What are Digidesign Mix Core or Farm cards?

audio[LAB] · Post by **audio[LAB]** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 4:52 pm

I WON THAT!!!!! I'm picking it up saturday morning. I also got a dual 1.25 G4 with a gig of ram and a 23" apple cinema display for $600. All I need now are some 888's, a few cables and i'm good to go! TDM mix plus System with 24 tracks for well under 3k!!!!!

trodden · Post by **trodden** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 5:24 pm

audio[LAB] wrote:I WON THAT!!!!! I'm picking it up saturday morning. I also got a dual 1.25 G4 with a gig of ram and a 23" apple cinema display for $600. All I need now are some 888's, a few cables and i'm good to go! TDM mix plus System with 24 tracks for well under 3k!!!!!

congrats! please keep us informed how easy/hard it is to set up and get running. You can be our prof.

Jess P · Post by **Jess P** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:40 pm

Yeah, I would love to hear about the process, too. Keep us posted.

sonicmook56 · Post by **sonicmook56** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:22 pm

Sweet deal.

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:04 pm

yeah thats why I havent gone protools yet. The forced obsolesence issue.
It has nothing to do with my buying expensive basses. Or my beta testing for a PT competitor. Or my Mac allergy.

audio[LAB] · Post by **audio[LAB]** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 7:56 pm

I picked up an 888/24 on craigslist today for $300 bucks flat with the cable.

So to re-cap:

$710 [ebay] TDM MIX PLUS (Mic Core, Mix Farm, NODE cable, 6.4 software with authorization and some rad plug-ins)

$600 G4 dual 1.25 with a gig of ram on OS 10.3.9 and a 23" cinema display.

$300 888/24 with cable

=$1610 so far!

all i need is 2 more 888's a pair of Y cables and I'm good to go!!!!!

The hell with LE! tdm is the way to go my friends

Jess P · Post by **Jess P** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 9:44 pm

So sweet.

mixerman · Post by **mixerman** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 12:42 am

KamikazeKyle wrote:Most of the studios around here still run off of these with the 888 converters. You can run other converters and i think you can infact buy something to connect the Rosetta 800 to a Mix Card with a special addon from Apogee but the 888s are not bad converters (despite what mixerman says).

888s are awful converters, despite what YOU say. They were awful in 2001, they're awful now. The difference is, then, I was often times the lone voice of reason, but now very few would actually argue with me over the statement.

Have you ever actually HEARD good converters? And if so, what's the best converter you've heard?

Enjoy,

Mixerman

KamikazeKyle · Post by **KamikazeKyle** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 7:59 am

mixerman wrote: Have you ever actually HEARD good converters? And if so, what's the best converter you've heard?

The Best converters I've HEARD where Radar 24 converters and the second best have been apogee AD16s/DA16s. Unfortunetly the best converters I have used are the 888s at this point in time. Although i made that statement before I had heard the radar converters and now whish I had that cash to buy a radar system if not for the converters alone.

Peace,
Kyle

mixerman · Post by **mixerman** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 2:42 pm

KamikazeKyle wrote:
mixerman wrote: Have you ever actually HEARD good converters? And if so, what's the best converter you've heard?
The Best converters I've HEARD where Radar 24 converters and the second best have been apogee AD16s/DA16s. Unfortunetly the best converters I have used are the 888s at this point in time. Although i made that statement before I had heard the radar converters and now whish I had that cash to buy a radar system if not for the converters alone.

Peace,
Kyle

It has always driven me crazy when people say that 888s are "decent" converters. They're not. They'll get the job done, but that's about it. People argued and argued over the merits of these converters, and now most people acknowledge, they're really not up to snuff. Now most people argue that the HD converters are decent. They're not decent either. They're below average at best. And when a new set of converters comes out from Digi, we will see all the internet audio pundits back away from the claim that the HDs are good converters, and then lay claim to the idea that time and technology has made converters better. Of course, that will ignore the fact that we've had stupendously high-quality converters available in multitrack form for more than a decade.

As you have since discovered, it takes a broad basis of comparison before you can decide that something is "decent."

