Cheap 24 bit or nicer 20 bit?

Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2003 2:46 pm

I have been thinking about this, and wanted some opinions. I am not interested in tech specs nearly as much as sound quality when it comes to my digital recording. So I was wondering, if I am using a fairly cheap 24 bit card (M-Audio Delta card) and compared it to say a Lucid ADA1000, which will only do 20 bits, what will I hear?

Is 24 bits always going to beat 20 bits? Or do the nicer convertors sound better than the cheaper convertors? Will there not be much difference in sound because of the bit difference?

I would really like to get a decent AD converter to use at home with the digital inputs on my Delta...but the really good ones are more than I'm willing to spend on my home setup, which is just for writing music. BUT, getting something like the 20 bit Lucid for $400 makes it an interesting thought for me.

Thanks,
H2H

Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2003 5:23 pm

Specs dont matter-sound quality matters. . .Use your ears!!!

Dr.Spok Wink

Posted: Fri Feb 21, 2003 1:13 am

Well if you wanted to go for cheaper 24 bit quality then I would go with Echo. The quality of those cards seem to be a bit better than the deltas in my opinion, and instead of the Lucid converters, I would go with the Apogee converters. Ask Opus about the Apogee converters, I'm pretty sure he can give you a good comparison between Lucid and Apogee.

Posted: Sun May 11, 2003 8:52 am

24 bit is not an indication that the soundcard at hand offers superior sound quality. It just says that 16 and 20 bit chips are on their way out from todays production lines.

A good analogue stage in the converter (my god, those nasty opamps !) and a steady clock is what will give you good sound quality. Converters built to these guidelines will sound best, no matter if they come in 20 bit or 24 bit disguises ...

Paul.

Posted: Sun May 11, 2003 9:54 am

Paul is correct in the terms of bit resolution.
It's not the end all decision on getting a decent converter.

What matter is how the circuitry is done..this is the key, along with a well designed power supply. It's all in how the power is filtered and how the converters sum the signal across the board.

With 16 bit devices you want to capture as much bandwidth as possible, any 20 or 24 bit converters is not as necessary as it used to be to soak the bandwidth.

Also, if you can hear a difference between 48 and 96Khz on the same converter...you have to wonder about that converter!!!!

Opus Very Happy

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