[AlexLakis]

Originally Posted by mosrite

With respect to the rest of you guys AlexLakis is the only one that really addressed my question. Not to say your contributions are not appreciated as they always are but if you re-read my post it was quite a specific scenario I was outlining.

It's all good, a lot of times in a thread, other good discussions that are slightly off-topic will start that many other people will find useful. There's a lot of good stuff in here all ready, it's a good thread. thumbsup

Originally Posted by mosrite

Thats interesting as its a similar thing that Im thinking. My idea is that I will have 2 channels of high end pre and conversion (using my Amek) and the rest of the 002's pres etc as filler (at least until I can afford another decent outboard pre / ADC combo or similar). I guess what I really wanted to know is if there is a serious consequence of depending on the 002's clock recovery circuitry when in this routing? I know it aint gonna sound sweet but will it be so bad that it wont make the grade?? (as in 002's pre / ADC and clock recovery to external clock...not a pretty combination right?)

I honestly can't say that I personally know for sure, since I have always clocked the 002 to my ADI-8DS. However, I've heard that the DIGI's internal clock is sub-par. If possible, I would purchase an external A/D-D/A that has an internal clock that you can sync the DIGI to.

Also, keep in mind that if you go 2 channels (which will probably be SPDIF, I assume,) that only leaves you with 4 other preamps (unless you have other preamps lying around.) Also, if you want to use the line ins on the DIGI, the line ins on channels 1-4 actually pass thru the preamps, which is undesirable for most applications. This means that only the 5-8 1/4" ins are true line ins. The pres on the DIGI are...eh...the internal A/D is...okay.

Ideally, you could get a decent 8 channel A/D converter and run that into the optical port, and use it in conjunction with a higher end SPDIF A/D-D/A. All devices could clock to the SPDIF device. This would give you 2 channels of pristine A/D-D/A, 8 channels of good A/D, and 8 more channels of sub-par inputs via the DIGI, giving you 18 ins (10 of which you'll actually WANT to use.) It all depends on what you wanna do. The converters that people have mentioned so far are good choices.

Originally Posted by mosrite

Also, are you sure plenty of great recordings have been made with the 002's pres and AD's ? I do find it unlikely. Can you give any examples of any commercial releases that do? Thanks.

Yup. Seen it with my own eyes, heard it with my own ears. I'm convinced. As far as top 40 commercial releases, I'm not sure, but I know a couple of producers who sell beats for $10K+ to major labels who only use Mboxs with no external conversion/pres, etc (and I'd assume the conversion/pres in the DIGI 002 are better than those!) I know this is GEARslutz and all, but honestly, 90% of your sound is going to come from your talents and techniques, not your gear.