M'kay, so the Benchmark DAC-1 is apparently a fantastic unit, and by the looks of it, it has a monitor volume knob. This, to me, makes sense. Digital out from 002R to DAC-1, and from there to the monitors. Cool.
Now, how does it work on AD/DA units that don't have a volume control knob? Sorry for the silly question, but I'm curious as I'm considering picking up a UA 2192 before the end of the year (tax purposes, gotta love it). I figure why not spend a little more than what an Apogee Rosetta can do and get the WordClock with AD and DA all in one unit.
If the monitors are plugged into the analog outs of the 2192, am I controlling the volume as usual in PT or any other software using the 002R as an interface?
Next, how important is the WC if I'm not necessarily tracking bands, just one or two sources at a time (for now)? Do good converters take precedence over a solid WC? The pricec is fine, I'm just trying to learn how all these things interact and how important they are in the gear food-chain.
One last thing, when I read things like "all of it slaved to the Big Ben (or whatever)", what exactly needs to be slaved to it besides the Digi 002R? Any enlightning comments welcome...
Thanks!
Comments
Krou, If you are using multiple units, their internal clocks wo
Krou,
If you are using multiple units, their internal clocks won't be exactly the same, so they have to be synchronised by using one of your digital devices as a master clock source. The issue of using a dedicated WC for any purpose other than to synch. your gear is quite a contentious one.
Many people plug in a good external clock to improve conversion in a box that has a less stable clock, while others believe this is not always such a good idea. There are some complex technical issues involved, but everyone will probably agree that results will vary depending on the way specific units work with each other, so it's difficult to generalise, except to say that great converters will yield great results, and that a top notch external clock won't always make a huge difference.
With multi-channel AD/DA units you will have several line level outputs that you can send to a mixer. Of course you could plug two of these into powered monitors instead. Some have dedicated monitor and headphone outputs, assuming the other outputs will go to a mixer, or some other device.
I'm assuming you will be bypassing the converters in your 002R. Anyway, software volume changes in the digital domain will also be reflected in the output of any other device after DA conversion.
Enjoy the UA2192!
John Stafford