Welcome to a confusing world of what to buy!  Yes!  It’s I/O time again.  So what do you buy?  It seems that we have our standard choices of what digi seems to like, but that’s ok because they have chosen pretty well.

Digidesign 192

Of course we have digi hardware.  The cool thing about digi 192’s is that you have a lot of choice.  Don’t bother with the 96 or 96i.  They just aren’t any where near as flexible and the fidelity is that much different.  Digi describes the options as this:

• 50 possible inputs and outputs
• Supports up to 16 simultaneous channels of high-definition I/O
• Extremely flexible analog and digital I/O
• Card option bay for analog or digital I/O expansion with 192 AD, 192 DA, or 192 Digital cards
• World-class 24-bit/192 kHz A/D and D/A conversion
• Comes with a wide range of digital I/O, including 8 channels of AES/EBU I/O, 8 channels of TDIF I/O, 16 channels of ADAT I/O, and 2 additional

• channels of AES/EBU or S/PDIF I/O
• Word (1x) and Slave Clock (256x) input/output
• Switchable, real-time sample rate conversion on digital inputs on the 192 Digital card, which allows easy streaming of digital signals at any sample rate
• Soft-Clip Limiter that allows higher levels to disk for punchier, hotter recordings
• Expansion Port that allows for direct connection of another 192 I/O or 96 I/O
• Legacy Peripheral port that allows for connection of 888|24, 882|20, 1622, or 24-Bit ADAT Bridge I/Os*

It is a truly flexible box with great sound that we’ve heard on thousands of albums.  This is truly “Americas” workhorse.

Apogee AD16x

Apogee has several options for us too.  We have the ability with the X-HD card to add io power like the ad16x, the da16x or the powerful Rosetta series to your Pro Tools rig.

Thes units come with a lot of the functionality that you would have to add on to the 192.  They have the “Apogee” sound and have a superb clarity.  When I first spoke to the apogee designer of these I/O’s about the difference between apogee andd other companies he said in a thick accent that the real magic in the design happens in the analog section of the I/O.  It made me think about things because it was kind of left field to me.  Imagine that…  A company that makes digital I/O’s that is really concerned about it’s analog path.

There are some interesting tweeks to make on these I/O’s like the power switch bypass and regular firmware updates, but the sound is deffinately worth it.  And of course if you buy apogee it will work seemlessly with all of your other audio programs.

Aurora 16

Another option is the Lynx Aurora system.  I have not used them, but I hear that they are a phenominal sounding convertor.  One big benefit that I see in these units is that you get 16 in and out in a single rack-space.  Sweet!  Lynx describes their product as this:

“The Aurora 16 and Aurora 8 AD/DA converters provide world-class analog to digital and digital to analog conversion in a compact one-rack space format. With sample rates up to 192 kHz, Aurora offers wide, open, uncompressed and unequalized audio for studios, mastering facilities, remote recording, broadcast and production. Lynx’s exclusive SynchroLock word clock offers extreme jitter reduction, providing clean digital audio signals for Aurora and other digital devices in the studio.

Aurora also avoids some of the limitations that other pro level converters have. Aurora does not have a noisy fan, does not lose channel count at higher sample rates and does not require costly analog and digital modules to achieve the unit’s full channel count.

Aurora can be used with any audio content. Equalization and limiting functions, which can color or alter the sound, have not been added. Lynx’s design provides accurate conversion, clear clean audio, wide imaging – the sound you put into Aurora is the sound that you get out of Aurora.

Several interfaces allow Aurora to be used in a number of different configurations. LT-HD allows Aurora to be recognized by and controlled from a Digidesign® ProTools|HD® system. FireWire access is easy using the LT-FW. 16 channels of ADAT Lightpipe I/O is made available with the LT-ADAT. And Lynx AES16 and AES16e allow interface with a wide range of Windows and Macintosh computers.

The Aurora 16 was nominated for a TEC award in 2005. Aurora with LT-HD has been nominated for a 2007 TEC award” (Lynxstudio.com).

• Simultaneous 16 Channel Analog I/O and 16 Channel AES/EBU I/O
• 24 Bit / 192 kHz Mastering Quality A/D and D/A conversion
• 192 kHz AES/EBU I/O Supporting Single and Dual Wire Modes
• Single Rack Space Configuration
• Extensive Remote Control Capability via Lynx AES16, IrDA and MIDI
• On-board 32 Channel Digital Mixer Provides Flexible I/O Routing
• Word clock I/O with Lynx SynchroLock™ Sample Clock Technology
• Digital I/O DB-25 connectors follow Yamaha pinout protocol
• Analog I/O DB-25 connectors follow Tascam pinout protocol
• RoHS compliant
• Available in 100V, 115V and 230V models

ADA-8XR

Next and last we will be looking at the Prism Sounds’ ADA-8XR multi-channel modular AD/DA converter.  This is a real beast and the only convertor in this list that can support DSD tracking, successfully keeping you ready for the future when we have petabyte drives and an audio quality that will make people leap out of they’re pants.  Yes HD audio discs died out but we were’nt ready for it.  iPods were just to popular and when our mp3 files are 20 megabytes and our crystal based hard drivees in our pockets can handle it it will be reality.  If I told you 15 years ago that we would be able to hold thousands of songs in our little pockets you wouldn’t have believed me.  I think the future has a lot to hold for us and I believe that I/O’s like this one will be setting the bar for our upcoming needs in music recording.  Prism Sound describes the unit as this:

