|
Post by Johnkenn on May 31, 2022 14:06:06 GMT -6
Maybe it's mentioned somewhere...but what's the pricing?
|
|
|
Post by viciousbliss on May 31, 2022 17:38:11 GMT -6
Maybe it's mentioned somewhere...but what's the pricing? On AA? They have some monthly thing. One of the Youtubers had a 40% off code. Think it was the Learnmixing channel with the AA video. For the Fusion it was $5.32 for a half hour. Black Box and Silver Bullet are similarly priced. Bricasti is about $8. There wasn't a huge selection, but it's all good stuff.
|
|
|
Post by OtisGreying on May 31, 2022 19:56:33 GMT -6
Definitely shadow, I probably should have said “good” hardware rather than just hardware. I definitely am not referring to any piece of hardware guitar center will sell you. I haven’t bought any prosumer hardware for the same reason as I currently don’t buy plug-in emulations - I really like to buy once and be happy with the result. And that’s what these forums are for so if you do your research you’ll find which pieces fall under that category that are really helpful What is prosumer hardware now? Lots of things that cost thousands of dollars are mainly toys for the prosumer market while Art and Audio Technica make some very good stuff mostly used by pros because they are boring but highly effective or made to a price point based on OEM parts commonly available but with designs intended for modification. Yeah I don't know. Prosumer is a pretty broad term that I guess means different things for different people. I guess I meant I don't buy pieces of hardware that I feel there is just clearly another unit of hardware out there that does the same function but better to where I'd want to upgrade in the future. I basically just surmise whether that's the case or not based on anecdotal experiences with the unit I read about online and here.
That way I can just be happy with the purchase and move on using it. And if there is something better that serves the same function but its usually astronomically high priced or some super luxury sort of thing? Well I'm fine with it at that point, I'm not pissed I don't have a 12 thousand dollar Unfairchild on my mix bus.
Another factor that goes into my gear buying is what people who have done great work use, people whom I love the work that they've done I'll look up their gear (for mixing/recording), ah they used X unit on mix bus or Y unit on vocals, ok. Good enough for me. I love the sound of this record so I'll start looking into that unit.
|
|
|
Post by thehightenor on Jun 1, 2022 0:12:02 GMT -6
The problem AA might have is, nobody who’s discovered how great they are wants to shout about it around the internet . The more people who discover how fab they are the harder it’ll be to get free slots on the service when you want them. It’s only a viable service for me if it’s available at the moments I want them, so far it’s mostly worked out OK. I have a 1GB bi directional broadband cable connection and AA works like a dream on my system. I literally have no rack space left for anymore hybrid mixing gear so AA is the perfect solution.
|
|
|
Post by viciousbliss on Jun 1, 2022 11:10:18 GMT -6
The problem AA might have is, nobody who’s discovered how great they are wants to shout about it around the internet . The more people who discover how fab they are the harder it’ll be to get free slots on the service when you want them. It’s only a viable service for me if it’s available at the moments I want them, so far it’s mostly worked out OK. I have a 1GB bi directional broadband cable connection and AA works like a dream on my system. I literally have no rack space left for anymore hybrid mixing gear so AA is the perfect solution. Most of the reserved times seemed to have been taken at 3-4 AM on the West Coast. Maybe Paul Third has been making a lot of comparison videos lately. The resulting file I got off AA is far superior to what I did with the same track using the Fusion and my Apollo Twin. I've just been listening to the files and wondering what happened. AA has their Fusion going through either a Lynx Aurora or Galaxy 64. Or maybe there's some other issue with the setup, like the Hosa and Livewire cables. The audio I got from AA was clearer and more open. Edited to say: Upon further scrutiny and better level-matching, the difference isn't as glaring. I'm trying to find one where I didn't have the transformer on since I wasn't using that on AA. Could also be that on AA the knob turning isn't a perfect match with what you see on screen. I'm amazed at how radically Fusion can change something so fast. I am not used to that kind of workflow speed. Knowing what I read from Nwavguy's site, it's possible to get a transparent dac with top notch measurements for cheap. So, I never really considered scrutinizing converters much. Can't really do that on a limited budget either. AA says they convert files to 96k before going into their hardware. I wonder how relevant a detail that is.
|
|
|
Post by tkaitkai on Jun 1, 2022 16:15:47 GMT -6
viciousblissThe AA GUI not being 1:1 is definitely an important consideration. I would just use your ears to try and match as closely as possible. That said, I also had the same experience with the Apollo Twin’s conversion. The worst was with first generation analog signals, but even when sending prerecorded stuff out D/A -> A/D, it always seemed to grunge things up ever-so-slightly, and not in a good way. Thankfully, you don’t have to break the bank to do better than a Twin. You can find used legacy converters for pennies these days and most of them still sound fantastic. Alternatively, you could look around for a used Apogee Element. I recently acquired one and it’s unbelievable quality for the money. A major step up from the Apollo for sure, and it even holds its own against my Lavry Blue. I would have no qualms using HW inserts with this thing.
