SSL Alpha Link or Lynx Aurora D/A for Summing Box

[Joel C]

Hi guys,

I posted a poll between the Apogee DA-16X and Lynx Aurora 16 a couple of months ago. Someone suggested the SSL Alpha Link.
Was wondering if any one had compared both units' D/As for this application.

Plan to run the stereo outs of the x-sum into the mytek.
Now it's just a question of the D/As...

Current system:

Speck Electronics X-sum
Mytek Stereo192 ADC
Mac Pro
Logic

Genres:

Rock
Electronic
Acoustic

---
Thanks for your time!

[mikymike]

Cant go wrong with the alpha link. Use the first 16 da for 8 stereo bus into x-sum. Use the remaining 8 da for mono = 24 channels of x-sum. This is how I roll with this combo. Also, put EVERYTHING up on patch for mucho flexibility!!!

[feck]

I recently was faced with the same exact choice. After speaking with some friends who have used both, and reading as much as I could about the specs/performance of both, I decided to go with the Alpha Link. Having not used the Lynx I can't comment to its' performance, but I can say I LOVE the Alpha Link and the step up they have given my mixes from the previous RME's is much more significant than I even hoped. Great unit for the price, no question in my mind.

[bassman]

Went from a LynxTWO to the Alphalink with a MADI card. Sound is great. IO count in another league and allows me to work with a full setup and quickly.

Looking to try a few external clocks on it to see if I can improve it further. Rock solid drivers too for the MADI card, BTW.

I have a custom 24 CH passive summer that I use this with. It has made an improvement in mixing for me.

-bassman

[RobJB06]

Alphalink is great.. i have 2, am selling 1 as i bought a smaller desk and dont need as many in/out now .. Its a Madi AX, boxed as new £1100.. PM if interested!

[jamwerks]

Originally Posted by feck

..., but I can say I LOVE the Alpha Link

Sorry for the slightly OT, but I'm wondering also about the quality of the DA (and AD) of the Alpha Link. The price seems incredibly low for 24 AD DA plus all the digital routing options. And specifically about it's connections. For a mac + Logic there would be the SSL Madi Xtreme 128 I guess. Are the drivers stable? Can you work at a 64 sample buffer?

I presently have a Symphony 32 + Rosetta 800, but am unhappy with the routing problems of the Rosetta.

[George Necola]

alphalink converters are made by soundscape, so I imagine those are in principal soundscape converters.

[warhead]

Originally Posted by George Necola

alphalink converters are made by soundscape, so I imagine those are in principal soundscape converters.

SSL reworks the analog section themselves and I am told this is the main difference.

I own and use the Alpha Link MADI AX with MADI Extreme 64 card daily and love it, zero issues and the sound is so natural, clear and detailed.

War

[dillweed]

Get an Alphalink. You will not be disappointed.

I recently sold all my Apogees (AD/DA 16X's and DA16's) and went with 2 alphalinks with a RME Madi card. Works great, this setup is highly recommended.

The sound of the Alphalinks to me is a bit cleaner. High end is clear and low end is tight, no surprises. The routing on the boxes is very flexible... and i pocketed a couple thousand $

[warhead]

Couple thousand pocketed?

No offense to Apogee but you would need 3 each of their 16 channel units to have 48 in and out analog. Street price on that is almost $20,000 new, before buying the I/O cards.

The SSL Alpha Link rolls out 24 in and out at $2395 street currently. Amazingly enough at this moment you can bundle that with the SSL PCIe MADI card (for MAC or PC) and the MADI cable for $2699 (complete system).

Craziest deal in pro audio today? Maybe.

War

[living sounds]

Haven't used the Alphalink, but the Aurora needs higher sample rates to work properly in my experience. At 44,1k it's not at its best. If you're working at 96k or 192k it's a good choice.

[findingtheSound]

but the Aurora needs higher sample rates to work properly in my experience. At 44,1k it's not at its best. If you're working at 96k or 192k it's a good choice.

Really?
That's strange... Is it your personnal experiment or somebody told you that?
Other users could comment on this question?

I'm searching for great converters for mixing and mastering with a "normal" price in this moment...

Thank you!

[living sounds]

Originally Posted by findingtheSound

Really?
That's strange... Is it your personnal experiment or somebody told you that?
Other users could comment on this question?

I'm searching for great converters for mixing and mastering with a "normal" price in this moment...

Thank you!

Like I wrote, this is my personal experience. I almost always work at 192k now, the difference is clearly audible. I think I read more than once other people noticing this, too.

[findingtheSound]

oups! didn't read your post really carefully! Excuse me!

I never worked at 192k, and don't feel the need of doing it with my duet(44.1)... but maybe will need with my new barefoot MM35 because of details I can't here now with my little genelec 8020.......

Thought I ended my search for high end converters for mixing and mastering...
Really want to work at 44.1 with good quality...don't now what to do now

[living sounds]

Originally Posted by findingtheSound

oups! didn't read your post really carefully! Excuse me!

I never worked at 192k, and don't feel the need of doing it with my duet(44.1)... but maybe will need with my new barefoot MM35 because of details I can't here now with my little genelec 8020.......

