Is 002R worth the money? (have 001)

[rune_sm]

Hey everyone....

I have just read the "Digidesign exchange deal" where I can exchange my digi001 for digi002R.... But is it worth the money. As I read it, Digi002R offers the exact same things as digi001, just with a little bit better pre-amps and sound quality. But isn't it better to buy a really good ADAT converter for those money?

tanks.....

Rune S. MAdsen

[stewie]

if you are really going to get the 002r you might be able to sell your digi 001 on ebay to make more money on it.

[j old school]

I haven't heard every piece of gear out there, but sure have read a about a lot of them, so what I say is not necesserily from 1st hand experience. 1st off, if you ever plan to record at 88.1 khz or 96 khz in Pro Tools LE, than you would absolutely need a 002, but since the benefits are increased sample rates are debatable, many people are still recording at 44.1 or 48 even with their 002's. 44.1 & 48khz are still very much alive.

For arguments sake, lets say that there our three levels of quality for AD converters within reasonable reach in our world of LE:

Lowest level - Digi 001, Alesis AI3, etc...
Mid Level - Octopre, Digimax, Digi 002, etc...
Higher level - Apogee Rosetta, Lucid, etc...

If you are using a 001 with a digimax or octopre, and you have no need for the internal inputs on the 001, IOW, you never need more than the 8 inputs provided by these units, I would say that the 002r would not be worth your while. Even if you are going to need 10 inputs, you could pick up a 48k rosetta pretty reasonably on ebay and an rnp for about $500, which would add 2 more inputs for a total of 10, 8 of which would be about equal to the 002, and 2 would be superior to the 002.

If you need to record more than 10 inputs at one time, on the 001, you would have to resort to the lesser 001 converters for the 11th -18th inputs, and 2 of tose, you would have to use 001's lesser mic pre's. With the 002 you would have 8 more inputs available with better A/D, 4 of which have good pres. In this case, you would be better off with the 002.

Another advantage of the 002 is that it has better built in DA. This can also be remedied in 001 with an outboard DA, but that obviously costs more money. People here have reported that they can here things when they are played back on the 002 that they never heard on their 001.

Yet another reason to go with 002 is that lifespan of 001's PCI support is appraoching its last days. 002's firewire interface also adds ease of connectivity and portability.

It all depends on your specific needs. 002 is obviously a better unit. But if you already have a 001 and some of the outboard converters and pres mentioned above, the extra cash for the shelled out for the 002 may not buy you that much.

[rune_sm]

Thank you very much... it was a great help..

greetings - Rune

[Amerihudge]

I have just read the "Digidesign exchange deal" where I can exchange my digi001 for digi002R.... But is it worth the money. As I read it, Digi002R offers the exact same things as digi001, just with a little bit better pre-amps and sound quality. But isn't it better to buy a really good ADAT converter for those money?

I've been mulling over the same question. I thought I had it all planned out - buy a 001 and invest in a great front end to achieve "pro" results. But Noooo, Digidesign had to go and release the 002r and upset the apple cart...

I rarely need more than a couple of inputs at a time so I went ahead and purchased an RNP as a preamp upgrade. Next up was going to be an Apogee Rossetta for excellent AD converstion, but now I'm a bit unsure of myself. Seems I can sell the 001 on eBay for appx. 600 and the difference for the 002r will be about the same. Purchasing a Rosetta will cost me a bit more than the $600 difference but I'll presumably get better conversion than the 002r.

The Digi 002r will gain me 4 better preamps of higher quality than the 001, better conversion than the 001, and firewire support.

Keeping the 001 and adding a great converter along with my RNP will give me a very respectable front end - essentially bypasing the 001's breakout box altogether.

I guess my biggest question is how much better is the Apogee conversion than the 002r and does it matter to the point of sacrificing what the 002r offers?

[Sugarnutz]

Remeber that you are gaining 2 extra mic pres and 88/96khz sampling rates, is this important to you?
I am using a Tango 24 and pretty much bypassing the Digi convertors and at some point plan to get a Rosetta 800. I personally like the 001 as it sets on the pci bus, the 002/002r have to go though the firewire to pci conversion which is one more place for something to go wrong (see Murphy's Law ). The 001 is an incredible bang for the buck, especially if you go with some kind of outboard convertors and plan to stick to 44.1/48khz which if your music is going to CD you'll want to stay 44.1. I think that the 001 achieves slightly better DaveC results on the same computer vs. 002/002r

[Bastiaan]

for what i heard here, and elsewhere....the rosetta is MUCH better as the digi001.

I myself just got a swissonic AD8, and i noticed the differences wit clocking. Previously recorded stuff sounds so much better..its scary. The swissonic is equal or slightly better as the presonus digimax and the focusrite octopre stuff

[Amerihudge]

for what i heard here, and elsewhere....the rosetta is MUCH better as the digi001.

Certainly the Rosetta is a much better converter than the 001 - it had better be, considering the cost.

The question is, is it significantly better than the 002r converters - enough to justify giving up the added functionality of 002r for a Rosetta/001.

[DigiGeek]

Certainly the Rosetta is a much better converter than the 001 - it had better be, considering the cost.

The question is, is it significantly better than the 002r converters - enough to justify giving up the added functionality of 002r for a Rosetta/001.

The difference is very significant. The 002 is not in the same league as the Apogee.

[3JDamon]

All I can say is that everything about the 002R is better than the 001, especially the most overlooked critical aspect - the power supply. I wouldn't worry about actually using 96kHz, but instead the improvements to 44.1/48 from a more stable clock that's capable of 96kHz.