Are There Differences in Converters?

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Are there differences in different A/D converters?
Marc Daniel Nelson shares with us his thoughts on this question, as well as some of his favourite converters!
Benchmark ADC1
The barrier between analog and digital should not limit the listening experience. Benchmark's digital converter technology maintains the sense of musical engagement that was originally present when the sounds were created. The life of the music is never lost in a quagmire of digital artifacts. The depth is never hidden, the image is never smeared. Benchmark converters always deliver faithfully and consistently. The ADC1 continues Benchmark's tradition of excellence.
The ADC1 is a 2-channel 192-kHz 24-bit analog-to-digital audio converter with an unprecedented feature set. This converter was designed to consistently deliver reference quality conversion in 'real-world' conditions. It features Benchmark's jitter-immune UltraLock™ clock system and an extraordinary analog front-end.
Antelope Audio Orion32 HD
Compatible with any DAW via HDX or USB 3.0, this new Pro Tools HD and Native-ready interface represents everything Antelope Audio stands for. Zero-latency monitoring, streaming of 64-channel 24-bit/192 kHz audio, flawless clocking, pristine AD/DA conversion, extensive connectivity, and more.
Burl Audio B2 ADC
The B2 Bomber is designed for great specifications, but more importantly, it is designed to give you the ultimate in recording tone. For years now people have been trying to figure out why their digital recordings dont have the warmth and feel of analog tape recordings. We try using tube mic pres and great compressors, but there is still something missing. There is still that blurriness, that graininess and lack of depth that comes with digital recordings.
BURL Audio has solved this problem by designing an analog audio path that is complimentary to your mic pre and to the analog to digital process. By using a revolutionary hybrid circuit with a proprietary transformer, the BURL AUDIO BX1, and a discrete class-A, zero feedback, zero capacitor signal path, we have achieved dynamic and tonal balance.
JCF Audio AD8
The AD8 is the first platform for new PEP technology. After carefully studying attributes of various recording media, Power Equalization Processing was created to counteract a fundamental sonic dilemma that is ubiquitous in the digital recording era. PEP accomplishes this with no measured steady-state distortion, noise or net change in frequency response whatsoever. The AD8 returns musicality to multichannel tracking and paves the way for the future of recorded music; just add some PEP.
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[@Producelikeapro]

Hi Everyone. Please download the Tracks for yourself so you can make up your own mind. Try a blind test where you don't know which one you're listening to and then look afterwards. It's very enlightening. The link is below the video and also here:- producelikeapro.com/marc-daniel-nelson-converter-samples

[@erikduijs2723]

Thanks for sharing! 😀👍

[@Producelikeapro]

@@erikduijs2723 you're very welcome!

[@bbfoto7248]

@@Producelikeapro Download the Foobar2000 media player and the ABX Comparator Plugin to do a true Blind A/B/X test.

[@Producelikeapro]

@@bbfoto7248 fantastic!

[@Producelikeapro]

@@TheGARCK thanks ever so much for sharing!

[@jibeji]

I don't know why, I could listen to Marc Daniel for hours no matter what topic he talks about

[@williamtell1477]

“Marc Daniel Nelson Reads Children’s Classics, now available on Audible!”

[@Producelikeapro]

Haha nice! I"m sure he appreciates that!

[@Producelikeapro]

@@williamtell1477 haha!

[@Producelikeapro]

@@williamtell1477 haha!

[@marcdanielnelson317]

@@Producelikeapro Thank you thank you thank you

[@chthonicislandaudio5379]

I can't wait to get back to the studio and listen in my room. Really interesting project, most of us do not have access to these convertors to do the side by side. Thank you Marc and Warren.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much for sharing!

[@noisesoundtonevibe]

I've never compared converters before, I was expecting a minimal difference. I was floored by the radical change in sonics and feel. This is useful, thank you!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much!

[@colbyjack7074]

Wow. Great job! I do voiceover work. Years ago I bought an UA LA 610. The guy at the pro audio store told me the next thing that would make an improvement would be a good converter. Without knowing "anything" I bought a Burl B2. I told myself that was crazy $, but I did it with my feet on the ground. I'm SO glad you give the Burl B2 high marks.

[@failnerdddddd]

JCF was definitely audibly above the rest. Very impressive and wasn’t expecting such a big difference. Like he said the extension, depth, separation and clarity are undeniable. Very rounded and organic sound reproduction. Much appreciated for sharing.

[@G60syncro]

Love the TV thing he said there!! I can always hear an CRT screen when it's turned on! I was at a friends place once and before leaving I told him "Dude, you have a TV on in the house!!" ...He called BS on me and went downstairs and sure enough, the kids had been playing Nintendo and turned it off but left the TV on without the picture!! When he got back upstairs he was amazed I could pick that up!!

