AKM chips and AD converters

[versuviusx]

hey check it out
here is what i have found

RME use AKM 5392
http://www.rme-audio.com/english/techinfo/adi8.htm

ECHO MONA uses AK5393

EMU 1820M uses AK5394A

MOtu HD192 use the AK5394

can anyone else reccomend a great AD converter or interface that's great for the money. i don't know for sure but looks like the top end guys are using the AK5394.

[MASSIVE Mastering]

Those (RME, Echo, Emu, MOTU) aren't exactly "top end guys" in the world of converters...

Inexpensive and good? Lucid... Some of the Lynx stuff sounds pretty nice... RME isn't so bad either.

[versuviusx]

i've heard that the rme stuff sounds better than the lynx stuff and the EMU has the most new chip in it, that has is used in the same PT HD system.
i'm just trying to figure it out. and yeah i know that it's not high end...i thought the high end stuff was prizm, apogee, etc. i just meant with the cheap stuff which comes close to sounding pro.

[Cellotron]

Actually Crystal Semiconductor chips tend to be used in a lot of the nicer sounding stuff out there. But the analog components surrounding the chip along with components like the clock just if not more of a vital role in the sound - you can't evaluate these just by looking at what chip is in there.

fwiw -
Lynx Two sounds really nice considering that the converters are on board the soundcard. RME makes very decent sounding stuff too. If you want to actually get into high end Mytek & Benchmark both offer a lot of bang for buck. My recommendation: get the Myteks and be happy.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[puffpastry]

That AKM stuff isn't so bad. They make some great converters and some so-so ones, but if you've got a good front end on them, they're very useable. The old Roland VS880 used a mid-grade 20-bit AKM converter--a few years back I designed a quick-and-dirty mod for the 880's preamp and buffer stages, and the AKM converters sounded quite nice after that--definitely outperformed my buddy's Digi 001 in a side by side comparison (although I don't know if that's saying much).

[versuviusx]

which mytek do you suggest?

[Cellotron]

which mytek do you suggest?

Depends on your needs. They have an 8 channel unit if you're mainly multitracking. The Stereo96 are 2 i/o that are pretty much the same design but have an updated AES receiver - I am using these at Europadisk's mastering studio.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[DoubleDownSound]

CHIP'S AHOY!

[Theron D]

Joining this thread late, but this pertains to AD / DA converters. Currently I have a Delta 66 and am at that point where I want to upgrade.

Will the upgrade to an RME/LYNX/EMU/APOGEE type soundcard be THAT noticable of a change in sound quality? Those who have upgraded, were you blown away by the difference, or was the change very subtle?

Thanks
Theron D