Hi,

I'm thinking about replacing my Behringer ADA8000 with a Focusrite Octopre Mk2, and I was wondering whether the ADAT connection on my EMU1820M or ADAT connections in general have any influence on the the sound if the pipeline is made properly?

Cheers

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http://www.jesperbuhl.com

Nope, none at all! It's just shuttling digital audio around and doesn't have any effect on quality (that's determined by the converters in your Focusrite/Behringer/what-have-you, and whatever analogue stuff there is before them).

Cheers!

Chris

Agreed - bits are bits, and as long as the final D/A converter removes any clock jitter before trotting them all out again in analogue form you won't hear any difference


Martin

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YewTreeMagic

Thanks. That clears it up for me.
I've heard good things about the Focusrite preamps but less so concerning their drivers, so adding an Octopre seems like the perfect way to upgrade a system that's otherwise working perfect for me, with as little hassle as possible.

Cheers

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http://www.jesperbuhl.com

There are some interfaces which claim lower ADAT clocking jitter, but I've used a lot of ADAT gear and never had problems in that respect, only with some dodgy optical leads causing problems.

Just need to make sure about setting the correct clock rate at both ends and the clocking master/slave so things sync up correctly. I assume you still plan to use your ADA8000 for D-A duty on the 1820M's ADAT out, so be mindful about that and about S/PDIF settings too.

IIRC, the 1820M supports 192 kHz on ADAT, although IIRC the Octopre is limited to 96 kHz. Still, that would allow you to record 4 channels at 96 (or 88.2).

If possible, try to listen to an Octopre before you decide. And if you only want to record at 44.1/48 (or use any outboard processors), you might give a listen to a Presonus Digimax also, some nice pre's in there and some models offered inserts. M-Audio also offered some decent 8-channel pre's with ADAT out. Lots of options out there (and ADAT patchbays too, so one can even indulge ).

Quote Goddard:

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There are some interfaces which claim lower ADAT clocking jitter

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The inevitable 'interface jitter' can have absolutely no affect on the transferred digital audio data whatsoever. Jitter only becomes relevant at the conversion between the analogue and digital domains, and only then if an embedded clock is being extracted and used. Transferring data via ADAT, AES3, S/PDIF or virtually any other form of digital equipment interface is a bit-perfect process.

hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound