Opinions Needed On Apogee Converters VS Digidesign

[leftbrain]

Question....which would sound better....in your opinions????

Digidesign 96 I/O / 96I I/O clocked to an Apogee Big Ben, or an Apogee Rosetta 200 / 800 with it's internal clock.....at similar sample rates???

[Infa]

Ahhhhh , that is a real good question.. NOW normally , if you knew me, I would jump in and say APOGEE , of coarse... BUT if you are clocking the Digi interfaces with a Big Ben ,,, and comparing it to the Rossettas with their normal INTERNAL clocks ,, then wheeewww,,, I don't really know... You know what? , I think it should sound so roughly close, that you wouldn't be able to hear a difference..... But I would still lean towards Apogee because the circuitry inside I just FEEL is a little more solely consintrated on, and geared towards CONVERSION, and CONVERSION alone !!!

But if you got the Apogee 16 X Series D/A - A/D's then I would say APOGEE 100% all the way , night and day difference !! --

[roberts]

I have a Rosetta 800 and 192's and the only problem with the Xcards is the Apogee must go AFTER the 192's in the interface chain. and the Appogee's DO NOT SUPPORT and ADC of hardware insterts. So if you are using external H/W it's a big problem for ADC. If not then you won't care. I have to use my Rosetta through the Digital I/O on the 192's cause all be outboard comps and Eq's go through the Rosetta.
The Rosetta sound a bit different the 192 but it's flavour only Coke VS Pepsi.
IMHO

[losttimestudios]

Roberts: Could you explain (maybe with an example) what you mean when you say Apogee X Card does not support and ADC conversion of HW inserts? I recently upgraded to 192 and Rosetta 800 setup. I am still in the process of getting everything up and running, and have some external gear, both analog and digital.

It is a minor inconveniance that the 192 has to go first since I use the Rosetta's 1/2 channel for the main stereo output. The 192 gives you simultaneous 8 analog 8 digital i/os, plus it has an additional AES/SPDIF/Optical port for further digital i/o connections. The 192 has 8 more i/os than the Rosetta. I am using the Rosetta for clock without problems and with a noticable improvement over the 192's clock. In terms of sound quality, if the Rosetta is Coke, and 192 is Pepsi, I like Coke better.

[SoundEng1]

CRANESONG HEDD!!!

[DigiGeek]

I have a Rosetta 800 and 192's and the only problem with the Xcards is the Apogee must go AFTER the 192's in the interface chain. and the Appogee's DO NOT SUPPORT and ADC of hardware insterts.

Are you talking about Auto Delay Compensation?

[Rail Jon Rogut]

Are you talking about Auto Delay Compensation?

I believe he means that the Apogee A to D and D to A propagation delay values don't match the hard coded values in Pro Tools of the 192 I/O for Auto Delay Compensation.

Rail

[losttimestudios]

Huh?

[minister]

i think he is saying that digi has a way of measuring (knowing) their delay and comepnsating for it with their hardware. they don't (or can't) calculate the delay caused by plug-ins on an apogee box and account for it in their ADC.

...or, perhaps they can only have one set of values for compensation calculation. and perhaps they are guarding their position to get you to buy their stuff. but, i tend to be less cynical and say that calculating for evey box in every situation would be a nightmare. so they just figured out their own.

right?

[Infa]

They are referring to the HARDWARE inserts only, NOT plug ins ... Plug ins ADC will always get calculated "ITB" because they are "ITB" ,, its easy -- But when Roberts and Rail were referring to the "A/D and D/A delay values not matching the values in Pro Tools of the 192 I/O for ADC." They were referring to when you have "External Hardware" effects/gear inserts,,, not PLUG INS ... Plug Ins can not be affected by a interface, plug ins are used inside the PT software itself, therefore the delay comp. for them is done inside there as well before it even leaves PT.. But I guess PT can also compensate for External Hardwares inserts delays.. And that is what you'll lose capibilities of if you choose to go Apogee w/HD card instead of a Digi interface...