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I'm thinking about purchasing Digidesign's LE rack. I have a bunch of outboard gear (ie EQ, Compression, etc). I've looked on the back for aux in's and didn't notice any. Does it work well with outboard analog gear.

Comments

anonymous Tue, 03/15/2005 - 17:13

i learned this week that the 002 converters leave much to be desired when i ran my c414 into my TC Electronic gold channel then SPDIF'd it into the 002 rack, bypassing its pres and converters...
WOW...

...wow. yes. converters make a difference. but i love the 002. love it. it rocks and can get you pro sound....just think about gettin an outboard converter, a solid pre, and good mics...and you got yourself a killer setup. portable as hell too...

anonymous Tue, 03/15/2005 - 18:42

overlookfran wrote: i learned this week that the 002 converters leave much to be desired when i ran my c414 into my TC Electronic gold channel then SPDIF'd it into the 002 rack, bypassing its pres and converters...
WOW...

...wow. yes. converters make a difference. but i love the 002. love it. it rocks and can get you pro sound....just think about gettin an outboard converter, a solid pre, and good mics...and you got yourself a killer setup. portable as hell too...

I'm used to using analog consols and set-ups and this will be my first computer based system. Why do you need a converter when you're using outboard gear through the designated in's and outs. What is the problem with not using a converter? What does it do to the signal and what does it sound like. What does the converter do?

ghellquist Wed, 03/16/2005 - 00:07

THe converter is inside the 002 Rack box. It converts between the digital world in the computer and the analog world on the In/Outs.

There are two kinds of converters -- A/D translates from analog to digital, D/A from digital to analog. There are eight of each in the 002.

If you go from inside the computer to an outside effects unit and back into the computer, you will first go out through the D/A and later back in through the A/D. Every pass through any equipment changes the sound somewhat.

Don´t be fooled though, the 002 converters are quite decent. Not the very world top record class, but quite OK. Some people get results that please them more with other units, such as the post above. If you scrutinize what they are doing carefully with an open mind, it might very well be that it is not the converters that make the difference. It might very well be something else in the signal chain. I´ll keep this out of this discussion. Anyway, to keep the post short, the 002 converters will do good work for you a long time.

lorenzo gerace Wed, 03/16/2005 - 02:00

Hi

The 002R converters are a major step up in quality compared to those of its older predecessor, the 001; I'd say they sound even better than the old 888|24 that were used in Mix+ systems for years and not many people complained about the change of quality in the signal when using it for hardware insert...so you get the idea. I'd say try it out and see if you notice a difference or if that difference is worth the use of an analog outboard device.

Some people get results that please them more with other units, such as the post above. If you scrutinize what they are doing carefully with an open mind, it might very well be that it is not the converters that make the difference. It might very well be something else in the signal chain.

Second that, the 002R converters aren't certainly comparable to Prism or other high end boxes, but one have to be aware of the price/peformance ratio offered by a particular device...in this I think the 002R really rocks.

Hope this helps