D/A for external mixing on a Mix system...

[Seeee]

The 888/24 has 20 bit converters on the D?A. the 888/18 has 18 bit on the D/A as well as the 888/18. the 882/20 has 20 bit d/a

my question is.....

is it gonna make that much difference on the d/a to justify another 888/24 thats only gonna get me 20 bit d/a anyways?

I have 1 888/24, one 888/16, and can pick up 882/18's for 100 bucks or so. 882/20's for 300, 888/18's for 300-400, and 888/24's for 700-900.

right now I run the drums to the 888/18 and the rest to the 888/24(20). just wondering if the 888/18 is that much better than an 882/18 or if the 888/24 (20) is much better than the 882/20

basically the 882's are still balanced units on TRS.

I need to finalize my d/a and get my 24 tracks of mixing on the console going.

adat 24 bridges are getting cheap but converters are still expensive so I know whats best but I am on a small budget and the last 6 months of work has been dead. so here I am trying to spedn more money. go figure.

[minister]

i have worked with all three i/o's. the 888|24's DO sound better than the others on d/a.

what will make a big difference in your audio will be a reliable clock, like a lucid, or aardvark, or apogee. all 888's and 882's have bad internal clocks. it clears up the jittery criters and improves the image and depth. you could also consider buying an 888|16 (18) and getting a good D/A. that 888 will pass 24 bit on the AES output. the lucid stuff sounds pretty good and is less money than the others. obvioulsy an apogee would sound great, but is more dough.

hope that hepls.

[Infa]

I agree with minister here. The problem honestly with ALL them you mentioned isn't the bit depth vs one vs the other. Its the fact that their clocks SUCK, and are real old clock technology that just don't cut the mustard nowadays (IMO) --

But for the budget you are on, it is basically impossible to get the amount of ins and outs you need/want on a decently good converter that would have a decent clock in it. (like the Apogees A/D + D/A 16 X Series Converters)...

So if you absolutely can not build a bigger budget (which I feel you should, you will thank yourself later for it), then what I would do is go get the "Apogee Big Ben" external converter clock. It is only about $1,400.00 brand new out the door from GC Pro and then link that up to ANY of your converters,, and woahlah !!! The best conversion sound for the money... Of coarse the more bits the better on which ones you pick to use/get as far as them 888's, BUT here you either way will notice MORE of a difference using a REAL Pro clock on either of them 888's ---

In other words, using the Big Ben on the 16bit 888 would make more of a difference sound quality wise than NOT using a Big Ben on even the 24bit 888... (IMO)

But of coarse even better would be to use all 24bit 888's with a Big Ben clocking them.....

And even better than that would be to sell any and all converters you got, save more money, and get them Apogee A/D + D/A 16 X Series Converters. They have Big Ben built into them, and they are using all the latest/best technology, and circuitry as far as what the industry has learned thus far about conversion.


Hope This Helps --

[Seeee]

Yeah, I know kinda what i need really.

Apogee with the "mix" options or just get an adat bridge and good conveters for at least 16 channels. then my 2 888's clocked off that would be better and I'd only be using the 888's when neccesary.

Everytime a new 8 channel converter comes out, i check for aes/ebu cause I know the 888/24 and the 888/18 will pass those 24 bits BUT not too many even have aes/ebu. at least not the mid grade stuff.

so if I go the better converter route i'll get em on an adat bridge just because I'll have more options.

but really... I need other gear besides $4k worth of converters. the clock does sound reasonable though BUT... I could probably get a good converter with the clock too so.. we'll see.

so basically no difference between the 888/18? and 882/18? both are in the same class?

I just cant take staring at a screen any longer and the sooner i get all my i/o figured out, the better.

[Infa]

so basically no difference between the 888/18? and 882/18? both are in the same class?

Well I said their CLOCKS are in the same class... But if hooked up to a Big Ben,, they are both fine...

the clock does sound reasonable though BUT... I could probably get a good converter with the clock too so.. we'll see.

Yes the Big Ben clock is areasonable thought in your situation. But about getting a good converter with the clock too,, The Apogee 16 X series converters are the only ones with that clock in them. And that Big Ben clock is un-compromisable.. It is the industrys clocking source man.. Everywhere BIG you go you see one of those things.. If you just get some decent converter, don't expect a clock equal to that Big Ben in them. BUT there are ones out there that do have equals in them, and some even better, but I think $10,000.00 for a converter is out of the budget here...

Hence, the cheapest way for YOU in particular to get the best sound for the BUCK right now is just to link up your current converters to the Big Ben..

Then the next choice , higher quality but more expensive way would be them Apogee 16 X Series converters, with the "cards" they got for them, they can take the place of your Digi interfaces, and are one of pretty much the best converters you can get. They also come with 192 standard, along with 16 ins/ or outs (depending on A/D or D/A). You can also link more of them together to get yet even MORE ins and outs...

Hope This helps--

[Chief Technician]

The 888/24 has 20 bit converters on the D?A. the 888/18 has 18 bit on the D/A as well as the 888/18. the 882/20 has 20 bit d/a

First off, there is no 888|18. Although I know what you are referring to, it is simply known as the 888. Second, not all 888|24 intefaces have 20 bit D/A converters. The answerbase says "Any unit carrying a serial number higher than DH17130[ed] already has 24 bit DACs installed."

[Seeee]

Thanks for the info. It makes sense then to improve this clock. I kinda assumed any decent converrter would have a good clock I could distribute to all devices. You have been a tremendous help Infa. You have been a wealth of information since you started posting. thank you.

Chief,

That's good to know about the 888/24. Mines serial number DH27481 Rev V so i guess I got the 24 bit converters. i guess all this info will change my attack plan quit a bit. I just assumed all the documentation I have ever seen on the 888/24 haveing only 20 bit d/a was correct.

Thank you everyone!!!!