Recording interfaces...

Discussion in 'Vinyl Nutjob World: Turntable and Related Gear' started by Mikoss, Jun 29, 2016.

  1. Mikoss

    Mikoss Friend

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    I love the sound of my analog rig, but I'm tempted to make some 24/96 recordings so that I can enjoy some of the recordings when I'm away from home. This might sound silly, since I could just listen to the digital files I already have... but some of the material I have on vinyl isn't mastered the same.

    I picked up a Yamaha Steinberg UR22 a while ago and hooked it up to test some recordings today. Sounds pretty good. Anyone have any other preferred gear? I would love to hear a shootout comparing some interfaces... not sure the legality around posting samples, so for now I'll keep mine to myself.
     
  2. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    If it worked with Linux, I'd dream of a Lynx Hilo .

    At lesser cost than Lynx, but still in pro/semi-pro audio land: RME products.

    Practical, reasonable and possible to the likes of me (and it does work with Linux): ESI Juli@.

    I've never been able to afford Lynx and never will. An RME soundcard introduced me to hifi-from-the-pc, both analogue out and in. Loved it for quite a few years, but now it makes some funny noises. Age can do funny things!

    I've given up spending, or even dreaming of spending, much money on audio as now my weak link is the ears. But it is still possible that I may own a Juli@ soundcard. There is no external-DAC upgrade path for me any longer, so I may as well go back to thinking inside the box :D. There is (was?) a thread on Gearslutz where people submitted loopback data for different interfaces: despite its modest price, the Juli@ scored very well.

    I used to digitise vinyl (etc) with the RME card. These days I am just lazy, and would prefer someone else to do the work --- and to do it well is indeed a real, hard, labour of love.

    I know what you mean about the CDs though. Whilst the CDs I have vinyl of sound pretty much like the vinyl, I've also heard stuff that I can hardly believe is the same recording. If you have the time and the patience,do your own! It helps, of course, to start with good vinyl: most of mine is pretty rough.
     
  3. Rex Aeterna

    Rex Aeterna Friend

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    i used my echo audiofire 2 for the past 10 years or so about and haven't given up on it yet and it looks like it been through hell from ghetto mounting and among other things lol but, still going. one of the few interfaces too that doesn't have that weird digital type of bright grain to it. hard to explain but, once you hear it, you'll know what i mean. it is firewire though so as long has a IEEE 1394 port you're good to go cause it's very easy changing the ieee drivers in driver settings to ''legacy'' for easy firewire usages. don't know if there was a usb version of it.

    thing is, you can't get them anymore really since they're discontinued except used. echo only sells the 8 and 12 i believe but, went the circus logic route and no longer use the pretty good ak chips like the 2/4 did
     
  4. Luckbad

    Luckbad Traded in a unicorn for a Corolla

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    ESI Juli@ XTe is the best inexpensive option, but can be hard to find.

    Lynx E22 it's quite good but over triple the price.

    I have the former right now with the latter on the way (had it before, got it again).

    I might end up needing neither if I keep the Rednet 3.

    @Mikoss if you want an ESI, let me know. I've had it for about a month and could just sell it to you instead of returning it.
     
  5. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    How could I forget? :rolleyes:. Yes, used one of those here for several years, after the RME card. Requires Firewire. Is good.

    However, the company has gone in a different direction and does not make the Audiofire line any longer.
     
  6. Rex Aeterna

    Rex Aeterna Friend

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    i know maaaannn. they just became ghey lately cause they want to be part of the rest of the cool kids on the block in the interface world.
     
  7. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Even older, the Echo Indigo line of pcmcia cards were fantastic. These days, I use an "Echo 2 usb" from Echo (terrible naming scheme) which I quite like.
     
  8. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Is that recent? The last time I looked at their site, they had devoted themselves to some sort of audio networking protocol.*

    OK, I regularly say that IMHO, ethernet is the way to go in the future, but that was no reason to throw away a decent product line. Or two.

    The disadvantages of the Audiofires were that the TRS connectors probably mean making your own cables (but hey: they were balanced) and that the headphone-out quality could probably be beaten by most mobile phones these days.

    I suppose all markets are just that, and the audiophile DAC thing killed the relatively simple 2-channel i/o sound card. And most people don't want an ADC

    Only a few years ago, my reaction to "I'm buying a DAC." used to be "Aaaarggh! You won't be able to record anything!" These days, I don't care, either.

    *Edit: re Echo Audio, all this is dead and gone.
     
  9. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    The Echo2 was their last product before moving over to AVB. Can't beat having 2in/4out in such a slim package without knobs and buttons sticking out or needing a breakout cable. The TRS outputs are balanced but not symmetrical (ie: the negative is held at 0V).

    You can still find a couple on ebay for good prices.
     
  10. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    OK, before a used, ebay echofire becomes the suggestion here, reminder of one thing... It's firewire.

    It is not only firewire, but having the wrong firewire chip can cause problems. Google will help on this.

