looking for an interface with great converters.

[ivebenrecording]

Lynx aurora? Everyone I know who has one seems to like it... (this is mostly a bump, since I don't really know all that much in this price range LOL)

owait that's not usb or firewire, huh? Maybe something RME?

[metatron13]

Universal Audio Apollo - Looks Great - built in uad card may or not be for you though!!

[FredYeah]

Best bang for the buck would be a (used) LynxTwo card. Rock solid, excellent conversion. PCI though...

[trevjonez]

Lynx aurora with lt fw card?

Im going to with the aurora 16 and their pcie card or ssl alphalink and the 64 madi card

[Jose]

How many channels, DAW, budget?

[KFMG]

Take a look (listen) at the RME UFX. Great conversion, clean preamps, USB and FireWire, onboard DSP, standalone recording, and the flexibility of TotalMix routing software. All for under $2000.

[psycho_monkey]

Originally Posted by trevjonez

Lynx aurora with lt fw card?

Im going to with the aurora 16 and their pcie card or ssl alphalink and the 64 madi card

Stay away from the fw card - USB card a much better option.

[Tom Higgins]

Originally Posted by psycho_monkey

Stay away from the fw card - USB card a much better option.

Are you talking about the Aurora specifically?

[tINY]

Great converters? Compared to what you could get just 15 years ago, nearly all converters in anything costing more than $49 are great....

But there are lots of nice looking and feeling things that cost more.



-tINY

[dxavier]

Originally Posted by tINY

Great converters? Compared to what you could get just 15 years ago, nearly all converters in anything costing more than $49 are great....

But there are lots of nice looking and feeling things that cost more.



-tINY

It is funny, no one believes this but it is so true!!! I wouldn't say anything I have heard in the budget World these days sounds bad.

However, if you are insistent on giving alot of your money away, the RME UFX and Lynx Aurora will not let you down. Same can be said for the Yamaha N12 if you can still get your hands on one.

[cserrano]

Originally Posted by tINY

Great converters? Compared to what you could get just 15 years ago, nearly all converters in anything costing more than $49 are great....

But there are lots of nice looking and feeling things that cost more.



-tINY

Thanks for the input tiny. In some respects that makes sense but it other respects it doesn't. I agree that whether you buy an all-in-one interface like Apogee Duet, Ensemble, Mr816, Mackie I series, E-Mu, Presonus, etc. for under $1500 you are not getting much difference in the spectrum of conversion. But then there are companies that only specialize in AD and DA conversion and people swear by their conversion. In many cases such conversion cost us much as these interfaces but there are some companies offering high quality conversion at lower prices, like Ross Martin.

What are you all's thoughts on that?

[tINY]

Old habits die hard.

If you were accustomed to Neuman and AKG mics being a lot better in the early 60's, you just kept using them. You "knew" they were the best and nothing was even close (even in 1992 in a lot of people's minds).

Same with converters. Even though everyone else has gotten a lot better in the meantime, some people still think it's 1990 and most converters have major quirks. These people insist on the best converters - and the best are better, but not by much these days.

The other thing that is going on is hangover from real, comercial studios. If you have a studio that you rent by the hour or day, you need rock solid reliability and clients pay to see names they recognize....


-tINY

[psycho_monkey]

Originally Posted by Tom Higgins

Are you talking about the Aurora specifically?

Yes.

Originally Posted by cserrano

Thanks for the input tiny. In some respects that makes sense but it other respects it doesn't. I agree that whether you buy an all-in-one interface like Apogee Duet, Ensemble, Mr816, Mackie I series, E-Mu, Presonus, etc. for under $1500 you are not getting much difference in the spectrum of conversion. But then there are companies that only specialize in AD and DA conversion and people swear by their conversion. In many cases such conversion cost us much as these interfaces but there are some companies offering high quality conversion at lower prices, like Ross Martin.

What are you all's thoughts on that?

