PreSonus Quantum 4848 v.s. Dangerous Music Convert AD+ | Part 2

This is Part 2 of a 4-part series on comparing the sound of the conversion Presonus Quantum 4848 & the Dangerous Music Convert AD+
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[@jfloyd2919]

Owning the Convert Ad+ among many other converters I can say this. Where the Dangerous AD+ shines is when you drive an clip the input . Compared to other high end converters it just handles it much better. Added bonus 👉 is the clip guard function that keeps it from clipping the convertion back in Pro Tools or any DAW alike. The AD+ handles allot of clipping especially the low end. It does this much better than any converter ive ever herd ,used ,and own. It does this while retaining the integrity of the mix and a much better open wide top end aswell. Also without the transformer engaged. Love the AD+ it can really handle some serious level while staying transparent.

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Thanks for sharing! I have no reason to drive the converter myself but that is a feature that many people like so the AD+ I am sure is great for that

[@natan_abdala]

Good stuff. Honestly, I didn't watch the 1st video; but on this first listen, I immediately leaned toward the purple file. To my surprise, it was the PreSonus! I had the dangerous converter and it did phenomenal conversion, but it’s great to see these kinds of videos to show that what truly matters is honing your skills and using what you have now. Thanks for this video guys!

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Thank you!

[@RenzoG9-Topic]

I first listened to it on my phone speakers and could hear a low mid difference between the 1st and 2nd. After listening in my studio I could definitely hear more differences. With the Ad+ everything gets a little tighter and you can hear more transient in the snare. I would definitely go with the AD+. That’s not to say the quantum is bad. For the price definitely good conversion.

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Great, then you should go with the AD+, glad the video helped

[@user-is4si7qx5f]

I love my two 4848's. I'm super annoyed that Presonus discontinued them. I think they might have done that because of the TB 2 becoming outdated. It's a simple fix to get them working on TB3 computers (like mine) with an adapter, but now we have TB 4 computers. I get it, but I hope Presonus comes out with an updated version of the 4848's for TB 4. the Quantum 4848's punch so above their weight it's ridiculous. Presonus had magic with these interfaces and if they just update them and stick with the Quantum 4848 concept, I can't see these things becoming anything but a standard in the simi pro to pro market (at the very least). They make hybrid mixing an attainable no brainer.

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Thanks for your thoughts and for watching!

[@AJOrpheo]

Couldn't one just add some transformer saturation before the 4848 to give a similar feel as the dangerous music ad with transformer?

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

sure can!

[@Spunkbreaker]

Hei guys, love this. I own the convert8 from dangerous, I love how it sounds, I wanted to buy the ad+ but this kind of videos helps to go out the placebo effect...and be more objective with decision. You guys helps a lot with this specific kind of videos.

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Glad we are helping :)

[@EYEAUM1985]

you should have played each print from the beginning, or from the exact same parts of the print. Switching didn't make much sense because it didn't give a chance to focus on the same vibe, it sounds more like mix dynamics

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Sorry, maybe someone else out there did this same test and you'll find their video more helpful.

[@legacyShredder1]

Null Test?

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

coming in part 3,

[@DnBLand81]

OK ...not bad the quantum but i can feel that in this case it lose something on the transients..no big difference but is there and those small details is what and why we pay more

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Great, if you can hear it, then thats cool.

[@gwsound]

Maybe the 4848 and AD + have the same chipset?

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

It probably does. Most of these boxes do

[@braxal6983]

Thank you to both Dave’s !!! I hope I am always civil. Does me or you no good to not be civil. Besides I love this channel and want to keep participating. Keep it up!

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Well said!

[@WayneLansdowne]

I'd have no problem using the Quantum. I picked it as my preferred choice in the first video. These tests really all start to show the same thing. You can have preferences (which is fine) but even very inexpensive interfaces (e.g. less than $500) are more than capable of producing professional results. It's not the late 90's or early 2000's. Converters are no longer 'good' vs. 'bad'... it's just about the I/O you need and subjective preference on very small differences.

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Well said!

[@SlimCreep]

great video guys. the difference i heard was in the headroom you can tell the 4848 has lower headroom. mixing into the ad+ could yield even better results

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Thanks for watching!

