Interfaces considered a "step up" from the Avid I|O?

[Bob Olhsson]

MTRX is a serious step up!

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by Eric Lambert

After a tireless search, I ended up purchasing an Atlas. This can become the new Master (via Digilink) and the existing Avid HD can clock to it and be used for add'l ins/outs. It's more than I'd planned on spending but should quiet those voices that whisper about conversion quality.

Oops, I meant Titan. I didn't need all those mic pres offered in the Atlas.

[Eric Lambert]

The Titan arrived and is installed and sounding superb. I'm sure there were several strong choices I could have made but this feels like the best for me. The very first recording (a vocal) made my jaw drop. It had that detail and presence I set out to find. Highly recommended.

The added bonus is that the Avid HD, now clocked to the Prism, sounds a bit better, too.

For those following, Black Lion still has not responded to me. I never would have felt good about that upgrade had I gone with it.

[Verbcrunch]

I vote for the Metric Halo LIO8 mkIV. A/D quality is almost mind blowing.

8 line ins, 8 sends, 8 analog outs, 8 channels AES

If you need mic preamps get the Metric Halo ULN8 mkIV. Or an LIO8 with 4 preamps.

MH gear has been the "front end" to all my ProTools systems since 2005..

[TOM@METRO]

I agree, the Metric Halo line is amazing. But I don't see where the Avid alternatives are really lacking.

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by TOM@METRO

I agree, the Metric Halo line is amazing. But I don't see where the Avid alternatives are really lacking.

I can only speak to the Avid HD vs. Prism Titan but there was an appreciable improvement moving to the latter. More detail and presence. I don't think one is more or less balanced -- both seem to have relatively flat/neutral freq sensitivities -- though something about that added presence adds weight to the sound. And we aren't talking about major differences here. The Avid is very good.

[baslotto]

Originally Posted by BScout

Let's go by the numbers: THD+N is worse on the Aurora. The dynamic range is much worse on the Aurora (for both ADC and DAC). The Aurora is 20dBu headroom, the HD I/O is 22dBu (not like the MTRX/Merging/Symphony that are 24dBu far from the consumer range which at 20dBu is the Aurora).

If the Aurora was lower priced, it'd make sense. But competing, its price range, it hasn't left its predecessor.
Meanwhile, the Hilo is everything the Aurora(n) should have been.

Oh boy.. have you listened to them side by side? Or this is just by reading the numbers on a piece of paper?