mustream
Eager Beaver
Joined: 07 May 2004
Posts: 17
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| Need a Better Front End - Upgrading from my Q10 |
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Hi all...... I'm looking for a serious upgrade to my front end system. Mainly my Q10 - I've read a couple of reviews about these 2 units (Motu HD 192 & RME Fire face 800) and I'm considering getting one of them....
I'm Looking for a drastically better sound than the Q10 and would very much like to know what you guys think about each unit, and which you think Sounds better, or has better converters.....or which other units that can be recommended for Professional Sound....
I pretty much mixer directly inside the Q10 and just use one of the Stereo outpus to the Mixer just to hear output mixed with my JV.....
Any advice and help would be appreciated...
[list]
1. Aardvark Direct pro Q10
2. Mackie SR24-4
3. Alesis M1 Actives
4. Aphex 107 Preamp
5. Dbx 166a Compressor
6. Roland JV90
7. Edirol Um-880
8. Cubase SX
9. Reason
10. ASUS P4S-800
11. P4 3.2 GHZ
12. 1 GIG RAM
13. Rode NT2000 |
Wed May 24, 2006 1:09 am |
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conquistadore
Forum Moderator
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 513
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| HD or fireface |
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A decision can be made if we know how many simultaneous mic/line inputs you require. If you are just going to record two microphones at a time, then you can wire up the Aphex preamp into the MOTU HD 192, since I doubt it has preamps. But if you plan to record more sources at a time, the Fireface would be the way to go since it has 4 mic preamps and when combined with your aphex preamp you would be able to record 6 microphone sources at a time.
Another advantage with the fireface wiuld be mobility - you wont be tied down to a single computer incase you need to take your work around. But i dont know if you require this..
And with your present setup, why are you using the Mackie to route your stereo outs? You can get a cleaner signal path if you directly connect your A1 Actives to the LR outs of your Q10.. |
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Wed May 24, 2006 8:04 am |
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mustream
Eager Beaver
Joined: 07 May 2004
Posts: 17
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Thanks for the Reply.... I would only need to record about 2 mics at a time.. And about the Mackie Mixer outs, I have 2 setups in the Q10. One where I have my keyboard pluged to my Mackie and I use the Sub outs to go IN to the Q10, so I can record some of the tones to WAV... And the Other setup is where I just have one of the direct outs from the Q10(as you suggested) to go directly to the Alesis M1's.
So Which of the Two has the Better Sound???? Would I need like an Apogee converter to go with either one or would the Fireface be enough? Or Which other Digital Audio Card would you recommend??? |
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Wed May 24, 2006 11:56 pm |
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conquistadore
Forum Moderator
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 513
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| The fireface.. |
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What is your budget like?
Directly connecting your monitors to the Q10 would give you better sound - but how much and whether it is noticable depends on your ears, the monitors and your room.
If you are planning to buy the MOTU or the RME you wouldn't need an Apogee convertor (or any other convertor) since both the Fireface and 192HD have AD/DA (analogue-digital/digital-analogue) converotrs in them, unless you are looking for extreme quality which would have to supported by good acoustics and monitors.
I think in your case it would be better to go in for the Fireface since it has more than what you need (which gives you room to expand in the future) and I'm sure the preamps on the fireface should be better than the Aphex 107. |
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Thu May 25, 2006 11:13 am |
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conquistadore
Forum Moderator
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 513
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| Control over monitor levels |
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Another thing..
Connecting the A1 Actives directly to the Q10 may give you a cleaner signal but you won't have control over you monitor levels. |
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Thu May 25, 2006 1:51 pm |
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mustream
Eager Beaver
Joined: 07 May 2004
Posts: 17
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Thanks for replying..
I Really appreciate the time & Information
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Well as of right now, my budget is closer to the range of the RME. Around $1500Us. So, you're basically saying that getting the RME would more or less delay the need for an extra converter....(like Apogee) unless i want an extremely High quality....
Cool..
And knowing that the Pre-amps on the RME would sound better than the Aphex is good news to me....
So that pretty much narrows down my search.... But there's one more thing that I'm intrigued in.....
I came across a card on the net called LYNX II, and was wondering if this card was in the same range as the RME or Better or Not?????
Has anyone ever used this card????
Oh and by the way, I use the headphone outs of my Q10 to go straight to my Monitors... The headphone control has it's own volume Level..... |
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Thu May 25, 2006 11:18 pm |
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conquistadore
Forum Moderator
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 513
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| AD/DAs and preamps |
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I'm not too sure, but I think the Lynx Two is again only an AD/DA convertor, so it would have no pre-amps. Going in for a high quality AD/DA convertor (like Lynx or Apogee) would require you to buy good quality pre-amps too. So unless you have the budget and also as I'd mentioned above, the acoustics and monitors to support such quality, I'd suggest you don't get into it.
And connecting the headphone out to your monitors isnt the brightest thing to do! |
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Fri May 26, 2006 3:07 pm |
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mustream
Eager Beaver
Joined: 07 May 2004
Posts: 17
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Thanks for all the tips and advice dude.....
You've made my search a lot easier.....
I think I'll try a Apogee Big Ben and word clock it to the Q10.. From the info I got all round, that should improve the sound of the Q10 dramatically.... |
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Sun May 28, 2006 9:54 am |
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conquistadore
Forum Moderator
Joined: 03 Aug 2004
Posts: 513
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| Try it first.. |
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quote:
Originally posted by mustream
I think I'll try a Apogee Big Ben and word clock it to the Q10.. From the info I got all round, that should improve the sound of the Q10 dramatically....
It would, but dramatically - I'm not so sure. While a good word clock unit like the Big Ben can make a difference, I'd suggest you give it a try if you can with your Q10 before buying it. |
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Mon May 29, 2006 11:22 am |
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