|
|
|
Post by OtisGreying on Jun 1, 2022 16:20:49 GMT -6
The problem AA might have is, nobody who’s discovered how great they are wants to shout about it around the internet . The more people who discover how fab they are the harder it’ll be to get free slots on the service when you want them. It’s only a viable service for me if it’s available at the moments I want them, so far it’s mostly worked out OK. I have a 1GB bi directional broadband cable connection and AA works like a dream on my system. I literally have no rack space left for anymore hybrid mixing gear so AA is the perfect solution. Most of the reserved times seemed to have been taken at 3-4 AM on the West Coast. Maybe Paul Third has been making a lot of comparison videos lately. The resulting file I got off AA is far superior to what I did with the same track using the Fusion and my Apollo Twin. I've just been listening to the files and wondering what happened. AA has their Fusion going through either a Lynx Aurora or Galaxy 64. Or maybe there's some other issue with the setup, like the Hosa and Livewire cables. The audio I got from AA was clearer and more open. Edited to say: Upon further scrutiny and better level-matching, the difference isn't as glaring. I'm trying to find one where I didn't have the transformer on since I wasn't using that on AA. Could also be that on AA the knob turning isn't a perfect match with what you see on screen. I'm amazed at how radically Fusion can change something so fast. I am not used to that kind of workflow speed. Knowing what I read from Nwavguy's site, it's possible to get a transparent dac with top notch measurements for cheap. So, I never really considered scrutinizing converters much. Can't really do that on a limited budget either. AA says they convert files to 96k before going into their hardware. I wonder how relevant a detail that is. As tkaitkai said, its probably your converter, the 96k probably helps a teency weency bit but its more likely the conversion their using thats cleaner sounding
|
|
|
Post by viciousbliss on Jun 1, 2022 17:10:54 GMT -6
So, speaking of Paul Third, this video popped up:
He pits an ID14 against the Lynx Aurora from AA.
Concludes that the ID14 was actually more transparent, but you had to run it at 96k.
AA confirmed to me that the Fusion is on the Lynx and the other stuff is on the Galaxy.
I thought the deal with hardware was that you could run at 44k since it has an infinite sample rate or whatever?
I'm going to try that. I also have an ID14, but I just keep it as a backup because the headphone amp on the Twin is a lot clearer with more headroom. Gives me better mixes.
Though, I've never tried the ID14 with VSX.
|
|
|
Post by tkaitkai on Jun 1, 2022 20:09:56 GMT -6
I thought the deal with hardware was that you could run at 44k since it has an infinite sample rate or whatever? In my experience, it’s the sound of the converter that changes with different sample rates, not the outboard being used. Every converter I’ve used sounds different at different sample rates, although it’s much less pronounced with all-in-one interfaces (i.e. the Apollo). My Lavry sounds best at 96, whereas my old Aurora was best at 88.2. With the Apollo, it was harder to hear, but IIRC, recording at 96 was somewhat ot an improvement over 48. But I also wouldn’t say the differences are that crazy. The converter itself has a bigger impact, IMO.
|
|
|
Post by viciousbliss on Jun 2, 2022 1:12:45 GMT -6
I thought the deal with hardware was that you could run at 44k since it has an infinite sample rate or whatever? In my experience, it’s the sound of the converter that changes with different sample rates, not the outboard being used. Every converter I’ve used sounds different at different sample rates, although it’s much less pronounced with all-in-one interfaces (i.e. the Apollo). My Lavry sounds best at 96, whereas my old Aurora was best at 88.2. With the Apollo, it was harder to hear, but IIRC, recording at 96 was somewhat ot an improvement over 48. But I also wouldn’t say the differences are that crazy. The converter itself has a bigger impact, IMO. Well, stuff is sounding much better at 96k and using the settings closest to what I used on AA. I did finish watching the Paul Third video since my last post. He clearly shows that the Lynx is colored. It's great color though. When he plays back the ID14, it sounds extremely close to the source. The Lynx has this great treble lift. So, I think a lot of high-end audio aimed at mixing and mastering is just like things I've seen at conventions aimed at Head-Fi people. Companies that create the most pleasing color command the biggest dollars. People love to chase great sound, not neutrality and transparency. For creating audio, I think that makes sense. For listening, I think it creates problems.
|
|