[@crustaug]

Great test! Would you be willing to publish the numbers at the point before the reveal? Would be interesting to see if people getting right blind were right on or pretty much random.

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Videos are already done sorry. Most people are just simply guessing anyway. :)

[@stefanhoffmann2748]

Really good video! From my point of view very hard to hear - probably by chance I was right. I am curious about the null tests and how it will performs as I was really surprised how good the PreSonus sounded to me. I am glad you`re doing video`s like this - for me as a non professional (which is somehow "on a budget") it`s a great opportunity to learn about various products in comparison and get the opportunity to understand if the difference is worth to spend the money for the individual usecase. 👍

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Thank you!

[@StereotacticMusic]

I forgot to come back with my final answer but I got it right, because I went back to the Apollo X vs Quantum and realize that the added low is the quantum because is very similar to the apollo and I have the SPL Mercury DA so i hear everything. Congrats to Presonus but for mastering AD+ 🥇. Really nice videos ideas you guys keep it coming 🙏🏽

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Thanks for. watching!

[@nicholasflores8100]

I like Green wish it had a bit of whatever is going on in red just a pinch.

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Thanks for watching!

[@zonarecordingstudio]

I just recorded my drums to my 2 track reel to reel, of the board, back to the 70's,but sounded great

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Great!

[@recordingwhiz]

I run a Hybrid system with an Amek Einstein, kind of wish I should have gone with the Presonus 4848, but unfortunately it has been discontinued. had to go with a MOTU 24Ao instead

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Motu makes great stuff as well

[@santiagocalleja3926]

Dave, I know you mentioned the Quantum 4848 not having dedicated monitor out and that you used another Quantum just for that. Do you know if you can hook up an interface via ADAT and dedicate two of the outs of the Quantum (say outs 37/38) and use them as the monitor outs?

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

I would think you can, yes

[@leonardocaminati6432]

Hi Dave, thanks for this video comparison. Very interesting. From what I know the magic of the dangerous AD is driving it into clipping, like what's done usually with Lavry converters. The clipping of the dangerous should be much more pleasing than the 4848 so that you can have higher RMS without destroying the audio quality. Have you done a comparison also on the clipping front?

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

I did that test and the sound was nearly identical.

[@BizzleBotTube]

Love these videos thank you for doing them. I'd love to see you perform null tests to include some quantitative differences and be able to "hear" just the difference. Also thanks for including the tracks so we can mess around with them ourselves and avoid KZbin compression. Edit/Addition: I took the raw tracks and put them into reaper to take a peek. I'm wondering if there is more impact from the whole system and computer than these 2 specific devices. When I compared Print 1 and Print 3 raw tracks, I found that there is an 11ms time shift over the length of the song (aka I zoomed in to the sample level, lined up the beginning of the songs perfectly, and by the end of the song print 1 is 11ms longer than Print 3. (I also selected a mid point and found it was about 5 ms delayed so my guess is that it's something with the computer aggregating delays vs the external hardware).

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Stay tuned to part 3 for the null test. :)

[@BizzleBotTube]

@@MixingMusicAnalog I'm excited! I'm also curious how you were able to account for the latency I was mentioning, that will be very interesting.

[@RomainMcRoger]

I've downloaded the files, at the first listening, the #3 seems to be way more dynamic, more clear with the transients. But, as says the good friend from the state of New York, it's not a big difference, maybe between 5% and 10% (with generosity). For the #1 and the #2, it's maybe 1% of difference, and while listening again and again, to be honnest, i don't hear the difference anymore. By the way the mix is very well done, i'm curious to see if the result is the same with a lower quality mix. Anyway, at this point, it's not a game changer and for the price, it's not worth it unless you're looking for that 5% achievement. Are you going to make the same series on differents mastering grade converters like the Burl B2 Bomber, the Rupert Neve Desing Master Buss Converter ... ?

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Yes, videos for both those pieces are done and videos are coming soon!

