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Post by cowboycoalminer on Jun 22, 2017 19:42:46 GMT -6
Which would you choose? I'm still with a split platform Symphony/Apollo but I'd like to switch to one smooth interface that has at least 16, preferably 24 outputs without sacrificing quality. What's out there these days? I've honestly kinna been out of the loop for several months. But getting ready to gear back up.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
C
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Post by rowmat on Jun 22, 2017 19:50:33 GMT -6
Which would you choose? I'm still with a split platform Symphony/Apollo but I'd like to switch to one smooth interface that has at least 16, preferably 24 outputs without sacrificing quality. What's out there these days? I've honestly kinna been out of the loop for several months. But getting ready to gear back up. Any help would be greatly appreciated. C Probably not exactly what you want but we have two modified Alesis HD24XR's One is used exclusively as an A/D and the other is the D/A hooked up via an RME ADI-648 MADI/ADAT interface with an RME Madiface USB into Reaper. No onboard DSP FX or anything fancy but they sound great and suit our hybrid setup with an analog console. Also the Alesis used as the A/D could be reassigned as a second 24 channel D/A giving a total 48 channels of D/A for mixdown via an analog console.
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Post by stratboy on Jun 22, 2017 19:55:39 GMT -6
How about a Motu 16a plus an 8a? Or, a 24Ao? If I remember correctly, the latter has slightly older chips, but has the advantage of not leaving a bunch of unused input channels on the table. And it is around $1.2k new. The 16/8 combo gets you 24 really good channels for under $2k. A 16/16 setup would give you 24 ch of DA and 8 analog inserts for around $2.4k new.
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Post by wiz on Jun 22, 2017 20:11:13 GMT -6
I have been using the MOTU 16A for a couple of years... its been good... you've heard my work...
I would get two of them... or one and the 8A ...
cheers
Wiz
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Post by mdmitch2 on Jun 22, 2017 20:15:29 GMT -6
I have a pair of orions feeding my console via RME MADI card. Been very happy with this setup.... but a good, cheaper option that I had before I needed so many I/O was the SSL alphalink. That'll get you 24, and very stable -- pretty cheap on the used market.
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Post by ericn on Jun 22, 2017 20:34:42 GMT -6
Old or new RADAR with a digital card!
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Post by NoFilterChuck on Jun 22, 2017 21:29:39 GMT -6
buy another 8x8 Symphony and sell the Apollo!
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Post by jeromemason on Jun 22, 2017 21:38:14 GMT -6
Motu 24 AO
I believe it's the ESS Sabre as well.
If not scoop up a couple of 16a's to feed the console and have a few extra analog I/O on tap.
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Post by aamicrophones on Jun 23, 2017 0:20:41 GMT -6
Old or new RADAR with a digital card! I have two RADAR's one is a Classic and has 24 analogue I/O's and 24 digital Tascam I/O's. The 2nd Radar I had upgraded to a Radar Studio and it will run any PC based DAW software. It has 24 analogue I/O's and 24 light pipe digital I/O's.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2017 0:26:22 GMT -6
+1 for the Motu 24Ao. Great stuff, no regrets. Really good performance/price ratio! Astonishingly good sounding.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2017 0:29:08 GMT -6
I also have it and yes, it's Sabre chips inside. Due to it's simpler design it even sounds better than the outs of some others of the AVB series, AFAIK also better than 16A.
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Post by jeromemason on Jun 23, 2017 2:34:07 GMT -6
If the 24AO is even better than the 16a then it would be a no brainer, if all he's looking for is outputs.
Also another thing to throw into all that Herbie would be to look into the BLA Micro Clock III. I was able to use a pair of outputs from the Motu to monitor with instead of having a dedicated DAC after using the MKIII. Made that much difference for me and saved me quite a bit of coin by being able to have one unit locked up the MKIII.
