Consolidating entire setup to dedicated two-channel DA & AD

[mhschmieder]

I'm not sure if this is the best forum for this, but as the driving impetus is oriented around accuracy of recording and monitoring, probably it is.

For some time, I have been thinking of "completing" the consolidation of my hi-fi system and recording setup, for a single system.

I'm pretty close as it is. And the main impetus is for consistency, simplicity, fewer human errors, and minimal switching of setups.

The centrepiece of any such final transition would be quality stereo DA and probably also quality stereo AD. And I mean beyond RME FF800 quality.

I've been looking into Lavry as probably the best currently. Some of the high-end converters are also good for headphones; others are not.

Has anyone done this? Or is everyone depending on studio preamps for hi-fi, active monitors for everything, and multi-channel ADDA for recording?

A year or so ago, I verified that my Arcam CD73's converters are 400% better than the FF800's, and so it made sense to use its analog outputs.

Turntables still need a separate preamp stage, but tape decks are line level and in many setups require no additional studio preamp stage.

So, really, in a simplified and unified setup, it seems one would aim for having finished CD's (yours or others/commercial) stay in the digital domain.

In order to eliminate differences and confusion between CD's and 44.1k/16-bit CD-ready files on the computer, what is the best approach?

Can iTunes, with "optimisation" and other features shut off, be trusted, in conjunction with higher bit errors from the SuperDrive than a CD player?

Obviously stereo editors such as BIAS Peak Pro would not be convenient as general album-order playback hosts, but there might be dedicated pro products?

I know Adobe recently released a song player, but I think I deleted it after it didn't work on my box, or something like that.

Possibly people are using some sort of dedicated HD-based media player that can connect to the computer, to compare mixes and also professional recordings?

Obviously all of this is simple with dedicated solutions, but it seems we are moving towards a unified all-digital catalog/archive approach over time.

The risk of course is that hard drives fail more than CD's or DVD's. So maybe it's better to go the other way, blast project CD's, and compare everything in a standalone CD player?

Whichever is the case, it still seems that a quality high-end dedicated stereo DA box can make a big difference -- regardless of whether using JUST a computer to send digital data, JUST a standalone CD player, or both.

The AD box seems slightly less important, except for audio restoration, as AD quality is typically better in multi-channel ADDA units than the DA side (I'm referring primarily to audio interfaces vs. standalone ADDA multi-channel converter boxes).

There's really two questions in there, so I hope this isn't confusing, but the one question provides context for the other, which is about standalone DA (and possible AD) and how successful that is in a consolidated setup based on other considerations.

[Tonio]

I'm not sure if this is the best forum for this, but as the driving impetus is oriented around accuracy of recording and monitoring, probably it is.


Turntables still need a separate preamp stage, but tape decks are line level and in many setups require no additional studio preamp stage.

So, really, in a simplified and unified setup, it seems one would aim for having finished CD's (yours or others/commercial) stay in the digital domain.

In order to eliminate differences and confusion between CD's and 44.1k/16-bit CD-ready files on the computer, what is the best approach?

Can iTunes, with "optimisation" and other features shut off, be trusted, in conjunction with higher bit errors from the SuperDrive than a CD player?

Obviously stereo editors such as BIAS Peak Pro would not be convenient as general album-order playback hosts, but there might be dedicated pro products?



Whichever is the case, it still seems that a quality high-end dedicated stereo DA box can make a big difference -- regardless of whether using JUST a computer to send digital data, JUST a standalone CD player, or both.

The AD box seems slightly less important, except for audio restoration, as AD quality is typically better in multi-channel ADDA units than the DA side (I'm referring primarily to audio interfaces vs. standalone ADDA multi-channel converter boxes).

There's really two questions in there, so I hope this isn't confusing, but the one question provides context for the other, which is about standalone DA (and possible AD) and how successful that is in a consolidated setup based on other considerations.

I'm kind of down the same situation MS.

Having consumer level (-10) is what makes the whole deal sour. I mean is it worth it? Well if you have alot of that media sure. Though a CD can be used in a MAC PRO (not sure of other models) and link digitally to Lavry's DA10. Suppose some standalone CD players could do the same.

I have so many records that I haven't archived, nor am I sure I want to ??? 400 LP's could take a lifetime, and I'm not about to look for the Cd's

Normally I run -10 stuff through a small mixer, but the caps are starting to go on a few channels resulting in scratchey pots etc.

T