What is currently the best analog to digital (A/D) converter?

marslo

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Nagra does not make a dedicated A/D converter. It also includes the mic pre's, and hard drive. If you want to include the all-in-one devices, I'd suggest the following also.

Korg MR2000s
Korg MR2
Tascam DA-3000
Tascam DV-RA1000HD
IZ Technology Radar 6
Sound Devices
Genex AD8 and GX9000/9024

Bruce,
After I purchased Lampi dsd dac I tought about Korg MR2 as relatively inexpensvie solution for ripping my vinyls to dsd.
Which of converters you mentionned has the best P/SQ ratio in your opinion?
 

Bruce B

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Bruce,
After I purchased Lampi dsd dac I tought about Korg MR2 as relatively inexpensvie solution for ripping my vinyls to dsd.
Which of converters you mentionned has the best P/SQ ratio in your opinion?

Forget the Korg MR2 and get the Tascam DA-3000. It's a great converter that records to SD cards up to DSD128fs. The best part about it is that it has digital in/out, so that if you want in the future, you can purchase a high-end A/D converter. But I doubt you would want to after you hear what the Tascam can do on its own. The DAC section leaves a lot to be desired, but you have the Lampi to take care of that end. All for <$1k USD. It's a steal.....
 

marslo

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Thank you , I appreciate very much your suggestion.
 

andromedaaudio

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Yes good tip bruce .
Next on my audiophile wishlist is a high quality camera /videocamera with a high quality recorder/microphone to make (outdoor nature ) recordings and play them over the stereo.
Digital aint that bad afterall :D
 
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Bruce B

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Yes good tip bruce .
Next on my audiophile wishlist is a high quality camera /videocamera with a high quality recorder/microphone to make (outdoor nature ) recordings and play them over the stereo.
Digital aint that bad afterall :D

I really like my camera... Canon VIXA G30. Can do 60fps...
 

Empirical Audio

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I was impressed with the SQ of the Ayre QA-9

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
 

Amir

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PCM Analog to Digital Converter:

Weiss ADC2
Lavry AD122 Gold
Pacific Microsonics Model Two
 

Lee

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The MSB and dCS ADCs are very good. The Korgs do a great job when modified. I also like the 7 Series from SoundDevices.
 

Loheswaran

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I was very impressed with Ensemble and Burmester - both very compelling. I’m a huge fan of CAD - I’ve coveted them for awhile
 

dminches

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Oct 22, 2011
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Playback Designs Pinot

Looks like a nice unit. What have you compared it to? I assume you record to a computer with the Pinot?
 

chuck

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Looks like a nice unit. What have you compared it to? I assume you record to a computer with the Pinot?
Did not compare it to anything else. Record vinyl and R2R tape to DSD files for playback on MPD8. Andreas Koch discusses it in the most recent Audio Analyst YT.
 

dminches

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Did not compare it to anything else. Record vinyl and R2R tape to DSD files for playback on MPD8. Andreas Koch discusses it in the most recent Audio Analyst YT.

Found it. With the Pinot do you record to your computer or do you capture the DSD output another way?
 

Audioseduction

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My reference DAC is the Holo Audio May KTE R2R Ladder DAC.
 

Alrainbow

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Dec 11, 2013
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I’m curious on one thought
how much does the ad matter compared to the da side ?
I’ve read not as much but has anyone done a comprehensive evaluation ?
non same brand as well
Bruce a while back liked msb for there ad conversion
if not using there brand to do the da what’s left using others
 

Ian B

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Oct 19, 2020
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I’m curious on one thought
how much does the ad matter compared to the da side ?
I’ve read not as much but has anyone done a comprehensive evaluation ?
non same brand as well
Bruce a while back liked msb for there ad conversion
if not using there brand to do the da what’s left using others
It matters a lot, and arguably is a much greater bottleneck than the playback deck, but you don't know that until you hear it on a really good DAC.

The best current production ADCs are Lavry Savitr, DAD AX32/Avid MTRX, Merging Horus, and JCF Latte (for those who like a more analog-esque sound). Pacific Microsonics Model 2 is still very popular decades later, but I personally think it needs an external clock to mitigate all the jitter. Prism ADA-8XR is still somewhat popular too.

The MSB ADC V are extremely rare in the wild, and was a bit of a bust for the company. A friend inquired to buy one, but apparently he'd have to order a batch of ten for MSB to consider it. I guess mastering engineer's weren't interested, but the one Ted Jensen has sounds excellent (though I wish he wouldn't clip it for loudness)

I own a Mytek Brooklyn ADC, which is also discontinued, but I think it sounds really good with an external power supply and compared well to the PM Model 2, if very different. (the Model 2 has an enormous PSU and was valued around 18k when they were originally built). I would really like to try the rare in the wild Playback Designs Pinot for DSD recording which is also supposed to be good according to Bruce.

A couple other fun ones are Burl B2 Bomber and B80 multichannel system. They use input transformers along with class A, and sound slightly colored and weighty like tape (but not as much as JCF converters). It's not necessarily a reference ADC, but they sound very musical and pleasing, especially for multichannel recordings.
 
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Alrainbow

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I’ve always wondered why a given track or album of seemingly the same analog master has a profound change
it just might be as you say
I like many have vinyl transfers
and while it’s a given the entire analog and pressing matters it’s still very good at times again can it be the AD converter
thanks all
 

DasguteOhr

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Amazing recordings from digital/microphone/ vinyl to dsd.
AK 380, AK 320 or AK 300).
 

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