[@conorm2524]

Yeah, I always knew when the TV was on even though I wasn't in the same room when I was younger. Now my tinnitus makes it feel like there are TVs everywhere! :-(

[@stephenusery652]

That CRT tone is around 15.7 kHz. It drove me to actually try FFT filters in the old Cool Edit Pro.

[@Producelikeapro]

What are some of your favourite converters?

[@ChrisPetersGuitar]

I use the Apogee Symphony. It has this interesting quality of having clarity, but also handles harsh transients in an organic way. It's sort of like Dark Side of the Moon, which has a very clean analog tape sound (rather than a pushed aggressive tape sound).

[@TravisHY]

@@ChrisPetersGuitar unless we are talking the "remastered" Dark Side from the early 2000's with all the crazy over-compression.

[@tanukibrahma]

My favorite for years was the Apogee AD16x, which sounded clear but smooth to me. This was an excellent comparison that has me looking at the Burl or JCF. Peace!

[@johnseals4862]

I have been using the Midas Venice F24 for about 6 years. I just recently picked up the Antelope Orion 32 3rd. It has really opened up everything. The difference is huge to my ears. Running old mixes through the Antelope is a whole new game.

[@dolovfm]

I use Sonosax AD from the SX-R4+ and various lake people for the DA - i do work in the film business where Sonosax is very well known. I also love it for music as it doesn't cloud my Trident B range and other vintage mic amps - very much in the transparent fast and open camp ( GML ish ) with huge headroom and some magic in the top end.

[@jamesanubis]

The tube television analogy was brilliant.

[@michaeltablet8577]

As a bass player I preferred the Burl. As a mixer the Jcf. I can feel pressure in my ears on all except the Jcf. Like going from low altitude to high but much less of an effect. Can barely feel the pressure. Great video as well!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much for sharing!

[@tom_k_d]

Wow, never thought I would hear such differenes even through youtube compression, thanks for this eye-opener! Burl was my favourite for this example, somehow it added depth / dimension and separation between the instruments!

[@jesusvargas3044]

Listened to it on my phone and woww that benchmark sounds awesome

[@whisperthiefmusic]

I can't tell you how much respect I have for Marc and all of the people on this channel. Some of the videos have changed the way I approach making, producing and mixing the music I make. But lads... I still listen to Never Mind The Bollocks and get goose bumps. Your ears are clearly a zillion times better than mine but I'm not convinced this really matters? And I say this as genuinely thinking of you as my production Yoda!! Love you, create not hate!! x

[@larryayres4592]

It seems to me like the Burl is adding distortion similar to tube saturation. The JCF, which I have also heard at the Mastering Lab, seems more open. To me all the others have a congested or slightly blurred sound, but with the JCF you can distinctly hear the individual instruments as if they were live, in the room. It is almost as if there is space around them.

[@siriusfun]

The BURL is very 'tape-y', for sure. I use one daily along with a Mothership and the genres I work with most (rock, metal, indie, EDM and singer-songwriter) always sound better. I've used RME, Antelope and Apollo, and can confidently say the BURL converters are a head and shoulders above. That said, I was impressed by the JCF in this vid but when I looked into them, found the website gone and the products delisted on Vintage KIng, so not sure what's going on there.

[@ManuelGuinand]

My God! Never think of how different can sound the same mix through different converters, this is marvelous demonstration video of the power of them!

[@bigfootstudios7030]

The imaging on the JCF are just phenomenal. To hear it on a compressed KZbin audio it means it is something.

[@risingphoenix1484]

Man the more I watch the more I learn this was fantastic... it was unbelievable how critical listening with headphones was fantastic lesson and it was unbelievable how this was the first time I can honestly say I heard differences on converters... this was absolutely fantastic. Thank you.

[@demarlowoods6833]

Love this guy, his voice speaks to the soul of the introverts.

[@Producelikeapro]

Haha thanks ever so much! I'm sure he will read this!

[@marcdanielnelson317]

Thanks, Demario!

[@boxabeatrecordings6309]

Dear Marc, thank you for this converter comparison and sorry for commenting so late after your post. I was amazed by the differences in sound because so often I was told that converters don't make that much of a difference. I can clearly hear the colouring of the Burl but despite that character I absolutely love it's sound. Kind regards, Patrick Peeters

[@busyworksbeats]

That Burl on the bass is fire 🔥

[@stevel850]

I felt the Burl did the best on the bass as well. Everything sat differently in the stereo field as well. I heard the Dangerous AD+ is even better on the low end. I would love to hear a comparison.

