another recording question

[eytan]

As I mentioned earlier, I am not a digital person and I am not familiar with the variety of digital recording systems that are available. I do have a VENUE and I understand the benefits of of interfacing with a PT HD system for recording live performances.

My question is regarding the audio quality of such a system. I suggested to a customer of mine to record all his shows using the VENUE/PT HD setup. This customer likes the idea and he is questioning the audio quality. In the past the same customer used a Genex GX9048 to record his shows and he was very happy with the audio quality. How do these two systems compare? With which system would he get a better sound quality?

Will the Apogee Big Ben (mentioned in another post) improve on the recording quality of the VENUE/PT system?

Thanks,

[emluper]

Eytan,

The audio quality is the same as the recording industry has used for years. Will the Big Ben make a difference? Yes, when I installed ours the video team asked what new plug-in we were using to make the Venue sound so good. There is even a member of the Digi team that has heard the Big Ben attached and agrees that there is a difference. That being said, it also depends on your playback medium. We have SLS tops, Bag End bottoms, and Lab Gruppen amps. The difference in that set up is significant because the noise floor for the system is so low. As for what the HD system can sound like, go here:

http://www.tonysound.com

most of the mp3's on this site were recorded in the box.

Erik

[eytan]

Eytan,

The audio quality is the same as the recording industry has used for years. Will the Big Ben make a difference? Yes, when I installed ours the video team asked what new plug-in we were using to make the Venue sound so good. There is even a member of the Digi team that has heard the Big Ben attached and agrees that there is a difference. That being said, it also depends on your playback medium. We have SLS tops, Bag End bottoms, and Lab Gruppen amps. The difference in that set up is significant because the noise floor for the system is so low. As for what the HD system can sound like, go here:
Erik

Thank you Erik,

In my case the playback medium is not relevant, because my customer is interested in the recording quality for making a commercial CD. He says to me something like "the Genex system has great preamps" how does your compare?

So I am asking what the difference is in preamps quality and A to D conversion ect (Venue vs Genex) . Many people who have used the Venue have commented on how good the sound quality is, but that was for mixing live shows. People from the recording industry have their own opinions and preferences of gear that they like to use. My aim is to use the Venue + PT HD recording for making live performances CDs.

[emluper]

You can easily make professional quality live CD's using a Venue/PT HD based rig. Whether or not your client will like the sound better than his Genex is a subjective question that I don't think anyone on the DUC could honestly answer. As far as recording guys preferences go, I think the Venue pre's sound better than the pre's on the Control 24, and the C24 has been used on a lot of albums. I don't think that Digi would have offered ProTools as an option if the Venue signal path wasn't going to hold up. While there are quite a few of us early adopters that don't have access to what the "stars" use, if the Venue was going to offer degraded sound quality for recordings I don't think Robert Scovill, Dave Skaff and some of the other big names would have even mentioned it as an option to their clients.

I think that you have access to a new revenue stream that few in your area are going to be able to compete with. Two to four cable connection to have a 64 to 128 channel ProTools recording of a clients live performance, without having to hire a remote recording crew. The tap from the A/D's is right after the preamp, so if you set your gain structure correctly you don't have to worry about overs. Get the HDx option pdf and give it a read. I don't think either you or your clients will be disappointed.

Erik