Quote:
Originally Posted by snaysup
I have a few questions about mastering with analog outboard gear. Where in the chain do you insert something like an AVOCET or GRACE 902? DAW->DAC->EQ->limiter->ADC->DAW2?
DO you use the avocet dac to get out of the source computer?
Also do the coverters need to be synched to a master clock?
Can source DAW be the destination DAW?
thanks, daniel m.
Unfortunately, the Avocet is not a (processing) console, just a monitor controller. I don't know if the Grace has processing inserts.
So you cannot use the Avocet DAC for this purpose. I use the Cranesong HEDD for analog inserting, as it now has an excellent DAC (with the upgrade) and always has had a superb A/D. But you can use any separate high quality D/A and A/D converter you like.
Here's a chain, just like the one you drew above:
DAW-----> DAC -----> chain of analog processors -----> ADC -----> [optional digital processors] ----> back to same DAW or a different DAW if working at different sample rate.
For the lowest jitter, use as jitter-immune a pair of converters as possible. In my chain, my ADC is most stable when run on internal clock, so I run the ADC as the master clock. As you can see from the above chain, the ADC can be the master clock even if it is not in the front of the chain.
I run the ADC at 96K, usually. I use a live sample rate converter (The Weiss) to take the end of the chain back down to 44.1K for capture to the CD rate.
The DAC is on external sync, since most DACs slave to the incoming (SPDIF or AES) signal, the DAC has to be as jitter-immune a model as possible. Any converter that's slaving to external has to be jitter-immune. It's possible to find a DAC model that has internal clock and lock the main DAW to it (I believe the Weiss has that feature, and also the DCS and the TC Finalizer) but with the quality of jitter-immune DACs these days, you can slave the DAC to the DAW and not hear any difference.
Unless you're one of the lunatic fringe who claim that "you can never make a CD that will ever sound like the master, and a clone of a hard disc sounds different than the source" in which case you'll never be satisfied.