With the more expensive converters, you're paying for build quality, analogue stage design (esp with devices like the burl and UA2192 which are designed for "colour"), professional features (eg calibration on the IO, word clock options, etc), as well as the actual conversion quality. The Ross Martin stuff, if it's as good as reputed, does look interesting - build quality and so on yet to be seen of course.

More expensive converters generally ARE better of course - but it's small percentages, not the "night and day" some seem to claim.

Also, conversion is rarely the issue holding back most home users. "I need to improve my mixes - what converters should I buy" is a common question. What the question should be is "what is the weakest link in my chain (besides my own abilities)?" and the answer is rarely conversion.

[Traintrack]

Tiny

[cserrano]

Thanks for elaborating guys - I really appreciate it. It makes a lot of since. The biggest change I have seen in my sound has come from microphones. I really recommend JJ Audio's greyhound.

[djstudio048]

Originally Posted by metatron13

Universal Audio Apollo - Looks Great - built in uad card may or not be for you though!!

And do be tricked by anyone trying to start rumors that UAD plug-ins will only work on Apollo in the future. There has been what has seemed like a malicious rumor starting up about this. Anyways...

[phillipc421]

Haha well I'm coming from a very lowend interface. Maybe I should just up a focus rite and spend a lot on the mic and preamp

[tINY]

Seriously, if you want to know where to spend money to get good recordings at home, look at a bunch of $150-$400 mics and figure out how to treat your room.

Any of the reputable all-in-one interfaces will have useable pre-amps and conversion. There shortcomings are much less than a bad room.




-tINY

[projektk]

I agree. You could always get a focusrite Saffire 40 or 56 and get a Black Lion mod. Yes they mod these units now. I use the 40 as is and it sounds great. Recently starting treating my room and heard a much bigger difference in audio quality.

Sent from my LG-P925 using Gearslutz App

[dickiefunk]

Originally Posted by phillipc421

Haha well I'm coming from a very lowend interface. Maybe I should just up a focus rite and spend a lot on the mic and preamp

Well the Focusrite Saffire interfaces are certainly excellent quality.

If I were to upgrade my interface then the UA Apollo and RME UCX would be top of my list to try.

[phillipc421]

I was looking at the Apollo as well. It's mainly a vocal tracking studio. How are the Scarlett's?

[sleepyhollos]

Pick up a Saffire 56 and you're away. I think somebody mentioned above that Black Lion are modding these nowadays but I'm not sure I'd bother. I'm in the U.K so wouldn't send my 56 abroad to have it modded as in my opinion it sounds definitely good enough to cut a record on at the moment.

I kinda view conversion as the last thing on my list of things to buy. If one day I have every other bit of gear I can think of desiring, and have a couple of grand left over... Completely spare. I mean completely spare, after I've been to the strip club to chase unobtainable tail, and hung out in the club drinking Cristal Champagne and 'flossing like a G'. It's only with what I have left after that that I'll but boutique conversion. I think if you have modern conversion of a decent level then it's big money for small steps upgrading. Others will disagree but I think each to their own. Spend your money where you'll feel the most comfortable.

The LS56 works well for me. I came from a Digi002.

[sleepyhollos]

though, after that rant, the Apollos look great. I'm not a UAD user so not bothered by that as I've spent a lot on Waves over the years and don't see a need for both, but these are tempting. And the supposedly improved converters are an additional temptation. Just wouldn't be my main reason for buying.

[projektk]

Originally Posted by phillipc421

I was looking at the Apollo as well. It's mainly a vocal tracking studio. How are the Scarlett's?

The scarletts are good, just as good as the saffires. If you need 8+ I/O I recommend PCIe or FireWire though.

Sent from my LG-P925 using Gearslutz App

[T.V. Eye]

I´m quite happy with my echo audiofire 12 - and looking at the converter shootouts, this interface got quite good results there. You get just 12 ins and 12 outs, no extra mic pres, compressors, multi fx or what else they put into some interfaces. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but if you got hardware pres and just need something to get in and out of your DAW, I guess you don´t need build in pres and other stuff.