HD24XR upgrade by Jim Williams

[Jonk]

Boy,

I sure would like to hear from somebody who has had it done. I subscribed to the yahoo HD24 group, which was a huge mistake. I get about 10 spam emails a day from threads on that group that I have no interest in.

But anyway, yeah, if somebody has done it, please let us know.

[natpub]

A related question I have is that Alesis has a free standing 8 channel AD/DA converter (AI-3)--I wonder if it contains the same or perhaps even better converter circuits, and if it too is suceptible to a reasonable and effective upgrade mod.

[blesscurse]

Suggestion: You should change to the digest version of the HD24 group.... Far fewer e-mails.

[kendog]

Not sure about the HD24XR. But, Jim Williams does great work. I know at least 7 or 8 people that love his work.

[jeronimo]

I´m almost sure the AI-3 won´t match the HD ones.
They came out a few years before and where sold for something like $300 bucks new!

[graham]

We had one of our HD24XRs done this summer. I think it took decent sounding converters and gave them more depth and less "hardness". To me it sounds more open with greater front-to-back detail. These comments are based on A/Bing between a stock HD24XR and the upgraded one. I don't have access to any of the AD/DA you mentioned at the moment, so I can't say how it compares. This is at 44.1k/48k.

Graham

[blesscurse]

Originally Posted by graham

We had one of our HD24XRs done this summer. I think it took decent sounding converters and gave them more depth and less "hardness". To me it sounds more open with greater front-to-back detail. These comments are based on A/Bing between a stock HD24XR and the upgraded one. I don't have access to any of the AD/DA you mentioned at the moment, so I can't say how it compares. This is at 44.1k/48k.

Graham

Do you recall how much the mod cost? I wonder if the D/A was improved....

[blesscurse]

Originally Posted by blesscurse

Do you recall how much the mod cost? I wonder if the D/A was improved....

...not that it's at all shabby when stock. The HD24XR is an incredible value.

[ajcamlet]

Originally Posted by graham

We had one of our HD24XRs done this summer. I think it took decent sounding converters and gave them more depth and less "hardness". To me it sounds more open with greater front-to-back detail. These comments are based on A/Bing between a stock HD24XR and the upgraded one. I don't have access to any of the AD/DA you mentioned at the moment, so I can't say how it compares. This is at 44.1k/48k.

Graham

I had it down as well. I'd agree with the above. Generally i prefer the mod over the original. All in all- 24 ch of AD/DA is not a bad deal.

I cant compare it with anything else.

[abc]

Thanks for all your posts.

Do you guys remember the price of the upgrade?

I found some more posts and people compare the HD24XR to anything from Digi002 to RADAR. Such a wide spectrum doesn't seem right.

Anybody had a chance to compare the HD24XR (stock and/or upgraded) to some other converters? Where does it stand?

[shortyprs]

I had it done as well. The description you have so far is good. I'm forgetting if the cost was $500 or $600. For me, it was well worth it. The improvement was both A/D and D/A.

My only comparison was with Korg converters (just ugly) to Kurzweil Rumour and Mangler converters. The Kurzweil's were a big step up from the Korg with a nice high end. The stock HD24 was comparable to the Kurzweil, but with a little less top. The modded converters have more overall depth and a more "true" bottom and mids.

Got got a Lavry Blue 2 channel A/D. Next step is to clock the HD24 off the Lavry and compare compare converters. Anyone want to guess the outcome?

[ajcamlet]

Originally Posted by shortyprs

Got got a Lavry Blue 2 channel A/D. Next step is to clock the HD24 off the Lavry and compare compare converters. Anyone want to guess the outcome?

well?

[shortyprs]

Originally Posted by ajcamlet

well?

I'll be testing it out tonight.

[NathanEldred]

Originally Posted by shortyprs

Got got a Lavry Blue 2 channel A/D. Next step is to clock the HD24 off the Lavry and compare compare converters. Anyone want to guess the outcome?

I've already done the test, the converters on the Alesis are improved noticeably.

[shortyprs]

Originally Posted by NathanEldred

I've already done the test, the converters on the Alesis are improved noticeably.

Where do you think I got the idea? thumbsup

[abc]

I think I remember reading somewhere that Jim didn't think that clocking an HD24XR to an external clock improved it a lot (unless there are a few different converters involved).

Nathan, did you have a chance to compare the HD24XR to any other converter? What was your opinion?

Thanks.

[jdunn]

I know Jim, and he would not recommend that you spend $1,000< on a clock to improve a $1,600 machine. Not that it may not make an improvement. I'm just betting that Jim doesn't feel it's a $1,000< difference.

[NathanEldred]

Originally Posted by jdunn

I know Jim, and he would not recommend that you spend $1,000< on a clock to improve a $1,600 machine. Not that it may not make an improvement. I'm just betting that Jim doesn't feel it's a $1,000< difference.

If it's a Lavry Blue, you aren't just getting a stand alone clock. The clock (called the msync) is required for their A/D to function properly (one msync for up to 8 channels required). So you would be getting a clock and 2 channels of very high end A/D conversion. So it's an improvement during recording (through the Lavrys) and an improvement for the converters of the Alesis itself from the clock.

[shortyprs]

Originally Posted by NathanEldred

If it's a Lavry Blue, you aren't just getting a stand alone clock. The clock (called the msync) is required for their A/D to function properly (one msync for up to 8 channels required). So you would be getting a clock and 2 channels of very high end A/D conversion. So it's an improvement during recording (through the Lavrys) and an improvement for the converters of the Alesis itself from the clock.

So far, I'd say clocking from the Lavry does improve the A/D conversion on the HD24XR. True, its not like a $1,000 difference. At 96khz, its more like a $500 difference. But, hey, I paid for 2 channels of Lavry A/D. The clocking is all bonus. Next up is seeing if the D/A is improved, and how much.