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Lynx Aurora 8 Review (8-channel DAC/ADC)

Rate this DAC:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 6 5.7%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 36 34.0%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther

    Votes: 56 52.8%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 8 7.5%

  • Total voters
    106

GTAXL

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The interest from this owner and general membership is for hi-fi use. There, a pig tail requirement is competing with this:
I get that, but that is not this unit's target market. In the commercial studio world, regardless of the brand, the breakout cables on converters is pretty common, not limited to Lynx at all.

That aside, if you are going to have a pigtail, give me at least a stereo set of XLRs. This is what RME does
Those are both consumer/prosumer devices. Different needs and application.

Go ahead and make the box 2 or even 4RU and give me nice XLR connections. I don't want to mess with specialized cables like this. It is a hack, plain and simple.
In a commercial studio environment, space matters for various outboard gear and once the converters are racked, they are connected back to a patch bay, you aren't dealing with the back of the unit unless it's maintenance or being replaced.

Here is the rear of a few popular commercial studio converters,

Avid HD I/O (used with most ProTools rigs)
2022_06_06_205548.png


Apogee Symphony
2022_06_06_205947.png

Universal Audio Apollo x16
2022_06_06_210312.png
 
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amirm

amirm

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In a commercial studio environment, space matters for various outboard gear and once the converters are racked, they are connected back to a patch bay, you aren't dealing with the back of the unit unless it's maintenance or being replaced.
I get it. That doesn't stop me from saying it is a bad idea. Nothing says "unprofessional" more than a pigtail cable. It is a hack. They use DB-25 because it was used for computers so is commodity priced. It is not being used because it is the ideal connection for audio -- analog and digital.

You should have seen me sit there plug XLR cable after XLR cable to see which one works in testing this device. You can't trace them through the pigtail cable like you can with stand-alone cables. It is not like they have standardized on one break out configuration either.

The garden hose cable would be a bear to dress in a rack as well. Good luck getting them in the length you want or need as well.
 

GTAXL

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I get it. That doesn't stop me from saying it is a bad idea. Nothing says "unprofessional" more than a pigtail cable. It is a hack. They use DB-25 because it was used for computers so is commodity priced. It is not being used because it is the ideal connection for audio -- analog and digital.

You should have seen me sit there plug XLR cable after XLR cable to see which one works in testing this device. You can't trace them through the pigtail cable like you can with stand-alone cables. It is not like they have standardized on one break out configuration either.

The garden hose cable would be a bear to dress in a rack as well. Good luck getting them in the length you want or need as well.
I agree that it's not the best design, but it does appear to be standardized by AES for audio too (AES59) , thanks to the likes of Tascam/Yamaha and DigiDesign. These converters you get the breakouts direct from the manufacturer and they will all be properly labelled. You can get custom lengths of such cables made by Redco Audio, which made my breakout cable for my Lynx AES16e, I just had a single AES out and AES in made to make the breakout efficient. Yes, they label each connector for the cables.
 

H-713

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DB25 is used for just about everything under the sun, even if it was originally a parallel digital cable. DB25 is actually pretty tame, it's DB50 that really stinks, but fortunately audio companies don't usually use it. An 8-channel snake cable isn't too bad, and the Mogami ones are even pretty soft and flexible.

The usual alternatives are all ungodly expensive, so I'm perfectly okay with DB25 connectors. They're pretty reliable, and they're pretty economical. Multichannel connectors are an inconvenient necessity on equipment like this. Of all the connector options, I really can't think of any that I'd choose over DB25 for this. The alternatives are all either way more expensive, really big and bulky, or way too hard to source.
 

Doodski

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DB25 is used for just about everything under the sun, even if it was originally a parallel digital cable. DB25 is actually pretty tame, it's DB50 that really stinks, but fortunately audio companies don't usually use it. An 8-channel snake cable isn't too bad, and the Mogami ones are even pretty soft and flexible.

