Which A/D converter are you guys recommending to get back into PTHD?

[AL71]

I was just wondering which A/D converter are you guys using to get back into PTHD after using a summing mixer or a console? I recently use the HEDD 192.
Any better recommendations?

[Roc Mixwell]

Originally Posted by AL71

I was just wondering which A/D converter are you guys using to get back into PTHD after using a summing mixer or a console? I recently use the HEDD 192.
Any better recommendations?

The HEDD is an amazing 2-buss AD/DA!!!

Though, if you are in the mood for something else, I would recommend checking out the Burl B2 Bomber, which is a gorgeous sounding ADC for 2-buss mix down. If you really want something special, I would feverishly investigate the JCF Latte, which is probably one of the coolest AD/DA boxes for the task at hand. Its certainly not inexpensive, but you'd be hard pressed to find another unit like it.

[Mexicanchangoz]

i have never used the HEDD 192 but i use to work in a post production studio and they were Working with the PTHD with the apogee Rosetta 800 .
Is amazing to . i really like it .
but one thing that you need to do is to work with diferent AD/DA and make your choice .
I think is the Best way to do it .
Best wishes with your research .

[Trev@Circle]

I have a hedd on the mixbus. Love it. The UA 2192 and the Burl are also worth looking into.

[Mike H]

Lavry Gold here.
Retains what you heard when you mixed it, w/o embellishment.

[spektor]

HAve the jcf latte nothing like it

[youngrob]

Mytek96

[Mattct]

Anything is going to be an upgrade. All of the ones listed are great, and each have different bells and whistles that will work in some, if not every case.

As for me, I'm slumming it here with the Lavry Blue A/D D/A.

Would love to upgrade to the Lavry Gold in the future.

[patheticus]

I've used all of the above(except the JCF's) and I personally prefer the Lavry Golds when I mix. But I used the Lavry Blues for years on mix bus and still track with them constantly.

The Burl sounds excellent as well!

The Hedd sounds pretty good, but kind of soft and blurred me.

The UA2192 is toooo much. Not sure how else to describe it.

I owned a mytek 192 for a couple years along with my Lavry Blue and Golds, I never chose it over the Lavry stuff.

Both Lavry models also have excellent saturation modes and dithering tools for mastering. They can handle a beating, if you're in to that sort of thing.

[baikonour]

Originally Posted by patheticus

I've used all of the above(except the JCF's) and I personally prefer the Lavry Golds when I mix. But I used the Lavry Blues for years on mix bus and still track with them constantly.

The Burl sounds excellent as well!

The Hedd sounds pretty good, but kind of soft and blurred me.

The UA2192 is toooo much. Not sure how else to describe it.

I owned a mytek 192 for a couple years along with my Lavry Blue and Golds, I never chose it over the Lavry stuff.

Both Lavry models also have excellent saturation modes and dithering tools for mastering. They can handle a beating, if you're in to that sort of thing.

UA2192 Too much of what? I'm curious because they are quite similar to the Burl in terms of design (no caps, DC coupled, class A) but doesn't have Xformers.
It has been designed by the same chap as the Burl by the way.

[Daniele Nosella]

Originally Posted by AL71

I was just wondering which A/D converter are you guys using to get back into PTHD after using a summing mixer or a console? I recently use the HEDD 192.
Any better recommendations?

IMHO you have one the 10 best converters out there!

If you want you can the sound with the processing section wich is very good, if you are looking for transparent conversion just bypass the processing section and the HEDD 192 is amazing.

If you are looking for colored sound for example like transformer sound, just put for example a chandler TG2 in front of the hedd, don't buy a converter that has certain colorations (not bypassable) to color the sound in the way you want... There are many colored ADC but this is IMHO the wrong way to obtain the sound you want. A converter should be as trasparent as possible, then if you want you can track with "warming" devices, or for example add to the conversion some digital preocessing like the HEDD.

I found HEDD 192 amazing

If you want a converter in the same league (I can't say better, at this level of quality is only a matter of taste) just try

Lavry Gold (not blue or others)
Prism ad2
Weiss adc2
Mytek stereo 96, 8x192
Benchmark ADC1
There are others great but I stay with these as best of the best

Just my opinion

Ps. Funny question... Which sport car is better than a Ferrari? At that level of excellence is only a matter of taste.

[Roc Mixwell]

Originally Posted by Daniele Nosella

don't buy a converter that has certain colorations (not bypassable) to color the sound in the way you want... At that level of excellence is only a matter of taste.

Yes, Yes, it is....A matter of aesthetics, personal taste, but it is also a matter of gear selection and application.

To argue in favor of making a commitment that will follow you for the rest of your life in pursuit of sonic nirvana;

WHAT IF; the "color" or the sound - is the most beautiful thing you have ever experienced?

[mwagener]

Just bought the Burl B2. I still have my HEDD 192 and now I go from the Burl AES into the HEDD for the Tape sat function. The HEDD sounds absolutely great and I have used it for many years, but the Burl seems to have added dynamics, for lack of a better description, which works very well with my setup.

[patheticus]

Originally Posted by baikonour

UA2192 Too much of what? I'm curious because they are quite similar to the Burl in terms of design (no caps, DC coupled, class A) but doesn't have Xformers.
It has been designed by the same chap as the Burl by the way.

I've never looked inside or read up on the specs of either box, but I have used my ears on both.

I have very limited experience with the Burl. But when I compared it to my golds, it was more saturated sounding, but still had the same sort of dynamics that the golds have.

I have a lot of experience with multiple 2192's. They always sound overly coloured and unrealistic to me. It's a hard thing to explain, because they don't sound cheap or necessarily bad. They just alter the source in a way that makes me like my mixes less.

[robertshaw]

2192 or IZ stuff

[spektor]

Jcf Latte hell yeah

[R-AP.SCI]

A "better" recommendation.....well, in a qualitative sense, that answer couldn't truly come from anyone else than you. However, IF your goal is to capture the output from said summing module as "accurately" (a word, which in audio, appears, to have no standardization) as possible there are many choices (budgetary considerations notwithstanding)....IMHO-

Weiss...(an op-amp design...797's too, pretty cool!!)
Fred Forssell's MADC-2...(jfet, genius designer)
Mytek (op-amp, Jim Williams did the analog section which I think is pretty neat!)
DAD ax24, EMM labs...and there are others!!

If that is not your goal there are still many options- but the following I find to be true enough to still apply, no matter what the desired outcome be, "accurate" or "colored"....

In the end, one must consider goals in conjunction with application. Being that the intrinsic performance of any gear has a limit inherited by its design, find a designer whose "philosophy" (regarding the goals) closely mirrors yours.

.....or...you could don chain mail, walk on down to your local Guitar Center, wave 4k in the air and trust whatever you walk out of the smoldering ruin with.

...the choice is yours...choose wisely.

[Daniele Nosella]

Originally Posted by Roc Mixwell

WHAT IF; the "color" or the sound - is the most beautiful thing you have ever experienced?

Then you did a perfect purchase... But I don't believe that color will be always the best in any condition of use.

I'm only saying I would prefer to have a transparent A/D and then find a device (for me is Chandler TG2) that give that color (the most beautiful thing I have ever experienced) to any source.

So I am not limited by that color... Converter convert, Chandler color, Hedd processing is a plus (but bypassable)

Just my opinion

[funka]

Fred Forssell's MADC-2...(jfet, genius designer)

That's the one I prefer from what I have already heard in terms of converters.
Very straight forward, no bells and whisles, no clocking, no peak meter, only great convertion.

You could add Nagra VI that has really great converters too.