Best Value SPDIF out Mic Pre around $500

[Muyukiguki]

What's out there now that is any good? I have an ART Voice Channel, which is great when using the analog outs, but the A/D is awful imo, so I'd like to steer clear of ART products... I've also heard bad things on here about the DBX digital stuff too. Either way, one channel is fine, two is better, but whatever. What's out there in this price range??

[skiltrip]

Originally Posted by Muyukiguki

What's out there now that is any good? I have an ART Voice Channel, which is great when using the analog outs, but the A/D is awful imo, so I'd like to steer clear of ART products... I've also heard bad things on here about the DBX digital stuff too. Either way, one channel is fine, two is better, but whatever. What's out there in this price range??

The M-Audio ProFire 610 can be used in standalone mode as a two channel mic pre, very clean pres, and has pretty darn good conversion as well. $399 street price, or less if you shop around.

[MrCrowbar]

ART is said to make pretty good AD conversion actually.

[LeMauce]

Joemeek OneQ.

[skiltrip]

Originally Posted by Muyukiguki

I have an ART Voice Channel, which is great when using the analog outs, but the A/D is awful imo, so I'd like to steer clear of ART products...

I don't know if you've seen this yet, but after watching the section on digital conversion comparison (he AB's between an Apogee and a Soundblaster card), it kind of confirmed what I've thought for a while, that a lot of this perception of what's good AD/DA and what's good AD/DA is mostly in our heads. Not that there isn't a calculable difference, just that in most cases, it's not really audible.

[Muyukiguki]

Originally Posted by skiltrip

I don't know if you've seen this yet, but after watching the section on digital conversion comparison (he AB's between an Apogee and a Soundblaster card), it kind of confirmed what I've thought for a while, that a lot of this perception of what's good AD/DA and what's good AD/DA is mostly in our heads. Not that there isn't a calculable difference, just that in most cases, it's not really audible.

Could very well be, but I've had issues with the S/PDIF out having light clicking an popping on the ART Voice Channel, even with it hooked up via word clock cable to a Lucid GENX192. Perhaps its a bad cable? Even though I have heard all those cables to is either carry the 1's and the 0's, or they don't...

Thanks for all the suggestions so far!! thumbsupthumbsupthumbsup

[aortizjr]

Originally Posted by Muyukiguki

Could very well be, but I've had issues with the S/PDIF out having light clicking an popping on the ART Voice Channel, even with it hooked up via word clock cable to a Lucid GENX192. Perhaps its a bad cable? Even though I have heard all those cables to is either carry the 1's and the 0's, or they don't...

Thanks for all the suggestions so far!! thumbsupthumbsupthumbsup

If you are getting clicking and popping then there is something wrong somewhere.

Was the wordclock properly terminated. Is it actual 75-Ohm Wordclock cable? There is also 50 Ohm with the same connectors.

Were the clocks all set to the same sample rate? Or external clock set? Some hardware, even with external clocks I had to set the sample rate. Were you trying to clock the ART too high?

Or it could be malfunctioning all together.

ART pretty much uses the same converter chips you find in a lot of gear at that price range/level and probably even higher. The analog front-ends are decent and also in that range. For most things under $500, ART stands pretty tall. People definitely seem to like the MPA. I have the VLA which I think sounds really good, money aside. I want to try new tubes in it though.

On the flipside, do you really need a channel strip? I thought I really needed one for vocals, but found that today most pres have so much headroom, compression is really only needed for monitoring. Then I found that tailoring the sound my using different mics or moving them to tame problems was better. Or often the vocalist would then self compress, making my life much easier. Then with poor vocalists or screamers, I just set my latency low and monitor them through a plugin. That way I have the raw track for processing in the mix.

What makes it tough is the SPDIF out. But also consider building your own chain. Maybe minus EQ, but get like a GAP-73 and and RNC or something.

[Muyukiguki]

Originally Posted by aortizjr

If you are getting clicking and popping then there is something wrong somewhere.

Was the wordclock properly terminated. Is it actual 75-Ohm Wordclock cable? There is also 50 Ohm with the same connectors.

Were the clocks all set to the same sample rate? Or external clock set? Some hardware, even with external clocks I had to set the sample rate. Were you trying to clock the ART too high?

Or it could be malfunctioning all together.

ART pretty much uses the same converter chips you find in a lot of gear at that price range/level and probably even higher. The analog front-ends are decent and also in that range. For most things under $500, ART stands pretty tall. People definitely seem to like the MPA. I have the VLA which I think sounds really good, money aside. I want to try new tubes in it though.

On the flipside, do you really need a channel strip? I thought I really needed one for vocals, but found that today most pres have so much headroom, compression is really only needed for monitoring. Then I found that tailoring the sound my using different mics or moving them to tame problems was better. Or often the vocalist would then self compress, making my life much easier. Then with poor vocalists or screamers, I just set my latency low and monitor them through a plugin. That way I have the raw track for processing in the mix.

What makes it tough is the SPDIF out. But also consider building your own chain. Maybe minus EQ, but get like a GAP-73 and and RNC or something.

I am using 75ohm canare bnc cables, end everything is properly terminated according to the Lucid owners manual. I'm using a 24/44.1 sample rate on everything connected to it. I think you're right though, something definitely IS wrong...

Ok, all hijacking aside, here's what I've come up with:

M-Audio ProFire 610
JoeMeek OneQ
Audient Mico
Aphex 230
Aphex 207D
Focusrite Platinum Series... Maybe?

... Maybe I'll give ART another whirl, Digital MPA II??

[skiltrip]

Originally Posted by Muyukiguki

I am using 75ohm canare bnc cables, end everything is properly terminated according to the Lucid owners manual. I'm using a 24/44.1 sample rate on everything connected to it. I think you're right though, something definitely IS wrong...

Ok, all hijacking aside, here's what I've come up with:

M-Audio ProFire 610
JoeMeek OneQ
Audient Mico
Aphex 230
Aphex 207D
Focusrite Platinum Series... Maybe?

... Maybe I'll give ART another whirl, Digital MPA II??

I don't think you should totally count out the ART Digi MPA. Giving it another shot isn't such a bad idea.

In a similar vein, I got an M-Audio 610 last year that was totally not working right. One of the pres was broken and creating a loud hiss. And I couldn't get the unit to be recognized by the computer. Maybe one out of every 5 boots it would show up. And when it was recognized, it would freeze Pro Tools. Needless to say it went back. I wasn't sure at the time what it was, but I didn't care to mess with it. But just recently, I decided to give the 610 another shot, bought a new one, and I've had no problems (knock on wood).
So, you never know. It's definitely an ideal choice (feature wise) for what you want to do.