[gattler]

I found this device while looking for anything comparable both in price an Sound Quality to the Mac-Only Apogee Duet and found this: TC ELECTRONIC Konnekt 24D or with less I/O Ports and without a DSP: the Konnekt 8D

Now the interesting part: My researches show that the Konnekt has a D/A Chip by AKM, the same brand they build into the EMU 0404 which is highly regarded in this forums.

The AKM in the Konnekt should be superiour to the EMU's since it is freshly developed.

Anybody own this device?


Read More:
"Among the reasons for the audio quality are the converters and the mic/line preamps. The Dice II AD/DA converter in the Konnekt 8 (and the Konnekt 24D) is a new design developed by TC Electronic with Asahi Kasei Microsystems (AKM). This chip is harnessed with a jitter reduction and sync handling design called JET, which TC Electronic developed in-house for high end products such as the System 6000 reverb, the EQ Station and the DynaudioAcoustics AIR monitors."

http://postproduction.digitalmediane...e.jsp?id=80330

edit:

I found out that the Konnekt Series faces serious driver issues (like dropouts) as described here:
http://forum.tcelectronic.com/viewtopic.php?id=1150

 

[selkin]

I heard this is one of the best live gear for DJ's playing music with ableton.
It's very nice sounding, low latency, no distortion...
TC is THE BRAND.
at least this is what I've read.

 

[selkin]

So, no one tried this thing here before ?

 

[leeperry]

the major issue I'm seeing w/ pro gear is that they use lousy op-amps, and nowadays it's the op-amps that "make" the sound. most RME/Echo/Motu cards use the JRC2068, which is even worse than a 5532 :

Quote:

Then if we will add the difference in the following op amps - JRC5532 in 3805 and JRC2068 in 2400: http://www.njr.co.jp/pdf/ae/ae04058.pdf (JRC5532 THD<0.0006% at Vout=5V 1 kHz) and http://www.njr.co.jp/pdf/ae/ae04022.pdf (JRC2068 THD<0.001% at 1 kHz Vout=5V) we will have again a small difference ... don't forget, the distortions are cumulative, it means that the doubled level of distortions, produced in DACs will be amplified by op amps and the own THD of op amps will be added to the harmonics, produced by DACs plus distortions, produced by distorted in op amps harmonics of DACs, will be added as well... the final difference might be just a little bit in the standard measurements of THD (usually 3rd or 3rd and 5th harmonics), but audible, because our ears are very sensitive to the higher harmonics, which are not measured ... IMHO

honestly, I don't think anything can keep up w/ the Asus STX w/ LME49720(or better)...at least on paper, lemme receive it early next week

 

[selkin]

I cee, thanks.
anyhow. keep us updated on the STX

btw I excluded internal soundcards, so RME and Saffire (for instance) is the only other way for me.

I probably open a the same thread in the Dedicated source components forum, because there should be more people with experience on external DACs.
anyhow, thx again

 

[leeperry]

RME also uses 2068, on the 9632 and the FF400 at least.

in pro gear you're paying for inputs/outputs and drivers to route it all....in audiophile stuff you're paying for a single stereo output w/ top-notch caps/op-amps, lowest distorsion and highest SNR...different markets, different products.

 

[selkin]

you're right, this is most likely true.
but can you tell me one exetrnal device that has DAC and Headphone AMP in it, has optical I/O, and gives at least the same SQ
and all of this for the same price? (£300 here)

I don't think so.
but surprise me man

 

[leeperry]

you prolly need an external audiophile DAC then, there's many good ones I think...but most of them are pricey as hell.

 

[selkin]

yeah. that's the problem. there are no other options in the same price range

 

[hbuus]

I compared RME FireFace 800 to TC Konnekt 24D last week.
While both have a wonderfully detailled sound, the RME beat the TC hands down when it came to punch and power.
I am currently saving up for a RME ADI-2, which is just the converter-part of FF800 incl. a headphone amp.

PS. It's not called TC Konnekt 8D, it's simply TC Konnekt 8. Only the 24D has a D in the model name

 

[grawk]

I hope someone brings one of these to canjam, I really want to hear one up against a duet

 

[selkin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hbuus /img/forum/go_quote.gif I compared RME FireFace 800 to TC Konnekt 24D last week. While both have a wonderfully detailled sound, the RME beat the TC hands down when it came to punch and power. I am currently saving up for a RME ADI-2, which is just the converter-part of FF800 incl. a headphone amp. PS. It's not called TC Konnekt 8D, it's simply TC Konnekt 8. Only the 24D has a D in the model name

some guys says at forum.tcelectronic.com that RME is better built, more reliable, better drivers, but the 24D has slightly nicer sound.

