Interface with a perfect AD

[chk23]

No text?
Is this a creative way of saying "there is no such thing" ?

[martinskibg]

I'm very sorry, pressed enter accidentally and had to edit the text later

I get some very decent results from this setup that I have. I also am well aware that the increase in quality will not be as substantial as I want it to be (i checked the Aurora Lynx vs Behringer AD/DA shootout thread, to my ears the Behringer sounded better) and still I wish for better converters because I can feel that the color that the m-audio converters add is unpleasant.

[chk23]

Originally Posted by martinskibg

I'm very sorry, pressed enter accidentally and had to edit the text later

I get some very decent results from this setup that I have. I also am well aware that the increase in quality will not be as substantial as I want it to be (i checked the Aurora Lynx vs Behringer AD/DA shootout thread, to my ears the Behringer sounded better) and still I wish for better converters because I can feel that the color that the m-audio converters add is unpleasant.

Good point, it's hard to find a decent interface without preamps, somehow the manufacturers decided that mic pres are a must have for audio interfaces.
I' m wondering about that, too, everytime I read about new interfaces - I am still very satisfied with my echo Layla 3G because it has very good converters. And with 8 digital and 8 analog in/out's and only 2 preamps the money wasted on stock pre-amps, that I don't use anymore since I got some high end outboard prer amps, is relatively low.
But if I had to chose a new interface, I would search for one without any preamps at all, so that I would get the best conversion possible for the money spent without any additional gadgets/features I don't need...
I found some interesting DIY convertor projects though...

[martinskibg]

Thank you for your reply chk23 I've been thinking about connecting a converter to my FTP and I think that would be the best thing to do in this scenario. As far as I know the whole config should look like this:


DAW -> Interface <-> AD/DA converter -> Monitors
```````````````````````|
````````````````````Preamp
```````````````````````|
```````````````````Microphone

With such a configuration i think we bypass both the AD/DA and the preamps of the interface. But the question is, wouldn't this configuration require a world clock? And also, what impact if any would the interface have on the overall sound (both playback and recording)?

As for the DIY I am very lame with soldering :D I almost soldered my fingers to the guitar the last time I changed pickups :(

[adrianww]

Yes it will bypass the pres and the converters in your interface. With just the two units you shouldn't really need an external clock either - just set one to be the master and slave the other from that.

[martinskibg]

Originally Posted by adrianww

Yes it will bypass the pres and the converters in your interface. With just the two units you shouldn't really need an external clock either - just set one to be the master and slave the other from that.

Thank you for your reply adrianww. I would believe that in such case the interface will not have any impact on the recorded or reproduced sound, will this really be the case?

[adrianww]

Certainly should be the case - the interface will basically be acting as a dumb digital pipe to get the data from the external AD into your computer. (And vice-versa if you have an external DA in the picture.)

[martinskibg]

Thank you very much, this info was very useful for me. I now know what I should invest in

[CPhoenix]

Grab an Echo 2.

Echo's newest product line. Should be great quality AD/DA converters. Echo makes awesome stuff. I have an Audiofire4... beats the pants off of previous budget interfaces I've owned.

[chk23]

Originally Posted by CPhoenix

Grab an Echo 2.

Echo's newest product line. Should be great quality AD/DA converters. Echo makes awesome stuff. I have an Audiofire4... beats the pants off of previous budget interfaces I've owned.

Same here for my echo layla 3G. The pre's aren't the greatest but the convertors are still top-notch, latency is pretty low and echo is well known for their rock solid drivers and overall system stability.

[cserrano]

I know exactly what you want. Ross Martin makes a ultra high quality pcm4222 Anolag to Digital Converter for $330. It has a S/PDIF connection so you can connect it directly to your Fasttrack Pro. No, you don't need a clock.

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