The ADA-8XR is a multi-channel AD/DA converter that can be configured in numerous ways using plug-in modules to suit a very wide variety of applications. It can be a 16 channel AD converter, a 16 Channel DA converter or an 8 channel AD/DA converter. It can be a multi-channel FireWire interface, or an AES/EBU / AES3 / SPDIF Digital to Analogue or Analogue to Digital converter. It can act as a high resolution Pro Tools Interface for recording or post-production. Similarly it can work with a wide range of other popular Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) including Logic, Cubase, Nuendo and others. In fact, there’s not a lot it can’t do when it comes to digital audio conversion.  Applications
The ADA-8XR is the top professionals’ converter of choice in the most exacting applications in music and sound recording, mastering, broadcast and post-production. Offering the cleanest and most transparent conversion available, the ADA-8XR is ideal for producers, engineers and songwriters wanting to produce top-quality results when recording, tracking & overdubbing, mixing to stereo or surround, mastering and monitoring. The ADA-8XR is perfect for recording vocal, single instruments, drums or orchestra and is just as much at home providing multiple outputs for external analogue summing. It is in use in the top studios around the world as well as being used in numerous film sound tracks.

Design Philosophy
The ADA-8XR takes the philosophy of the widely-acclaimed Prism Sound converter range a stage further: Now, the goals of ultimate sound quality, unbeatable performance and un-matched versatility have been realised in a modular multi-channel, 24-bit 192kHz-capable format. The ADA-8XR provides A/D and D/A conversion and the essential digital interfaces with a stereo monitor mix output in digital and analogue formats.

Clocking and Synchronization
Unlike most other converter systems, the ADA-8XR is ideal as a master clock for your entire system, whether running from its precision internal reference or from an external source. No external clock source can improve the performance or influence the sound of the ADA-8XR. In addition, the ADA-8XR can run in Pro Tools Loop Sync mode, or lock to AES3, AES11 or Wordclock. The ADA-8XR delivers your recordings with perfect transparency, whatever the setup.

Configuration options
The ADA-8XR is a modular system and this provides great flexibility when creating systems with larger numbers of channels. Whether you need just a few channels of high-quality conversion or large a multi-track setup, the ADA-8XR is the natural choice. Using combinations of the basic system options and the range of digital interfaces you can build the system that perfectly matches your requirements. For more detail see the ADA-8XR Configurations section.”(PrismSound.com).

ADA-8XR Summary

Channel Configurations

• Up to 16 channels of state-of-the art 24-bit, 192kHz conversion in one great-sounding 2U package.
• Choice of 8AD plus 8DA; 16AD; 16DA or D-D only configurations.
• Dual-path architecture allows independent operation of two 8-channel paths:
  • Each path (bank of 8 channels) can be assigned to either record or play functions;
  • Each path can have independent clock references at different sample rates if desired;
  • Each path is independently configurable;
  • Each path can drive analogue and digital outputs simultaneously if desired
  • Allows Source Monitoring with simultaneous A/D and D/A conversion.
• Electronically balanced, transformerless, galvanically isolated XLR analogue inputs and outputs ensure freedom from noise pick-up and crosstalk, with software-controlled balance and line-up;
• Prism Sound ‘Over-killer’ selectable on analogue inputs: the best-sounding gentle limiting for louder masters – with no ‘overs’;

Digital Interface options

• AES3,S/PDIF up to 192kHz. Handles & converts 2-wire formats for 96k and 192k;
• FireWire – for direct connection to DAW software on PC or Mac;
• Pro Tools|HD – replace 192IO/96IOs; up to 32 channels in and out per Digi Core/Process card;
• Pro Tools|24 MIX – direct connection in place of 888|IO;
• DSD – for SACD production, with SDIF2/3 and optional MAC-DSD (Cat5); also allows sample-rate-conversion between any PCM rates;

Clocking and synchronisation

• Ultimate Prism Sound clock-stability and jitter-rejection for crystal-clear imaging, with independent multiple PLLs for A/D and D/A paths;
• Locks securely to an external reference working stand-alone or with DAWs.
• 8-channel LED bargraph with peak hold and status monitoring, switchable between paths.

Monitoring and other features

• Stereo monitor, with headphones and analogue line AND digital S/PDIF outputs, can monitor any input or output pair, or a panned stereo mix of all eight channels;
• Built-in Prism Sound ‘SNS’ noise-shapers for ultimate quality 16-bit & 20-bit transfers;
• Built-in Prism Sound ‘MR-X’ word-mapping for lossless recording up to 24-bit, 96kHz on standard DA-88 or ADAT MDMs, or other 16 or 20-bit media;
• Built-in Prism Sound ‘DRE’ for 24-bit performance on 16-bit media WITHOUT losing tracks;
• Intuitive user interface, provides fast access to all I/O and processing functions; with continuous display of all settings;
• Noise-shaping, MRX or DRE processing functions can be also be carried out in ‘D-D’ mode, including conversion between different digital interface formats;
• Modular construction allows upgrading of all input and output cards (INCLUDING A/D, D/A, and DSP boards); no need to worry about future converter advances or new interface standards;
• Internet-upgradeable software – loads from your PC or Mac into ‘flash’ memory inside the ADA-8XR;

So in closing you do have choices in Digidesigns world of audio that can better your sound and/or give you options that you may not have had before.  Choose wisely and if there is anything that you would like me to add to this article, let me know.  Also if you have opinions about any of these pieces of gear feel free to express them on the site.

Thank you for reading,

Joshua Kincheloe