Also if you go with more than one of these Motu units you can network them together and your computer will see it as just one interface. I'm not sure if you've ever had to deal with aggregate devices but by your computer only seeing one interface it really knocks out all the bugs and crashing, helps a hell of a lot with the latency too.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2017 4:23:26 GMT -6
If the 24AO is even better than the 16a then it would be a no brainer, if all he's looking for is outputs. Also another thing to throw into all that Herbie would be to look into the BLA Micro Clock III. I was able to use a pair of outputs from the Motu to monitor with instead of having a dedicated DAC after using the MKIII. Made that much difference for me and saved me quite a bit of coin by being able to have one unit locked up the MKIII. Also if you go with more than one of these Motu units you can network them together and your computer will see it as just one interface. I'm not sure if you've ever had to deal with aggregate devices but by your computer only seeing one interface it really knocks out all the bugs and crashing, helps a hell of a lot with the latency too. In my setup i connected a Mytek 8x96 as AD to the 24Ao, and it sounds pretty good with the Mytek as master clock device. Still have a M-Audio Lightbridge firewire interface for higher count multichannel ADAT usage on a second computer, to interface to a rack mixer for hardware synths. This device seems to have a really good clock, and i use it to clock a few ADA8000 old Behringer AD/DA converter devices at 96kHz (thanks to wiz for mentioning this undocumented functionality) - works great. Clock quality differs quite a bit, not only in converters, but also in dedicated digital interfaces.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Jun 23, 2017 5:04:56 GMT -6
Thanks guys. Does the motu 24 ai use the same chip as the ao?
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Post by jcoutu1 on Jun 23, 2017 5:25:12 GMT -6
Thanks guys. Does the motu 24 ai use the same chip as the ao? The 24ai has a different input chip than the 16a. The ai is input and ao is output, so different chips by design.
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Post by kcatthedog on Jun 23, 2017 6:29:13 GMT -6
You haven't mentioned price really being an object. I have sold my Apollo bf and now have the new symphony mkii (Ragan has done the same): very pleased with it and also the headphone DA is very,very good.
It now has a interface gui which is like Apollo console and simpler to set up and you can monitor with plugs , like verb.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Jun 23, 2017 6:42:19 GMT -6
You haven't mentioned price really being an object. I have sold my Apollo bf and now have the new symphony mkii (Ragan has done the same): very pleased with it and also the headphone DA is very,very good. It now has a interface gui which is like Apollo console and simpler to set up and you can monitor with plugs , like verb. Monitor with any plugs kcat? Waves etc?
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Post by kcatthedog on Jun 23, 2017 6:50:49 GMT -6
I haven't checked all my plugs but when I checked the verb, it was UA, so not proprietary to Apogee, so I think the answer is yes.
I have some waves plugs, I'll check later and get back to you.
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Jun 23, 2017 7:41:49 GMT -6
Do the old cards still work in the new mk 2 chassis?
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Post by NoFilterChuck on Jun 23, 2017 9:41:52 GMT -6
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Post by kcatthedog on Jun 23, 2017 9:53:42 GMT -6
Hey Herbie, Apogee CS just confirmed that the symph mkii new gui in Mixer window will run any 3rd party plug ins, up to your dsp capacity. Obviously for UA, you need UA dsp. Here is a video link about setting up the new symph mkii gui( like UA Console,) you have a mixer window tab where you set up your low latency monitoring for Tracking, switch to Playback for mixing: one click. www.apogeedigital.com/video/element-tutorials-low-latency-recording-with-reverb
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Post by NoFilterChuck on Jun 23, 2017 10:05:34 GMT -6
Hey Herbie, Apogee CS just confirmed that the symph mkii new gui in Mixer window will run any 3rd party plug ins, up to your dsp capacity. Obviously for UA, you need UA dsp. Here is a video link about setting up the new symph mkii gui( like UA Console,) you have a mixer window tab where you set up your low latency monitoring for Tracking, switch to Playback for mixing: one click. www.apogeedigital.com/video/element-tutorials-low-latency-recording-with-reverbLET THE RECORD SHOW THAT YOU DON'T NEED TO BUY A SYMPHONY MKII TO ACCOMPLISH THIS: realgearonline.com/post/125744
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Post by kcatthedog on Jun 23, 2017 10:29:28 GMT -6
ah we have been through that before here:) but cowboy was asking about upgrading his interface and as he has been off the radar for a while, I thought he would appreciate seeing how symph mkii gui is different than what he is used to using (Maestro) with his current apogee mki but similar to Apollo Console.
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Post by ragan on Jun 23, 2017 11:41:37 GMT -6
Do the old cards still work in the new mk 2 chassis? They do. The monitoring plugs thing isn't like UAD Console. The new Apogee monitoring app just has an easy way to route an aux from the DAW. But that aux will still be subject to the DAW buffer. I really do like the Symphony MKII. AD and DA are both just lovely. Be damn steep for 24 channels though.
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Post by kcatthedog on Jun 23, 2017 11:51:30 GMT -6
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