The usual alternatives are all ungodly expensive, so I'm perfectly okay with DB25 connectors. They're pretty reliable, and they're pretty economical. Multichannel connectors are an inconvenient necessity on equipment like this. Of all the connector options, I really can't think of any that I'd choose over DB25 for this. The alternatives are all either way more expensive, really big and bulky, or way too hard to source.
What about Cannon connectors. I've handled some pretty big ones and they seemed to be pretty easy to assemble, solder together if one is careful and are reliable in a high mechanically energy environment. Is it a cost thing? I never bought them. I used them when wiring oil drilling rigs and newer technology snowplows that are controlled via joystick and computer for aggregate and anti-icing compound dispersed by snow plow truck. The vehicle operator can dial in the anti-icing compound or the aggregate dispersion on the roads by the km/mile per kg/lb of compound/aggregate. The canon connectors resist salt and corrosion very well and are all gold plated inside.
 

Blumlein 88

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What about Cannon connectors. I've handled some pretty big ones and they seemed to be pretty easy to assemble, solder together if one is careful and are reliable in a high mechanically energy environment. Is it a cost thing? I never bought them. I used them when wiring oil drilling rigs and newer technology snowplows that are controlled via joystick and computer for aggregate and anti-icing compound dispersed by snow plow truck. The vehicle operator can dial in the anti-icing compound or the aggregate dispersion on the roads by the km/mile per kg/lb of compound/aggregate. The canon connectors resist salt and corrosion very well and are all gold plated inside.
Wasn't the original DB25 a Cannon design itself? I think it was.
 

H-713

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What about Cannon connectors. I've handled some pretty big ones and they seemed to be pretty easy to assemble, solder together if one is careful and are reliable in a high mechanically energy environment. Is it a cost thing? I never bought them. I used them when wiring oil drilling rigs and newer technology snowplows that are controlled via joystick and computer for aggregate and anti-icing compound dispersed by snow plow truck. The vehicle operator can dial in the anti-icing compound or the aggregate dispersion on the roads by the km/mile per kg/lb of compound/aggregate. The canon connectors resist salt and corrosion very well and are all gold plated inside.
Multiple different versions (number of pins, diameter, etc) and they are pricey. They aren't too bad to wire, but they're pretty bulky and again, cost. This type of connector is usually at least $50, often more. For a $20,000 turbo pump, that's no big deal. For this kind of thing, it's a bit more significant.
 

Doodski

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Multiple different versions (number of pins, diameter, etc) and they are pricey. They aren't too bad to wire, but they're pretty bulky and again, cost. This type of connector is usually at least $50, often more. For a $20,000 turbo pump, that's no big deal. For this kind of thing, it's a bit more significant.
I see.
 

Rja4000

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Of all the connector options, I really can't think of any that I'd choose over DB25 for this. The alternatives are all either way more expensive, really big and bulky, or way too hard to source
Well, I guess RJ45 could become more common in some future, if we (eventually) get an AES standardized pinout for it.

Otherwise, I tend to agree:
Inside a rack, why to use XLR ?
They are expensive, heavy, they take a lot of place... and here they mechanical robustness is useless.
All you need is a simple, easy to plug, remove (and lock) connector.
Some are using phoenix connectors, but they are less convenient than DB25 (and unnecessarily bulky and expensive for mic or line level signal)
I hate the DB25, but they are still currently one of the least nonsense options.
 
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H-713

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Well, I guess RJ45 could become more common in some future, if we (eventually) get an AES standardized pinout for it.
Ugh... I really don't need more RJ45 in my life. About the only things going for that connector are cost and ease of field termination.
 

Rja4000

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Ugh... I really don't need more RJ45 in my life. About the only things going for that connector are cost and ease of field termination.
Well, they are easier to plug, lock, and remove.
They take less space.
And they can even be made road-ready with Neutrik Ethercon (XLR like) connector, that you may add on already build RJ45-terminated cables.

Imagine you have an AES standard for pinout of 4 analog balanced (or digital) signals on RJ45, all you'd need to cable your rack would be a few 1m (or less) S/FTP Cat 5/6/7 patch cables to connect your audio interface to a patch panel.
As those patch cables are readily available in different colors (and lengths), this would allow a neat and clean rack cabling. Way better than today.
 

xema

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The jitter is quite weird because it has the same synchrolock version just like hilo
(and aurora (n) has newer synchrolock 2, wish you could test this)
 

DWPress

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A Motu Ultralite is a far better deal for the money and offers much more. Enough said.
 

