Thanks for the opportunity to hear theses different conversions. Why didn't you include the Tascam DA to the mix. A friend has one and recorded some original Decca vinyl of the LA Phil. Orchestra and they sound fantastic. This recorder sells less than 1, The funny thing is, I liked file 1 for the same reasons you didn't like it.
Either the attack is "overly sharp" your words or fast and clean mine ; either the sustain and decay are "less than generous" or free from overhang and ringing. My 2 cents: After an extended period you might come to enjoy the Seta. That was my experience.
Thanks for the great comparison! If I am not wrong, these results -- no matter with what good and noble intensions they were put together -- would count for statistically insignificant.
Not that I have ever seen facts and science getting in the way of vinyl appreciation As you say, the hum is obvious using headphones and way less noticeable in my listening room, especially where it my living room.
Still the hum and its harmonics are present and a factor in evaluating the samples. Toptip, a statistical analysis has to be with respect to an assertion hypothesis. If the assertion is that analog planet readers will prefer an ADC within the group then yes, this looks insignificant, but a real statistician would need to crunch some numbers.
NOTE however that this is different than saying that the ADCs all sound the same -- that would require a different test. For example, say Mickey showed us 5 colors on the screen that were obviously different blue, red, yellow, etc..
If each color got the same votes then one would not say that this suggests that the colors are the same, it simply shows that there is not a pattern to our preference. If you think of "sound samples" like "colors" then maybe it helps -- the analogy here is that perhaps we have about five very similar shades a single color and some can't tell the difference and others can but no clear preference has emerged.
A different test would need to be used to assert that they all sound the same and that the listener can't tell them apart. One other thing. The actual ADC inside these boxes is probably the same in more than one or two cases, although I have not done any inquiring to assess that it is so. That too would explain why there are effectively no differences. You would give the listener the samples, perhaps two at a time, and then perhaps give the listener one of those samples that is unlabeled and see what percentage of us can determine it correctly.
This is difficult to do practically speaking because our ears are tuned in carefully to differences in loudness and since these ADC's probably differ mostly in the gain section it would probably be easy to pick them out based on loudness alone.
To your point about the underlying ADC, that's a good point, but keep in mind that it's the total unit here inclusive of the gain structure that is being compared. Now you could say that this implies "colored" or fatter sound than other perhaps more transparent ADCs.
Again, this was a preference test not a test of which was most transparent to the source which we did not have and whether we could even tell a difference. The features are great for archiving with very good meters and easy reset on those meters etc.. It is still amazing to me that I can hear some, any difference, in these great converters at all.
I could live with any of them for the duration. They are all state of the art to me. Next year you get a killer cartridge much better than the one you had when you digitized your collection and then I would love to know how input level was set during the recording process. If you used the software from Pure Vinyl or Vinyl Studio, I believe you may have compromised the files for purposes of comparison.
Kevin Halverson of HRT once told me that the best way to record from vinyl to hard drive using an ADC was to insert an analogue pre-amp the better the better, so to speak in between the phono out and ADC input. Did you record using an analogue pre to set level?
I believe the Ayre QA-9 is the only ADC that allows you to set level in the analogue domain in this group without the method described above. But more thoroughly. If so, do you agree that recording them in the analogue could have made a significant difference? Please refer to my post titled "setting level". From the outs of the phono pre, the level of the input into the ADC needs be adjusted so as to be the maximum signal without overload as you know.
This can be done with a conventional analogue preamp or it can be done with software e. My hunch is that some of the performance difference among these ADC's were obscured by use of software to set input level.
Garbage in, garbage out. The Ayre and the Lynx have analogue level setting with you noting the Lynx, above, when I thought omly the Ayre featured such. Did you use the available the analogue level input when converting signal with the Ayre and Lynx respectively?
Or did you use Vinyl Studio to adjust input level? A third option, as I note above, is to simply insert a conventional preamp in between the phono output and ADC input to adjust level with ALL of the units.
Search form Search. Analog Corner. News News Analog Gear News. Analog to Digital Converter Reviews. Michael Fremer Mar 23, Thanks to everyone who participated and voted as well as to Yarlung Records for allowing us to excerpt the superb sounding Smoke and Mirrors recording. Here are converter capsules that include the identities of the converters used to produce each file. Log in or register to post comments.
HRT it is Submitted by seeforth on Mon, This is a terrific test. I hope Submitted by Rick Tomaszewicz on Mon, Now that I think about it Submitted by mlgrado on Mon, Test Files Yay! Hum Boo! Submitted by stephsrecords on Tue, Submitted by Michael Fremer on Tue, Are you listening via headphones?
Because through speakers it's barely noticeable. It's very,very low in level. I used headphones and noticed the hum. Easily removed with iZotope RX4. Sound Submitted by Gomergozer on Wed, Masterly Submitted by williamsims on Wed, You continue to be a national treasure. Good descriptions of the sound Submitted by eatapc on Wed, Please consider visiting us again using the latest version of Internet Explorer , Firefox , Chrome , Safari , or Opera.
Please enable Javascript in your browser settings. There are many reasons why you might prefer vinyl to digital. The crisp sound of vinyl, the large-scale album artwork, the rarity, the whole physical collection part of it.
Sometimes, it feels like the only thing vinyl lacks is portability. Before we get ahead of ourselves here, let it be known: this is a labor of love. But of course, you, as a lover of LPs, already possess all of those qualities.
So, full steam ahead. There are a few different hardware setups you can use to get that warm analog sound onto your smartphone. GarageBand for Mac will do the trick. So will Audacity , a free, open-source audio editor. If you have a USB turntable, you can skip number three. Turntables produce a phono output signal. This signal needs to be converted to an AUX signal before it can get hooked up to a sound system, or, in our case, an audio output.
This is what a phono preamp does and if you have your turntable hooked up to an audio system, you probably already have a phono preamp in play. It does exactly what it says it does. In stark contrast to the few seconds that ripping a typical track from CD takes, vinyl can only be recorded in real time. So take your time. Also, make sure your records are spotless and dust-free. Remember: any hisses, clicks and pops will be recorded along with the music.
What format should you record in? CD music or music files usually have metadata built in. In the case of music files this includes album art plus track information. Tracks that flow into each other are an issue too. Ensure you have at least one back-up of your digital music library — two is even better. After going to all that effort to record your vinyl, it would be a shame if you had to do it all again. He's been been reviewing hi-fi, TV and home cinema equipment for over two decades, and over that time has covered thousands of products.
Ketan works across the What Hi-Fi? His background is based in electronic and mechanical engineering. What Hi-Fi?
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