Does anyone have experience with high end converters and clocking? If so: what are your thoughts? I have the problem that the sound I'm hearing off my vintage mixer sounds great ( 3 dimensional and punchy as hell) but gets smaller, and flatter when it's recorded back itb. Now I have my theory as to why this is: one of them being that using a cheap interface compromises the signal since the internal clock drifts and introduces phase distortion, which sounds harsh and flat out bad. As a result the image gets narrower and flatter ( less reverb tails are audible)
Additionally I find that a lot of stuff that sounds harsh on cheap soundcards actually doesn't need EQing much. Whereas on a hq soundcard only stuff that actually is harsh will sound harsh, if that makes sense. Basically you're hearing less truthful frequencies, which in turn informs your mixing decisions.

Anyway, enough nerd talk. What has your experience with High end converters been like?

 

One of the best investments you can make. Best converters I ever had were Weiss ADC-2/DAC-2. Cranesong makes a nice stereo I/O converter as well. If you want bang for the buck - go RME and never look back. I use a Babyface Pro FS and am more than happy with the depth and soundstage of my A/D.

 

Yes. You are hearing right. The good news is the 2nd hand market is full of used pro converters. Apogee, Mytek, etc...

 

Old apogee converter are really great (check mini me etc..)
Mytek are dope too, hyper clean and transparent.
Check also Lavry, Lynx, Prism Audio, Crane Song, etc..

 

i belive besides Prism converters any converters sound better with a stable clock
there are a few "cheap" clocks that worked wonders for a lot people.
Aardvark
that is the old company of the Antelope audio founder.
defunct of course but brilliant clocks, as cheap as 150 or so 2nd hand.
Black Lion Audio
they made some good clocks, older models start at 300 (new).
there are some older labels like Lucid but they are harder to find.

then it quickly jumps in price for clocks
Apogee big ben, 2nd hand Antelope etc.
400-800 and up

Lastly
You have to look carefully what kind of I/O your interface has.
Sometimes you can get by with ADAT or SPDIF as clocking input.
Older Apogee stuff is (sometimes) mac only on the com. side. But conversion
could still work without PC connectivity, i cant remember if you need a computer for settings etc.
The others could chime in here

Good luck!

 

Last edited: Dec 22, 2021

Yeah a lot of big time mixers still use the Apogee PSX 100. The SE version still sells super quickly if one ever goes on sale ( it*s never!)
Antelope clocks are kinda special, gotta say. The company is kind of scammy though

 

That's where I've landed too. Unfortunately even used these converters are expensive as hell. That's saying something about their quality I guess