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Post by sonnycheebs on Aug 8, 2020 0:42:11 GMT -6
A few months ago I switched from a cheese grater Mac to a trash can Mac. Of course the trash can has no pci slots so I pick up a sonnet Echo rack mount along with a owc drive bay. I hate both of those things. The fans are noisy. It erks my nerves.
so to the core of my issue. My current converter is the lucid 88192 upgraded by revive. Great piece I love the sound I have two. 1 plain and 1 upgraded. I have been using a lynx aes pci card to get my inputs and out puts to the computer.
what can I use to replace the lynx card? I figure it should thunderbolt or usb.
my first thought is a used apogee element and use the adat ins and outs. The questions I would have for this idea is what does this do to the latency? Does adding a cheaper unit mess with my converter chain? Last what other options could I use? I want to stay about 1000$ on this set up.
side note part of me wants to dump the whole lot and get an thunderbolt Apollo as I would love more uad dsp.
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Post by Johnkenn on Aug 8, 2020 7:47:16 GMT -6
Depends on how many channels you need. But the Apollo or something like MOTU would be much easier.
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kcatthedog
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Post by kcatthedog on Aug 8, 2020 10:57:09 GMT -6
If you got Apollo X, I wonder how much you would miss your current set up ?
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Post by adamjbrass on Aug 8, 2020 11:49:18 GMT -6
Most TB interfaces are ultra low latency. Basically PCIe type performance on a single wire.
If you clock the setup properly, there is no reason to think a quality thunderbolt interface with ADAT digital inputs will “ruin” your Lucid boxes.
Personally, I’m not a fan of ADAT. I think it’s horrible, (it has too much clock noise and jitter for my personal taste) compared to balanced AES\EBU
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Post by sonnycheebs on Aug 8, 2020 13:01:06 GMT -6
I have not recorded more than one track at a time in 5 years. I have only recorded a bass and guitar once in that time. I guess I’m old school in thinking I need so many ins and outs.
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Post by sonnycheebs on Aug 8, 2020 13:03:06 GMT -6
Most TB interfaces are ultra low latency. Basically PCIe type performance on a single wire. If you clock the setup properly, there is no reason to think a quality thunderbolt interface with ADAT digital inputs will “ruin” your Lucid boxes. Personally, I’m not a fan of ADAT. I think it’s horrible, (it has too much clock noise and jitter for my personal taste) compared to balanced AES\EBU This is why I originally when with the lynx card. would a apogee element be considered a “ Quality thunderbolt interface.”? if not any suggestions? |
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Post by johneppstein on Aug 8, 2020 13:47:17 GMT -6
I have not recorded more than one track at a time in 5 years. I have only recorded a bass and guitar once in that time. I guess I’m old school in thinking I need so many ins and outs. I hve a 32 channel board and 8 or so outboard preamps and 32 channels of conversion. I do not believe that I've EVER used more than maybe 8 in tracking.
HOWEVER in mixdown I often use all of them, even using the Studer, which only has 24 channels.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2020 14:25:14 GMT -6
All optical connections have high jitter. There’s a reason they’re dying outside of the low end market. You need bnc word clock i/o or some crazy digital jitter scrubbing like RME SteadyClock.
Thunderbolt for sure unless you go RME. You’ll get more deterministic latency with thunderbolt. It’s pcie on a wire. Lynx, MOTU, UAD, and RME all make very reliable thunderbolt boxes. RME has the best usb and most stable and flexible drivers by far though. And the most ho hum sound.
