Lynx Aurora Motu hd192

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NU-TRA
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Lynx Aurora Motu hd192

Post by NU-TRA » Sat Mar 04, 2006 10:48 pm

I have a Motu Hd 192 clocked with an Isochrone... I was thinking about upgrading to the Lynx Aurora... Will I notice a sound difference between the two? The motu has the dynamic range of 120 and the lynx is 117.

Any advice would be appreciated.

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Post by Doublehelix » Sun Mar 05, 2006 6:19 am

Well, I switched from a Motu 24i/o to the Aurora, and it was night and day difference. Not sure if that helps you or not, but it is a datapoint nonetheless.
DH

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Post by NU-TRA » Sun Mar 05, 2006 9:41 am

Thanks! I'm probably gonna sell my motu this week.

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Post by John Jeffers » Sun Mar 05, 2006 9:55 am

Doublehelix wrote:it was night and day difference
Statements like that always make me pause for a moment. Most of the time, the differences between two relatively similar pieces of gear (like converters) are subtle.

True "night and day" differences are pretty rare in my experience. To me, that means the difference would be immediately obvious to even an untrained ear. Do you think you could play something from the MOTU back-to-back with something from the Aurora and have 14-year-old Pop Consumer Boy be able to tell that one was better than the other, or that there was even a difference at all?

I'm not saying that the Lynx isn't better than the MOTU. I have no idea. Just saying watch out for superlative statements like that, 'cause they're usually coming from

a) advertisers, or
b) people who are trying to justify spending their money.

Why not pick up an Aurora from Fletcher and check it out for a while? You can always return it if you don't hear enough of a difference to justify the cost.
Last edited by John Jeffers on Sun Mar 05, 2006 10:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by NU-TRA » Sun Mar 05, 2006 10:01 am

Yeah you are right. I just got a response from another forum saying that the motu 192 and aurora sound very similar

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Post by Doublehelix » Tue Mar 07, 2006 5:15 am

John Jeffers wrote:
Doublehelix wrote:it was night and day difference
Statements like that always make me pause for a moment. Most of the time, the differences between two relatively similar pieces of gear (like converters) are subtle.

Well...the difference *was* night and day.

To me the biggest difference was in the D/As. Even playback of stuff that was recorded through the Motus sounded *way* better.

My situation with the Aurora is a long story, but I had to have some custom AES cables made that would go from my racks to the computer, and I ended up waiting almost SIX WEEKS for cables (took them 2 tries to get it right)!!! By that time, all the excitment had worn off, and I was ready to say "screw it", the Motus are fine, and I actually wanted to send the Aurora back.

Just to be sure, I ended up hooking up the Aurora anyway as a quick test (I didn't even rack it)...HOLY SMOKES! The D/As just blew away the Motus, and I knew it *instantly*. There was no doubt, and as you put it, even a 14 YO could tell the difference.

I could care less if you think I am trying to justify my purchase, or advertise for Lynx. It really makes no difference to me what the original poster does. He just posted a question, and I posted my opinions, nothing more, nothing less.


Yeah you are right. I just got a response from another forum saying that the motu 192 and aurora sound very similar

Don't forget, I said I had the Motu 24i/o *NOT* the HD192. I thought I made that very clear in my original post.

And of course that *other* forum is right and we are wrong. No problem.

Sheesh! Makes me wonder why we even try...
DH

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Post by John Jeffers » Tue Mar 07, 2006 7:27 am

I could care less if you think I am trying to justify my purchase, or advertise for Lynx.
Yikes! That wasn't meant as a personal attack. It's just that so much of what we hear is colored by our other perceptions, it's tough to know sometimes if something actually sounds better/worse, or we just perceive it that way because of our expectations. I don't doubt your experience with the Aurora, but I stand by my advice to the OP not to make a purchase decision based solely on a post on the Internet.

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Post by Doublehelix » Tue Mar 07, 2006 8:06 am

John Jeffers wrote:
I could care less if you think I am trying to justify my purchase, or advertise for Lynx.
Yikes! That wasn't meant as a personal attack. It's just that so much of what we hear is colored by our other perceptions, it's tough to know sometimes if something actually sounds better/worse, or we just perceive it that way because of our expectations. I don't doubt your experience with the Aurora, but I stand by my advice to the OP not to make a purchase decision based solely on a post on the Internet.

John...now that I re-read my post, it certainly looks worse that I intended it to be. Sometimes it is hard to read emotions in the typewritten world, so I apologize for coming off that way.

It was meant more like: "I am not trying to influence one way or another, just expressing my views or experience."

I can see where it could easily be interpreted as being said in a MAD voice, but it was not.

I did get a bit perturbed by the original poster's comments however when he said that on another forum someone said they are similar-sounding, therfore they are right and I *must* have been exaggerating my experiences.

But those comments were in no way directed towards you John, and to be honest, I agree with your comments and sentiments. In my second response, I was hopefully trying to explain why I thought they were so different to my ears rather than trying to be confrontational...sorry if it didn't come off that way.
DH

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Post by NU-TRA » Tue Mar 07, 2006 8:12 am

Hi DH,

I didn't mean it in a negative way... I just wanted to see if anyone with a Motu HD192 could compare... I actually took your advice and ordered the lynx... Thank you very much... The DA's on the motu sound weak. I need good DA's for the folcrom. It's just a lot of money to just jump into something... Lo and behold I sold a bunch of music yesterday and I ordered the lynx.

Thanks for the advice.

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Post by I'm Painting Again » Tue Mar 07, 2006 8:14 am

I havent compared those things before but I can say the Lynx guys are rrally nice people and give great support..I use their AES 16 which is just an interface with no conversion..Since they helped me set it up right I've been running rock solid..

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Post by NU-TRA » Tue Mar 07, 2006 8:17 am

Oh BTW the post in the other forum was about the hd192 sounding very close to the lynx not the 24I/O sorry if my message was taken in a negative way.. It's funny how 2 dimentional type can cause problems... I hope you understand. My ex girlfriend didn't lol.


V

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Post by John Jeffers » Tue Mar 07, 2006 8:17 am

DH, I think we both could have been more diplomatic. My post could have been written better as well. Sorry for that. Anyway, back to the love-fest!

NU-TRA, good luck with the Aurora!

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Post by I'm Painting Again » Tue Mar 07, 2006 8:18 am

come to think of it I had a bad experince with motu tech support..this is all limited experience and should be taken as a singular event..I feel it really would hold true generally though..motu is a larger company (fine products though) and they are probably less concerned or probably just have a much larger and unmanageable user base at this point..thats what I figure..

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Post by NU-TRA » Tue Mar 07, 2006 8:24 am

I've had to plan my whole day around calling Motu's tech support.

grrr!

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Post by Doublehelix » Tue Mar 07, 2006 10:42 am

Haha!!! Lots of missunderstandings! All is good now!

I had the same worries NU-TRA since going the Lynx route was very expensive...$3,000 for the Aurora-16, $650 for the AES-16 card, and then $600 for the custom cables, a total of $4,250!!! OUCH! That is why I started getting cold feet when the cables didn't arrive and I started thinking about just keeping the Motu.

I am soooo glad that I didn't and stuck it out with the Aurora. The support has been fantastic, Paul Erlandson is just great.

As I mentioned, when compared to the 24i/o the D/As are much better, and instantly noticeable, and the A/Ds are also a large improvement, but it is much more subtle than the D/As. I can hear much more detail at the low end and stereo spread.

Good luck!
DH

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-Yogi Berra

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