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crypticglobe · 7th November 2005

Hey guys. I haven't been around much lately because I have been CRAZY busy. That's a good thing though. Plus... I took a week off to go down to Long Beach Mississippi to serve on a chain saw team helping clear homes and properties after the Hurricane. Hard Work, but very rewarding. You just can't believe the damage down there. But... back to the topic at hand...

So.. I am preparing for the big Club Cubase/Nuendo event next week. I have begun testing the new RME AES-32 with the Lynx Auroras that will be the combination we use for this event. Because the AES-32 has a unified driver with the RME HDSP MADI it allowed me to do some really interesting testing.

First I tested the audible difference between my Universal Audio 2192 using Lightpipe and AES. I had both connected, and I was basically able to switch back and forth because I had lightpipe (via the ADI-648) to the MADI card, and AES (via the AES-32).

Well... though I have sworn there was no audible difference (all devices were being clocked to the 2192) between lightpipe and AES in the past... in this case... after VERY careful listening, I did find that the AES connection seemed to provide a slightly wider/deeper result than the ADAT connection. It was VERY, VERY close, but the difference was there for sure.

I tested this same concept using the Lynx Aurora (because this one does have the ADAT card in it). Again... I noticed a very slight difference with the AES sounding slightly wider/deeper. It became a little more pronounced in this case though because I was able to stream 16 channels and compare the sum utilizing ADAT and THEN AES. There is definitely a difference.

Next... is where my biggest suprise came though. Due to a tip from a friend, and an AES paper to back it up I have long used 3 strands of Cat-5E for My AES 8 channel runs. It has always worked perfectly, is a LOT cheaper than standard digital snakes, however it's fairly messy. For this rig, I decided to build high quality snakes with digital rated cable from Mogami. Once I got it all hooked up, I decided to try another listening test. I set up channels 1-8 on the Lynx Aurora with the CAT-5e rig, and channels 9-16 with the Mogami Digital Snake. I then setup an A/B through my Central Station so that I could switch from outs 1 & 2 to 9 & 10 quickly. There was a HUGE Audible difference!!! It made me sick to my stomach. The Mogami cabling made the signal FAR more clear on the low end, and it just souned fuller. The CAT-5E runs sounded anemic in comparison. I even switch out the analog cabling to be sure there wasn't something else at work here. Nope... there IS a difference!!

What made me the sickest... was... now... I have to replace all my AES runs with the Mogami. It's gonna be expensive, but the upgrade in sonic quality is more than worth it. I would love it if some of you ultra-smart types might chime in as to why you think this is true?? Aren't we talking about zero's and ones here with clocking resolved via BNC?? Should the two cables sound the same???!?!? I am confused!!!

In all instances, all digital devices were clocked the exact same way... via BNC word clock with the UA2192 as the master. This was done very scientifically with all variables eliminated. What I was hearing was truly a difference in digital cables!!

At any rate.... I bought my UA2192 because I tried every single converter out there with money as no object and found it to sound the best! I still think it does. But 32 channels of them.... is VERY cost prohibitive. I gotta say the Lynx Aurora's sound AMAZING, and for 16 i/o at 192K.... it's a great price point. It's hard to top the 2192, but I sure haven't been wincing when I switched from the 2192 to the Lynx in tests, especially at 192K. I think they really sound great.

As you all know I have long been an RME sound card user/supporter, and the preliminary report in on the AES-32 (from me) is that it SMOKES!!! Same reliability and features as we have always gotten AND it works great in combination with the HDSP MADI!!!

Anyway.. all this to say... that I am really suprised to have to admit it... but the truth is to my ears... that even digital cables DO matter.

Feel free to flame away..... LOL....

p.s. The RME AES-32 is not quite on the market yet. I was able to get a couple in advance for this event...