[@MusicdocMT]

Thanks for sharing - first time I fired up my mix suite to do critical listening with a KZbin video - Nicely done sir My pro audio conversion journey started with Mitsubishi 32 track digital tape machine and Adats & the DA-88s than the Digidesign 888 (ruff) than - Finally 4 Maxed out Apogee's AD 8000 - Then prism, and benchmark($$$$$) - Falling back to Avid 192s Then I discovered Antelope - 2 Orions - First GEN and A HD -Now loving on my antelope Goliath ..Keep up the good work fellas

[@edkrausmixengineer]

I think Marc's last explanation was the best: "doesn't sound like it's putting walls on the music". Or, as I noticed, the JCF didn't sound like it was coming from the speakers as much as the other three. The music was just in the room with you.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Ed!

[@williamtell1477]

I loaded these up and played around a bit. I have to admit this is pretty subtle to my ears. After listening I played around with attempting to get them to null each other out. No dice, even after some minor level adjustments and tweaking delays using a phase correlation measurement to get maximum alignment, there are differences. I looped a section and ran a peaking analyzer on the the difference signals. Most of the frequencies in the diff signal were > -20db (way below in some cases) but there were some fairly strong diff around 1.5k at about -10db between benchmark and jcf for example. I found it hard to hear this! But they’re definitely measurably different!

[@williamtell1477]

Actually I’ve really got no idea if this is a valid experiment. Maybe someone who knows about A/D’s would know - if you run the same signal through the same ad will the resulting digital signals null if phase aligned and one is inverted? Or is that just bollocks?

[@Jeffway24]

I enjoyed this. The Orion was super forward. The JCF sounds like it would work for everything. The Burl was great on this mix but you can tell it’s not for every tune. Benchmark was clean and there’s nothing wrong with it.

[@elliotboult-norman8771]

This was a fantastic video! I really enjoyed trying to hear the differences between the converters, and listening to Marc talk about that last 5% was really inspiring. Even though we're talking about converters I'll probably never own or use the idea he was talking about, really focusing on the micro differences just got me excited to make music and mix! The same idea can be applied to any plugins or hardware so thank you for the video guys and the inspiration!

[@ErikZmusic]

I was roommates with Josh at Berklee during the 5 week program in 1995. Graduated with him at Berklee in 2000. Still good friends. I love his dedication to audio. More people really need to be aware of JCF.

[@papabois5001]

This was eye/ ear.. opening… I really did hear the differences .. Thank you guys… ( All out of my price range) … but… ears open. Salute

[@RoryButlerMusic]

Another great video by Marc - when he was talking about doing the converter comparison I was certain this would be over my head, but you can hear the difference! I personally think the Burl sounds quite good, but I know exactly what Marc means when listening to the JCF and it feels like switching off an old valve TV! Would be interesting to see a similar comparison with consumer units, between other consumer units and put up against these pro pieces!

[@RC32Smiths01]

Always enjoy these informative videos. I say it a lot, but there is always something to learn here!

[@normanwaller2924]

That's why I watch and listen to your videos. You have done all of the hard work. You're someone who's opinion I trust. So I have no need to download and go through the torture you just endured. Thanks, and keep up the good work..

[@Jrel]

I thought the Burl sounded better over the streaming codec so I downloaded the samples to make sure. Thank you for the samples!! Aft first I liked the Burl better, but then in some parts I liked the JCF better, so after about 10 min of listening over and over, my ears have decided it actually likes the JCF after all.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much for sharing your opinion!

[@paulphilippart7395]

Wow even on KZbin It was noticeable, the JCF really does reveal dimension depth and more immersive, without losing warmth and clarity of the bass end, not hyping the top but letting it be heard, very nice indeed, love to own one of those.

[@sincinati]

This is a really intelligent way of demonstrating converters, and I like how you spoke about using different converters creatively like you would with any piece of gear.

[@JayBeBerg]

Didn't expect to hear much difference over KZbin but the Burl did sound great over this codec anyway. I've noticed before that Benchmarks tend to sound a little flat and it did translate here too.

[@andyf6484]

even through YT compression you can hear the difference. Sounds like both the burl and JCF have better transient response on the low end, but only the JCF extends that detail to the top end. Makes sense cause the burl converters are somewhat intended to have a "tape-like" feel if you want. Also the JCF feels like it has the best stereo separation. I think the vocal pops on it because the stereo information accurately gets out of the way.

[@chillydill4703]

Love this channel, always great content and Marc have such a smooth radio vocal that doesn't make it harder to listen to. Super interesting with the differences. Had no idea until I heard it. The Burl was so smooth overall while others had a small "smiley" in the mids. It's so subtle but once hearing it, it's pretty big. But, the JCF was so open and so clear.

