DavidL Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I would appreciate advice on what to purchase (about £1000 maximum) in the UK that gives good quality digital output. I would prefer to have an external box rather than a PCI sound card. All the quality devices I've found so far have balanced or jack inputs. Output will be fed to a MacPro running Peak Pro for editing and mastering: creating and writing 24/96 data files (WAV, FLAC or AIFF) to DVD-R. Thanks in advance David ALAC iTunes library on Synology DS412+ running MinimServer with Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 tablet running BubbleUPnP for control > Hi-Fi 1: Airport Extreme bridge > Netgear switch > TP-Link optical isolation > dCS Network Bridge AND PS Audio PerfectWave Transport > PS Audio DirectStream DAC with Bridge Mk.II > Primare A60 > Harbeth SHL5plus Anniversary Edition . Hi-Fi 2: Sonore Rendu > Chord Hugo DAC/preamp > LFD integrated > Harbeth P3ESRs and > Sennheiser HD800 Link to comment
docdan50 Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 The apogee duet does a great job for me. It is designed to work with the mac. I bought a cable with the correct jacks for my preamp on one end and for the apogee on the other. Dan Link to comment
John Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 David, Imho, there's little to be gained from spending as much as that vs using the E-MU 0404. I get great results from that device and it is at a near throwaway price. Good luck. Digitizing your vinyl is a big project. - John. Link to comment
DavidL Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 Thanks for the advice. I've investigated these: the Duet appears to provide the sound quality I desire, but as with the other devices I looked at has no RCA phono inputs. Dan, you mention an adapter cable - I assume this has a 1/4 inch jack on one end, to plug into the "unbalanced high impedance instrument input", and an RCA phono on the other. Did you have any level matching problems i.e. is the sensitivity of this input compatible with the output from a disc phono amplifier? I've found a gold-plated 1/4"-jack-to-RCA-phone adaptor on sale at Maplins, which would enable me to use my existing RCA phono-to-RCA phono leads. David ALAC iTunes library on Synology DS412+ running MinimServer with Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 tablet running BubbleUPnP for control > Hi-Fi 1: Airport Extreme bridge > Netgear switch > TP-Link optical isolation > dCS Network Bridge AND PS Audio PerfectWave Transport > PS Audio DirectStream DAC with Bridge Mk.II > Primare A60 > Harbeth SHL5plus Anniversary Edition . Hi-Fi 2: Sonore Rendu > Chord Hugo DAC/preamp > LFD integrated > Harbeth P3ESRs and > Sennheiser HD800 Link to comment
docdan50 Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 You can download the duet manual and it shows how to connect for recording records or that may be a link on their website. I have no level matching problems going from rca out on my preamp( record out) to the 1/4 inch of the duet. Dan Link to comment
jcbrum Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 The Edirol UA25 is excellent for sound quality, costs about £200, and has full control over the input level. Use jack to phono adapters in the high imp inputs as already suggested. I've done heaps or records with one of those. JCBrum. Link to comment
DavidL Posted March 14, 2009 Author Share Posted March 14, 2009 OK I've now looked at the Edirol interfaces in more detail. The UA25 offers similar facilities to the Apogee Duet but USB rather than firewire connection. (I have been using the very basic Edirol UA1 for some time as a means of getting 32kHz PCM into a Mac Pro as core audio cannot handle this, and have had no problems.) Looking further into the Edirol products I see the FA-66 has 6 inputs, 2 of which are RCA phono, complete with ganged sensitivity control - this may be my best bet. I'll take a trip to Dawsons who stock both the FA-66 and Apogee Duet. Thanks for the suggestions David ALAC iTunes library on Synology DS412+ running MinimServer with Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 tablet running BubbleUPnP for control > Hi-Fi 1: Airport Extreme bridge > Netgear switch > TP-Link optical isolation > dCS Network Bridge AND PS Audio PerfectWave Transport > PS Audio DirectStream DAC with Bridge Mk.II > Primare A60 > Harbeth SHL5plus Anniversary Edition . Hi-Fi 2: Sonore Rendu > Chord Hugo DAC/preamp > LFD integrated > Harbeth P3ESRs and > Sennheiser HD800 Link to comment
John Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Any half way decent adc/dac will automatically level adjust based on whether you stick a TS, TRS or XLR in the socket. (The e-mu certainly does.) You want your 1/4"in jack to RCA adaptor to be TS (ie mono). NEVER, buy cheap TS jacks or adaptors; they tend to leave the tips on the sockets when you remove them thus turning your dac into an objet d'art. John. Link to comment
dimsal Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 I used Edirol FA-66 in my own vinyl digitizing project. Very good converter. It has everything you need Firewire out to Macbook and RCA inputs. It also supports up to 24/192 if you desire. Good luck. Link to comment
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