D/A Converters

[Zacharia Matilda]

I track to 8 track tape and mix to a CD burner for my own projects at home. Is a D/A converter going to give me an appreciable difference in the way my recordings are going to sound? Would it come right off my mix bus in my chain (before it hits my bus compressor) or after the comp and before it hits my burner?

Total noob in this department. Thank you, as always, to this fine community.

[Snarl 12/8]

It will change the sound. Either of the ways you discuss would be different from each other, too.

What are you trying to achieve? What are the converters in the "CD burner?" They're probably something. So getting different converters to put in front of the cd burner (if it has digital ins) would not be a big change from how you're working now. Unless we're talking super high end converters. And even then, many would argue there's not much difference these days, especially to a 16bit/44.1khz mixdown format. How old is the CD burner?

Going with the 8-tracks of conversion would be the biggest change. You'd be mixing down "in the box" then. You'd be going digital at the track level rather than the mix level. Ramifications include needing a computer, optionally, having access to plugins, recall, endless overdubs, etc. You're talking about a totally different workflow. One that I don't use. I prefer the analog workflow, even if I'm recording digital. But this would be closer to how most people "make music" these days.

What final output format do you put your audio into? For me it's MP3. Do you (and others?) listen to your stuff off CD or the internet? If we knew a little more about what kindof stuff you do and like, we could help you a little better.

[Zacharia Matilda]

Hi Carl. Thank you for the reply.

I edited my post while you were replying, as I figured out that 8 channels out of my tape machine is not what I would need, as I’m not going to go in the box with my tracks (at least not at this point). It’s basically songwriting/arranging demos. Having said that, I would like to have the ability to “make a record” in my modest studio. I’m tracking to a Tascam tsr8. A pretty modest medium, but I feed it the best signals I can. I have a small format Studer mixer and a treated space that’s small but has high ceilings and its the best sounding space I’ve ever Recorded in (started in the 90s with this stuff). I love the workflow...it’s crucial for me as far as writing goes, and I’m using the studio for writing as much as I’m using it for tracking if that makes sense. Using a computer and blue light in general in the space is a total vibe killer, and it’s the space where I’m creating, so it’s important to keep the vibe clean and comfortable.

The cds I make are typically used to convert into mp3. I have friends in bands that I like to send things to. Or I’ll use the cd to take to my car to listen there (that’s where my only other cod player I own is!).

My burner is an old (20 years?) 16 bit Foster CR300. Generally I would say I’m not unhappy with the way my recordings sound overall, but I’m always trying to get the most out of my setup and this is one part of my setup I have never looked into. I’m wondering if it could be a blind spot for me?

Thanks again everyone

[kslight]

IMHO, conversion may be the least significant influence on your sound. I use narrow format machines (mostly 388 these days) and have used everything from Apogee to Alesis to Motu to bring it all together.

I think you would probably appreciate a difference from your 20 year old burner’s conversion to any reasonably modern mid grade interface / converter, but I wouldn’t overthink it if you are happy with the results.