Lavry Blue

[Big Mouse]

Anyone in this forum have the Lavry Blue or have listened to it before? Opinions? I've read a little about it but not in depth. Does it come with A/D and D/A or just one of the two? How is this compared to the UA2192/Apogees/Mytek/Lynx? For the price, is the Lavry Blue a better buy than the 2192? What's with the extra distribution clock on the 2192? Is it worth the extra cost?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Big Mouse]

Anyone???............???

[brandondrury]

I know nothing about the Lavry stuff.

However, I'm at a point where I'm considering selling my Myteks so I can get something that will make an impact on my recordings that I can really hear. Check out this thread:
AD Converter Shootout: Mytek AD96 vs Presonus Firestudio

I think I'm going to record 10 tracks, have my girlfriend re-label them and then take a blind test. If I fail, the Myteks go.

Brandon

[Big Mouse]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

I know nothing about the Lavry stuff.

However, I'm at a point where I'm considering selling my Myteks so I can get something that will make an impact on my recordings that I can really hear. Check out this thread:
AD Converter Shootout: Mytek AD96 vs Presonus Firestudio

I think I'm going to record 10 tracks, have my girlfriend re-label them and then take a blind test. If I fail, the Myteks go.

Brandon

First, I want to thank you for the comparison test between the two converters. That is something I can never find online.

My first impression on the test was "shocking". I didn't think it would be that small of a difference. I did however noticed the Firestudio was slightly louder than the Mytek on both test (voice and guitar); other than that they are pretty much identical. I'm surprised someone said they are "striking" different.

Overall, I would choose the Mytek over the Firestudio because they just sound cleaner to my ears where as the Firestudio sounds a little harsh; may be due to the extra loudness of the Firestudio.

Hey Brandon, what other interface do you have? How about a test comparison on using an external converter and not using one? I would definitely want to hear that.

Hope to hear from you soon.

[brandondrury]

I did however noticed the Firestudio was slightly louder than the Mytek on both test (voice and guitar); other than that they are pretty much identical. I'm surprised someone said they are "striking" different.

Overall, I would choose the Mytek over the Firestudio because they just sound cleaner to my ears where as the Firestudio sounds a little harsh; may be due to the extra loudness of the Firestudio.

It's totally crazy just how differently everyone is hearing these clips. Different systems seem to pull out different characters in each of the tracks. I did my best to level match them and on monitors and computer speakers they were pretty damn close. You are the first to mention issues with levels even after all the critical listening. I have a feeling this is your system bring this out, but there could be some flaw to my methods too (DUH!)

Hey Brandon, what other interface do you have? How about a test comparison on using an external converter and not using one? I would definitely want to hear that.

I have a couple Delta 1010s that I need to get rid of. I won't install those on my recording computer simply because I don't install ANYTHING on my recording computer I don't need. I had done tests when I first bought the Myteks and the difference was about the same.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that home recording guys putting money into converters is borderline insanity until the rest of their tracks are THAT damn good. I didn't particularly think that those guitars I recorded in the shootout were great regardless of the converter.

Brandon

[Big Mouse]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

It's totally crazy just how differently everyone is hearing these clips. Different systems seem to pull out different characters in each of the tracks. I did my best to level match them and on monitors and computer speakers they were pretty damn close. You are the first to mention issues with levels even after all the critical listening. I have a feeling this is your system bring this out, but there could be some flaw to my methods too (DUH!)


I have a couple Delta 1010s that I need to get rid of. I won't install those on my recording computer simply because I don't install ANYTHING on my recording computer I don't need. I had done tests when I first bought the Myteks and the difference was about the same.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that home recording guys putting money into converters is borderline insanity until the rest of their tracks are THAT damn good. I didn't particularly think that those guitars I recorded in the shootout were great regardless of the converter.

Brandon

Could it be that my DA monitoring section aren't good enough to hear the right details? Or could it be my room?

I just received my ADCD analog/digital converters comparison from Mercenary Audio this afternoon and when I listened to it I was totally in shock that I could not hear any difference at all between the $500 and the $10K+ converters. I had a strong feeling that it could be my DA section that isn't giving me accuracies. Then I say to myself, "good thing I haven't made any converter purchase yet". Do you think a good DA would make a difference when listening to playbacks?

