S3L DA Converter Quality

[pmueller]

Is my impression correct? DA converters in S3 and Engine are different in quality then the DA converters in stage 16?

What do you know about? Are the stage 16 converters the same used in the new HD I/O?

Patrick

[Sheldon Radford]

Hi Patrick,

The S3, E3 and Stage 16 all use the same DAC chip from TI. This is not the same DAC as used in HD I/O.

Sheldon

[pmueller]

Thanks Sheldon

But why they sound different, honestly I wouldn't use S3 or Engine converters to feed our studio monitoring, they sound not as good as the Stage 16 converters.

(I directly routed the signal without any processing (inserts,EQ, Dyn) to the 3 different outputs. A true A-B-C test)

I'm glad to test S3L in our recording-mixing location, consider if it works for our needs to get full data exchange between our mobile trailer (venue profile) and the recording studio. We want to be able to record outdoor and finish the product in the studio without starting from zero.

Best, Patrick

[Kristo Kotkas]

This type of discussions are always pretty much pointless without audio files. Since I do a bit of work on a S3L system nowadays (as the band's crew refuses to bring the Profile out anymore due to the size and weight difference ) I'm very interested to see if this what Patrick is saying is true. What I plan to do is, to take a snippet of a bands live show recording, bus it out of the Stage16, S3 and Engine outputs into Profile inputs all set to the same level and then share the files with you guys so everyone can listen if there is a difference and best of all, we can try the null test by flipping the phase on one file when A/B'ing two files. It's busy times, but I'll try to make it happen.

Best, Kristo

[Greg C]

Originally Posted by Kristo Kotkas

What I plan to do is, to take a snippet of a bands live show recording, bus it out of the Stage16, S3 and Engine outputs into Profile inputs all set to the same level and then share the files with you guys so everyone can listen if there is a difference and best of all, we can try the null test by flipping the phase on one file when A/B'ing two files. It's busy times, but I'll try to make it happen.

Unless you're doing true ABX blind testing, listening tests are nearly useless for any objective analysis. It's been proven time and time again. The null testing will be your best bet. Makes sure the gains are perfectly matched within 0.1dB. You'll need something like a Precision Audio analyzer to make sure.