[@jongriffin2608]

If only 1 person guessed right based on your initial follow up vid. Then this makes me…the second? I didn’t want to say at the time, (because it would sound like I was creating a get out for if I was wrong) but I was viewing this test on a Samsung TV. I was super confident in my choice, but very prepared to be wrong. Maybe, the difference might actually be easier to hear on a lower resolution device somehow, dunno. But what Dave described is my same experience. 1 was more open, 2 more constrained and 3 had a bit more girth. Where I don’t agree with Dave is the 5% difference, at least not where I am concerned. I want that difference and I believe it has value that makes its way to the end listener. Obviously, a high end converter alone is not going to transform a poor mix, but across every link in a chain those 5%’s do add up. Anyway, what do I win? I’ll take one of those Trident 80s so I can complete a pair? :)

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Nice try :)

[@MR_Cellarpop]

I like the AD+ better then the Presonus even with the transformer out, with the transformer in and the x-former emphasis i like that you can sculpt the sound even more and clipping the converter a little, AD+ takes clipping very well. Thanks for the tests, best/Mathias

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Fair enough!

[@user-nr9ln8go8r]

very interesting test! thank you !!! (Oh, if only Apogee Symphony was in the tests!!!) / You are doing a great job for all of us!

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Thank you!

[@coryplaugh1687]

2 definitely sounds pinched and midrangey, aside from the differences in transient response, like he was singing while holding his nose.

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Thanks for watching!

[@alexhulme6135]

Are these in the same order as the original video? In that case I got it right! I preferred 3 it was the ‘best’ IMO and it was the dangerous with the transformer engaged. So sometimes the gear is worth the hype. Though I will say that the quantum’s still sound Damn good

[@alexhulme6135]

You’re definitely on point in saying that the differences with the dangerous without the transformer is bordering on negligible, it’s the transformer that’s adding that extra vibe

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

of course the are in the same order. :0 both videos were recored within 10 minutes of each other.

[@thomasaxelsson6739]

Isn't the Quantum 4848 discontinued? There's a Quantum 2626 out. Do you guys have any idea if the 2626 is compareable to the 4848? The 2626 cost like 620€ here in Sweden. I understand that theres fewer I/O:s on the 2626, but I'm wondering if the AD/DA:s are as good on the 2626 as on the 4848?

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Yes they are discounted!

[@DavidSJ_DAP]

The 2626 is technically identical to the 4848, using the same converters...the 2626 adds monitor circuits and has fewer channels of available I/O, but the sound quality will be the same...

[@AndrewCCM]

I think an interesting thing to try would be to have a 20yr something person come in and blind test. Everyone over 40 has some high freq hearing loss which is where a lot of the “difference” probably lives. Get some young ears in there just for fun. I’m 54 and know I have lost a lot in the “air bands”.

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Good idea, but not going to happen. :)

[@preciseaudioblog]

There is a difference but very sutil... For what I hear, the extra AD/DA converter is not worth the money (for me at least). Great vid!

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Thanks for sharing!

[@anthemmakersmusic]

so the 4848 sounds and looks more like the transformer based mix, that doesn't really surprise me. i keep thinking Anthony De Maria may have had a big hand in the design of the pre amp upgrades on the quantum's from the Presonus pres on the Studio 192 Dsp based version a generation before. I leave it to you to ask someone at Presonus.

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Ok, thanks

[@G_handle]

The 4848 are literally just converters. No preamps or Any analog or digital processing. AD/DA at line level, that’s it.

[@Feerlyss]

yes i was 3 all the way. it was just a little better than 2, but you could certainly hear it in the depth.

[@Feerlyss]

I have the Dangerous Convert 2 which is mastering grade and it made a huge difference compared the ad/da conversion of my Rme UCX

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Fantastic!

[@rsbcenter]

@@Feerlyss Mastering grade, are you sure about that, I dont know any mastering houses that use it, and i have heard way better from the likes of Merging technologies, DAD, Forsell, Lavry, that are much more detailed and refined.

[@kaisersoze9488]

If you're looking for a color box the AD+ is the joker to go with because I did hear the snare all over the place but the 4848 quantum is my prefer choice because is a more refine sound let me put like this a more prestine sound thanks for sharing this video was dope well done fellas 👍

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Thank you!!