    All in all, assuming a desktop/side PC, I'd re-introduce the Juli@ idea.
     
  11. Rex Aeterna

    Rex Aeterna Friend

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    so far i been ok with most computers and laptops i used so far even had no issues with this old ass toshiba laptop/tablet hybrid with windows xp. i mean as long as the computer has a IEEE 1394 port you should be good to go in some cases but, as always suggested unless your motherboard has a texas instrument chip is to go into the device manager and change the ieee driver to ''legacy''. all computers should have that with IEEE ports. legacy pretty much makes it universal.

    i only ever had issues with my current laptop had issues it not reading and so forth before but, it's probably cause my laptop needs a clean reinstall of windows 7. it's been acting up lately and not just dac issues. thing has to mention the echo 2/4's end at windows 7. it has no drivers for windows 10. you can easily use the echo 2 as a transport by using the inputs but, it'll stay limited at -10dbv which is consumer level and reference to .775v where using the software and firewire you can toggle between +4dbu or -10dbv.

    that's it though. i never used it on linux or mac systems ever so, i can't say anything on that part.
     
  12. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Before there's any confusion, there's the Echo2 which is usb and the Audiofire2 which is firewire.
     
  13. Rex Aeterna

    Rex Aeterna Friend

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    yea, that's why one is called ''echo 2 usb'' and other ''audiofire'' but, i already would of guess most would of got that just by name scheme since pro stuff is not bout creative naming and so forth and are usually pretty self explanatory.
     
  14. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    I had a hell of a job getting the firewire audio working on Ubuntu back then. KXStudio made all that JACK stuff and even Firewire, [usually] just work for me.

    Too late! I was confused already!

    Thanks for unconfusing :D I had not encountered the USB model. The SOS review is 2013: not long ago, but gone already!
     
  15. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    I see the usb model pop up on ebay for around $250 every now and then. Certainly worth considering in my mind if you're looking for a small portable interface.
     
  16. Chris F

    Chris F Boyz 4 Now Fanatic - Friend

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    Fremer did an ADC shootout a while back:
    http://www.analogplanet.com/content/analog-digital-converter-shootout-which-sounds-best
    http://www.analogplanet.com/content/analog-digital-converter-files-identified-converters-profiled

    The clips are a bit of a pain in the ass with some channels reversed but you can still get a decent idea of how products at various price points perform.

    He ended up keeping the Hilo.

    For my drops I use a TASCAM DA3000 to record DSD128 and then convert it to 24/96 for post processing using DSD Master on OSX. I find this gives the best result. If I were to buy again I would probably get the Hilo, might still try it at some point but its $3K CDN + tax.

    Based off my previous experience with my Claro XT card I'm not a fan of computer PCI cards. Too much interference inside a computer case which can affect the analog input. I used to get things like hum when the AC was on etc.... all that went away when I switched to an external unit.
     
  17. JK47

    JK47 Guest

    I just picked up a used DA-3000 that will be waiting for me when I get home from work in a few weeks. I'm courious to listen to the unit feeding my Gungnir Multibit PCM files via SPDIF, then listen to the same files through my laptop feeding Gungnir Multibit via USB. Of course DSD vs PCM (I'll have to use the Tascam as the DAC for this comparison though) will be on the to do list as well ;)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 6, 2016
  18. JK47

    JK47 Guest

    image.jpeg image.jpeg

    I started to rip some tracks with the Tascam DA-3000 this afternoon. Works exactly the same as recording on an ol' school tape deck. Hit pause and record and you are ready to set the recording level with the unit on standby, then hit play when you're ready to rip, and the unit will record.

    I ripped a few tracks into 5.6 DSF files and then converted them into 24/192 PCM files for comparison. I can't tell the difference right now with my Chord Mojo (Mojo > GOv2 so far, GOv2 just got sent back to LH LAbs for upgrade... So far Mojo sounds smoother without loss of detail and more true to original vinyl). Mojo is a great deal from the UK ($470 shipped).

    So far so good, I'm enjoying the Tascam unit, but the built in headphone out is nothing to get excited about. I didn't get a chance to feed the Gungnir Multibit with the coax out... Gungnir Multibit schiit the bed and is going back to get looked at, only Toslink optical works after my move, USB and Coax are toast :( boooo.

    The DA-3000 was factory refurbed for $630 shipped
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 23, 2016
  19. Rex Aeterna

    Rex Aeterna Friend

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    i saw audiofire 2 other day for 59 bucks in mint with all original content...i was soooooo tempted to buy it for a spare. didn't know though if it was earlier models or more current though(they both used the ak4620's chip but, only difference was the letters associated with it which was either ''a'' old or ''b'' for newer... don't know the difference on that though).
     
  20. Chris F

    Chris F Boyz 4 Now Fanatic - Friend

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    Lookin' good :)

    If memory serves the headphone out on the TASCAM is awful. Like they only put it there as an afterthought for the most basic of monitoring.
     

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