Here's the tentative list-thoughts?

[3daudioinc]

Here are the units under consideration for the ADC CD. If I don't have a particular unit in mind, I've just listed the mfr. and that means I need a suggestion. Here they are in no particular order. But this list is NOT locked in stone and I may end up with more units than I can compare. Right now 35 is my absolute limit with regards to time.

*- An asterisk means I have contacted the mfr. and they have agreed to provide a unit.

1) Yamaha
2) MOTU
3) Lucid 9624 (*)
4) Presonus (*)
5) Apogee 8000 SE
6) Apogee Trak 2
7) Apogee Rosetta
8) Digi 001 (*)
9) Digi 888|24 (*)
10) Digi HD 192 (*)
11) Weiss (*)
12) Prism
13) dB Tech-Gold
14) dB Tech-Blue
15) Alesis ADAT HD24
16) Alesis Blackface ADAT (*)
17) Alesis Masterlink (*)
18) Mackie 2496
19) Tascam MX2424 (*)
20) Mytek 2496 (*)
21) Panasonic 3800 (*)
22) Pacific Microsonics HD-2
23) Delta 1010 (*)
24) RME (*)
25) Layla 24
26) Lynx II
27) Metric Halo Mobile I/O (*)
28) dCS
29) Benchmark (*)
30) Troisi (*)
31) Manley Labs SLAM (*)
32) EMM Labs Meitner ADC (*)
33) iZ RADAR
34) Swissonic
35) CraneSong HEDD 192 (*)

What have I missed? What have I included that is unnecessary?

Know that some of these in this list you may never have heard of or considered but they are considered the pinnacles of audio quality by many professionals. Also some of them are extremely expensive, so they need to be there to represent the ultra high end. I want to make sure to have a good balance of low end vs. high end, though ultimately most people who only have $500 to spend on a soundcard aren't considering an $8000 ADC, no matter how much better it sounds.

You'll notice that I have few soundcards due to the logistics of getting and configuring computers. And consoles are slim on the list as well, just due to their physical size and the limitations of space in the control room during the testing.

[Kevin Perry]

First, this is gonna be great. I felt with the preamp and microphone CD's I knew what many of those were suppose to sound like ahead of time. With this, I have no clue what the differences might be between an Apogee Rosetta and a Layla24.

As the first "I wish," could Lucid also get you the ADA8824? That is likely more popular than even the 9624, being an 8 channel unit.

[3daudioinc]

Originally posted by Kevin Perry:
As the first "I wish," could Lucid also get you the ADA8824? That is likely more popular than even the 9624, being an 8 channel unit.

It would likely be an either/or kind of thing. I'll ask them and see if there are differences. I know there's a 2496 here in town. I don't know about the 8824. I'll check.

[3daudioinc]

Originally posted by 3D Audio Inc.:


It would likely be an either/or kind of thing. I'll ask them and see if there are differences. I know there's a 2496 here in town. I don't know about the 8824. I'll check.

Here's a fast answer. I just got off the phone with Lucid's regional rep. The 8824 is $2500 list for 8 channels of ADC, but will only do 48K tops. The 9624 is $899 list (that seems cheap) and is stereo but will do 24/96. The 9624 is supposedly a better converter so I think I'll include it. That's a good price point for an external ADC.

[Michael Hoddy]

Anyone know if the Apogee AD-16 is similar in design to any of the other Apogee converters listed?

Also, for us project weasels with home rigs, it might be interesting to hear the difference between the (very relatively speaking) "higher-end" MOTU converters (1296, 896), and the cheap ones (2408). I don't expect either of them to be great, but I am curious how the 1296 in particular stacks up.

[Bob Olhsson]

While i understand including the Panasonic 3800 and the black-face ADAT philosophically, I'd hate for them to take up time and energy that might be spent on newer products. This is a whole new generation of converters and to the best of my knowledge there have been no published comparisons yet.

One interesting low-end converter is the ART D-IO which uses an outstanding recent Crystal chip that is both a D to A AND an A to D converter. This thing sells for less than $200 and has a decent reputation despite the manufacturer's reputation.

[3daudioinc]

Bob,

As I review the list of converters, that same thought had already occurred to me. There are far too many great converters out there to spend much time on the past, although it would provide a benchmark to know how far we've come. But, unlike the SM-57 and the Mackie consoles, the blackface ADAT is really not a current standard.

Thanks for the heads up on the ART. I'll check into it. I need something to represent the economy side.

Originally posted by Bob Olhsson:
While i understand including the Panasonic 3800 and the black-face ADAT philosophically, I'd hate for them to take up time and energy that might be spent on newer products. This is a whole new generation of converters and to the best of my knowledge there have been no published comparisons yet.

One interesting low-end converter is the ART D-IO which uses an outstanding recent Crystal chip that is both a D to A AND an A to D converter. This thing sells for less than $200 and has a decent reputation despite the manufacturer's reputation.

[3daudioinc]

Bob,

As I review the list of converters, that same thought had already occurred to me. There are far too many great converters out there to spend much time on the past, although it would provide a benchmark to know how far we've come. But, unlike the SM-57 and the Mackie consoles, the blackface ADAT is really not a current standard.

Thanks for the heads up on the ART. I'll check into it. I need something to represent the economy side.

Originally posted by Bob Olhsson:
While i understand including the Panasonic 3800 and the black-face ADAT philosophically, I'd hate for them to take up time and energy that might be spent on newer products. This is a whole new generation of converters and to the best of my knowledge there have been no published comparisons yet.

One interesting low-end converter is the ART D-IO which uses an outstanding recent Crystal chip that is both a D to A AND an A to D converter. This thing sells for less than $200 and has a decent reputation despite the manufacturer's reputation.

[Tim Zurowski]

Lynn

I know you have a tremendous amount of work ahead of you, and that you can't have every option in there, but I think the Tango 24 would be a great candidate to add to the list. It is one of a few units that fit a lot of buyers in that budget range. For those that need rack converters but can't afford the Myteks, etc. this is about the only choice. Sure would be nice to see how it compares.

Tim

[3daudioinc]

I'll see if they want to participate.

Originally posted by Tim Zurowski:
Lynn

I know you have a tremendous amount of work ahead of you, and that you can't have every option in there, but I think the Tango 24 would be a great candidate to add to the list. It is one of a few units that fit a lot of buyers in that budget range. For those that need rack converters but can't afford the Myteks, etc. this is about the only choice. Sure would be nice to see how it compares.

Tim