L-Train

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Interesting results. I took a few quick measurements of my Aurora 8 for comparison (using my Lynx E44 and ARTA as the analyzer). Mind you, my test conditions aren't quite the same as I have both the Aurora 8 and E44 connected via Thunderbolt, and both are running independently using their respective internal clocks. The Lynx ASIO driver presents both interfaces at the same time and thus makes this test setup possible. All measurements were made using the "+4 dBu" and "+20 dBu FS" analog trims on the Aurora and E44, respectively.

44.1 kHz 24 bit - 1 kHz sine at -1 dBFS
Aurora 8 to E44 - 44.1 kHz 24 bit - 1 kHz sine at -1 dBFS.png

44.1 kHz 24 bit - 1 kHz sine at -6 dBFS
Aurora 8 to E44 - 44.1 kHz 24 bit - 1 kHz sine at -6 dBFS.png

48 kHz 24 bit - 12 kHz sine at -1 dBFS
Aurora 8 to E44 - 48 kHz 24 bit - 12 kHz sine at -1 dBFS.png

Using the internal clock I don't see the noise floor strangeness. I will try to find some time in the future to make some measurements with the Aurora slaved to the E44 via AES and word clock to see if I can reproduce it.
 
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chris719

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I get it. That doesn't stop me from saying it is a bad idea. Nothing says "unprofessional" more than a pigtail cable. It is a hack. They use DB-25 because it was used for computers so is commodity priced. It is not being used because it is the ideal connection for audio -- analog and digital.

You should have seen me sit there plug XLR cable after XLR cable to see which one works in testing this device. You can't trace them through the pigtail cable like you can with stand-alone cables. It is not like they have standardized on one break out configuration either.

The garden hose cable would be a bear to dress in a rack as well. Good luck getting them in the length you want or need as well.

What do you suggest for similar density? There's a reason most high channel count pro interfaces use them. Rack space is at a premium.
 
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amirm

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What do you suggest for similar density? There's a reason most high channel count pro interfaces use them. Rack space is at a premium.
Why is it a premium? I will happily accommodate a taller unit so I don't have to mess with these specialized and pain in the neck cables. This is how it is done in consumer space:

isp-2.jpg



If you are going to use a patch panel, then you have already blown that saving in space anyway.
 
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amirm

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Adding on, as I mentioned before, secondary use I/O can be relegated to DB-9/DB-25 if needed. Just give me the primary I/O as real XLRs so I can get on with my life. If one cable fails, I can replace it in one minute. No way I can do that with a snake cable like that.
 

chris719

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Why is it a premium? I will happily accommodate a taller unit so I don't have to mess with these specialized and pain in the neck cables. This is how it is done in consumer space:




If you are going to use a patch panel, then you have already blown that saving in space anyway.
I completely agree for consumer kit, but for studio / pro / touring gear, space is often at a premium, or at least that's the feedback from the customers. You can get higher I/O density in fewer rack units.

It feels like a 4U or 6U interface is a good way to not sell any to the mobile studio crowd.

As an aside - I wonder if this unit is using CS4396 or CS4398. The CS4398 is still a nice part. A modified EMU 1820m measures extremely well for something released in 2003.
 
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Lambda

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This things don't get handled an installed by the user.
They get tightly integrated in Rack/studio/commercial application with custom cables anyways.

Individual have the disadvantage you have to Fidel with 8 connectors in a tight space and you run the risk plugging them in in the wrong order.

DB connectors are common if it is expected to make costume cables for your specific application.
They are easy to solder to and have a reasonable pin density.

blackmagic_design_cinecammichdmft_micro_cinema_camera_1137292.jpg

products like this don't get used as they are but they get integrated as a module:
Radiant-Images-IMG_5091.JPG


Same with this DAC/ADC
it goes into a sub rack build by professionals and the user is never seeing the back of it.
 
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amirm

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Let me tell you another thing that sucks with DB-25: their retaining nut. I screwed the one cable in but then decided to take it out. Instead of unscrewing from DB-25, the nut for the socket start to turn as it usually does. I had to get a pair of pliers to hold them in order to unscrew the cable.
 
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