Help a poor DJ out!

[C_T]

OK, had posted this in low-end theory but I think it's getting a little convoluted and I've narrowed down my questions quite a bit.

I'm looking to record the outs of my mixer into my windows laptop (which does not have spdif) with the eventual goal of converting the track to mp3 for my website.

My absolute primary concern is A/D conversion quality. I've got a great mixer (E&S DJR400) and I'd like to do it justice. So, basically I think I have 2 options:

1)Apogee Mini-me. mixer XLR -> TRS Mini-Me -> USB Laptop. pretty simple, all I need, right? a bit worried about stability though when it comes to mastering...

2)A better quality converter, Mytek or Lavry, plus the cheapest firewire interface I can find, the m-audio firewire solo. that leaves me:
mixer -> a/d converter SPDIF -> firewire solo -> firewire into the laptop

am i missing anything? would option #2 be a problem since i'd be mastering thru the output of the m-audio's d/a converters which probably aren't as good as the apogee's I'm assuming? and how would processing go when using something like the firewire solo? i suppose that could also be an issue...

thanks guys!!!

ps - i don't have pt.

[max cooper]

Are you creating an analog master? If not, then the reason for good d/a conversion is so you can hear what you're doing. Most of our audio output these days is digital; the final d/a stage is in the end user's setup; whether the converters in a CD or DVD player or the soundcard in their computer.

That said, hearing what you're doing is pretty important.

I think the Apogee Mini Me is a seriously underrated piece.

[C_T]

Originally Posted by max cooper

Are you creating an analog master?

I think the Apogee Mini Me is a seriously underrated piece.

No, it will be a digital master.

Thanks for your input on the Mini Me. That's the direction I'm leaning towards right now.

[danasti]

Originally Posted by C_T

No, it will be a digital master.

Thanks for your input on the Mini Me. That's the direction I'm leaning towards right now.

My best advise to you is try out some different options. The mini me is great. good preamps, good conversion, small and usb.

But you could get into a fireface 400 - which has conversion up to par of your mixer. You could get a Rane Serato Scratch & a emu 1616m or 1212m for under $1k, serato rocks and those emus have decent implementations of pretty fine converters. Honestly, you should hear them for yourself but I feel like they all sound increbibly good. I spent around $5k on my apogee ad8000se 6 years ago and I still use it but the options now are seriously incredible - the less expensive stuff has gotten much, much closer.

I think you should ultimately base you decision on your ears and your needs. At the very least you should aim to find a reference "sound quality" you want to achieve from listening tests. Call some shops and tell them you want to test to buy and you have a CC # and you are serious.

[C_T]

Originally Posted by danasti

My best advise to you is try out some different options. The mini me is great. good preamps, good conversion, small and usb.

But you could get into a fireface 400 - which has conversion up to par of your mixer. You could get a Rane Serato Scratch & a emu 1616m or 1212m for under $1k, serato rocks and those emus have decent implementations of pretty fine converters. Honestly, you should hear them for yourself but I feel like they all sound increbibly good. I spent around $5k on my apogee ad8000se 6 years ago and I still use it but the options now are seriously incredible - the less expensive stuff has gotten much, much closer.

I think you should ultimately base you decision on your ears and your needs. At the very least you should aim to find a reference "sound quality" you want to achieve from listening tests. Call some shops and tell them you want to test to buy and you have a CC # and you are serious.

yeah, fireface 400 was my first thought, but i won't be needing all those ins and outs, plus it would end up costing more than the mini-me. the apogee should also have better converters than the rme, right?

i'm also purchasing a custom crossover with a tube to fatten up the sound from the cdjs...i just hope all of this will be as audible from my computer as it is from my monitors.

i've heard some people mention apogee converters have a certain "sound" and aren't quite as transparent as others...is that particuarly unfavorable in my situation? i think some color may actually be desirable for me, unless it's bad color

thanks for the reply!

[ShaneFontane]

Your Apogee will be just fine. More then fine. If you do not feel comfortable using Apogee, then Mytek is another great solution which some may say sounds more transparent.

I listen to plenty of mixes and let's be honest, john and jane doe will hear everything in your dance or hip-hop mix cd with either converter. I think it becomes more of a personal preference. What you like listening to (although i am a firm believer thats splitting hairs amongst similar classed items ie middle class converter a vs middle class convert b) and i hate to say it but... what you enjoy looking at as well. We all love gear, and we all love the way certain pieces look as wel.

I'm sure whatever D/A conversion you have will be fine. I don't think there is a need (maybe a want) to have to run uber high-end d/a just to hear if your beats are matching and songs are in key. In otherwords, you're not building 24 or 64 tracks mixes, your working with a few complete songs at once.

Good luck and have fun man.

[7161]

What on earth are you talkiing about?


he wants to put mixes on his website, they are gonna be compressed down to perhaps 2128k mp3 files

critical a/d quality ?? - isnt this *slight* overkill? Any decent audio interface will do for final destination mp3s for the web




this is like a car salesman recommending a Ferrari for a housewife who needs a commuter vehicle for popping down to the supermarket and picking up the groceries & kids

dude, you need a Nissan Micra basicaly