7th November 2005	#1
crypticglobe Lives for gear Joined: Mar 2004 Location: Nashville Posts: 2,522 Thread Starter 2 Reviews written	Some Interesting Observations - Converters - Digital Cable.. Hey guys. I haven't been around much lately because I have been CRAZY busy. That's a good thing though. Plus... I took a week off to go down to Long Beach Mississippi to serve on a chain saw team helping clear homes and properties after the Hurricane. Hard Work, but very rewarding. You just can't believe the damage down there. But... back to the topic at hand... So.. I am preparing for the big Club Cubase/Nuendo event next week. I have begun testing the new RME AES-32 with the Lynx Auroras that will be the combination we use for this event. Because the AES-32 has a unified driver with the RME HDSP MADI it allowed me to do some really interesting testing. First I tested the audible difference between my Universal Audio 2192 using Lightpipe and AES. I had both connected, and I was basically able to switch back and forth because I had lightpipe (via the ADI-648) to the MADI card, and AES (via the AES-32). Well... though I have sworn there was no audible difference (all devices were being clocked to the 2192) between lightpipe and AES in the past... in this case... after VERY careful listening, I did find that the AES connection seemed to provide a slightly wider/deeper result than the ADAT connection. It was VERY, VERY close, but the difference was there for sure. I tested this same concept using the Lynx Aurora (because this one does have the ADAT card in it). Again... I noticed a very slight difference with the AES sounding slightly wider/deeper. It became a little more pronounced in this case though because I was able to stream 16 channels and compare the sum utilizing ADAT and THEN AES. There is definitely a difference. Next... is where my biggest suprise came though. Due to a tip from a friend, and an AES paper to back it up I have long used 3 strands of Cat-5E for My AES 8 channel runs. It has always worked perfectly, is a LOT cheaper than standard digital snakes, however it's fairly messy. For this rig, I decided to build high quality snakes with digital rated cable from Mogami. Once I got it all hooked up, I decided to try another listening test. I set up channels 1-8 on the Lynx Aurora with the CAT-5e rig, and channels 9-16 with the Mogami Digital Snake. I then setup an A/B through my Central Station so that I could switch from outs 1 & 2 to 9 & 10 quickly. There was a HUGE Audible difference!!! It made me sick to my stomach. The Mogami cabling made the signal FAR more clear on the low end, and it just souned fuller. The CAT-5E runs sounded anemic in comparison. I even switch out the analog cabling to be sure there wasn't something else at work here. Nope... there IS a difference!! What made me the sickest... was... now... I have to replace all my AES runs with the Mogami. It's gonna be expensive, but the upgrade in sonic quality is more than worth it. I would love it if some of you ultra-smart types might chime in as to why you think this is true?? Aren't we talking about zero's and ones here with clocking resolved via BNC?? Should the two cables sound the same???!?!? I am confused!!! In all instances, all digital devices were clocked the exact same way... via BNC word clock with the UA2192 as the master. This was done very scientifically with all variables eliminated. What I was hearing was truly a difference in digital cables!! At any rate.... I bought my UA2192 because I tried every single converter out there with money as no object and found it to sound the best! I still think it does. But 32 channels of them.... is VERY cost prohibitive. I gotta say the Lynx Aurora's sound AMAZING, and for 16 i/o at 192K.... it's a great price point. It's hard to top the 2192, but I sure haven't been wincing when I switched from the 2192 to the Lynx in tests, especially at 192K. I think they really sound great. As you all know I have long been an RME sound card user/supporter, and the preliminary report in on the AES-32 (from me) is that it SMOKES!!! Same reliability and features as we have always gotten AND it works great in combination with the HDSP MADI!!! Anyway.. all this to say... that I am really suprised to have to admit it... but the truth is to my ears... that even digital cables DO matter. Feel free to flame away..... LOL.... p.s. The RME AES-32 is not quite on the market yet. I was able to get a couple in advance for this event... __________________ Steve Lamm Cryptic Globe Recording CGR Studios - Engineering, Mixing, and Production Cryptic Globe Recording - Custom PC DAW Systems! Ask me about my Custom Mac!!