# A/D-D/A converters



## mbeckler (Jun 2, 2009)

Alright, I'd like to know which converters are arguably some of the best. 

Apogee, M-audio/Digidesign, Lynx... which ones?


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## immortalgropher (Feb 16, 2010)

Lynx/Apogee/SSL


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## ngarjuna (Mar 29, 2010)

Lavry Engineering

Mytek

Prism

to name a few more.

There are many nice high end converters nowadays, too many to list. You can find shootouts on gearslutz and the like but in the end any converters even being to a Lavry will probably get you where you need to go.


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## HaleStorm (Oct 7, 2009)

I'm using an M-Audio Profire 2626. Tons of I/O, ADAT Optical, Coax, MIDI interface,
on board preamps, great sound, no latency. I use Pro Tools. Can't say how it interfaces 
with other DAW's. I use outboard pre's also.

Bill


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## tehguit (Jul 19, 2009)

IMHO I think people put too much stock in converters sometimes, the biggest studio in Australia here uses Digi 192s and 96s, so does Chris Lord-Alge (or he did anyway) as well as heaps of other big studios. And it seems like everyone thinks the apogees/prisms/lynxs kill them sonically, but they can be heard on hundreds of top 40 albums. 

That being said i doubt any converter costing you more than 2 grand is going to be a huge difference, just comes down to price vs sonics. Hell you may prefer a 2 grand box to a 12 grand box, just because that's what you prefer.


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## bassman17 (Jan 24, 2010)

I'd add that the clock is paramount to good converter sound. CLA and all the rest that use the stock digi stuff most assuredly have a good master clock driving them.

I use a Black Lion clock to drive an SSL Alphalink. Luv it....

-ashley


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## tehguit (Jul 19, 2009)

Bit of food for thought, but i was talking to a tech who actually designs digital (as well as analogue) gear. He was of the impression that a good internal clock trumps an external one every time. This is because when you use an external clock, it still has to go through all the internal clock circuitry which actually increases jitter.

Not trying to bash you, i agree a good clock is important, but if your internal clock is good, don't screw with it if you don't have to. I also think this is a personal taste thing.

If you have more than probably 2 converters its probably better to have an external clock as that will have the lowest jitter as it won't have that cumulative effect.


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## bantam (Oct 25, 2009)

To the OP best is somewhat subjective especially when you havent specified genre. apogees sound great on rock but classical would require something that imparted less of a 'sound'. in this catagory price will tell you alot about quality. Not true in all categories though.


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## bassman17 (Jan 24, 2010)

tehguitarist said:


> Bit of food for thought, but i was talking to a tech who actually designs digital (as well as analogue) gear. He was of the impression that a good internal clock trumps an external one every time. This is because when you use an external clock, it still has to go through all the internal clock circuitry which actually increases jitter.
> 
> Not trying to bash you, i agree a good clock is important, but if your internal clock is good, don't screw with it if you don't have to. I also think this is a personal taste thing.
> 
> If you have more than probably 2 converters its probably better to have an external clock as that will have the lowest jitter as it won't have that cumulative effect.


I would agree but so many boxes in a reasonable price range (including the stock digi stuff for sure) do not have good internal clocks. Certain Apogee units do, but not all. 

The best bet is to try it yourself and see if things improve or not. Trust your own ears, not my words.

-ashley


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## bantam (Oct 25, 2009)

tehguitarist said:


> i agree a good clock is important, but if your internal clock is good, don't screw with it if you don't have to. I also think this is a personal taste thing.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## ngarjuna (Mar 29, 2010)

Here's what Dan Lavry said during a forum discussion of jitter and internal versus external clocks:



> Jitter at the converter will cause undesirable degradation. Jitter has different types of impact on different converter architecture. Also, there are different types of jitter (causes of jitter). Jitter may reduce dynamic range, it can introduce unwanted "tones" that "move with the music"... It is a pretty complicated subject. But all that is about CONVERSION JITTER, not to be confused with much hype about INTERFACE JITTER, which is the jitter of moving digital data around. *As a rule, interface jitter is a non issue, but converter jitter is an issue. As a rule, use internal clock for your converter, unless you must use external clocking (usually needed for multiple channels of AD conversion).* Jitter is a big subject.


(emphasis mine)


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