A/D converter upgrade

[infectdsniper]

okay so i have 2 m-audio profire 2626s and a seventh circle audio rack with 5 pres and i was wanting to get a better conversion for the SCA rack. and dont ask me why i have good pres with fairly bad conversion. i was stupid.

so i need some type of upgrade that will provide quality conversion that will take the line ins of my SCA rack and not be affected by any type of extra coloration.

i was looking at audients ASP008 but i believe that the line ins are just padded mic pres but on the other hand the pres are suppose to be completely transparent. this can be stand alone conversion or 8 channel mic pre with true bypass line ins but truth be told im not sure how converters with db-25 ins work so if anyone could shed some light on that for me it would be appreciated

also looking in the 1-2k range RME ADI-8 DS might be what im looking for?

 

[superfreak]

With a 1-2k price range you can score a Lynx Aurora 8 + LT-ADAT.

 

[006]

From what I understand the 2626 uses the same conversion chip that is found in most all RME and other units praised for their conversion quality. I've never heard anyone say the 2626 has "fairly bad conversion," not even from people on GearSlutz - which says alot Just putting that out there.

 

[greyskull]

this is true, but a lot of converters use the same chip... It's not just that that needs taking into consideration.
I've never had a problem with the sound of my profire for home use.

 

[xTomx]

People exaggerate greatly about the difference a converter makes - the money would probably be better spent on room treatment, mics, more backline etc.

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

People exaggerate greatly about the difference a converter makes - the money would probably be better spent on room treatment, mics, more backline etc.

True that - although I've never used amazing converters to compare, I noticed little to no difference in my recorded tracks (A/D) between my old Onyx Satellite and my current Onyx 400F, but a big difference I playback (D/A) because everything is going through it so subtle differences are magnified in the form of greater stereo width, bass extension, etc. - in short, I'd sooner get a sweet ass 2 ch DAC to improve my monitoring, rather than a whole new array of ADC's (assuming cost is an object and it has to be one or the other, of course ) Conversion is designed to be transparent, so it figures there would be minimal noticeable differences between recorded mono audio tracks (and let's not forget the results of the infamous Behringer vs Apogee blind shootout on Gearslutz)

And more importantly, I know I've heard incalculable amount of great stuff on here recorded with Profires (and I'd imagine the A/D on the Profire is still better than any A/D conversion available up until the mid 90s,and there were certainly tons of great sounding albums tracked to digital media before then

 

[mva801]

I'll have to do a comparo next time I'm at the studio, but we have Apogee Rosettas that I run through my ProFire via adat. I could take the same signal through an outboard pre and just change the converters to get a side by side. I've never thought the ProFire sounded all that bad, and the other studio I work out of I use the Apogee AD16's all the time.

 

[Derykus]

The difference between my RME Babyface and an Apogee ad16x was fairly significant. It's not the chip as much as the analog circuitry of the converter. The highs were higher and sweeter, the lows were lower and fuller, and the midrange was not as boxy. I'm talking something like a 5% difference - so not huge, but definitely noticeable. They sounded like 2 different takes, but were the same reamp - just different converter.

 

[infectdsniper]

yea im more interested in the small difference and clarity of many tracks stacked. and im not really disappointed in what i get from the profires but i have a good amount of room treatment and about the only mics i would really want at this point is maybe some more sm57s and md421s and another pair of oktava mk-012s but i probably am just gasing too hard in the wrong direction. maybe im better off getting a kemper

 

[infectdsniper]

what derykus said is pretty much exactly what im looking for. maybe i should just get one of my profires modded at black lion audio because like you said most of the chips are the same and all they do is clean up the signal path by decoupling the capacitors and doing a few other things and upgrading the preamps.

 

[MatrixClaw]

I have an ASP008 and it was a pretty significant upgrade in A/D from my Saffire Pro 40. Hell, even clocking the Pro 40 to the Audient made a giant difference (so much so that you can actually SEE the difference in an Ozone graph... without it clocked to it, it's cutting off a lot of lows and highs, clocked to the Audient and you're getting a much bigger frequency response).

That being said, if you're not planning on using the preamps, then I'd probably go for a dedicated converter like the SSL Alpha Link, Lynx Aurora or Apogee AD16X/Rosetta.

 

[infectdsniper]

thanks matrixclaw. i do like the idea of the asp008 because i intend on selling one of the profires to help me get whatever it is that i get so having the same amount of i/o would be nice(i only have 5 SCA pres and one is dedicated to my reamp box) im not looking for a huge increase but i find everything i record to have a kinda tubby characteristic where the lowmids/mids stick out, the lows arnt very round, the high end can be piercing but still not enough. even though all of this can be helped to some degree after the fact i would much rather have my signal chain giving me an excellent source.

and also could i clock my profire to the 008 while still keeping the profire the main device?

 

[MatrixClaw]

and also could i clock my profire to the 008 while still keeping the profire the main device?

Not really sure what you mean by "main device." My Pro 40 is clocked to the ASP008 via ADAT as the master clock and I monitor and everything through the Pro 40.

 

[infectdsniper]

well thanks for all your input you guys looks like im going to decide between asp008, a modded profire or ditching the idea of better conversion for something like a better amp/mic selection

also would love to hear that comparison mva801

 

[mva801]

and also could i clock my profire to the 008 while still keeping the profire the main device?

Yes you can do that. You'd just run an optical cable from the Audient to the PoFire, and in the ProFire preferences, select ADAT as the clock instead of the internal ProFire one.

It may make a difference and it may not, you'd just have to see. I don't know the Audient brand at all.

You could also look into getting a dedicated clock, like the Black Lion MK2 or something.

 

[Benqbasic]

Was in a similar situation a while ago.
I had a profire then brought an adi.
The profire did sound a fair amount better clocked to the adi.
Brought a fireface 800 to replace the profire, but I have ended up keeping the profire as well for the extra pres.

I monitor through the adi and it does sound better than both other units.