[@TyRobertsmedia]

To me the Burl and the JCf sounded similar and "open" whereas the benckmart did "clamp down" or compress the transients and the lows a bit more. The orion was a nice character to it but changed things a bit more noticeably. I use to work in a high-end studio in the 80's (I'm old) and we'd listen to the lacquers from the mastering guy and compare that to the 1/2" tape master. I learned how to listen to this stuff and in the studio stetup: JBL 4313s with Mcintosh amps, we could hear the tiniest changes. When digital first came out we could actually hear the sampling clock in the ultra high frequencies. Thanks for this demo - it's not everyday one gets to demo these super high-end pieces of gear!

[@patkelly8309]

I enjoyed the sound of the Burl the best.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks for sharing Pat!

[@CalvinBacon]

I have to admit I thought so too, but considering that the conversion should not really "color" the sound, I completely agree with what Marc mentioned, that the JCF just sounds cleaner and more detailed compared to the Burl which almost seems like it's adding saturation and compression almost like a mix-bus compressor which shouldn't be the job of a converter. But yes, I thoroughly enjoyed the Burl as well, especially compared to the Benchmark!

[@halpearson4226]

@@CalvinBacon I agree, broadly... but everything has a sound. Detail to some is actually hype to others :-) I built my own DAC and monitor amp (after many prototypes) - it's about buying or building the gear that sounds right to you.

[@CalvinBacon]

@@halpearson4226 sure, at the end of the day, that's what it's all about, right!?

[@williamkaylor1191]

I listened before reading the descriptions and I now realize why I like the Burl the most. And I cannot argue with Michaels point that is is colored, but maybe that is the analog-ness affecting the signal. I may be wrong, and I want to hear them on my system, but I heard a deeper and wider soundstage with the Burl. Almost like how a great clock will improve the performance of a DAW. . thank you Gentlemen, for another brain and ear stretching exercise!

[@garyfox8]

I don't know if my ears are as attuned, but I could hear differences, and I didn't expect to. The Burl seems to have more heft in the low mids and below. The Benchmark was clearer, not quite as much lower end. I kept wondering to myself if they were level matched because it seemed like the Benchmark was a hair quieter. Thank you for this video; it gave me a lot to think about.

[@dubmaverick69]

So glad you mention Doug Sax, the man is a legend (R.I.P.), he also built some of the best cross overs for Tannoy speaker, he made those speakers even better. The Burl is the saviour in this industry, as not many of us can afford Lavrys, JCF is awesome, and for folks who can not find that converter, the Mytek 8x192 is probably one of the best D/A out there, its extremely musical and feels so right to the ear, Burl and Mytek is a sublime combination, make sure you clock with your A/D and get a good RME Aes card and you will never have to look back at anything. I wish you could talk about the state of affairs with converters now, so much gear that has AD/DA is very sterile sounding, there is no depth, warmth, etc. Great Great Video Thank you.

[@greenhouseaudiosystems]

Funny that this video should come out just before my new converters arrive! Listening to the comparisons on my laptop and headphones last night I could hear a definite difference, but through Lynx D/A and a good headphone amp way more of the small stuff starts to show itself. I know the Antelope sound well - not a ton of ultra-low information, and kind of a tense high-mid. The Burl and JCF have incredible low-end extension, slightly rounded-off highs, and they have a really natural depth to them, as if the other two converters were compressing the signal a little bit. The Burl and JCF are also the only two with transformers on the inputs. Probably not a coincidence. I'd love to hear JCF A/D and D/A up against the really heavy hitters like Crane Song and Lavry. That said, knowing what D/A Marc was using for this would also be illuminating. I personally went from using a Behringer FCA and built-in headphone amp, to an Antelope Orion with Dangerous Monitor, and now have a Lynx Aurora(n) hooked to the Dangerous. The switch from Behringer to Orion/Dangerous was like wiping down a filthy window, the switch to Aurora/Dangerous is more putting on glasses; Way more subtle, but no less significant when you're working at a Pro level. Love the video! Marc's a great dude.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much! I had a pair of Lynx’s on my old Neve 8058 and loved them!

[@piggycity]

Great demonstration! I can get an idea of how each unit reproduces the music.

[@b3owu1f]

Couple years later, what do you think of the RME ADI's? Those things seem to be next level ADC/DAC for $1000 to $2500 depending on model. 32bit, 768Khz. insane fidelity.

[@danielfmyers]

I really didn’t expect them to sound any different from each other across KZbin on an iPhone 7Plus. 🤯

[@pakozdiattila]

I have an MAudio ProjectMix mixboard and sound card and a pair of Mackie MR6 mk3 speakers... and yes... can hear the differens. I have downloaded the files and will be check again with the Audio Technica ATH R70x headphones... :) Thanks Marc for this great comparison!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much for sharing Daniel!

[@TheMentalblockrock]

You're right they all sounded the same except the JCF sounded just a tad brighter, other than that no difference over Yew Chube.