Enjoy,

Mixerman

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 3:05 pm

As with all things audio. Its hard to hear objectively when you paid $3-4k for something. Its much easier when the gear in question is easily substituted with something else. But you invest soem dough in a box (especially one tied to software) and you are naturally reluctant to hear that it sounds like shite. But then, if you are coming to pro tools from some fostex/yamaha/tascam multi-thingie then the PT will sound better.

trodden · Post by **trodden** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 4:04 pm

mixerman wrote:
KamikazeKyle wrote:Most of the studios around here still run off of these with the 888 converters. You can run other converters and i think you can infact buy something to connect the Rosetta 800 to a Mix Card with a special addon from Apogee but the 888s are not bad converters (despite what mixerman says).
888s are awful converters, despite what YOU say. They were awful in 2001, they're awful now. The difference is, then, I was often times the lone voice of reason, but now very few would actually argue with me over the statement.

Have you ever actually HEARD good converters? And if so, what's the best converter you've heard?

Enjoy,

Mixerman

Hey Mixerman,

How would you compare the 888's to say the digi 001's converters? Most of us interested in the 888's and the older tdm systems are people who've been stuck on a 001 and LE for a long time and looking for a cheaper way to get out of LE and its shortcomings, and staying in PT but not being able to afford an HD system, and instead of, say, switching over to Logic, etc.

cheers.

mixerman · Post by **mixerman** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:09 pm

trodden wrote:
Hey Mixerman,

How would you compare the 888's to say the digi 001's converters? Most of us interested in the 888's and the older tdm systems are people who've been stuck on a 001 and LE for a long time and looking for a cheaper way to get out of LE and its shortcomings, and staying in PT but not being able to afford an HD system, and instead of, say, switching over to Logic, etc.

cheers.

I don't have any empirical data on the difference in quality between 888s and the 001 converters. But if we were to look at this logically for a moment, why wouldn't Digi at the very least put the same converters that are in the 888s in their current lower tier products? It's not like they're expensive converters, they've already made their money on them, and they certainly have all the manufacturing in place. The old converters in a new package wouldn't compete with their HD converters. For starters, most everyone has bought the line that the HD converters are way better than the 888s. And secondly, they limit the software in such a manner to prevent actual professionals from using it, beyond perhaps some light home work.

So, what makes you think you're going to get a better converter by going to an 888? You very well could be getting precisely the same converter and clock.

Enjoy,

Mixerman

calaverasgrandes · Post by **calaverasgrandes** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:19 pm

maybe its the same converter, maybe the analog electronics are different?
Who knows?
I am curious, I was looking at a TDM card the other day, and I swear it has a ribbon cable port just like my TC powercore card. Are they somehow compatible?

trodden · Post by **trodden** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:31 pm

mixerman wrote:
trodden wrote:
Hey Mixerman,

How would you compare the 888's to say the digi 001's converters? Most of us interested in the 888's and the older tdm systems are people who've been stuck on a 001 and LE for a long time and looking for a cheaper way to get out of LE and its shortcomings, and staying in PT but not being able to afford an HD system, and instead of, say, switching over to Logic, etc.

cheers.
I don't have any empirical data on the difference in quality between 888s and the 001 converters. But if we were to look at this logically for a moment, why wouldn't Digi at the very least put the same converters that are in the 888s in their current lower tier products? It's not like they're expensive converters, they've already made their money on them, and they certainly have all the manufacturing in place. The old converters in a new package wouldn't compete with their HD converters. For starters, most everyone has bought the line that the HD converters are way better than the 888s. And secondly, they limit the software in such a manner to prevent actual professionals from using it, beyond perhaps some light home work.

So, what makes you think you're going to get a better converter by going to an 888? You very well could be getting precisely the same converter and clock.

Enjoy,

Mixerman

though, its not the converter i'm looking to upgrade. Its the other aspects like latency, track count, etc. I've made decent recordings on the 001, so if the the 888 uses the same if not similar converter than the 001, at least i'm getting somewhere past the horse and pony show that the 001 and LE software inflicts. may not be the "most logical" path, but perhaps a new way to go, besides dumping PT altogether since i cannot afford an HD system, (maybe in 10 years when there is something "better').

I work with very limited budgets. Most of the upgrades spent on my studio is for personal satisfaction. Half the bands that come through here really don't care, as long as we work hard and do our best. So with that in mind, why not stay with the 001 and le software? and that is the reason why i've been using this setup for nearly 7 years.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

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What are Digidesign Mix Core or Farm cards?

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