metric halo uln2 vs apogee ensemble (which has better converters)

[bendecido]

which one?

blessings

Bendecido

[hangman]

*Yawn* this thread is going to get boring really fast... let me save you some time.

a bunch of people will chime in saying metric halo is awesome, and apogee is overpriced and doesnt sound as good etc...
Then a bunch of appogee users will chime in and say how misguided the metric halo users are, and how they've never had nicer converters.
After that, someone with an RME Fireface800 will put in his/her two cents saying how you should just get the fireface800 because its cheaper and perhaps send you to another thread where the converters are "compared" and you can judge for yourself.
then someone will chime in saying that the ensemble has glitches, and doesnt work right, so if you are going to decide to get the ensemble, to wait until Leopard comes out.

bottom line, is they're all good. which is why all three companies have such loyal users.

Admittedly they all have a different sound, and they all have pros and cons, I would urge you to do some research on their websites, and if you can actually check them out in person that is always the best thing.

no matter what anyone else says its your setup, and you have to be comfortable with it. if you are swayed one way or another, by what someone says on this forum, chances are, you were probably going that way anyway.

[No4PCs]

Hangman friend right.
Each people here will say good things about all converters brands and finally noone will decide nothing, only conflicted opinions !
Better you buy something and work hard with your choose.

[manofsong]

I'll third the "going nowhere" comments. These converter discussions go nowhere for the most part.

[kittyboy]

I'll play my part in this show.

I have the metric halo and think it's great value for the money--great converters, nice (but not high gain) pres, great clock, great bulletin board when you have questions or need advice...


Hey man, did you decide to get the peluso or the lawson? I'm considering both mics myself....

[YUGA]

I was in the same situation, It was very difficult to make the decision. But I went for the Apogee Mini Me and happy with it.
The problem with this sort of thread is that no one actually owns both, and people tend to want to believe that the one he/she actually paid money for is better. lol
If you really want to see which is better, you gotta buy both and directly compare them.

[James Lehmann]

"Hangman" is pretty much on the money with that reply as is "YUGA" with this:

"The problem with this sort of thread is that no one actually owns both, and people tend to want to believe that the one he/she actually paid money for is better."

Converters aren't like mics where folks need a bunch of them and comparisons abound. Most people have some very specific requirements for their interface and converters, and thus tend to research it in detail, do some listening and choose one to last several years.

[kelldammit]

there are other feature differences which may or may not sway you one way or the other. the metric halo stuff (assuming you buy the dsp versions) has plugs, etc...
the apogee is supposed to integrate more seamlessly with mac/logic...
i guess all you can really do is try them for yourself. there was a thread here a while back where someone had just bought the apogee, after having had a metric halo...i think the thread was about the initial release of the apogee unit, and people were discussing issues they were having with it, etc...it might be someplace to look...
either way, they're both respectable interfaces.

kell

[u b k]

i own neither one, but i've used both extensively. imo metric halo is the flattest, most honest sounding converter for the money, and sometimes for twice the money. controlled low end, smooth mids, open top.

every apogee i've ever used has a low mid emphasis and ringing in the 7-8k area. people hear this ringing as sparkle, i hear it as distracting and dishonest. on some sources it adds a nice sheen, but on many sources it has an unwelcome edge to it... strummed acoustic guitars come to mind.

unless you can afford lavry or mytek, i'd go with metric halo.


gregoire
del
ubk
.

[bendecido]

thanks ubk thats the kind of answer i was looking for. thanks for taking the time. thanks to everyone else for their input. but since ive posted this thread ive come to realise after speaking to a few of my engineer friends. that converters are a bit overated in a way. And are mostly important for classical music and similar genres where the most pristine sound is required.but for genres like mine hip-hop reggae and blues they really dont make much of a difference. I think ill stay with my focusrite saffire converters for the next couple of months and look to upgrading when i can spend the money comfortably. right now with the money i have saved i think ill either go with a new preamp or comp.

blessings to all

[u b k]

Originally Posted by bendecido

but since ive posted this thread ive come to realise after speaking to a few of my engineer friends. that converters are a bit overated in a way.

i'm guessing your engineer friends don't have lavry's in their racks...

converters are not as critical as the right mic and a sweet pre, and none of those are as critical as a good room. but if you've got all the other stuff dialed, converters make a big difference.


gregoire
del
ubk
.

[thearnicasync]

Sorry, I but I've got to disagree and say that the converteres in the Ensemble blow away the MH I had. I loved the MH...like UBIK said...very honest, but I find the Ensemble's to be very honest and very, very pro sounding. And I hate the word 'pro'! :-) The pre's are better than great, too, and you get four. For me, it was the perfect way to get some great, clean utility pres to go alongside one or two big, blurry, vintage pres.

Also, To get the pre's and converters in Ensemble, you'd have to do 2 ULN's, which is more than the ensemble. I'd at least try to listen to both...

[thearnicasync]

I used to think the same thing until I got ensemble.

Don't get me wrong...the driver implementation has sucked, but I've never heard audio sound this good.

