Jump to content
IGNORED

Audio Interface as a DAC / ADC


Recommended Posts

Hi, in my living room setup i have a MF M1DAC and this works out fine.

 

For my upstairs working room / studio i was considering buying a so called USB Audio Interface for the purpose of

 

1) playback towards studion monitors (adam) or amplifier with passive speakers (to be determined)

2) some recording of old disks (turntable) --- so analog to digital conversion

3) some podcast voice recording ..

 

I am considering a Focusrite 2i4 (180 euro) or maybe a RME Fireface UCX (1000 euro) which gives me some more ports and firewire for future use.. and i guess even better DAC / ADC conversion quality ... But maybe there are other good alternatives between these boundaries .. the big plus for an audio interface being DAC and ADC combined

 

My question .... looking from "audiophile" perspective to the playback function of a "Audio Interface" ..

 

1) Would a 1000 euro RME Fireface technically be as good as my 600 euro M1DAC ?

2) or are there fundamental differences between an Audio Interface and the DACs one buys in HiFi stores ?

 

thx

Link to comment
  • 3 weeks later...
1) Would a 1000 euro RME Fireface technically be as good as my 600 euro M1DAC ?

2) or are there fundamental differences between an Audio Interface and the DACs one buys in HiFi stores ?

 

Hi there!

 

You can expect the Fireface to clearly smoke the MF. The Fireface might sound a bit sober, though. Linear is not what many Hifiers want.

The UCX might have too much functionality (FX, class-compliant mode) for your purposes, you are likely to be better off with an UC or a 400 or even a Babyface. All of them offer several I/O. All of them are designed for studio use and they look it. All "small" Firefaces can be upgraded easily by adding a better power supply+filter and all of them are good value for the money. Cool about the UCX: it works with the ipad, 8 I/O. Latency does not matter in your case.

Link to comment

hi thanks ! and do you have any opinion on the "hifi" quality of the DACs within for example

 

motu ultatlite mk3

native instruments audio 6

focusrite 2i2

 

and maybe teac a-h01 (combined amplifier / dac)

 

and also on usage of so called active studio monitors for mainly listening (not living room but office) purposes versus an amplifier with passive speakers .. i have listened to several studio monitors and they sound great in the shop .. but its so difficult since its never quit in such environments... personally i am pretty afraid that an active studio speaker (even the better ones like e.g. genelec 8030a or Adam A5x or krk VXT) will give some noise / buzz when its not to loud due to the amplifiers close to the speaker cones.. but maybe i am wrong ?

 

thx

Link to comment

One option: ESI Juli@ – Professional Sound Card and there is a upgrade from old PCI version to PCIe: ESI - Juli@ XTe

Note - 8 times 24-bit digital filter with an slow roll-off option (in this case this option is disabled to provide ideally even frequency response), and in my opinion this disabling reduces also unwanted filter ringings.

Sorry, english is not my native language.

Fools and fanatics are always certain of themselves, but wiser people are full of doubts.

Link to comment

As I own a M1DAC and a Focusrite 2i2 here are my 2 cents: You can not compare these DACs. The 2i2 is a tool for musicians and it sounds in the same manner. I use it sometimes as an external sound card for my notebook in conjunction with some earplugs. Sounds better than internal, but not comparable to the M1DAC.

 

Nevertheless the 2i2 is a nice device for digital recording and monitoring (where low latency is needed).

QNAP TS-119 (WD Red 3 TB) -> Voyage MPD (Alix 3D3) -> Musical Fidelity M1DAC -> Accuphase E-212 -> Infinity Kappa 8.2i

Link to comment

i can confirm the very very good sound of the tc electr. Impact Twin!!!

I can also confirm the quality of the RME Babyface ... it sounded very good too for a bus powered interface ... I suspect that with external power will improve! The latency is ultra low... and the rme gear s/w&h/w is very very stable!

The tc was less "refined" in terms of layout ect...

I would say in one word that the IT was warmer (more hifi) and the B/face neutral (more "monitor" like)!!!! I used them both as dacs in MacOS

I wish still i had one if them along with my hifi dac ...

Mac Mini with JRMC26 or Audirvana  / Raspberry4B_4GB(GentooPlayer_LMS) / Raspberry Rpi3B+: Allo DigiOne(GentooPlayer) - M2Tech Evo DAC Two Plus/iPurifier2 - Schiit Vali 2 - Densen DM20pre/30pwr amps - Spendor SP2/3E, Sennheiser HD600 & HD25Aluminum - Audeze Sine

Cables: Vovox, DIY, Furutech. 

Portable sources: iPad, DELL Laptop with JRiver MC26

Link to comment
hi thanks ! and do you have any opinion on the "hifi" quality of the DACs within for example

 

motu ultatlite mk3

native instruments audio 6

focusrite 2i2

 

and maybe teac a-h01 (combined amplifier / dac)

 

and also on usage of so called active studio monitors for mainly listening (not living room but office) purposes versus an amplifier with passive speakers .. i have listened to several studio monitors and they sound great in the shop .. but its so difficult since its never quit in such environments... personally i am pretty afraid that an active studio speaker (even the better ones like e.g. genelec 8030a or Adam A5x or krk VXT) will give some noise / buzz when its not to loud due to the amplifiers close to the speaker cones.. but maybe i am wrong ?

 

thx

 

Hello everybody,

 

this is just about to become a thread about audio interfaces in general. The interfaces mentioned so far are not exactly in the same ballpark. There are quite a few interesting candidates in between 180-1000 euro.

 

@ kdwykleingeld

Concerning your question about active speakers: if they sound great to you in the shop and you do not mind the looks, well, just take that route then. Pro audio speakers are designed to be tools, to unveil bad mixes. That is why many people used to HiFi often are not too fond of them. If you like that kind of sound, I cannot see a reason not to go ahead; active studio monitors will give you an excellent bang for the buck at almost any price level. There might be a buzzing sound with some monitors, very often you will have to adjust a few settings and it is mostly gone.

As your nick indicates, you might speak some German. You might wanna search this forum: aktives-hoeren.de

The guys there know a lot about active speakers and soundcards.

Link to comment

I started this old thread when I needed advice on this:

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f8-general-forum/adc-analogue-digital-conversion-1470/

As a result I bought a Fireface 400 which has been doing an excellent job since then.

 

You may find some of the suggestions helpful.

ALAC iTunes library on Synology DS412+ running MinimServer with Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 tablet running BubbleUPnP for control >

Hi-Fi 1: Airport Extreme bridge > Netgear switch > TP-Link optical isolation > dCS Network Bridge AND PS Audio PerfectWave Transport > PS Audio DirectStream DAC with Bridge Mk.II > Primare A60 > Harbeth SHL5plus Anniversary Edition .

Hi-Fi 2: Sonore Rendu > Chord Hugo DAC/preamp > LFD integrated > Harbeth P3ESRs and > Sennheiser HD800

Link to comment

Hi thanks, this will give me enough food for thought (good reading in this thread) .. the IT has fw only so that will not be applicable for me. Currenty investigating the MOTU Ultralite MK 3 or the RME equipment (babyface / uc) .. unfortunately the babyface has some breakout cables and i dont like that.. any opinions on (users of) the MOTU ?

 

 

reg koen

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...