Digi002 Rack vs. Digi003 Rack (mods?)

[digirock]

I currently have a digi002 Rack. I'm looking at purchasing nice class A preamp, etc, to add to mix of gear. My question is this:

Is there any significant gain from upgrading to a digi003 Rack?

I know some friends of mine that tweak there digi systems with Black Lion external gear, Rosetta, etc. Can I do this with 002 Rack also?

I'm basically looking to mod a digi LE system and make it sound as industry as possible? I know there's a lot to the gear set up, but I figure I need to start with right digi LE System. Right?

Thanks for the advice.

[tamasdragon]

If you get some really nice preamps, in a simple setup, there won't be big advantage upgrading to a 003.
Personally I don't recommend the black lion mod, but others love it.
But if your musician-instrument-room-mic-preamp is right, you can make pro recordings with the digi002.
Tamas Dragon

[basslik]

Originally Posted by tamasdragon

If you get some really nice preamps, in a simple setup, there won't be big advantage upgrading to a 003.
Personally I don't recommend the black lion mod, but others love it.
But if your musician-instrument-room-mic-preamp is right, you can make pro recordings with the digi002.
Tamas Dragon

makes sense to me.

[stainless]

a good pre-amp will go a long way-

I thought about upgrading from the 002R to the 003 equivalent but didn't see enough of an advantage to justify the funds

The BLA mods are likely to open a firestorm-marathon thread (again) ... seems people like them (and they own them), or they don't like them (and don't own them.... and paradoxically most anti's have not personally/physically used a modded unit)

at some point, Digi will abandon the 002 like it has the 001... so the big (ger) question is IF you stay with ProTools, will you continue to follow the upgrades

or decide what-you-got is good enough for your needs

OR as the other platforms catch-up, migrate to a non proprietary hardware platform

a good pre will follow you to just about any DAW

[albee1952]

"at some point, Digi will abandon the 002 like it has the 001..."
Not exactly accurate in my opinion. The death of the 001 was due to Apple ceasing the use of PCI slots in their machines(no PCI slot, no 001 function). Since the 002 and 003 use the same firewire protocol, I expect support for both to last several years. Other than the addition of wordclock on the 003, there's really not much difference in the rack versions. The mixer versions are another story. If you have an 002r and want better sound, better preamp/converters makes good sense(and will still be useful if you go for an 003 later. Some choices that will get you a serious boost in quality include:
API A2D (2 channels of API preamp with SPDIF)
Focusrite ISA428 with digital card(4 channels of nice clean preamps with a twist. The digital card has 4 balanced line inputs where you can bring in any external preamp thru the focusrite converters. Nice place to patch some Vintech, Grace, DW Fearn, UA610 or similar while bypassing the cheap 002 converters).
There are other choices(especially for less money but at a lower improvement level). The API is on my wishlist(along with Vintech). I have the ISA428 and it works very nicely, but its not really a "character" preamp like the others.

Don't forget, better D>A coming out will make a difference as well(at least in the sound you hear on your monitors).

[nz]

My question is that I have some great preamps (a full API Lunchbox), but I am double preamping going through my 4 mic pre on the 003 as well as the 8 channels of Presonus Digimax 96 using the ADAT input.

I need something that will allow me only AD conversion and to bypass any other preamps. Right now I am beating up the line inputs on channels 5-8 as well as my Apogee Rosetta (2 channel).

Is there anything out there with eight channels (besides the Rosetta 800 or AD-8000)? And eve with those, what is a better choice?

Thanks!

[DanoWpg]

Wouldn't you take the output of the API and just use the balanced line in on channels 1-4 of the 002r? That way, you're bypassing the preamps on the 002r, like you're doing on channels 5-8.

Are you looking to use an Apogee instead of the DigiMax?

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by DanoWpg

Wouldn't you take the output of the API and just use the balanced line in on channels 1-4 of the 002r? That way, you're bypassing the preamps on the 002r, like you're doing on channels 5-8.

Are you looking to use an Apogee instead of the DigiMax?

This does not actually bypass the 002 pre, it merely skips a gain stage(which probably does net better audio). The cheapest solution(if you have mic preamps) is to go in via the lightpipe input with an old ADAT machine(the later ones with better converters would be best if you can find one).

[tamasdragon]

But a high-end pre (like the api) through the first four input (with the digipres) will still sound as a high-end pre.
Tamas Dragon

[digirock]

albee1952: What exactly is word clock?


tamasdragon: You said "Personally I don't recommend the black lion mod, but others love it"...can you elaborate on that please :)

Thanks for the info :)