Pro gear = digital nirvana

[barrows]

Well, that was always my suspicion. DDS derived clocking is typically not that great. As a note, the Fireface specifies jitter to be below 1 nS, not exactly a great spec!

 

[ted_b]

If so, any impressions so far?

 

[audiojunkie]

f,

 

thank you for your post. you make an extremely valid point and one that i believe that COMPUTERAUDIOPHILE really needs to start covering. that bring pro audio gear made for the computer.

 

i personally am a collector or very rare live audio, better known as "bootlegs", although i NEVER have sold any of the material and have always had permission to record the performance. i do not do covert recording as many people do with microphones. i am only interested in high quality soundboard recordings and as well if i make a recording of the show, normally with a PRO DAT recorder, although i am looking to purchase a KORG MR1000 portable recorder, truly amazing product, and an APOGEE Mini-Me A/D. i am now looking to get a good set of microphones like the NEUMANN TLM 103's, but with all the gear i have been buying, the RODE NT-5 single body stereo microphone is much more in my current budget. this would allow me to run a 4-track digital mixer, like a TASCAM or ALESIS, and do a 80% soundboard and 20% audience mix, giving the recordings more "presence" and better feel for the room. there is nothing better than listening to your favorite artist on you main audio system and reliving the show again and again.

 

i personally am slowly building a computer DAW for transferring my old DATs to HD and also make a GLASS MASTER CD. i use the APOGEE MINI DAC w/ USB which i cannot tell you how incredible this product sounds. it is a whole new ball game. it can make a low end set of monitors sound like a completely different speaker. i just recently upgraded me DA/AD to the CRANE SONG HEDD-192, all i can say is WOW! this is something that people should look into. having the ability to soften up or warm up a digital recording right thru the DA/AD is just amazing.

 

in any case i could go on for hours about this stuff. i just wanted to thank you for bringing to light that PRO AUDIO equipment really needs to be covered by COMPUTERAUDIOPHILE as the equipment in my opinion is far better sounding than most of the consumer products, much cheaper (the medea DAC at $6,000+USD, give me a break), available out there today and are built extremely well.

 

thanks again for your post.

 

audiojunkie

 

 

 

[aljordan]

Hi,

 

Since this is a computer audio site, I assume that most of us here use the PC as a main source, if not the main source. There is one huge benefit of computer based audio that I don't see discussed much, and while pro audio equipment isn't required, it can facilitate the setup to a great degree.

 

In my experience most audiophiles do not have perfect rooms, nor do most audiophiles I know use controlled directivity speakers that help take the room out of the equation. Years ago I bought a good RTA mic and an application called True RTA. With the mic set up at the listening position, the mic inputs and mic preamps on a good pro-audio DAC can aid you in finding a speaker position with the most even room response in the bass region.

 

In an imperfect room, a good VST plug-in parametric EQ for mastering can further smooth out the bass response very effectively, as well as give you some broader control over other regions to suit your taste. It is quite simple to take a room / speaker interaction that is +- 6dB and get it down to +- 1 or 2 dB, which has a profound effect on overall system transparency.

 

A number of software players now support VST or AU plug-ins, and EQ in the digital domain can be very transparent. Some of them, like Flux Epure (expensive), are totally transparent as far as my ears can tell. Others, such as Electri-Q posihfopit edition are free and still offer very good performance.

 

I know that it would be preferable to fix the room via proper physical treatments, but not all of us have the freedom to put a meter thick selection of tube traps on every surface in a domestic environment.

 

While you don't need a pro-audio DAC to experiment with equalization, for the visual feedback that a decent RTA software package provides, you do need ADC capabilities and mic preamp with 48 volt phantom power, all of which are built into something like the Prism Orpheus. You can do it very inexpensively with something like the E-Mu 0404 USB.

 

Regarding the Prism Orpheus power supply, after emailing the engineers at Orpheus, it is evident that the they took great care in power supply design, ensuring that power supply pollution does not adversely effect sensitive circuitry elsewhere in the DAC. The Orpheus manual discusses best practices on how to keep switching power supply pollution from other computer sources affecting the performance of the DAC/ADC.

 

Also, to the original poster of this thread, please ensure that you have the Orpheus acting as the master in your firewire setup, because the flexibility of the Orpheus also allows the computer clock to be master instead of the Orpheus clock. Unfortunately I forget the correct setting name on the MAC platform.

 

Alan

 

[Panelhead]

I am under the impression that the KRK Ergo I use is not controlling the computer. But this info comes from comments on the Gearslutz site. Either way it sounds fine. Better than my Appogee Duet which has a very good clocking implementation.

 

George

 

[SteveChicago]

I have a SPDIF-> BNC adapter. What if I went BNC out of the DAC word clock and into the SPDIF in on the Profire? Would that slave the Profire to the DAC and improve the sound?

 

[aljordan]

The Profire 610 does not have clock inputs and outputs, so you can't slave it to your DAC. You would need a pro audio device with clock inputs and outputs in order to slave it to your D70.

 

Alan

 

[hifitubes]

Very interesting discussion.

 

I'll be posting a review of the Burl DAC as compared against the Zodiac+ shortly. Both have the same MSRP @ $2500. I guess the Zodiac really has roots in the "pro-audio" universe.

 

Here is an interesting Burl review.

 

http://farmelo.com/blog/?p=369

 

I will not use the OCX, but rather setups which have the DAC as master clock. I guess I could also try the Zodiac via AES with Lynx as master (or even add the OCX again too).

 

 

Zodiac+:Async USB ("Trinity level clocking")

Burl: Lynx via AES (Lynx synced to Burl DAC word clock output)