Better converters: worth the upgrade?

[Matt Smith]

OK, how much of a difference do soundcards/converters REALLY make?

I'm not talking about crap quality stuff, but I mean once you reach a respectable level of product. I've only ever used a Layla 24, so I don't have anything to compare it to. But how much of a difference would I HEAR if I upgraded to, say, a RME ADI-8 Pro or something (they make these specifically for Nuendo, which I use, and I know Andy's used that model in the past)? I'm not talking about a case of, "I *think* I hear a little more clarity in the highs, but I'm not sure" or something. I mean a real, appreciable difference. "Whoa, that guitar tone sounds tons better now than when I recorded it through the other converters with the same setup 5 minutes ago!"

I mean heck, it's the step where what you put in front of the mic gets onto your hard drive, so obviously it's pretty darn important. But there's SO much drastically different opinion out there about this kind of thing (and everything from digital clocking to AC power) that it's hard to know who to trust.
I've always just concentrated on mic placement/mics/preamps when trying to improve my sound, and just assumed that my Layla was good enough because it sounds fine to me. But hey, if there's a world of improvement out there that I'm missing, I'm all ears!

 

[egan.]

Matt, this probably isn't the answer you want, but why not audition some other units? You seem to listen pretty critcally, so I think that you'll be able to answer your own question pretty quickly rather than taking others' word for it.

 

[Kazrog]

There are some people who won't even use Digidesign's Apogee converters. I don't understand these people. It really comes down to how anal you are about potentially negligible differences. I wouldn't have any qualms about using a Layla for final tracks myself. I have some friends in a fairly major band on Roadrunner who ended up using some tracks cut through a Layla in their final mixes.

 

[Exsanguis]

Although lower end converters will often work fine, the better converters often have noticeable improvements over them. At the studio that I work at, we recently had the opportunity to shootout a bunch of different A/D's and D/A's. Sometimes, the differences were miniscule. Other times, they were massive. We were upgrading from our 888's, and managed to borrow or rent an RME unit(Fireface), the Apogee Rosetta 800, the Apogee AD and DA16X's, the Crane Song HEDD-192, the Digidesign 192, a Prism Sound ADA-8, and a Universal Audio 2192. Each was ran at 48Khz, and was tested through some Genelecs, and some Events. If it was possible, we clocked the converters with a Big Ben. Overall, we preferred the HEDD-192 and the Prism Sound ADA-8. They were the clearest, and had the "most musical" sound to our ears, as well as the most accurate. The one that we found the worst sounding was the Digidesign 192. It was harsh and often brittle compared to the others(although it was still miles beyond the old 888's). The Apogee's sounded great, and wouldn't at all be unhappy if I were forced to work in a studio with them. We finally decided on the Crane Song HEDD-192, but also ordered the Crane Song Spider, which is apparently overordered, so we have a while to wait before we get it. As someone who used to work with a Layla at home, I can safely say that if you can afford it, the Apogee or RME converters will definitely improve your studio's sound. That said, better converters maybe shouldn't be a priority for you if you're not using outboard gear hooked up to a DAW during mixes, as this involves at least two extra conversions.

 

[deconjoe]

Dude, better converters are definitely worth the upgrade.... I use the ADI RME 8 AD/DA rack unit...(not the card) its the older 44.1/48k unit, but I record at 44.1. It was the best buy for the $$$ cuz its 8 channels. I use the Digi 001 and as soon as I hooked it up the low end was cleaner punchier, and more defined, the highs were cleaner and more open and the stereo imaging was way better. Also the RME has a better clock so all these bullshit clicks and pops that I was getting were gone.