GOLDEN EARS!!!!

[batman]

I've got 14x 888-24, 8 are RevJ or later with
"24-bit D/A converters" and the rest are older with "20-bit D/A converters.

They have all been in the UK top studios in various configurations(I work for a rental company)....nobody has yet commented on any
discrepancies in audio quality....why????

Mister "X"

[danisrael]

Batman,

It is hard enough to prove there is a problem. Proving a negative is even tougher. An assistant of mine ran a signal through the TDM mixer and bounce the tracks to disc. He then imported them. He perform this 25 times making 3db subtractions at the fader and 3db gains on the master.

Not only did he and 3 others not hear the thinness compiling, they were all 3 unable to distinguish the 25 gen from the 1st. Scary. I can't wait to hear it myself.

[danisrael]

Speer,

He used a George Massenburg mix.

[johnwhynot]

Hey folks.

I have to say I heard the 20/24 difference straight off; i went to a dub stage to hear a bit of my own mixes there, and even though it's always a bit shocking, though there was a "cover" to the overall sound and an added sense of texture to the more dense parts of the score. Sorry to use rockstar terminology.

Main gist being I though something was a bit wrong, so I squawked a bit (quietly) to the music editor and it turns out the playback system had the old 888s, and the new ones were coming from another system in time for the first big playback. So I hung around, and listened for the big difference...

Well, there it was! My mix came back with 24 bit playback. It wasn't night and day, but when I'm listening with music ears and not technician ears I really notice it. It just sounded deeper. And I was out of the room when they made the switch/reboot etc. I just walked in after getting some coffee and right away said, "hey that's better, what changed?".

It was those blasted extra bits.

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Score Mixer/Record Producer

[johnwhynot]

Sorry, by old 888s I meant the 24/20 ones before the upgrade.

Not the 18/16 ones...



[This message has been edited by johnwhynot (edited 10-15-99).]

[nipple]

I have both flavors of 888/24. I have golden ears as well (at least that's what mom says ) . Difference is negligeable at best. Who cares? Both units sound very good, much better than the old 888's (18/16). On the "vintage" 888/24 (20 bit D/A) just put 20 bit dither across the output - if you can hear the difference you need to get a life.

[This message has been edited by nipple (edited 10-15-99).]

[PeterCole]

To Johnwhynot,

You must have killer ears! Imagine, hearing such a large difference between 20 and 24bit on speakers that have big old nasty horns behind a screen with the sound blasting through tiny holes with one of those lousy Dolby speaker tunings! I trust you were using high quality near fields on this Dub Stage?<g>

[Natural Sound]

<<It just sounded deeper. And I was out of the room when they made the
switch/reboot etc. I just walked in after getting some coffee and right
away said, "hey that's better, what changed?".>>

uhhhh, perhaps your caffine level?
Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

[batman]

Thanx for all the replies guys........
My own ears have been shot since I did an album with John Entwistle in 1986 (it was a lot of fun though!).
So the general consensus seems to be that it's not worth springing for the $500ish upgrade of the D/As.
And another thing.....what's the meaning of the multifarious "upgrades" of the 888-24s (the earliest one I have is RevH and the latest RenT)....this is all fascinating stuff!!........

[Ray Fabi]

I just bought an Apogee PSX-100 with 24/96 converter with (i hope) better low-jitter clock. I have an 888/224 with 20 bit DA. I will not be able to compare 888/24 new and old, but will run some tests between Apogee 24 bit and Digi 20 bit. I will let everybody know what my "silver" ears tell me.


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Ray Fabi
Ton of Bricks Studios Montreal
514-990-2713