I should really hear it myself to be able to judgde....

BTW do you mean punch and power on its Headphone amp or the line out ?

 

[hbuus]

selkin, you definitely should go listen for yourself, it's the best thing one can do when considering a purchase. It's usually easy to make up ones mind when you can A/B between things. It's interesting and fun too, I think

When comparing I used only the headphone output of the two audio interfaces - I had brought along the headphones I use at home (Sennheiser HD 600). Usually I listen to music with headphones on, so I felt the most relevant thing for me to do was to audit via headphones.

As for punch and power, this was extremely easy to spot when listening to Depeche Mode. Those electronic bassdrums were delivered with much greater force with the RME FireFace than with the TC Konnekt, and in a natural way. It made me think: Ok, this is how those bassdrums should sound.

Btw. before I did the listening test, the sales person said "You know what the very clear difference between the two is?", but then before I had a chance to answer, he said: "Oh I'd better not say in advance; it's better if you listen with an open mind". Afterwards, when I told him about the solid difference in performance of the two units in terms of punch, he said that this was exactly what he felt as well. He had a TC Konnekt 24D at home, but was now saving up for a FireFace 400.

Anyway, if you live near a good music store, you could ask them to set up the two units for you to test. If you cannot afford RME, don't do the listening test; just buy a TC Konnekt. If you go and listen and end up feeling the same way as I did when testing, then TC Konnekt will not be good enough for you

PS. Be aware that people in the audio world say that the RME FireFace 800 has a little better converters than the RME FireFace 400, whereas the FF400 has a little better preamps than the FF800. - Also on a Danish music producer forum, an employee of TC told me he cannot hear the difference in audio quality between a TC Konnekt 6 and the more expensive models Konnekt 8 and 24D. For that reason he is apparently using a Konnekt 6 at home and feeling perfectly happy with it.

Hope this helps

 

[selkin]

it helps

but I wont be able to buy the TC, or at least I'll live witha bad feeling in me after this

it's very cheap, just £250... while the fireface400 is £680. that's 2.5x more expensive...

I could really usesome extra cash I save when buying equipment but having a weak headphone amp.... no I don't want that..

unfortunately there's no good store near where I live.

well thanks again for sharing your thoughts

 

[hbuus]

No prob

Yesterday after posting, it hit me that, as you also state, the RME is quite a bit more expensive than the TC, so to be honest a shoot-out between the two is quite unfair to the TC Konnekt. Provided that the driver problems have been sorted out, it is an excellent audio interface. Wide sound stage and crystal clear sound which makes it easy to hear details in the music.

As for the difference in punch, I am not sure if it is just the headphone output that makes the difference. Can it be a difference in converter quality? RME is famous for it's stability and for having excellent converters.

Anyway, I don't know where you live, but here in Europe you can buy a RME ADI 2 for 499 EUR (you don't need to buy a FireFace 800; you can buy this and get the same converter quality):

RME ADI 2 - U.K. International Cyberstore

Still, this is more expensive than a TC Konnekt 24D:
TC ELECTRONIC KONNEKT 24D - U.K. International Cyberstore

Also if you check this link:
Konnekt Comparison

- you can see the differences between the various TC Konnekt audio interfaces. When looking at TC's homepage I noticed that Konnekt 8 and 24D share the same manual, so the technial numbers are the same for the two units. However as it is stated on the comparison page, Konnekt 24D has DSP, ADAT and two more analog outputs compared to Konnekt 8. If you can live without this however, you can save more than 100 EUR by going with TC Konnekt 8:

TC ELECTRONIC KONNEKT 8 - U.K. International Cyberstore

It's a shame you can't go and test stuff any place near where you live.

Anyway, as I can see you are interested in very detailled info about converter chips and so on (I'm not myself

), here is a link to a review with info about RME ADI 2:
RME ADI2 & ADI4 DD

You can search the archives of that magazine for reviews of TC Konnekt, EMU 0404 and so on. Beware that all reviews are written in a positive way - you have to read between the lines usually to find out if there is anything problematic about a product!

Wish I could help you more! Will monitor this thread and respond if there is anything else I feel I can do to help.

EDIT:
Ah I can see you live in the UK, then the links to Thomann UK are relevant