Digital Versus Analog Input

Is there really a noticeable difference between the 1/4 inch stereo inputs and the digital input? The reason I ask is because I record from a Digi 003 that has digital in and outs. When I tried recording digital, it seemed less muddy to me, but it may have been the placebo effect.

Figure digital to digital is less lossy than digital to analog chord to digital. Too many conversions.

Whether it really sounds better or my mind is playing tricks on my ears is irrelevant. Less chords FTW, but I'm just curious.

lifesabatch wrote:Is there really a noticeable difference between the 1/4 inch stereo inputs and the digital input? The reason I ask is because I record from a Digi 003 that has digital in and outs. When I tried recording digital, it seemed less muddy to me, but it may have been the placebo effect.

Figure digital to digital is less lossy than digital to analog chord to digital. Too many conversions.

Whether it really sounds better or my mind is playing tricks on my ears is irrelevant. Less chords FTW, but I'm just curious.

When you sample digital to digital then at the end youre only using the samplers digital to analog converters.
When you sample analog to digital, like you would if youd sample from a record, then youre using the analog to digital converters.

It depends on how you want it to sound like.
If you want the 3k's A/D signature then you should sample analog to digital.
I think you get a more warm sound.

On the other hand if youre sampling some vocals parts off a DAW and you want to bounce the vocals back to the DAW when youre done then you migh want to sample digital, and record digital back to the DAW when youre done.

Ive done all off this back in the days.

Id sample off a CD from the coaxial out right into my Kurzweil K2000rs and the signal didnt lose any generation. If the part on the CD i wanted to sample was low in volume id prefer to sample it analog and boost the input of the K2000 instead of normalizing inside the machine.

On the 3k, since there is no normalize option youd just have to sample analog and boost the input gain if the part is too low in volume.

And just cos were talking about the mpc3k, id suggest you go analog all the way.
If you wanna sample digital then whats the point to sample?
You can transfer the WAV files into SND files and just load them...

by the way, if you sample analog, you have the chance to run your sound through an EQ to shape it before you sample it!

Interesting. So it's the analog to digital converter that gives it it's signature sound. I'll have to rethink my digital in then.

by the way, if you sample analog, you have the change to run your sound through an EQ to shape it before you sample it!

I already shape my sounds in Pro Tools before sending them down the digital pipe so that's not an issue. I also do all my chopping in PT as well.

Thanks for the info.

This is just an opinon but I would think that if you like the way your sample sounds on your PC and you want to keep that exact sound as much as possible on playback, you would ship it over using the digital inputs so that it stays just as it is and isn't colored by the MPC's A-to-D convertor. Like you say, the A-to-D convertor is an instrument in itself.

scsiforsamplers.com wrote:This is just an opinon but I would think that if you like the way your sample sounds on your PC and you want to keep that exact sound as much as possible on playback, you would ship it over using the digital inputs so that it stays just as it is and isn't colored by the MPC's A-to-D convertor. Like you say, the A-to-D convertor is an instrument in itself.

Yes thats very true.

Like I said, when i want to manipulate sounds without having another A/Ds coloration then Id go digital.

If i want the highs a bit blurry Id go analog.

Both ways work fine though. Its an MPC3000.

Some people even filter the sound with the lowpass on the MPC2KXL like form 99 they put it to 90 just to take out some crispy highs they wont want in the mix.

Good points everybody. I'm still pretty green on an MPC so bottom line is experimentation. Getting to know the sound of the MPC's A-to-D converter and deciding what to use on a song by song basis. It's cool to have both options, though.

Here's another question. How much are the D-A converters in the MPC3K responsible for the mpc colorization? I'm putting together an MPC Vinyl Drum sample pack and I'd like to just sample in and transfer the snd files off the disk rather than rerecord them. Anybody want to chime in on this? Thanks a mill.

lifesabatch wrote:Here's another question. How much are the D-A converters in the MPC3K responsible for the mpc colorization? I'm putting together an MPC Vinyl Drum sample pack and I'd like to just sample in and transfer the snd files off the disk rather than rerecord them. Anybody want to chime in on this? Thanks a mill.

If you want to hear the difference:

1. Select an audio clip and keep a copy in your DAW for later.

2. Transcode that sample using the digital IN on the MPC.

3. Record that sample back into the DAW using the analogue outputs. (This stage assumes you have a near transparent AD converter - Apogees colour, but something like a Prism or Lake People should do the job accurately).

4. Align the sound recorded from the MPC to the original copy you held onto in Step 1. This will need to be sample accurate.

5. Flip the phase on either track.

What you are left with is the results of the MPC's conversion. You can analyse frequency content and bit depth using an FFT and bit meter.

You can also *see* this by merge - mixing the 2 audio files. Provided you have flipped the phase, you will be able to see the waveform difference once the equal sums cancel each other out.