digidesign 192IO vs Prism ADA8 96 test results

[lawrence_o]

Hi all,

I recently purchased an ADA-8 from Prism sound with 8AD and 8 DA. I got it on demo pretty easily and quick. I compared it against my digiboxes 882 20 and 1622 and the difference was amazing! But hey, the 888 24 is another story right? Well I didn't have some but here's the real challenge: Let's put the ADA next to a Digi 192 HD converter!

So I took my G4 with Pro Tools MIX cards to a friend who has a HD accel system. We used patch bays to be able to route synth signals simultaneously to both the ADA and the digi192 inputs. Both ADA and digi outputs were sent to an analogue mixer with all EQ switched off, trimmed the output to 0db to be able to judge in a fair and neutral way. Due to the 48Khz limit on my Mix system we set both machines to that rate. We tested piano sounds, drums, pads and bass sounds.

The piano and pads appear way warmer and clearer on the ADA than on the 192. Especially the stereo width is way better on the ADA8, short, you can put more elements in your mix without having the feeling that you've got no more space left to put anything else. You can really 'position' every sound razor sharp with the ADA compared to the 192. The digital piano shows a better attack on the ADA8 ; you can actually hear the knock of the hammer way more natural.

The bass and drums have more punch and sound less muddy thus more defined on the ADA than on the Digi192.

There were of course sounds where I had to listen very carefull and could barely hear any difference in frequency, however, in any case, what was always there was better stereo width. Only now I understand what some other people meant in their review when they said that Digital sounds so 2-dimensional compared to good analogue sound. With all due respect, but I'm afraid they never got to play with the ADA8.

What is surprising is that although a HD192 converter is again better than an older 888 24, the lack the 888 24 has i.e. the 'muddyness' is still present in the HD except in fewer amounts.

For those interested, I got a 1622 for sale and an 882 20. Anyone? ;-)

One thing that may make some people hesitate of actually purchasing an ADA8 may be its high price. So was I. But consider this, I put loads of money in digi boxes which gave me only rather poor to sometimes fair results. And to get a fair mix it took me a lot of time. So I lost a few deals with record companies because when they put my mix next to let's say a Britney Spears' mix... say no more.

This is now past history for me. I work way faster ; I need less time to select sounds because sounds actually do sound great right away. I need less time to actually mix because I got plenty of extra dimension in my mixes. And then again, Graham Boswell, the chief of Prism has been on the phone in the weekend, in the evening to help me set up the ADA8, totally over an hour of international phone costs. They even sent a ProTools MIX connector for the prism on saturdays. You tell me, which company does this? I know that if my ADA breaks, I got a spare one the next day!

By the way, my friend whom provided the 192 digi is considering the purchase of an ADA too.

I have absolutely no harmful intentions to the digidesign company. I think the Pro Tools world is a great invention.
What I write here are my personnal findings (and of my poor colleague) but I only want to make other people aware that they should at least compare some gear before actually buying some. In the end, no matter how expensive gear is, quality still costs money and if you know what to do with it, you'll get better results.

Kind regards
Lorenzo Schoovaerts
Grooveyard Studios Belgium
+32 475 577 240

[violet]

Sold! thank you so much, I was debating between going from 002 to HD and getting the 192 or w/ Prism. Loved the post.

[Rubito]

FWIW the guys from Prism at AES claimed right to my face that the Orpheus is a better quality converter than the ADA8.

[T_R_S]

What's the difference in price between the two?