[@MOSMASTERING]

I've had the Benchmark DAC 1 from around the time it was first released. I actually just found my receipt from 2007! It wasn't available in the UK at the time, so I travelled to New York and purchased it and had it sent to the hotel and had to carry it around until I got home! I'm not exaggerating to say that it was the biggest and best upgrade I ever made in my studio, it was far more noticeable than upgrading the monitors speakers or getting acoustic treatment - it honestly felt like there was a blanket lifted off the speakers. The clarity was unbelievable. I've never had a bigger grin when plugging in and adding a piece of gear to my studio. Also, the dual headphone outputs have been invaluable. When I've had a client in the studio and we both wanted to listen to the same thing at the same time, it been brilliant..

[@lovebirdsmusic]

hey marc, thanks again for this great video - one thing i would suggest: when doing direct comparisons, do it without commentary .. its easier for the ear to compare just music/sound when not interrupted. especially when you have it labelled on the screen too. just an idea)

[@lovebirdsmusic]

@Frank Lee i´m aware of that but it was also a general thing because i had that thought a few times in previous clips. in general i dont see the need to interrupt an audio A/B comparison when i can see it written on the screen. cheers

[@witchkilled]

Personally preferred the burl (have used both the a to d and d to a on various projects) however if you take an amazing song with an amazing performance and put it through the small ssl2 interface on your desk, regardless of the best conversion available one will always gravitate towards the better song. Composition trumps all gear. The rest.... icing on the cake!

[@SylvanPaul]

100%

[@racializedkanadian]

And this is why I still LOVE and listen to LOUIE LOUIE, but in that case it's the excitement of the performance within the (sound of the) room they recorded in, as opposed to a GREAT composition. I don't think it would get much better if it were to have been recorded, 'better,' isolated tracking etc. perhaps if van gelder just recorded them at his place, live of course. LOL

[@chinmeysway]

@@racializedkanadian yes garage rock sounding nasty is great, agreed. What does racialized mean ps

[@agondistortion]

I felt it right away listening though my phone , its like the chaos disappeared , its obvious , thought benchmark did better than the rest it would be my number two definitely 👍

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much!

[@siriusfun]

Yikes. The Benchmark was a distant fourth over here.

[@billymack4258]

Question are we listening to the tracks through the converters monitor out DAC? I notice the Burl B2 is ADC not DAC? I'm a beginner and just purchased the BURL B2 for tracking bypassing my Apollo 6x converters . Thanks 😎

[@lastdaysguitar]

That Burl system sounds great!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much!

[@MACRONOne]

You described it best for me when you said; "it goes around your head", about the JCF. It does exactly that.

[@rudolfbaethge282]

Thank you so much. I'm wondering about this for a while. As always, crystal clear

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Rudolf!

[@JasonSouthSoundSound]

I do love my Dangerous Audio AD2+, has color circuitry you add or not, very flexible with two inputs as well so i can have it set for tracking or summing without disconnecting anything.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much for sharing!

[@J_THOR]

Marc seems so genuine/humble. He needs his own channel!

[@Producelikeapro]

You’re going to see a lot more of him here! It is Produce Like A Pro after all! Not ‘Warren’s’ Place haha

[@Producelikeapro]

@@stanleyc6225 Haha no thank you! This is a community no ego here!

[@Producelikeapro]

@Frank Lee thank god! Haha

[@davidallenhammond2777]

Thank you Eric, really informative. I hadn't a/b'd converters before. The difference is amazing! I'm hoping to upgrade to the Orion 32+ in the very near future (need the channels). It does sound a lot more colored than the others, or maybe more aggressive. Thanks again.

[@conorm2524]

I have a question; Do people use 2trk converters specifically for the last piece of the mixing stage (the 5% he talks about)? Or are these converters used on each incoming recording channel? I'm a bit lost!

[@lionaudio]

@@conorm2524 AD converters are what converts an analog signal to digital on the way in. DA converters convert digital to analog on the way out. Some models are specifically for DA use, which you would use for mixing or mastering.

[@conorm2524]

@@lionaudio I never knew engineers would ponder specific converters for the way out. It's interesting. I'm more of a live engineer. I can think of scenarios where this could help at the very last stage of conversion. Although it would depend greatly on the type of band, their stage volume, the PA type and the room.

[@waynemagin2554]

Marc. These are excellent examples of just what you say. You are very fortunate to have pulled that train with those two other astute individuals. All of the instruments in the recording are open and airy and balanced. Question though, are the vocals meant to be distorted into saturation ? From a producer point of view I would not have done that. But thats me. The artist didn't hire me. All of that aside the performance is par excellence. Thank you for having the converter samples available. They sound even more stunning in my studio. Keep up the great work both of you !!!

[@betwhatyougot]

benchmark is the most transparent the Burl sounds thicker the Orion a little harsh on the top end Jcp does have that space great video

[@thecliqueshallsetyoufree8745]

yep , while the JCF definitely had a cool stereo effect . The Benchmark gave me an overall better cohesive sound.

