AD-8000 or 888/24

[spacegoat]

hi eyeryone,

i'm just about to start a 32 track mix project where we are going to be using direct outs to an SSL J-series. we currently have 3 888/24's and are wondering whether to opt for an Apogee AD-8000.

is there a real advantage over the 888/24's?
the low jitter is not so much of an issue as we have a USD which from everything i read is as good as the apogee so really it's a question of the sound.

we'll also be doing master vocals so the sound quality going in is an issue as well.

any advice? thanks

[Jules]

As a well documented Apogee chearleadrer...yes, for example on a vocal from 2" to PT and back again is a tad less brittle.How many inputs to you record at once? Perhaps you would be better off with a PSX100 which can handle just 2 ch at once but has super good jitter specs....It's 96k abilitys might come in handy in the future, (live to stereo Jazz? on 4 tracks of an ADAT?)
As for output to the SSL, I would pick, Bass, Kick, Snare, then say 3 vocals to come out of the Apogee D/A.
Jules

[This message has been edited by Jules (edited March 08, 2000).]

[markprator]

We have two AD-8000's. They're really quite nice. The soft limit function is a must, as well as the fact it does paqrat bit splitting as well as AD-22.
you have to buy extra cards to get to a DA-88, and analog outputs, and ADAT interface.
Great piece.

[spacegoat]

thanks jules - i liked the look of the PSX too certainly for my own studio - for the mix project we need the extra 8 outputs though - so its a question of whether its worth the extra moolah for the AD-8000 over another 888/24!

[Jonny Atack]

It's totally worth it. If your project has the budget to mix on a 9K-J, you owe it to your work to use the Apogees, especially the AD8000SE (Special Edition) ones. With Apogee vs 888/24, I reckon you get what you pay for.

[Solan Gundersen]

I just bought the AD8000, and since I have the 888/24 also, it is real easy to compare. You can hear the differece right away. I am usig te Apogee as a master and the 888/24 as a slave. With the newest firmware on the AD8000, it is a "set and forget configuration.
The only bad thing about the AD8000, is the fan noise. So I think I will have to move it out to where a have my computer.
There is a lot of talk about sound quality here. I think Apogee is one of the answers to that.

Config: 9600/350, mix+, + old farm card

[spacegoat]

thanks to everyone for the advice - the one question i still have is this - as i understand it much of the perceived improvement in sound quality comes as a result of the superior clock in the apogee.
however one of the claims of the USD is that it's clock is extremely low jitter also - about the same as the apogee - and i have read many comments on this forum from people who claim their sound quality measurably improved simply by introducing the USD into their system as the clock master - is this other peoples experience and are those of you who favour the apogee using it with a USD as well - just curious!

[Philee]

Can't you reset those sound differences by tweeking parametric or graphic eq?
After all you can buy hella good equalizer with the extra money you could spend on AD-8000.

[Lee Blaske]

I've heard varying reports from those having used the 888|24s and the AD-8000s. The reviews have been mixed. Some people can't tell the difference.

One thing that's important in your situation, however, is whether all of your 888|24s have been upgraded to the 24 bit D/A convertors. The earlier units were 20 bits, and you'd certainly hear that.

Beyond that, by going out of PT, into an SSL, and then back again to a digital medium (unless you're also going to mix to 1/2" and then have the mastering house transfer to digital) you're already adding an extra D/A and A/D trip (plus additional A/D and D/A if you're using outboard digital efx or processing), do you're going to be adding extra signal degradation and brittleness in your mix configuration (the additional pass will add extra jitter). With all this additional degradation, I'm not sure if the improvement from an AD-8000 (if there is one) will be all that noticeable.

Also, you didn't mention if budget is an important factor, or whether you're buying AD-8000's or jest renting them. If money's no object, what the heck, try them out and see what your ears tell you.

If money is tight, and you already have a rack of 888|24s, I'd say it's a bad time to be investing in an expensive 48k convertor. Wait until Apogee comes out with a 96khz eight channel unit. At that point, you could buy the 96 khz unit and have a piece of hardware that'll be state of the art for at least a few moments, or pick up a used 48k AD-8000 at a rock bottom price.

Lee Blaske

[Solan Gundersen]

When we tested the Apogee converters against the 888/24, we would notice that the bottom end would be more defined, and the top end would open up in a very nice way. We tried to recreate this effect with a Focusrite red EQ (the hardware box), but we did not manage to recreate this sound.