Thought I ended my search for high end converters for mixing and mastering...
Really want to work at 44.1 with good quality...don't now what to do now

Lavry converters seem to work very well at lower sample rates. However, with a high channel count it gets expensive...

[findingtheSound]

However, with a high channel count it gets expensive...

That's the problem... more on converters = less on outboards...

[living sounds]

Originally Posted by findingtheSound

That's the problem... more on converters = less on outboards...

I know that problem... ;-)

[beanface]

Originally Posted by living sounds

Like I wrote, this is my personal experience. I almost always work at 192k now, the difference is clearly audible. I think I read more than once other people noticing this, too.

The difference with almost any converter working at higher sample rates is clearly audible. I've used the aurora at 44.1 with outstanding results, but obviously higher sample rates sound even better.

[jamwerks]

Originally Posted by warhead

I own and use the Alpha Link MADI AX with MADI Extreme 64 card daily and love it, zero issues and the sound is so natural, clear and detailed.

What plateform & DAW are you on? Wouldn't I want the SX to be able to connect AES/EBU (Bricasti, Eclipse, PCM 96)? Are the only two choices for mac/Logic the SSL Xtreme and the RME Madi? Can you get comparable (or almost) latencies as with a Symphony system?

[svart]

SSL reworks the analog section themselves and I am told this is the main difference.

The boards are completely different now. The analog board says SSL printed on it while the digital PCB said Soundscape( or was it the other way around?). I sent mine in for their upgrade service(I had one of the first ones) and both boards now say SSL on them.

[Audiop]

Originally Posted by findingtheSound

Really?
That's strange... Is it your personnal experiment or somebody told you that?
Other users could comment on this question?

I have done some blind listening tests with several listeners where there was a clear improvement in going from 44.1kS/s to 192kS/s. I can not totally rule out some error in the test set-up but I do use 88.2-192kS/s when tracking with the Aurora 8.

Some day I'll try to do some more tests. In some situations I have been unable to hear a difference between the original file and a DA-AD loop at 44.1kS/s.


/Peter

[living sounds]

Originally Posted by svart

The boards are completely different now. The analog board says SSL printed on it while the digital PCB said Soundscape( or was it the other way around?). I sent mine in for their upgrade service(I had one of the first ones) and both boards now say SSL on them.

But they still use the JRC op amps, don't they?

[T_R_S]

Get the Alphalink it sounds better than the Lynx. Just pray nothing goes wrong with it.
I sent mine back September 22 and it's still not fixed. SSL Service well let's just say they are not fast. But they sound really good.

[Mixary]

hey,


today i checked mytek 8x 192 , fireface, ssl and aurora 16.

keep the myteks ... the auroras are second good but much coloured in the mids around 300 hz. other says, they are warm but for my feeling a good converter has no sound.

ssl have more colour in the higher mids ( 800 - 2000 hz) and fireface sucks.


cheers

Marc

[figgebass]

I am going completely nuts in my mission to leave my Protools mix , which I have been using for the last 10 years , behind me and go native with my 8 core.
HOWEVER the latency issues are driving me crazy.
So far I have tried an RME HDSPe card (which imho sounded really bad and had some latency. Not at all MUCH latency but still enough to make me play bad) and now I am trying out the SSL Madi extreme together with the Alpha Link Madi AX and that too has latency.....I am working in logic 8 in leopard. Is there nothing native that comes down to the , in my opinion, non noticable latency of my OLD protools rig?

Has anyone tried the Lynx AES card together with Aurora?

Paying for protools hd when my new computer has all the mixing power I can dream of makes it feel a bit like buying a Ferrari just to get nice rear view mirrors....or something..;-)

[jamwerks]

Originally Posted by figgebass

I am going completely nuts in my mission to leave my Protools mix , which I have been using for the last 10 years , behind me and go native with my 8 core.
HOWEVER the latency issues are driving me crazy.
So far I have tried an RME HDSPe card (which imho sounded really bad and had some latency. Not at all MUCH latency but still enough to make me play bad) and now I am trying out the SSL Madi extreme together with the Alpha Link Madi AX and that too has latency.....I am working in logic 8 in leopard. Is there nothing native that comes down to the , in my opinion, non noticable latency of my OLD protools rig?

Has anyone tried the Lynx AES card together with Aurora?

Paying for protools hd when my new computer has all the mixing power I can dream of makes it feel a bit like buying a Ferrari just to get nice rear view mirrors....or something..;-)

What buffer setting are you using?

[Ciozzi]

Originally Posted by feck

I can say I LOVE the Alpha Link and the step up they have given my mixes from the previous RME's is much more significant than I even hoped.

I bet you'd strive to hear a difference in a blind test...if you could hear a difference at all

[romac]

I got the alpha link with the madixtreme 64 on mac.
never ever had a better setup the last 20 years.
rock solid and best sound...

cheers,
romac

[figgebass]

Originally Posted by jamwerks

What buffer setting are you using?

32 samples...

[feck]

Originally Posted by Ciozzi

I bet you'd strive to hear a difference in a blind test...if you could hear a difference at all

Nope. The way the transients and stereo imaging add up to a combined improvement is noticeable enough that even my clients noticed a difference between the new mixes (using the Alpha Link instead of the RME with the same exact settings) and the previous ones without me telling them about the new converters. I just love it when strangers tell me how my ears work.