[@agondistortion]

I would give Banchmark 2nd place , after Burl when i heard Benchmark it was obvious but when Jcf came it was game over for my ears at least ..

[@MikeBrayton]

When I eat a really tasty yummy cookie, am I left wanting for the missing 5% that could make it even tastier? Well, not if I don't know it's missing, of course. I wanted to not watch this video, but I did. :) What we should all be using for monitors these days is a mobile phone... right up there on top of our computer monitors staring straight at us. And then some happy-go-lucky teenager behind us telling us how great the song we are playing is, and wanting us to send them a copy so they can play it for their friends.

[@the-matrix-has-you]

For this song Burl is my first go to then JCF but song stands out much better with Burls harmonic distortion I love it

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much for sharing!

[@eman0828]

Converters have came a long ways in the past 20 years. I own a *MOTU 828ES* AVB interface that's housed in my Argosy Console desk as my workhorse. I ABed it against and Apogee Quartet and could hear very little difference. Both shares the same ESS Sabre DAC converters. There were only very small subtle differences as the Apogee had a little more sparkle on the top end but other than that, both the MOTU and Apogee had similar sonic characteristics esp in the midrange and low end frequencies. They both have a very tight low end with a nice punch.

[@markrubel6665]

I tend to be skeptical about converter claims, but the JCF converters sound amazing to me. Great job MDN!

[@AD4cap]

Thank you for putting up some real content to learn from. Watching/listening to this actually brought my hearing up another level.Thank you!

[@bjoneill74]

I'm glad you did this and I'm glad that I watched it. I do hear differences in all of them. I don't think any of them sounded bad. The Burl seemed to have the biggest low end. The JCF was very close to it though. I think low mids and high mids may have been clearer to me on the JCF. The Benchmark was the thinnest sounding to me. The lows from the Burl and JCF weren't there. The Orion was good, but seemed a touch fizzy on the highs with perhaps a slight mid scoop. I don't have an amazing sounding room as I'm in an unfinished basement. It's interesting to think about how listening through my setup and conversion (Lynx Aurora n) impact what I'm hearing. It's also being impacted by the YT algos. I don't have anything else high-end to make my own comparisons. Lynx touts their conversion as very transparent. *shrug. I am glad I can hear a difference after reading others say it doesn't matter. These things aren't inexpensive and the technology is constantly changing or becoming obsolete.

[@badmonkeymusicproductions3569]

Interesting. Noted that you used it at 44.1khz. There is some debate (e.g. Puig) about how that sounds "better" than 48.1khz, or even 96khz. This whole topic comes across as ostentatious, but I am with the crowd that believes that little things sum up to a bigger picture. I really like how the Burl "sits" - you can hear differences in the snare attack, for example. Regardless, its a great way to learn (critical) listening.

[@audioproduccion]

I've always had my doubts into auditioning converters online...but maybe someone can clear it out for me. Isn't it a bit hard to really hear the nuances and differences of one converter over the other since we on the other end are hearing through our own set of converters? I've been trying to do a video myself as well, but don't really know if the similarities or differences are actually well represented. Thanks! Great video as always -Hector Jon

[@Producelikeapro]

Hi Hector, definitely download the files and then compare in an environment that you know, then you’ll be able to hear the differences

[@3ATTR1X]

Agree, Im listening via my PC converters/central station/dynaudio, Discrete always sound much fuller and detailed.

[@cornerliston]

Doing comparison listening to conversion being made at least three times via KZbin is to say the least, not a good thing to do : )

[@caspermaster-com]

Yes, you are right. In theory it should be not optimal listening trough converters, trough your converters, and of course youtube lossy audio. What makes this one more useful is that its actually Analog to Digital conversion, if you download the files you should be able to deduce your favourite a/d converter. Comparing Digital to Analog is totally wack because, they are recorded back with another A/D before the files gets to you, AND as you say, your own D/A is also what you are hearing it trough

[@Producelikeapro]

Exactly Casper! Thanks for your well thought out and logical response! The comments here have reflected that everyone prefers something different and that is wonderful and illustrates that they are all capable of making up their own minds after downloading and listening in an environment they know!

[@thaconnection8201]

Burl has a beautiful warmth and man that jfc is clean

[@ramencurry6672]

So they’re both equally good but just different?

[@antcall6779]

My favorite as always! Thanks Marc hope you are doing well 🤘

[@ericclang5588]

Can anyone explain how you mix down out of your daw through different converters? How do you cable that up?

