Hey all you awesome folks. I usually build a beat on the Tempest while monitoring through the headphone output. Unfortunately, when it comes time convert that analog goodness to digital, the results just haven't lived up to the headphone's direct output. I've gone from the headphone output into a cheap SonicPort interface, from the stereo outs into a Konnekt 6, and from the individual outputs into a Midas f24. So far, recording separate tracks through the Midas has yielded the best results. However, it still doesn't quite match the quality heard when monitoring directly via the headphone out.
Have any of you found a preamp/ADC combo that captures the Tempest indistinguishably from the headphone out? Do you think I'd hear a meaningful improvement using higher end converters, or is this simply the cost of digital capture?
Thanks!
As you'll never be able to monitor DAW playback through the Tempest's headphone out, it seems as if you'll need a better monitoring chain, first and foremost. Optimize that and the rest will follow.
Keep in mind, as well, that the Venice consoles max out at 48 kHz; I had similar reservations when I've tried various Behringer offerings (DDX3216, XR12, XR18, etc.), all of which also max out at 48 kHz. The sound quality is a known limitation, in spite of the otherwise class-leading functionality and built-in effects.
I'm using a Presonus AR12 right now, which lacks the A-D-A conversion of a typical digital mixer channel, but supports 96 kHz / 24-bit recording and playback via USB, and sounds pretty good. The built-in effects are not as elaborate, though they sound pretty decent–but then again, I'd probably use a convolution reverb in-the-box for mixdown anyway.
And there's no doubt in my mind that makes me clamor for higher sample rates / bit depths, etc.–it's an analogue mixer. If the playback doesn't sound right, or the same, then I know it's the interface (or the in-the-box summing); the monitoring chain is exactly the same as it is when I'm NOT recording.