Apogee Rosetta 800 or Lynx Aurora 16

[Durka]

Hello, I would like to here from users of either of these two AD/DA options as to how they are working with your Protools HD systems? Also which option seems to run with the least amount of issues with HD?

Thanks,

Paul

[thin ice]

I have the Rosetta 800 from before I had the HD system. I love the sound especially when clocked from the Big Ben. However, if I was starting from scratch I would just get Digidesign 192s. There is not such a difference in quality now as there was in the days of mix systems with 888s. You can get a Digi X-HD card which allows the direct connection to an HD PCIx/e card, bit it all seems like expense and hassle for little gain.

[bruceup]

I run a Rosetta 800 clocked by a Big Ben. Sounds wonderful in both directions and works like a charm. I don't miss my 192 i/o at all (except I'm down to 8 i/o now).

[mikeoxbig]

I had a Rosetta 800 with X-HD card, sold it and got an Aurora 16 with LT-HD card. I switched to the Aurora for the inputs and the ADC compatibility. The Rosetta sounded a little better and the build quality is better. I wouldn't go back though, 16i/o is a necessity for me and ADC with the Aurora is so damn convenient. I still haven't tried clocking with a BigBen though. I do want to try one. If I get one anytime soon I'll report back.

[Top Jimmy]

I switched to the Aurora for the inputs and the ADC compatibility.

mikeoxbig,

Perhaps you can expand on that comment. Specifically, does the Aurora have identical input and output delays to the 192? We have both Rosetta 800s and DA-16Xs and I know that the input and output delays for both is more than a 192.

[rmccam]

I have a Rosetta 800 running with an x-digi-HD card and it works great... I've never had any issues. The imaging of it is really focussed... overall it's one of the better converters I've heard.

Hope that helps.

[Durka]

Thanks for all the responses I am a bit confused on the Apogee Rosetta 800 and ADC in Protools HD...
Is the mix bus and plugins still compensated for within Protools if I would use this interface?
Do you just loose Harware insert ADC? I am confused!!

I track into Protools with Analog synths DrumMachines etc... and am use to nudging audio to grid to compensate for the latency going into HD. I really would like to use this Apogee as a front end to my HD rig but just need some clarification as to if you loose all ADC in PTHD 7.4.

Thanks,

Paul

[zennman]

New X-HD card firmware 2.07 now supports ADC

This firmware includes all features added in the X-HD firmware release of August 15th, 2007, including:
• Detection of X-HD equipped Apogee interfaces as Digital 192 Interfaces in Pro Tools software.
• AD/DA16X Advanced routing changed.
• Latency correction values now entered in Pro Tools software I/O Setup pane.

[Top Jimmy]

But it only does ADC if the Apogee I/O is used as a hardware insert and the compensation value is entered manually.

What is not compensated for is the time difference between the Apogee interface and the 192 interface A/D or D/A conversion times when not used as a hardware insert. If you look in the I/O setup, on both the inputs tab and the outputs tab there is a checkbox that allows you to enable compensation for either output (playback) or input (recording) delay. This compensation is aligned for the 192, not for the Apogee interfaces. Therefore, even when these boxes are checked, the audio recorded into Pro Tools via an Apogee interface will be behind in time as compared to what's already there, or what's been recorded through a 192 at the same time. Digidesign should give us the capability to either put in our own interface I/O delay compensation values, or they should allow Pro Tools to recognize third-party interfaces and automatically compensate for the correct value.

Given that Digidesign has never concerned themselves with whether or not third-party hardware manufacturers' products played well with Pro Tools, I also think that Apogee should have recognized this limitation and done everything it could have to overcome it for the benefit of their customers. Apogee converters might be the bomb, but there's a problem if audio recorded through one does not appear exactly in the timeline where it should. In my book, close enough is a compromise.

Durka, check Apogee's website for something called Adcalc. It'll show you how to manually compensate for your interface when you're using ADC and hardware inserts.

[2fly]

hi,

I use the Aurora and the 192 together and have had no ADC issues. They work
really well together and the 16 in/outs on the Aurora sound very nice. PTools
treats the Aurora as a 192 and set up is very easy.