[@PaulEubanks]

Took me a couple listens before I could really hear the differences. They're very minor, but they are present. "Louder without hitting walls"

[@dr00beats]

What an amazing difference between low and high end converters! I just posted a video discussing how it affected my journey. Thank you for all you do 🙂

[@ADGreen-es6hm]

I think the analog circuits around those chips make a difference

[@Producelikeapro]

Absolutely 100% agreed! The Burl is built around that idea

[@barryhall7]

And power supplies

[@spitfiremusic3997]

@@barryhall7 yes, that would also be part of the analog circuit around it!

[@eman0828]

Yeah true. Once you get in the sub thousand dollar range, the difference becomes very subtle. I could hear very little difference between my MOTU 828ES AVB interface and the Apogee Quartet when I compared the side by side. MOTU definitely step their game up as converters has came a long ways in the past 20 years esp both Apogee, Digidesign and MOTU being the oldest veteran players in the game that's been building interfaces and converters since the 90s.

[@ryanpwm]

Yeah if it was just the chip, all the tech heads would be buying evaluation kits from chip companies and just using those. You can buy the chip in say, an apogee symphony, for like $2-400 on a board and fiddle with some basic software for an hour or so and have a working device. Studios have custom stuff done up all time time. So if that was so easy you’d see studios and mastering studios talk about their custom built converters as much as they do their custom consoles n stuff.

[@thetempleofsound]

Great comparison, very useful. I'm surprised I heard the differences right away even through youtube. I loved what the Burl brought to this session and also noticed the JC had a more defined yet open low end. But when you described that frequency that when its not there makes you relax and then played the jc again omg J.C.! your right! On the other hand I had to laugh seeing you were doing the video through the cheap (but great) little SSL interface. I just had several clients that can no longer come into the studio due to covid get those as a great cheap option to start with. I've been stuck on affordable and decent RME for decades. Hearing this I'm thinking it's time to upgrade soon.

[@methodofkolishin]

They were all extremely pleasant in their own ways! But man, once you hear the JCF- it's what my ears wanted to hear. The Orion was my second favorite- felt closer to the JCF than not... But was more aggressive to my ears. The Burl, was warm and vibey, but at the cost of muddying the mix. Lovely comparison!

[@siriusfun]

He was driving the input transformers too much. What was not demonstrated was the ability to attenuate post-input but pre-conversion, a specialty the Bomber has that others don't. If you want a transparent conversion, that can be achieved very easily by adding headroom on the B2 and not driving the transformer circuit on the input as much. It's actually a very cool unit and behaves more like a tape machine in that regard. Cheers.

[@victorgarcia6912]

Thanks for the video! If I turn down the Burl -0.54dB, the Orion -0,48dB and the JCF -0,41dB, they all will sound EXACTLY at the same volume. I like the Benchmark and the Burl the most.

[@billsmith2815]

I loved the Burl! I really appreciate this shootout. I am blessed to own a Bomber ADC. This video confirms it's value in mastering cannot be overlooked. The vocals was the key to me was the vocals. I believe several people preferred the glue of the Burl to the separation of the JCF. I couldn't agree more. To me it sounds more like a record should sound, especially that song. The Benchmark was #2 to me but if I wanted clean, I would pick it. The JCF, though bigger, makes me want to turn down the vocals.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much for sharing

[@billsmith2815]

Yes sir. The JCF makes me want to turn down the vocals in the mix.

[@nonsuch]

I kind of wish you hadn't said which one you liked the best. The power of suggestion is very strong.

[@Producelikeapro]

Almost everyone who’s downloaded the multitracks has picked other Interfaces. Luckily people are about to make up their own minds. Also the quality on KZbin is no where near good enough to hear the subtleties

[@marcdanielnelson317]

Hi Rob, I dont do videos to try to sell things... I just use what I like and talk about it... But, I do love the burl and I love the benchmark and Antelope. I own all of them..

[@lionaudio]

the Orion seems to have a "deeper" sound stage than the other three to me. The JCF sounds very "pure". I would be very happy with either. I'm still using a Duet 2 and trying to narrow down what my next interface will be

[@Joey-rp5vg]

I got an array of RME ADI- 8 DS going into an RME RayDat card but this weekend I'm going to buy the Antelope Audio Orion 32 and an SSL MADI card ( all second-hand ). I am excited to hear the new set-up....wooot wooot

[@Producelikeapro]

Sounds marvellous to me

[@Joey-rp5vg]

Forgot to say i am running everything through a Soundtracs Solitaire. I would like also to be able to mix in the DAW sometimes, with hardware inserts and not have to power the console on. But I am trying to get my head around the patchbay routing and how many patchbays I would need plus cables. It feels like the start of a nightmare 😞

[@theslideguy4228]

Amazing how much difference there is with the converters. The JCF is definitely the winner. So dimensional. Thanks again, fellas.

