Honest AD/DA

[Watsonian]

This might not be quite the right place/forum to post in but here goes.

I make spoken word (podcasts) productions and a few other things besides (like listening to music). I also use whatever AD/DA unit I have for high quality video conferencing 8 hours a day. That may be a strange use case but it's what I do...

What I'm after is an honest AD/DA unit.

Currently I own an Apogee Element, which I like the sound of, even if it does have some strange but useful quirks.
I've tried the Merging Anubis, which I quite liked. Why did I like it? It had this tendency to pull mixes apart. If a mix was off, it sounded plain old bad. If a mix was good, it sounded okay. BTW - I'm referring to commercial reference mixes and my own stuff.

So, to the dilemma. I quite like Apogee (whether they're good or bad) because they unify mixes but the Merging unit had a real habit of pulling stuff apart, putting it under the microscope and then shouting "there's ya problem buddy".

I'm beginning to think a more honest interface might be the answer. Meanwhile, I'll keep the Element, it's a nice sounding unit and I do like the way it completely changes attitude at different sample rates.

 

[Blumlein 88]

As a new member, welcome to ASR.

I'm not sure what to make of your post. Honest AD/DA would be one that is transparent and does no harm to the signal. I'd honestly think both of the units you have used would qualify.

Perhaps you could provide files done via the Apogee and as identical as possible files done via the Merging Anubis for us to hear what you are talking about.

Also since you have both have you tried using one unit for AD, and another for DA to see if you can get the best of both worlds in some configuration?

Also do you listen via headphones or speakers and which models are you using?

 

[Watsonian]

In answer to your questions and suggestions.

Headphones? Nothing to write home about to be honest. I've got Sony MDR 7506 and a Beyerdynamic DT770 headsets.

Any recommendations for a neutral(ish) sounding set of closed back headphones? Open back headphones and live microphones are, sadly, not a good mix.

The 7506 is for nitpicking high frequency vocal clicks and tics (podcast editing), the 770's were bought on impulse and they're not to my taste.

I generally listen through speakers, I've got a set of Genelec 8010's, which are fine for low level listening and monitoring. I read a review of the 8010's here and generally agree with it - they're a warm set of speakers.

I did make a series of spoken word recordings with my two main microphones. As a very *rough* A/B listening test using the microphones, to compare the Merging EQ/Dynamics and Logic Pro's EQ/Dynamics it's been a real revelation. It's certainly helped me think. Thanks so much for the suggestion!

They're not identical recordings but if you (or anyone else) wanted to hear them, happy to post them. I'm not sure what anyone would get out of them but if people ask I'll post them...can you upload them direct to the forum, or is it host elsewhere and link?

Tomorrow I'll repeat the experiment using the Merging Anubis internal preamps, using the same two microphones and the same dynamics/EQ.

In the end it has led me to conclude that the Apogee Element is a great unit, which punches way above it's price point, but the Merging is more flexible and sonically neutral, in terms of sound quality.

I also listen to music when I'm not working, or making podcasts. I guess that makes me an outlier, in all sorts of ways on this forum.

Finally, thanks to all the people that post on these forums. Just reading people's posts has made me think about how I go about doing what I do, and why I think box A sounds "better" than box B.