Turtlerock Forum

Hi all...

Im tracking a band live in the studio in 3 weeks time and i need more inputs on my 002r via ADAT lightpipe.... im currently using a Mackie 800r which i have up for sale at the moment in the "for sale" section...

The fact is ive got some pretty decent pre's (sebatron, Joe meek (kinda decent) and an API3124 on the way) and i really dont want to send these through the Mackie's gain stage and A/D... But as always cant really afford anything too flash... just want an A/D that will do the job and that sounds better than the 002. So i was looking at the RME ADI-8 AE or the RME ADI-8 PRO...

Anybody used any of these??

Any other suggestions??

Thanks

Jonathan

Call sound devices and hire an Apogee AD16... light pipe out into your rig.

I think i'm on my own here but the Metric Halo 2882 gets my vote. Eight line ins, or eight quite credible mic pres, or eight di's.

Needs firewire connection to set up then is happy to run through ADAT in and outs from Pro Fools, or you can leave firewire connected and adjust setting on the fly. Haven't done any ABing with Apogee or similar but it is a night and day difference to the 002. my 2c

If your on a budget I'd recommend the Lynx Aurora, still fairly expensive but damn near as good as the new Apogee Rosettas, some would say better. I think you can get 8 channels for about $3000 or 16 channels for about $4500.

Its around half the price of apogee, probably worth every cent.

The Lynx Aurora is actually on the top of my list! The problem is i need an ADAT lightpipe output to run into my digi002r. This is done by an expansion card and costs extra, not sure how much but a decent amount. So barring on some sort of miracle like winning tatslotto or someone deciding to sell one secondhand i think im going to have to settle on something of lesser quality...

Kris- i would hire from sound devices but im based in melbourne and didnt want to hire from interstate...

Barney - Metric Halo looks interesting, ill give it a look...

Cheers all,

Jonathan

The Apogee Ensemble in stand alone mode, you get 4 pres and AD and DA conversion (8 all up including pres). Sound Device under $3K

nIC

Aearth wrote:The Apogee Ensemble in stand alone mode, you get 4 pres and AD and DA conversion (8 all up including pres). Sound Device under $3K

nIC

Just got one last week and it does a nice job as mater with the MOTU 896 in tow

Aearth wrote:The Apogee Ensemble in stand alone mode, you get 4 pres and AD and DA conversion (8 all up including pres). Sound Device under $3K

nIC

Can you just use all 8 AD DA without using the onboard pres?

Thanks to some good advice from BCains I gave Lewis at AWAVE a call and he quoted me a very decent price for the Lynx Aurora 8 with the ADAT card, its still above my budget but i think im just gonna save a bit longer and get it.

He and also offered to put my Mackie 800r up on the second hand section on the AWAVE website. Some of the best service ive had from a pro-audio retailer in a long time, up there with Mixmasters.

So thanks for the help everyone but i think we can close the book on this topic...

Cheers,

Jonathan

Awave get my vote for good service and also back up support.

Barney Loveland wrote:Awave get my vote for good service and also back up support.

seconded. i bought my aurora 8 from awave but fortunately have not required support on it yet..

[quote="BCains"][quote="Aearth"]The Apogee Ensemble in stand alone mode, you get 4 pres and AD and DA conversion (8 all up including pres). Sound Device under $3K

nIC[/quote]

Can you just use all 8 AD DA without using the onboard pres?[/quote]

Sorry BC, missed this one. I'm pretty sure it can.

nIC

I just had a look on the Apogee website and checked out the rear panel of the Ensemble, the first two channels have a mic input and a send output and return input, the second two channels have a mic input and D.I input, channels 5,6,7,8 have line inputs. So how do you bypass the mic pre's on the first 4 channels? Could you use the return and D.I inputs?? Sounds a bit iffy...

Jonathan Kristian wrote:I just had a look on the Apogee website and checked out the rear panel of the Ensemble, the first two channels have a mic input and a send output and return input, the second two channels have a mic input and D.I input, channels 5,6,7,8 have line inputs. So how do you bypass the mic pre's on the first 4 channels? Could you use the return and D.I inputs?? Sounds a bit iffy...

A bit of research would answer your own questions.?



http://www.apogeedigital.com/pdf/ensemb ... sguide.pdf

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1? MIC1

Thanks for the info Chris, i admit i didnt take the time to read the user guide and just went by the pics so thanks for taking the time to answer my question...

So now im in two minds, whether to get the Ensemble or the Lynx Aurora... Looks like im gonna have to do some more reasearch and hopefully get to try them both out...

Anyone here compared the two??

Im guessing as as far as A/D D/A conversion goes they are both fine but anything in particular that swayed you either way??

I've heard nothing but praise about the lynx.

I was tossing up between the Aurora 8 and the Apogee Rosetta 800,
everyone i've spoken to have said the lynx so i just need get it quoted with the ADAT card.

Either way you go it's going to be far superior to the 002, so pick the one that fits your budget.

i know i'm stringing this post out, but it's kind of topical for me at the moment - what do people think about comparing the RME fireface 800 with the previously mentioned (lynx, ensemble) converters?

'Cause factory sound has the firefaces for below $2000

i feel like the extra information bandwidth that FW800 gives you has to be an advantage over the FW400 boxes..

does the RME conversion stack up against the lynx and apogee?

toddd wrote:i know i'm stringing this post out, but it's kind of topical for me at the moment - what do people think about comparing the RME fireface 800 with the previously mentioned (lynx, ensemble) converters?

'Cause factory sound has the firefaces for below $2000

i feel like the extra information bandwidth that FW800 gives you has to be an advantage over the FW400 boxes..

does the RME conversion stack up against the lynx and apogee?

The difference sound wise is minimal......i haven't compared any but the 896 and the ensemble and the ensemble sounds maybe a bit smoother but not necessarily better or worse....if you know what i mean. The decision for me is based on functionality..... The clocking is meant to be superiour in the appogee and RME products. Just my quick opinion.

Chris H wrote:i feel like the extra information bandwidth that FW800 gives you has to be an advantage over the FW400 boxes..

Yeah, but if you do the numbers, there's heaps of bandwidth in Firewire400 even. I still like to have the hard drive on a different bus to the interface, but I get the impression that there are plenty of other performance bottlenecks to deal with before the bus speed becomes the issue.

Toddd - I have only auditioned the fireface vs the ensemble instore, so I find it hard to draw any definite conclusions. The ensemble is a very nice sounding interface and its preamps/converters are in my unworthy opinion better that those in the Fireface. The Fireface has the extra ADAT I/O channel and 12 vs 8 analog inputs, and so wins on channel count and flexibility. The Ensemble costs a lot more. Go figure, based on budget and need ;-)

this whole topic leads into a whole other issue regarding these prosumer converters - how can we possibly compare the products?

i really feel that with the devices we're discussing, you pretty much need to do a whole project of tracking/mixing to really get an accurate picture on which is the superior one...

that said; i think i'm going to save me pennies and go for the ensemble. i hope you don't mind chris h, but i may copy your setup slightly (i'm currently using logic with a motu traveller as the interface - the traveller definately feels like it would be a better slave than hub of the whole system..)

...also i can say i have 'apogee conversion'...