digital conversion

[gverstraete]

Hi ,

Just want to know opinions.

Is sending my analogue moog output to a unit that converts the signal into digital (spdif/adat) making sense ?

Will there be a loss of quality in sound ?

Did someone try this and compared the sound to eacht other ?

I just wonder if it's a bad idea to do that or not

Kind regards

[stiiiiiiive]

Hey gverstraete.

Let's be honest: unless you play through a PA/guitar amp, or record on tapes, nowadys you will always end sampling you sound at a point or another.

Digital recorder, DAW, CD burn, even stompboxes...

Always.

Anyone correct me!

[MC]

The quality of digital converters do vary a lot. Many musicians have noticed a degradation in sound when that changed from one converter to another. Bit depth and sample rate does not always translate to stellar sound.

I am a hardware OTB guy using the Alesis HD24 for recording audio and I am very happy with the sound. Just mixed down a song that used a Minimoog solo with that high end sheen and it sounded great. A lot of musicians route the converters on the HD24 direct to their DAW, the converters are that good.

[gverstraete]

Thnx ,

I was asking the question because all the analogue synth manufacturers are promoting the full analogue signal path.

I have a whole gear configuration with mostly VA or digital synths , all connected to a digital patchbay (friendchip) where i can select wich output goes to wich input (for efffects).

Therefore i also want my moog lp's to be connected to the digital patchbay , i can only do that via a D/A converter (RME fireface in my case) ... If i don't do this i lose the whole concept of my installation , where everything is patchable to everything

But i was concerned about the effects of that on the quality of sound ...

Or is the fact that the sound in my moog LP is generated on an analogue way the biggest advantage of analogue synths ?
And will D/A conversion not have much influence on the sound ? of course if one uses a good D/A converter

kind regards

[EMwhite]

Does anybody remember when CDs used A/D designations for record, mix, master AAD, etc. Remember how special you felt when something was published as DDD. The converters used in those days couldn't have been very good compared to what is available today and yet at the time, it was highly coveted. But I'm sure, as MC said, there are low-cost high sample rate boxes that sound nothing like a capability limited higher end unit.

Like Stii..iiive said, the practicality of passing music around on 1/2" open reel tape is not very feasible. Every bit (haha, get it) of music that you can listen to through your computer was obviously converted to digital at some point. I think analog purists feel good when no digital effects are used in the signal path until the last second (recording digitally) so best you can do is get a high quality interface and there is lots written about some of the really good ones.

When I was looking for reasonably priced rack effect (Reverb in this case) a few years back, I found a bunch of rack effects made in the 90's and 2000s that were all digital like the Quadraverbs TC One, etc. Some of the products out there are nice, some are sterile crap; but ultimately, you either need a ACTUAL plate setup or something tube and spring based if you really want analog reverb... oh, or a big room : ) In the end, I bought a SHARC DSP based system (UAD II) that supposedly models the original circuits for classic gear. I like it alot. Oh, and the reverb I like is the EMT 250, which happens to be one of the very first digital reverbs available. Sounds good to me, but quite ironic where I ended up. Or maybe I'm just a pushover for good marketing...

http://www.uaudio.com/blog/emt-250-trailer/
http://www.uaudio.com/blog/emt-250-demo/

[hieronymous]

My advice would be to experiment and use your ears. Sounds like you have set up your system with care, so I bet the LP through your mixer/effects will sound great!

[thealien666]

Digital schmigital, as long as the sounds are created with analog synth/equipment...

Because that's the most important part of the equation: sound creation using all the subtleties of analog gear.

After that, any of today's digital equipment is of high enough quality to capture all the nuances of a performance on an analog synth.

But as for using individual samples of notes from an analog synth, that's a very different thing to which I do not subscribe.

[Vsyevolod]

Remember how special you felt when something was published as DDD?

Bend over kid, I have something I want to sell you...

Yeah, I remember those days.

There are a couple of good questions that you ask here. Yes, you total overall sound will be of highest quality IF you maintain a completely analog chain, using only the most expensive gear. Once you convert it to digital to record, the higher quality AD convertors will retain the most of that analog sound. The cheaper ones will deteriorate it the fastest.

Then there is the whole raison d'être for analog synths in the first place. And it's all about how control voltages modify an oscillator, a filter, a VCA, etc. And of course the (potentially) rich creamy sound of the oscillators in the first place. Be it known though, that some digital emulations of analog waveforms sound superior to the cheap low quality analog sounds. Take the DSI Polyevolver for example. The analog circuits are not of the expensive high quality variety. So even though you have a partially analog waveform, it still sounds like shiite. Then again, the high end Buchla oscillators do not have that warm sound that makes you tingle all over like the better Moogs do.

Like has been said, use your ears and go for the best you can.

Stephen




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[gverstraete]

ok

So i have to believe my ears , fair enough ...

thnx for replies , i'm learning out of it a lot.

The fact for me why i did go the digital path was more a question of avoiding cable clutter in my rack

Therefore i was asking myself , Am I not stupid to do this from analogue perspective

Why give that money to analogue synths and then spoil it thru digital conversion.

But now i learned that it's not a bad idea to to this , just have good A/D/A converters


kind regards