[@joed3483]

Another great PLAP video! To my hears the burl would be good to track with because it has more color and some kind of natural compression. The benchmark is way cleaner but distorts also in a less musical way for me. The Orion is also clean and has an interesting sparkle in the high end. The JCL does sound the best. It still has some kind of distortion but it is very musical. I think there is something magical about certain transformers. This is probably why Rupert Neve was so focused on them for most of his life. If you think about it, most AD chips are made by the same handful of companies so the sound differences come from what is before and after those chips. I think JCF uses custom wound cinemag transformers and those, to my hears are, the best outside of the ones made the legend Neve.

[@circlemover]

I use to be able to listen to fine detail in the zone and worked all through the 80s and 90s. Now I am 66 years old I can still get in the zone of critical listening but my ears just aint good enough anymore. You need the ears and this is the 5% you are talking about. Of course, most fans of music are completely out of the critical listening zone and into the music and vibe. Which do you think is more important to them?

[@peterveneno13]

Really blow my mind to hear a difference throw the cel phone speaker.. downloading to listen with a proper interface and headphones

[@aivoryuk]

The sound stage of the Burl sounds very impressive and pushes the vocals back, the benchmark seems more mid focused. I would say the JCF is in between the 2 and overall would be the converter to go for

[@nathanieljohnsonjr775]

The best JCF audio review out there

[@pascalmerschaudio]

what is with the converter on my SSL 2+ ? how good are they , cause i hear a big difference between my old Presonus, and the SSL or is it only the HP amp on the interface ?

[@gotyor]

JCF to me has open/dynamic sound. more like your there in a real room with musicians, the others have more of a tape compression kind of vibe next to the JCF. The few mastering engineers I talked to will pick the JCF for organic real instrument material, and purposely choose other converters for hip hop or edm depending on character needed. The bummer about all these is their price points, but like everything... with the leaps and bounds in tech, maybe soon we will all have access to such great finishing tools.

[@kieranniemand2939]

Crazy that the differences were so obvious, especially on the JCF. Also.. this track is JUMPING! 😅

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Kieran!

[@dolovfm]

The reverb tails, air and separation were dramatically better on the JCF in my opinion - but that was just through the so called speaker on my iphone 6s lol. Will check later on sonosax and lake people D/A

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much!

[@K3v7L]

To me the Bassdrum sounds more punchy in the burl version. Very interesting video!

[@johnwalter6410]

The only thing that sucks about these other converters is the limited I/O. I have 26 pieces of gear hardwired into the Orion that I don't even need a patch Bay for and that was the deal breaker for me

[@anthojones520]

Get a mixer

[@andrewsrea]

To me via youtube processing, the JCF has detail and space, where the Burl was warm and reminded me of an MCI 1" 2-track I once used a lot, back in the day.

[@roberthunt1540]

In my treated room, with decent monitoring, I can't really tell . . . . I mean, there's a little difference, but to me it's so inconsequential. Which makes me happy! I realize I'm not the market for $8000 converters!

[@marcdanielnelson317]

They are a little over 4K for 8 channels in

[@pauldalby8196]

I could easily hear the differences which was a big surprise! While I can appreciate the need for the uncoloured, larger sound clarity of the JCF, I enjoyed the Burl the most. Also, I don't think the difference is subtle at all, even listening on my phone with low end Sennheiser HD headphones. Where would these be used in typical chain?

[@dirkbrouns5293]

Cool. How are you clocking the Antelope and JCF during mixdown. Are you capturing on a different system or are you mixing the converters within one ProTools session?

[@strawport2062]

Been hoping for a video like this for ages, so useful, cheeeers!!!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much!

[@tommygunrva]

This was a great listen. The Burl has more "weight" in the lows than the others, which is nice. The Orion sounds good, but I do hear where it sounds a little "pushed". The Benchmark sounded very sterile to me, and man is he right about that AD8. It's like everything between you and the control room disappears, and the transients hit like they're being played right out in your own live room. And I definitely DO NOT want to know how much that thing costs, considering the Orion is four freakin' grand, lol.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Tommy!

[@ewaldjansenvanrensburg7377]

Apologies for the ignorance: how are these files bounced? Ie sent out through a DA back into an AD. Thus are we hearing converter roundtrips on all of the examples? Enlightening video non the less...still on digi96 🙈

[@oliwhitworth8088]

Why is there a reverb tail at 10.56 when playback stops? Is this the longer notes and depth he is talking about?

[@oliwhitworth8088]

Please can anyone explain the reverb tail?

[@palsheldon6520]

I'd described the JCF as 'Happy' as soon as I heard it... so much more freedom and smile

[@andytullis8736]

Great video, I think the JCF AD8 allows better separation, which allows all the goodness to come alive. The Burrell was more glue sounding which was nice as well. But the JCF AD8 wins this comparison for this song. Looked the cost.....and well........I'll never be able to afford one. Pretty pricey...for this home studio guy. Again thanks Marc.