won't help bad conversion.

Don't worry, I won't use EQ to correct the AD! In fact, I hardly use
EQ,

Then don't spend a lot of money on EQ. Unless you are absolutely sure
that the occasional use will be profitable enough to pay for the investment.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Hmm, too bad I missed that AES show...
I'll had a quick look at the RTW system, but it's simply too large. I
want to make my setup a little lighter and smaller!

Hilverseum did ring a bell: I'll ask Onno Scholtze, who I know
personally (retired sound engineer of world fame from
Philips/Polygram).

--

Indeed, the expandability of the Lavry is a +. One thing I worry about
is: electronic gear ages, how will a dCS hold up in time? That thing is
at least a decade old...

The 96kHz is for me not a must, but the market asks for it, not knowing
that the difference at their playback set will be inaudible in 999%o of
all audio sets sold, and certainly when sampled down to 44.1/16.
My mikes and preamps will certainly produce something above 20kHz,
they're modified AKG's (all electronics has been replaced). I use
Jensen Twin Servo preamps, so I'm not even thinking of replacing them!
Nevertheless, Lavry has a very nice solution for on the road, that's
true.

Excuse me, RTW also has a small 1U version! I'll have a better look at
it.

Walter wrote:
Excuse me, RTW also has a small 1U version! I'll have a better look at
it.

RTW has all sizes of cases, and you can even get one that will hold a
single module. You can get the 1U high one that takes three modules and
put an A/D in there, then later get a D/A module and a meter module as
you decide to go on.

RTW basically does the same thing that the Studer D19 system does as far
as modularity. But the RTW system actually sounds good, unlike the D19.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."