It's not like my hearing got better,

just $.02...

[Gebo]

Also, you can never really tell how "good" or "bad" converters are until you do a full session with them, mixing a 24+ track session vs. mixing a 2 track "test" is going to be a huge difference. I used to think converters didnt matter much, but doing after full mix with my Ensemble vs a full mix with my 001, night and day. If anyone is giving you converter advice based on one or two or even 8 tracks, disregard it...

[James Lehmann]

Originally Posted by Gebo

Also, you can never really tell how "good" or "bad" converters are until you do a full session with them, mixing a 24+ track session vs. mixing a 2 track "test" is going to be a huge difference. I used to think converters didnt matter much, but doing after full mix with my Ensemble vs a full mix with my 001, night and day. If anyone is giving you converter advice based on one or two or even 8 tracks, disregard it...

Good point!

[grahluk]

I've had the Metric Halo 2882+DSP since it came out...uh what was that 5 years ago? haven't seen the need to upgrade/crossgrade or dump more money into something completely obscene. Can't say the same thing for all the other digital hardware/software I've used in that time period. Good investment. Great sound. Great customer service. Now I can spend my time and money on other things and not have to think about my converters. That is untill I see anyone trying to dump MH boxes for what's new this year. Then I might have to buy a couple more because they aren't the hot thing in someone's obsession. Test them all out then go with what sounds best to you and/or has the features that are more important to your workflow.

[hangman]

somehow it happened anyway...

bendecido,
my intent with my last post was not to disregard your question, I hope it didnt come off that way.
Your engineer friends are right to a degree. everything is important in your signal chain, but I would much rather have some great mics, and some great outboard gear before I got some great converters.
that being said, I've heard wonderful recordings that were made on pro-tools free with 57s and mackie mixers. Recorded in an attic.
don't subscribe to Gear snobbery. play to your gears strengths. and above all have fun, and make great sounding music. The amazing thing about a "great recording" is that there is no formula. you can have an SSL board, with protools HD going through Lavry converters (or better yet a tape machine) with the best vintage mics and still make recordings that are lifeless and dull. (trust me I've seen it happen, even played on recordings like that)


Jason Grand,

yes I read that thread too, and as pointless as I thought it was, I too listened to the files. Surprise! they were both good... unfortunately, I disagree that they sounded "exactly the same". My feelings on the matter after listening to them were "wow, I'd like to have BOTH, they both give such great textures"

and you may find this interesting UBK, I felt the same way about the lavry/apogee comparisons.

The metric halo is a great unit, and it IS cheaper than the apogee stuff. however I for one found the appoges sound to be more appealing to me in the general sense. That is a preference. NOT a recommendation. I urge anyone interested in purchasing converters to try and get some first hand experience with the units you're interested in. otherwise, if you really can't listen to everyone on this board chatter about it, and then when you're done, remember that 100% of it is opinion. 60% is Ego and 25% is probably just plain silly.

[antti]

Happy ULN-2 user here. Use it as a front end to SlowTools LE (via spdiffs). Tad boring pres=fairly transparent(btw I never had problems having enough gain and I use ribbons a lot). Great customer service too! Great value for money box. Made a massive difference getting it to substitute my 001 & mbox stock converters. Haven't compared it to Ensemble, sorry.

[audiothings]

I have the metric halo and think it's......nice (but not high gain) pre

i don't know any pres on audio interfaces that have more than the 72 dB gain that the uln-2 offers, the one notable exception being (co-incidentally) the apogee ensemble.

the good news with the apogee ensemble (as of this namm's announcement) is that it can function as a stand alone converter.... an 8 i/o apogee converter with 4 x 75 dB pres and dual headphone outputs sounds like a good deal to me...

respect,

[bendecido]

Thanks everyone.
Ive decided to go with with the halo 2882. Im selling some old stuff to fork out for it. but i think itll be worth it. Its the last gear purchase ill have to make for a long long time. Since ill be living in honduras for a cuple o years now. Was gonna go for the fireface or the echo audiofire but a little bit of research and a gut feeling about the halo has made me make up my mind-
thanks to all for youre help

many blessings

[bendecido]

also if anyone has one for sale please let me know


blessings

[desotoslo]

fun thread

[macleodgrant]

Originally Posted by u b k

i own neither one, but i've used both extensively. imo metric halo is the flattest, most honest sounding converter for the money, and sometimes for twice the money. controlled low end, smooth mids, open top.

every apogee i've ever used has a low mid emphasis and ringing in the 7-8k area. people hear this ringing as sparkle, i hear it as distracting and dishonest. on some sources it adds a nice sheen, but on many sources it has an unwelcome edge to it... strummed acoustic guitars come to mind.

it's interesting you say about the ringing in the 7-8k area. i noticed this on the Ensemble but not on the DUET. i sent the ensemble back and am getting the 2882+2d and have the DUET if i want to hear with a different perspective

[Michael Zick]

now let's throw in around how the orpheus stacks up and really F up this thread!!