Question about A/D conversion - again, noob status here...

[nwright]

I read all the time people talking about converters and how this converter or that converter sounds better, yadda yadda yadda.

One thing I've never understood, well maybe I do, is how much conversion actually takes place when you are pretty much do everything ITB or connect to hardware via digital I/O? IMO, the only conversion occurs at the tracking stage, when you are capturing the source (if using mics/triggers of course), and in this case it'd be analog to digital. Once that's done, if you mix/master ITB or connect to outboard via digital I/O, that is only one conversion, right? Am I missing something?

 

[freddrik]

Yes that sounds about right, AD conversion is only happening once in the tracking stage. If you then decide to use hardware when mixing or reamping etc, everything has to take the route again.. DA conversion on the other hand happens all the time as you listen back to your tracks through your DAW.

 

[nwright]

Yes that sounds about right, AD conversion is only happening once in the tracking stage. If you then decide to use hardware when mixing or reamping etc, everything has to take the route again.. DA conversion on the other hand happens all the time as you listen back to your tracks through your DAW.

Doh, you are right about listening back...That answers my question...This is all in response to a conversation I had with a GC salesperson...what he was saying wasn't making sense, so I thought I'd defer to you guys.

 

[beyond dead]

ya, the conversion matters the most for monitoring your mixes, or tracks while tracking. Im pretty sure converter technology has come a long way in the past few years, so I dont think its as big of a deal anymore.