Preamps and Convverters

[thepilgrimsdream]

If you really got 5k
A lynx aurora and a rack of SCA A12b's would be killer

[MrSpeakon]

I should have 5k. and yeah that would be killer. I was thinking something along the lines of an apogee ensemble with a portico 5024, or some other quad pre. or an used rosetta 800 with 2 quad press... or if i were gonna bump down to 5 channels. the ensemble or rosette 800 + quad pre, and then one really nice high end pre

[Bill@WelcomeHome]

Originally Posted by MrSpeakon

....I have 5k to drop on converters and preamps, where would you guys go with this. Optimally I would like to have 8 channels......Thanks!

-Scott

For me the price/performance curves crossed at Mytek for converters. I checked out both the Lynx and the RME PCIe AES cards and though it was more money, it seemed smarter to me (after talking to owners of both and one fellow who had both in the same machine...) to pay a little extra for the RME. Those two would set you back close to $5k, and you would be able to expand to 16 channels later if you needed to. Oh, and this RME comes with 2 MIDI ports.

However, Mytek offers an AES daughter card. Put that in the Mytek 8 channel converter and then there are other nice RME choices, like the AIO card, the RayDAT card, the Babyface, and the various U designations, the 9652, 9636, the Multiface, Digiface, and probably some others. Check out their website.

[stgaudio]

If you can DIY then you could save yourself a fair amount on your pre's.
Check out Sound Skulptor who do increadible API 512 & Neve 1073 kits for great prices. I've built x4 of their 1073's and the whole experience has been totally positive. The one module I had a problem with was totally my fault and Jean-Pierre very efficiently took me through some trouble shooting steps over the e-mail and things were sorted in no time.


Oh, and they sound outstanding!

[MrSpeakon]

Never thought about those DIY preamps. Great f***ing idea! What do you guys think about Sound Skulptor vs. Seventh Circle or any other brands? I've never used any of these companies, but i think DIY is the way I'm going.

[Bunjji]

I am looking at Phoenix DRS-8 preamps and they seem to be cool. For converters, I would go with an RME UFX. That gives you four decent pres and 12 channels of conversion. It also has two dedicated headphone outputs. Another good preamp is the Warm Audio WA12. It is a API 312 clone with a 'tone' button to add a ton of warmth.

[Bunjji]

Actually, you could get this (Lynx Aurora 8 8 CH Ad Da Converter 24 Bit 192 kHz Interface Sound Card | eBay) Aurora 8 and the RME AES32 PCI-e card for about the same price as the RME. From there you have around 2800 to spend on preamps. You could get 8 WA12's for that, but if you chose something more expensive, you could get 5 or 6 preamps now and then buy more later.

[planetchild]

Apogee has brought down the price for the symphony i/o

Apogee Symphony I/O with 8x8 Analog I/O + 8x8 AES/Optical I/O Module

for 2995.00


for 8 good sounding preamps i will get the-DAV Electronics BG8 - Eight Channel Mic-Pre

price is a little over 2400.00 or get it used for evn less money.

i could make a record with this set up!!

[Bunjji]

I'd rather get the Lynx (clean) converter over the Apogee (colored) converter. That way, you won't get degredation if you send something out to get processed by a hardware unit.

[MrSpeakon]

Originally Posted by planetchild

icould make a record with this set up!!

that's the idea!!!

thank all of you so much for taking the time to help me out. very much appreciated. got about a week or so, depending how I feel, before i make any decisions. keep 'em coming please!

[lordnielson]

Originally Posted by stgaudio

If you can DIY then you could save yourself a fair amount on your pre's.
Check out Sound Skulptor who do increadible API 512 & Neve 1073 kits for great prices. I've built x4 of their 1073's and the whole experience has been totally positive.

Oh, and they sound outstanding!

Agree 100%. Incredible value for money.

[guitarboy94]

RME makes some great converters, let me tell you! I recently upgraded from an EMU 1212m to an RME HDSP and wow, the clarity and detail is shocking. It was like lifting a blanket from my monitors. I know there's a camp that says converters don't matter much, but I have to disagree. Get something from RME.