Best Ad converter in price range

[Blick]

Hey, I was wondering on what your guys opinions were on nice AD converters. I am looking for something in roughly the 2000 price range but feel free to mention anything. I am upgrading from a 002 so i'm sure anything in that price range will be a significant improvment. Thanks

[Blick]

Just to add to the above.....I only need two channels of AD conversion.

[Seamus TM]

Check out Lavry Blue.
Get a frame, Msync and a 2 channel a/d for much less than $2000.
Then, you can expand in the future.
Great sounding stuff.

[klaukholm]

You need to specify the channel count, and possible future plans of more channels.
If you need only two channels I would go for the Lavry Blue as well.

[16/44.1]

Originally Posted by Blick

Hey, I was wondering on what your guys opinions were on nice AD converters. I am looking for something in roughly the 2000 price range but feel free to mention anything. I am upgrading from a 002 so i'm sure anything in that price range will be a significant improvment. Thanks

Take a Sony PCM-701ES modified to record without emphasis and with a digital out added.
Or in combination with 601 for interfacing with SPDIF/AES-EBU.
A sound you can't beat at such a low price................
A zero to approx. 500euro pricetag..............
It can be a real bargain .

[Zwinter]

Originally Posted by Blick

Hey, I was wondering on what your guys opinions were on nice AD converters. I am looking for something in roughly the 2000 price range but feel free to mention anything. I am upgrading from a 002 so i'm sure anything in that price range will be a significant improvment. Thanks

You inadvertently brought up an interesting subject. As we all know the 002 converters are not the best and I would venture to call them just plan bad. So what do most people do, they add external converters. But if the 002's DA converters are just as bad as the AD's, then why not upgrade both?

A good DA converter is just as important as any AD converter because as engineers we need to hear what we are doing. The decisions that are made are based upon what our ears hear. If you don't hear accurate information you will probably make bad choices.

So I would highly suggest getting both an AD/DA unit. Then you will be able to fully appreciate what your new AD's sound like (and make better decisions). For a good AD/DA unit I suggest checking out the Apogee Rosetta 200.

[hurricaneE]

I've been posting this every chance I get, it seems: I was in the same boat (just needed 2 ch. a/d) and I really preferred the API A2D to the Lavry Blues. I was pretty surprised by the difference between them.

Audition 'em both and see what you think.

-E

[foldback]

The Rosetta 200 sounds meaty and big, it has useful mastering features (CODA) but I'd say it sounds colored, fortunately it's a good color, FAT, great for rock music.

The Universal Audio 2192 has a brilliant transparent sound, 99% of the time, that's what I use to convert the stereo analog output from my Neve mixer to digital.

The 2192 has less whistles and bells and costs more. Comparing the sound of the two I'd say the Apogee is like sparkling pure clean water, the 2192 is like sunlight.

The Rosetta 200 is a fine piece and I could get by with it as my sole converter. Stereo masters created with the 2192 have depth, dimension and realism I never heard before.

This leaves only one solution, buy both.

Best of luck to you.

I forgot to mention, I got my 2192 for very near $2000. It pays to take care of your GC salesperson :-)

[Jalabodu]

The Apogee Trak2 is the best deal in audio for ugrading a 002. I just happen to have one for sale.

Read up on it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=270073434494

I no longer use it cause I've switched to Logic/Sypmony. If I was staying with PT, it'd be staying here.

[Blick]

Thanks for the feedback so far. Fold, you really got me interested in the Universal Audio unit. I was definatly looking at the Rosetta 200 but was unaware that it colored the sound (I like using my mic pres for sound coloring). I am really looking for something to add depth and demension to my recordings and it sounds like the Universal Audio Ad/Da/ converter you mentioned is the way to go. Once again thanks a lot for all the feedback and suggestions.

[microstudio]

Originally Posted by Jim Williams

The best "deal" is a manufacturer's evaluation board. AKM offer's the AKM5394A, but it's clock is limited to 48k or 96, no 44.1k or 88.2k unless you redo the clock crystal. This is the chip used in the Lavry and Mytek.

Another choice is the Crystal CDB5381 for around $400~500 from Digi Key. Add a 12 and 5 volt psu and go. Plug in a VCXO for any sample rate you like. Dump the 5532 opamps for good ones and it's a very good converter with 120 db dynamic range.

