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Will a Big Ben help my setup even though the only "digital connection" is the presonus adat to motu? any other suggestions?
my setup is:
dual g4 1.25
80 gig hd
2 gig ram
motu 2408 mk3 and motu 1296
dp5.01
uad-1 4.3
presonus digimax (adat into 2408)
focusrite octopre (dsub breakout to xlr into 1296)
focusrite voicemaster pro (xlr out into 1296)
presonus central station
event tr8's
wharfdale diamond 6's
behringer headphone amp
ezquest 80 gig firewire hd
ezquest 250 gig firew hd

Will it help to do what? What are you looking for?

will it help improve the sound quality of recording. so many threads say to get one and i'm not even sure if it'd be worth it for my setup?

no -
upgrade your mics/pre amps/converters/monitors/room first.

pete

doesn't the 2408 and 1296 do the converting? are you saying replace those? that's pretty much the heart of my system. or is there something you're suggesting that i can add to this setup? i usually record close to 16 tracks live with my band we do tracking and overdubs later btw.

yes the motu units do the A/D D/A but those units are not the best quality in conversion. my point is that you will need to upgrade other things in the recording chain before you even hear a difference in something like upgrading the master clock.
how long have you been working with the gear you listed there?
how many recordings have you done with it?
if i had your setup there i would upgrade the monitors, mics and pres first, but only after really getting a handle on what the gear can and can't do - the only way to do that is by making a ton of recordings and listen to them constantly against what other people have done.

-pete

i guess i've already invested a good amount of money in this setup. so i'm mainly wanting to know if there are things that i could add to it to make it better without actually replacing gear. that's why i thought a big ben would do the trick. most people say that motus converters are ok but the clock is poor? so i'm wondering if that's a worth while purchase..being that i'm not starting from scratch. i agree about the room and monitors. those can def. be improved. mics i have are good. i could use a better condensor i guess for vocals(been using a rode nt1 i get good results from it).other mics inlude: akg c1000's, sennheiser 421's, several sm57's, sennheiser 902, sennheiser 609. i may eventually get a focusrite isa 428 for mic pre...but that'll be a while.

again i would ask - how long have you been working with these tools?
i'll go out on a limb here and say there's no way a big ben is going to do anything in your setup that you're gonna hear at this point. setting up your monitoring environment correctly will yeild a much bigger difference in what you're hearing.

-pete

i've been recording with the whole computer based thing for about 4 years. i've been playing and recording four track stuff for 10 years. but i teach myself. i wouldn't really know how to set up the monitors or room correctly. i'll have to search the internet and see if there are tips.

have you ever recorded in a real pro facility? i mean recently... if you can swing it, schedule a tracking/mixing date or 2 with your band with a pro. it would be really helpful to sit with someone who really knows what they're doing and learn first hand before searching ye ol' inter-knot for answers.
many places will give tours and whatnot... take them up on it!
most of all though - i know i've said it a few times already, but keep making more and more recordings with the tools you have to learn them inside and out.

-good luck!

pete

msmith92 wrote:...but i teach myself. i wouldn't really know how to set up the monitors or room correctly. i'll have to search the internet and see if there are tips.

See if THIS helps you any.