[@JasonBuffin]

I still can't hear any difference. Maybe the xformer file has a little more cook on it but it's not enough to make me buy. I already mix into transformers so this would just be another really expensive transformer. I'll be interested to see the geek out video and an explanation the steep HPF on the xformer file. In RX I can see an obvious HPF around 22k on the DA+Xformer file and no HPF on the others. Great video again guys! You're saving my wallet one video at a time!

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Thank you so very much Jason!

[@DavidSJ_DAP]

Just as a preview, I did not deal with the LPF on the transformer circuit, but the fact that it's there is due to the presence of an anti-aliasing filter in the converter circuit to keep the xformer generated high frequency information from causing issues on the print track...

[@JasonBuffin]

@@DavidSJ_DAP Yes, LPF not HPF. When I first looked at the files I just figured the Presonus was being more aggressive with its anti-aliasing filter. But it makes sense that Dangerous would put a more aggressive filter in for the xformer circuit. I wonder if that's really all that necessary.

[@oldtreefarm]

Are comments being hidden?

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

nope but they all need to be approved. why you ask? Because unfortunately some people cant behave themselves. :)

[@pascalmerschaudio]

i knew it, i´ve got B, C A Presonus did it again.....love this company, it would be nice if we had a fourth one like the apollo. Dave i´m on RME if you receive one day your hands on it, i´m very glad if you make a reaction about the RME interface

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Yea, after doing 4 boxes, we are done with testing converters unless a company wants to send me a demo unit. I cant keep putting out my own money to do these tests. Trust me, the converter does not make a large enough difference. Keep what you have, stop "drinking the kool-Aid" and get to mixing music! LOL

[@philipfrench8496]

Congrats bruh!!! Keep making FANTASTIC content!! #muchsuccess🐻🍯🎼🎶🎵🎵🎵🎷🎷🎷💯👍🏿

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Thank you very much!

[@rocketsauce5067]

I hesitated to comment until the reveal but my ears thought purple had more lows but I also thought the dangerous and purple/presonus were really close.

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Thanks for checking out the video

[@anthemmakersmusic]

by the way i could not hear anything difference

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

They are so incredibly close

[@atommixmaster]

Nice! i was right!

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Well done!

[@bighousemusic628]

Presonus is a german company just like RME and trust me and when i mean trust me those guys knows how to wire circuits

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Thanks for watching!

[@pascalmerschaudio]

no only the software guys sitting in Hamburg, Presonus came from Louisiana / Baton Rouge, But with RME youre right i have the UFX 3 and i love it, they are from Haimhausen Germany

[@johnd9676]

I was right! For once lol.

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Good for you!

[@JSSTUDIO-wr2jq]

🙂👍

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Thanks

[@rsbcenter]

Hello guys, Mix 3 sounded the best , to me, but neither of these interfaces is what we call high end, in fact if you go on gearspace neither one is on the high end list, the top 3 most highend interfaces that you will hear a difference in like night and day with, are these 3. starting with number 3, Lynx Aurora N with dolby atmos, 2. DAD Ax32, 1. Merging Technologies Hapi or horus with premium cards, Number 1 and 2, and the most widely used for the top Mastering labs in the world, Including Sterling Sound in NYC uses the merging Horus, So why are they using it , well the quality of the sound is big, wide and sterile, no coloring , with a clarity that the most nerdy audiophiles will be pleased with. thats why, and how did they get there, Excellent engineering using the best chips, transformers and preamps money can buy. They are made in denmark and Switzerland, Vintage king sells them, i would never buy crap from sweetwater and never did, they always sell you what is most profitable and tell you its high end, screw them, screw sweetwater, Vintage king i like those guys of course they want to sell you, but they like to really keep their clients happy and will tell you the truth on quality of gear, But my go to place to learn whats out there is gearspace.com, what used to be gearslutz they have a highend section there and with long threads. and neither of these interfaces are mentioned as high end. I have listened to tried, RME< Antelope, Burl, Prism Sound ( Which is pretty good) and even Lavry ( the most expensive but damn good also). And still to this day Merging Technologies beats them all. this is why Neumann recently bought out merging technologies and has the top selling audio interface right now, the neuman mt48, they cannot even keep up with the demand. it is just a rebranded meging anubis which i just boughtand waiting for arrival, with a usb port added.

[@MixingMusicAnalog]

Ok, thanks for the info