Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Ferris  Mike-
I'm not really an engineer type, more a musician/player so bear with my non-engineer speak. I've read the first few pages of this long thread and the last few pages or so here. From what I'm reading the converters and preamps are on the level of many standalone pres and converters on the market today?
I've been on the fence about a Crane Song Spider that I can pick up at just under 5K here in town from a private owner. The R16 has the firewire in addition to the D/A conversion unlike the Spider?
My use is very simple, to record my Steinway D with 2 SDC mics (DPA 4011s) and one LDC room mic in an acoustic jazz context . Also record my vocal live with the piano, so 4 mics maybe down to a 2 track HD recorder like the Tascam DV-RA1000 or Sound Devices 702. Possibly in the future to a Macbook Pro with Logic. I'm obviously trying to get the best sound for the Steinway & vocal without spending 8K on a Radar V or Nagra VI.
I don't need all those channels is one downside. But even has configured it's half the price of the Spider. Just wanted to clarify the preamp and converter quality in the Zed R16 in comparison to something like the Spider, Prism Orpheus or the new Metric Halo ULN-8 in an acoustic setting.
Thanks for your time. |
Hi Dave,
Sorry for the late reply....
I've worked on a few pre-amps in my time as an electronics engineer with varied companies and I don't think you'll find better performing/sounding pre-amps without spending a huge amount of money, and even then you'll probably only get the small benefit of 0.5dB better EIN which is negligible and might get lost in subsequent processing. I doubt if linearity would be improved at all - and in transformer coupled circuits you'd get some coloration of the sound from the microphone. You may be able to switch the loading to different settings to match specific mics.
If you can audition the ZED-R16 against your alternative suggested gear I would recommend doing that - and would love to hear what you think.
Same goes for the converters, they're well matched to the rest of the circuitry - and in the being in the same box keeps the interfacing circuitry minimal (additional circuitry can sometimes add noise or artefacts).
I hope that helps, let me know if you need more specific info.
Cheers,
Mike.