kurzweil rumour as converters...interesting

[genericperson]

i looked at the d-a specs on the kurzweil rumour (i think the mangler is the same).

.003%thd@1khz, +19dbu
-111db cross talk
20-20k, +/-0.1db
112db unweighted dynamic range

those are completely pro specs. also, the thd is at +19dbu, which is a pretty "non-rigged" spec. i mean, if you lowered the analog to +2dbu, i'm guessing the thd would drop to something like .0005% (i could be way wrong here...kind of coming up to the limits of my understanding on this stuff).

plus, Fletcher thinks these things are cool as far as I can gather (and he's got serious taste in gear). Mercenary has them on their website for $550 each.

you get two channel da with the specs above, and two channel ad with almost as good specs, plus a lot of effects "thrown in for free" (if you're thinking of this thing as a converter box).

i guess the only downside is they only do 44.1 and 48khz. seems like an incredible value, in the truest sense of the word.

anybody got some ideas on this rumour box (or the mangler)?

[mig27]

I'm also eyeing the rumour as AD/DA upgrade to my current system, an RME multiface. The additional FX box is warmly welcome, obviously.

So has anyone given the kurzie's converters am in depth test run?

Thanks.


Michael

[claudemorrow]

How would you hook this up to use it as a D/A Converter?

[eberrong]

I am considering this unit as well for its converters. One thing to note is that the AD and DA cannot be used simultaneously. This is not a show stopper, but somewhat of an inconvenience IMO.

I guess you would have to track with alternate DA, then during mixdown you could use the Rumour.

[GearGuy]

This has been talked about to death... if you do a search you see some great posts from George Hamilton (Geosync) who was working for Kurzweil at the time, and the product specialist for the KSP8, Rumour, and Mangler. Many other people here also own one, so search the forum.

First of all, specs don't tell you anything about how a convertor sounds..... but yes, the Rumour makes a great convertor box in addition to incredible reverbs. I own one myself.... got it for the reverbs first, and convertors second. And as of this weekend, I'll be using it or my TC Electronic Reverb4000 for D/A after I install my RME9652. A/D is already covered, but my various effect boxes will be my only source of D/A until I pick-up a CentralStation and/or a DAC1 next month.

Yes, Rumours are a great value. I also know a dealer who has a few b-stock units that are selling for even less money. PM me if interested.

[faeflora]

It has no Word Clock.

[genericperson]

i would think at minimum it would do a-d and let you hear that same signal as a d-a. because if it were used as an effects box on an analog console, it would need this functionality.

being able to completely separate the two functions might be another story (record vocals through the a-d while you listen to recorded tracks on the d-a).

[eberrong]

Check this thread...

http://gearslutz.com/board/showthrea...5&pagenumber=2

Here is a quote from the above thread...

"Yes, the reverb can be used in real time , you go in either analog or digital, and the processed signal is present on both outputs. What you cannot do is use the unit as a simultaneous stand-alone A/D and D/A converter for signals not being processed through the unit. This is because you can only have 1 input source (analog or S/PDIF) active at any given time. Hope this clears up any confusion."

[warhead]

Originally posted by faeflora
It has no Word Clock.

ouch...hmm

War

[dollars]

I bought the Mangler, and ended up using it strictly for it's convertors. They (both A to D and D to A) were obviously clearer than my RME Multiface's.

It made me wonder how much better the $1000 per channel convertors stack up...Mytek, Lavry, etc... So I sold the Mangler in hopes of experiencing Nirvana with either Mytek A/D or Benchmark D/A. Maybe I should have stuck with a pair of Manglers.....I don't have crazy money.

But I do have questions

Would the Mytek A/D come with a word clock that would also make my multiface's A/D convertors sound better? ... so I'd go from 8 lame channels to 10 fineones? I might bite then.

How much better does the DAC-1 (which was going to be my next purchase) sound than the Kurzweil D/A (which sounded brilliantly better than the RME's, and probably good enough for me). $600 better? has anybody seriously compared these 2 in such an application?

I know know the importance of a genuine D/A....and the veil was lifted with the Kurzweil conversion, and my mixing has improved.....but am I still wearing tinted lenses? what more is there to see???? would somebody please describe to me in the most meaningless visual feeling or food and drug analogies....hit me...How much more money do I have to spend before I realise that I've spent too much here?

[Albert]

Originally posted by lomola
Why? If you can send a signal from your daw monitoring recorded tracks + imput source to the rumour spdif in then wheres the issue?

A/D: rumour analog in > rumour sdpif out > sound card spdif in > daw

D/A: daw sum > soundcard spdif out > rumour spdif in > rumour analog out

It doesn't work that way. Whatever appears at the SPDIF or analog inputs is processed and sent to *both* the analog and SPDIF outputs. So the routing you suggest is not possible.

In addition, you have to select either digital or analog for the input, it won't accept signal from both at the same time.

Before you get too down on the Rumour/Mangler for this, it should be noted that a lot of gear works this way, including the Waves L2 hardware.

[dollars]

Yeah, this box does D/A or A/D....not both simultaneously. You could get a pair for less than some individual convertors..

So... the $400 question here is:

is there a better bang for the buck A/D or D/A than this unit?

[dollars]

yes, interesting indeed.

[thebo]

When trying out the A/D converters on my Kurzweil Rumour, the digital output sounds very thin and trebley. Anyone else find this to be the case? Perhaps I'm hooking it up incorrectly. I used TS unbalanced cables going in (setting the Rumour for -10, also tried +4), and the output sound is terribly lacking in bass. What gives?

[faeflora]

Originally posted by dollars


So... the $400 question here is:

is there a better bang for the buck A/D or D/A than this unit?

No. Buy it already!

[thebo]

So no one has gotten the same thin sound coming out of their Rumour when used as an A/D converter? Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

[thebo]

Please disregard my question, turns out it was the XLR-TS cable that created the problem. Sounds great with the correct connection.