the quality of just the 003 rack?

[trock]

Hi all

I have hemmed and hawed around for a long time about moving to PT LE and finally saw it at a friends in action this week

i fell in love with the look and layout

that being said, i come from Cubase 5 on a mac pro 2.8 octo, 16 gigs ram, 4 HD's, 3 500 gig spres and the system one etc

running 10.5.8

i have a big home setup based around cubase, yamaha N12 etc

that being said, i have scoured this site for feedback on anyone just using the rack for AD/DA and not worrying about an apogee or lynx etc

for a home guy doing quality demo's of his songs do you think the rack AD/DA is pretty good? the n12 is very good, better than the RME FF 800 i had so while not an apogee its AD/DA is quite good.

when we talk about an apogee 800 into 003 are we talking a 5% or so diff?? know what i mean or a huge one??

i am very new to PT even though i saw my friends on his 002r and 8.0.1 but that sounded pretty good to me

is the 003r a pretty big step up? or small?

would love to hear from you who are just using the 003rack for AD/DA

i have a host of quality pre's i am going to insert for my front end

Pendulum Quartert
LA 610
Sebatron thorax etc

thanks for any feedback

[suitelounge]

Here is my feedback.

I used to have a 002 and an MBOX2 Pro, and now have a 003

I have used Apogee converters in front of the 002 (and I also have an Apogee Duet that I use with Logic). Apogee makes great products, and they will definitely add something to your recordings. If you like their sound (they do have a sound) by all means go for it.

There are really two components to consider on the 003, the converter (and the clock), and the pre's. (If you are COMPLETELY bypassing the pre's and using your other ones, then it's just down to the converters).

Are you capturing a great sounding source? How does the ROOM sound? Is the VIBE there? Are you happy with the end result? To me, these are more important than what converter you used. I say, for a home setup, you could do a lot with just a 003 (especially with some nice pre's in front). You will never look back and say, "this really sounds great, but I should have used other converters because that's what everyone told me to do," or "they would improve the quality of the sound x %"...if it sounds good it is good.

If you like the idea of using Pro Tools, the 003 can be a great tool. You could always use it, see how you like it, and add an Apogee, or other, later, just like adding another mic pre or other piece of outboard gear to compliment the setup, sprinkle in some flavor, etc.

Good luck

[trock]

thanks for the answer

i think i am going to just get the 003rack, and the Musicians toolkit 2 for the additional tracks. keep it simple like you said

then once i really know it make a decision

i tend to dive in and makes things really complicated at first and get confused

sounds like the rack is pretty simple to set up and get going, then of course i need to learn PT and that will take a while :)

thanks for a straight up answer to

[Obsidian Dragon]

You also should ask yourself if you need a control surface. If you do, you might consider getting the Digi003 instead of the Digi003R. This will save you the trouble of finding a separate control surface like the Command|8 or something from Euphonix, Mackie, etc.

Also ask yourself if you want to have 4 Digidesign mic pres or 8 Digidesign mic pres. The Digi003R has 4 and the Digi003+R has 8. The Digidesign mic pres are relative neutral and transparent. In otherwords, there is not much coloration but at the same time I don't hear people raving about how great they are either. There are many delicious mic pres available to add color or to keep thing as pure as possible if you like.

As for the converters I agree with the previous post that the room and acoustic treatment make more of a difference than the converters. There are obviously better converters out there (for more $) but with any modern interface, the converters are very usable and pretty good already. If you go with Apogee or something like that, keep in mind that it will probably be connected via the ADAT 8 channel optical inputs which are limited to 48KHz (no SMUX support to get 4 channels at 96KHz).

[rainsong]

+1 for the 003 control surface. I use mine every day.

Although there's one or two functions that I wish were on there, I'd hate to be without it at this point.

[jakas]

Hi guys,
I'm a pro user with a HD accel rig in studio.
I bought a 003 rack+ for some on-location recording.
I done a 8 track recording with Richard Galliano, PT8LE on a MacBook Pro 2,33 at 96 khz, Waves Gold plug ins, good mics, very good room (a theatre in Paris).......They used the rough mix for the final production and sound more that great!!!! I love 003 rack+. My opinion is that works very well, neutral, good quality/price. I know very well that there are a lot of better preamps and converters, but with a good musician, good mics, good room and know where put the mics, all is done!!
I suggest that 003 rack+ is a good device.

Ciao

[trock]

thanks so much guys, i am far less worried about the AD/DA now

as for the other questions, i have thought about my setup and have come up with this

Control Surface - Mixed logic M24, i have this and have used it with cubase, sonar, logic, and samp. i have also confirmed with the company it works with PT8 set up as 3 HUI's and actually has alot of functionality. although i mainly need faders, mute, solo, record, pan etc the basics

www.mixedlogic.com


my total setup is this and how i am thinking

Triton Pro - into Pre's 1-2 on rack
Fractal Axe - Pre's 3-4 on rack
Quartet - insert 5
610 - Insert 6
Thorax - insert 7

so for me, 4 pre's does the trick

i keep worrying about ADC since i use

RMX
Waves SSl, Maseratti, Native
SD2
Addictive drums
CSR verbs
etc

but it seems it just takes some time to compensate and adjust tracks, worrisome though in terms of mixing and creativity coming to a halt?? thoughts?

thanks for all the help to.

my room is well treated and i have some nice front end gear and mics. so i think i am all set with the 003rack, MKTP2?

anything else that stands out to you guys that i might be missing or configuring wrong??

oh are there setup instructions for programs like superior drummer 2, RMX and Addictive drums for PT? and do they work well in it?

[flommer]

The mixed logic looks like a pretty good deal..

Check this out though... Droolworthy...

http://www.mercenary.com/smartav.html

[trock]

oh yeah the smartav!! man those are crazy! would love to have that and the extenders! wayyyyyy out of my price range though :)

[peppertree]

There are only two pro tools interfaces that make sense right now, and those are the M-Audio 2626 and the 003 Console. The 003 Rack and 003- Rack are total wastes of time. The Mackie 1640i will be a third option that makes sense as well when it arrives.

The 2626 has the best AD/DA of everything mentioned, has the lowest latency cue mixing (other than the 1640i straight analog), runs 26i/o and all 18 @96KHz, and is the cheapest and smallest.

That said Digi feels a need to cripple it beyond the 003, denying it the inComplete Production Toolkit and limiting the buffer to 128 samples, limiting the i/o to 18 because they would have no means of moving the backlog of 003 units rotting in their warehouses otherwise.

All things told I don't think Digi has earned new business and I would suggest moving to Logic until they get their act together.