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Bob Bickerton
active member

Joined: 20/12/02
Posts: 2521
Loc: Nelson, New Zealand

Continued DAC Ponderings.............. SoundDevices USBpre2 Anyone?
#951093 - 03/11/11 04:56 AM

Sorry to bring this up again, but I'm struggling to find a solution to upgrade my monitoring path.

I use a MOTU 8pre interface on a Mac.

I was naively thinking I could feed a Benchmark DAC from the optical outputs of the 8pre - but it's ADAT versus Toslink

So now I'm considering setting up an aggregate device of the 8pre and a quality USB DAC, thus sending my main stereo outputs to the DAC.

With this in mind I can access a Sounddevices USBpre2 for about half the price of a Benchmark DAC.

So anyone care to guess where the Sounddevices converters would sit relative to a scale where the MOTU was 1 and the Benchmark was 10?

The Sounddevices would be more flexible for location recording too.............

Thanks as always.

Bob

--------------------
www.bickerton.co.nz

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frontandcenter

Joined: 29/01/06
Posts: 63

Re: Continued DAC Ponderings.............. SoundDevices USBpre2 Anyone? new

[Re: Bob Bickerton]
#951302 - 04/11/11 04:13 AM

Hello Bob-
I have a usbpre2 but do not have the Benchmark. i do however have a Grace m902 and an Apogee Mini-DAC and I used to have a Motu 896hd. I love the usbpre2. I bought it primarily to use as a stand alone mic pre and a/d converter. In that capacity it excels. It replaces my former portable 2 channel chain of the Grace v2 > Apogee mini-me and I have already recorded a live album with it. I do occasionally use it as an interface and d/a. I find the d/a to be quite fine, certainly miles ahead of the Motu. If the m902 (which many consider to be in the same ballpark as the Benchmark) is a 10 then the usbpre2 would have to rate a solid 9. It is also fantastic for getting old cassettes and dats onto your computer. When used as a stand alone I use a Tekkeon 3450i battery which powers it for 10+ hours.
Best to you

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frontandcenter

Joined: 29/01/06
Posts: 63

Re: Continued DAC Ponderings.............. SoundDevices USBpre2 Anyone? new

[Re: frontandcenter]
#951303 - 04/11/11 04:34 AM

Hello Bob-
Upon re-reading your post referring to the scenario you describe, if you use the main outs from your Motu the d/a conversion will already have been done. There is little point to convert that analog signal back to digital then to analog again. You could use the usbpre2 as the output interface from your computer though. The Apogee Mini-dac does indeed accept optical adat signal and I would also rate it a solid 9. The usbpre2 is a much more versatile unit but does not accept optical adat.
Best.

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Bob Bickerton
active member

Joined: 20/12/02
Posts: 2521
Loc: Nelson, New Zealand

Re: Continued DAC Ponderings.............. SoundDevices USBpre2 Anyone? new

[Re: frontandcenter]
#951346 - 04/11/11 10:57 AM

Thanks Frontandcentre.

I was planning on outputting to the USBpre2 from my Mac Over USB so as to avoid the MOTU converters.

Bob

--------------------
www.bickerton.co.nz

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