[brandondrury]

Could it be that my DA monitoring section aren't good enough to hear the right details?

Think about that one for a second. I have a $1,000 DA converter and the difference is practicul null on my studio monitors. How many people own a $1,000 DA converter? I can guarantee you that any layman on their IPOD can pick the greatest recordings of all time over anything I've ever cranked out consistently.

We get suckered into thinking that we are inadequate or our gear is inadequate (and we need to upgrade) and that's how we answer every single question. Screw that! I think it should be the other way around.

Or could it be my room?

A bad room colors the frequency response of what you are listening to but I can't imagine it hiding details necessarily.

Do you think a good DA would make a difference when listening to playbacks?

To be honest, I'm not even sure why I still have my fancy DA converter. I probably won't have it in a month. Tieing up cash in converters that could go to things that actually help me sound better is a huge problem that I need to address.

Brandon

[lolgreg]

I think the closest to perfect test you could do to in regards to your AD/DA converters is to put a single mic in front of a single speaker with a guitar, play the part once and have it split stereo into the mytek/firestudio. Try it with clean and distorted. Post it by itself or on top of drums/bass. "Which guitar sounds better?" "Can you tell the difference?"

-Greg

[Big Mouse]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

Think about that one for a second. I have a $1,000 DA converter and the difference is practicul null on my studio monitors. How many people own a $1,000 DA converter?
Brandon

Exactly, what's the point of having all the high-end gears (especially converters) if people are just going to listen to it through some low-end cheap speakers? That's similar to why mix in surround when people will only listen to it in stereo?

[brandondrury]

Exactly, what's the point of having all the high-end gears (especially converters) if people are just going to listen to it through some low-end cheap speakers?

That's not exactly my view, but it's close.

My view is this: What is the point of all this high end recording gear if it's not going to BENEFIT the typical consumer listening on an Ipod or whatever?

When I use a Neve, Mytek, Neumann, or anything else it should translate into something that gives the listener a more exciting experience. If it doesn't, that piece of gear is of no use to me.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think the closest to perfect test you could do to in regards to your AD/DA converters is to put a single mic in front of a single speaker with a guitar, play the part once and have it split stereo into the mytek/firestudio. Try it with clean and distorted. Post it by itself or on top of drums/bass. "Which guitar sounds better?" "Can you tell the difference?"

I don't disagree. However, I came up with a thought on this the other day. (I need to think about this one while mowing the yard). Why do we have to come up with scientific tests for this stuff? An electric guitar with plenty of gain sounds pretty similar. If I struck an A chord 10 times, I could get them pretty damn close especially if I was going for consistency.

So why is it not obvious from just me playing twice? The answer is because my playing is not 100% consistent. The differences between AD converters is smaller than the differences between individual performances. These differences are so small that we start coming up with all these crazy criteria to judge them. Before you know it people are saying "Well, this is mp3 and it kills the details" or "electric guitar isn't a good test". Bullshit! There are plenty of mp3s that kill my best mixes in wav.

So let's just say that each and every take varies in character/quality/sound/whatever by 3%. It's clear that the fancy converter is give us less than 3%. In other words, the converter gives us less benefit than "chance". Because we can't hear the differences when even minute 3% variables are tossed in, we have already been convinced by this god forsaken internet world that high end converters are necessary and we fight to remove change just so we can really hear what a 1.2% benefit sounds like. It sounds like nothing IF the variations of a real performance mask it.

Let's look at it another way. If Bob Rock was to record a snare drum and I was to record a single electric guitar track and we both tossed them online. I'm confident that everyone would be able to figure out who recorded what.

I think this may be the answer to the question right there. To hear the difference in converters we need to come up with tests to scientifically replicate the tone. To hear the difference in human skill we could fire up entirely random instruments. We get sucked in the argument of "the test is flawed" but this is entirely the wrong logic. We are not asking the right questions. Instead of defending converters and such, we should be asking "What the hell is Bob Rock doing to get THAT sound?". It's clear to me that mics, pres, and converters are simply not the answer to that question or at least they are a very minute part of the chain/process.

Brandon