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Post by topshelfmg on Aug 8, 2020 19:33:29 GMT -6
Depends on how many channels you need. But the Apollo or something like MOTU would be much easier. I switched over to a pair of Motu 16As and have absolutely loved them. Extremely high end conversion that is fairly reasonably priced, with the most convenient expansion options I've seen thanks to the AVB/ethernet and thunderbolt. I think it may be the best product Motu has ever made personally, I wasn't too into them before I got the 16As though besides a much older Motu unit I have laying around still. To answer the OPs question though, I would recommend thunderbolt. Especially with the Mac trash can, which I also work on a lot. There are some great hub options as well, and you'll never have to worry about bandwidth or latency. |
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Aug 8, 2020 20:47:32 GMT -6
Most TB interfaces are ultra low latency. Basically PCIe type performance on a single wire. If you clock the setup properly, there is no reason to think a quality thunderbolt interface with ADAT digital inputs will “ruin” your Lucid boxes. Personally, I’m not a fan of ADAT. I think it’s horrible, (it has too much clock noise and jitter for my personal taste) compared to balanced AES\EBU When Adam and I agree on something it must be true! Loved the Lucids and a modded one is still a pretty good sounding box. The only way I can see running one with the Trash Can is a Sonnet or Magma chassis, I still would probably find the lower latency of a modern Thunderbolt interface As well as the lower jitter easy to fall for. |
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Post by sonnycheebs on Aug 8, 2020 21:32:53 GMT -6
Most TB interfaces are ultra low latency. Basically PCIe type performance on a single wire. If you clock the setup properly, there is no reason to think a quality thunderbolt interface with ADAT digital inputs will “ruin” your Lucid boxes. Personally, I’m not a fan of ADAT. I think it’s horrible, (it has too much clock noise and jitter for my personal taste) compared to balanced AES\EBU When Adam and I agree on something it must be true! Loved the Lucids and a modded one is still a pretty good sounding box. The only way I can see running one with the Trash Can is a Sonnet or Magma chassis, I still would probably find the lower latency of a modern Thunderbolt interface As well as the lower jitter easy to fall for. I have the sonnet chassis and if it was quiet I would be cool. |
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Aug 8, 2020 21:47:11 GMT -6
When Adam and I agree on something it must be true! Loved the Lucids and a modded one is still a pretty good sounding box. The only way I can see running one with the Trash Can is a Sonnet or Magma chassis, I still would probably find the lower latency of a modern Thunderbolt interface As well as the lower jitter easy to fall for. I have the sonnet chassis and if it was quiet I would be cool. You should have lived with the big old Magma 7 space expansion now that thing needed to be in another building!!! |
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Post by johneppstein on Aug 11, 2020 12:48:56 GMT -6
When Adam and I agree on something it must be true! Loved the Lucids and a modded one is still a pretty good sounding box. The only way I can see running one with the Trash Can is a Sonnet or Magma chassis, I still would probably find the lower latency of a modern Thunderbolt interface As well as the lower jitter easy to fall for. I have the sonnet chassis and if it was quiet I would be cool. If it was quiet?
What's noisy? The fan?
Replace it.
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Post by johneppstein on Aug 11, 2020 12:52:04 GMT -6
I have the sonnet chassis and if it was quiet I would be cool. You should have lived with the big old Magma 7 space expansion now that thing needed to be in another building!!! I think I might still have one of those somewhere. Talk about investments that don't hold their value - think I gave $100 for it, $200 max.....
Don't need it with the 32 channel interface....
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Aug 11, 2020 13:21:17 GMT -6
You should have lived with the big old Magma 7 space expansion now that thing needed to be in another building!!! I think I might still have one of those somewhere. Talk about investments that don't hold their value - think I gave $100 for it, $200 max.....
Don't need it with the 32 channel interface....
Mine was a used AVID branded PCI Chassis, Funny enough the PCB said Digidesign, turns out they made the early boards for Magma. Later on I bought a PCIE host card. The thing was even with a quiet fan the Chassis its self vibrated like hell till I mounted it without the lid on the bottom of the rack wth rear rails. |
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Post by willbeasley on Apr 4, 2024 8:08:30 GMT -6
It sounds like you're dealing with a frustrating dilemma with your setup. If you're looking to replace your Lynx AES PCI card, considering a used Apogee Element with ADAT ins and outs could be a good option within your budget. In terms of latency, using ADAT should be fine as long as you're not pushing the limits of your system. Adding a cheaper unit shouldn't significantly impact your converter chain, especially if it's just handling digital I/O. And if you need a break from your tech troubles, you can always use a dice roller online. Good luck with your decision! |
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