The rest is cosmetic, you do the math....


Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

What is a "manufacturer's evaluation board" ? could tell me more about this or give links please.

Thanks.

[LoopQuantum]

Originally Posted by foldback

The Rosetta 200 sounds meaty and big, it has useful mastering features (CODA) but I'd say it sounds colored, fortunately it's a good color, FAT, great for rock music.

The Universal Audio 2192 has a brilliant transparent sound, 99% of the time, that's what I use to convert the stereo analog output from my Neve mixer to digital.

The 2192 has less whistles and bells and costs more. Comparing the sound of the two I'd say the Apogee is like sparkling pure clean water, the 2192 is like sunlight.

The Rosetta 200 is a fine piece and I could get by with it as my sole converter. Stereo masters created with the 2192 have depth, dimension and realism I never heard before.

This leaves only one solution, buy both.

Best of luck to you.

I forgot to mention, I got my 2192 for very near $2000. It pays to take care of your GC salesperson :-)

+1 this entire message, except the GC part . Buy it from anyone but them....they are the devil. 2192 has better stereo imaging than anything I've heard in any price range, all the way up to the prism stuff.....my opinionated opinion.

[Jim Williams]

Originally Posted by microstudio

What is a "manufacturer's evaluation board" ? could tell me more about this or give links please.

Thanks.

These are engineering demonstration circuit boards with the proper design and layout to ahieve the design specs of the converter chips. They are offered by the chip makers for those who wish to test or design converters. They come complete, but need power supplies. Most have both AES/ S/PDIF and optical outputs. Add a + - 12 volt supply for the analog and 5 volts for the digital sections. Supplies can be made or bought, like Power One open frame supplies also available from Digi Key.

The Crystal A/D is a CDB5381 available from Digi Key for around $400.

Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

[mixerguy]

Originally Posted by Blick

Hey, I was wondering on what your guys opinions were on nice AD converters. I am looking for something in roughly the 2000 price range but feel free to mention anything. I am upgrading from a 002 so i'm sure anything in that price range will be a significant improvment. Thanks

Rosetta 200
great sound both a-d and d-a
great clock
and the SRC (sample rate conversion) sounds WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY better than any software conversion that I have ever carefully compared it to (protools, DP, Logic)
great customer support
what more do you want?



(i love mine)

[microstudio]

Originally Posted by Jim Williams

These are engineering demonstration circuit boards with the proper design and layout to ahieve the design specs of the converter chips. They are offered by the chip makers for those who wish to test or design converters. They come complete, but need power supplies. Most have both AES/ S/PDIF and optical outputs. Add a + - 12 volt supply for the analog and 5 volts for the digital sections. Supplies can be made or bought, like Power One open frame supplies also available from Digi Key.

The Crystal A/D is a CDB5381 available from Digi Key for around $400.

Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

Thanks Jim,

So one of these boards would be a good A/D or D/A converter after you add power?

[MIKEHARRIS]

The Rosetta 200 also offers the option of expansion cards...so you can bypass the inputs of the 002

[Jim vanBergen]

I have the UA 2192 and like it, but wish I had waited until the Crane Song HEDD came out. Sounds STUNNING and jumps thru more hoops, but at a bigger $$. of course, you may find them USED for a steal. BTW, I ended up buying a Portico 5042 tape emulator/gain stage to use with the 2192, which sounds really good but is WAY more than the HEDD costs to do the same thing. Now, I love my rig and the 5042 is great sounding, but I would do it differently and buy more Portico pre/EQs given the $$.

Have you considered Aurora Lynx 8? That's right in the price and has some great reviews here (do a search).

The API A2D is in the right price range and will sound great...

Hope this helps!

[Elias Gwinn]

The Benchmark ADC1 gives you 2 channels of incredibly accurate and uncolored A-to-D for $1775. It has 120dB of dynamic range...really incredible.

The real area where the Benchmark has a step-up is jitter performance. When Benchmark came out with the DAC1, it set a new standard for jitter rejection with a clocking technology called UltraLock. It can lock on to a clock signal saturated with jitter (as much jitter as we could throw at it).

Drop a line if you have any questions.

Elias Gwinn