LFF
Co-Organizer for Can Jam '09
Member of the Trade: Paradox
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2004
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Quote:
Thought I would wake this thread from the dead...
I have been using my M-Audio 2496 to digitise my Vinyl - lots of it is 50's and in middling condition which means the rip is quick and the cleanup takes forever!!! (CoolEdit)
I recently started testing the M-Audio using Headphones (just getting back into HP's after a 15+ year hiatus)... and I found the M-Audio analogue out to be a little less transparent than the digital out into my AVR and out into a Headamp.
This caused me to start looking askance at the 2496.
So my question is has anyone compared different ADC's for vinyl conversion (or any other recording purposes) - and without getting into stratospheric pricing categories, is there something better than the 2496, or should I look at mods for the 2496?
The MSB PAD sounds like an interesting option as does the MSB Audio Director - has anyone compared these to direct PCI based ADC's?
Has anyone compared some of the Xonars to M-Audio and E-MU ADC's?
I have used all types and frankly, the best bang for the buck is the EMU. It's fairly transparent and does a great job for vinyl rips. Your average joe will NOT be able to tell the difference between the ADC of an EMU or that of a Lavry Gold or a Benchmark. Stick with the EMU as the law of diminishing returns really applies to the DAC and ADC world. Most importantly, I'd would say that the most critical thing about doing a proper vinyl rip is the the following:
1. Quality of the vinyl.
2. Quality of the mastering on the LP.
3. Being able to clean the vinyl properly with the proper solution
4. Capture resolution.
5. Processing order.
6. Post-processing polishing.
A well done vinyl rip usually takes me around 3 hours if the record is clean and minty. Badly treated records take more time. When all things are the same, it's very hard telling the difference between the 16/44.1 rip and a 32/196 rip.