using the coaxial I/Os instead of 1/4"s

hi does anyone here use the digital coaxial I/Os on there MPC to send audio to and/or from their DAW?
if so, would you recommend it over using the 1/4" I/O's as far as sound quality goes or is there not much of a difference...
i have a macbook and an MPC 2500 and would like to transfer audio to and from Logic pro 9 whilst keeping it in the best quality possible..
i wondering if you guys worth paying the extra money for a audio interface like the mbox 3 because it has the digital I/Os

Thanks!

Digital I/O will always sh!t on analog I/O as far as I'm concern.

You're getting the true transmission of what your sound is all about by going this route.

In other words, the sound has more depth, definition & detail.

cheers for the reply, i always thought that would be the case but wanted to hear it from someone else before i go out and by the mbox3...

i don't hear of many people utilising the digital I/O's on their equipment at all though

mhann wrote:cheers for the reply, i always thought that would be the case but wanted to hear it from someone else before i go out and by the mbox3...

i don't hear of many people utilising the digital I/O's on their equipment at all though

Well, the benefits I obtain from it comes when I do my mastering. I send a stereo signal to a Sony CDR-W33 stand alone cd recorder and work my necessary plug-ins on the stereo buss coming from my daw. And believe me, with those plugs, a little goes a long way & it makes a huge difference.

I suspect the reason some folks don't talk about it is because...they just don't know.

I will say the difference is minimal at best.

I would not waste time or money finding an interface solely so you can use the coax digital connections. In theory, it should be a more direct signal, but I bet you couldn't tell the difference if you tried. The audio outs of my MPC, at least (a 2kxl), are very high quality/low noise. I don't know if the same is true for the newer mpcs.

What you are getting with that digital signal is a relatively un-altered signal...but that is not always the best. Sometimes, you want your signal being processed by an analog input.

So yea, in theory, it should be cleaner. In practice, I doubt it will make a huge difference and really isn't worth worrying about.

I use mine because my turntable has spdif out, so i can sample with one cable and no preamp...I only do this for convenience, I could definitely get a more colored sound if I used a preamp or a mixer.

nogginj wrote:I will say the difference is minimal at best.

I would not waste time or money finding an interface solely so you can use the coax digital connections. In theory, it should be a more direct signal, but I bet you couldn't tell the difference if you tried. The audio outs of my MPC, at least (a 2kxl), are very high quality/low noise. I don't know if the same is true for the newer mpcs.

What you are getting with that digital signal is a relatively un-altered signal...but that is not always the best. Sometimes, you want your signal being processed by an analog input.

So yea, in theory, it should be cleaner. In practice, I doubt it will make a huge difference and really isn't worth worrying about.

I use mine because my turntable has spdif out, so i can sample with one cable and no preamp...I only do this for convenience, I could definitely get a more colored sound if I used a preamp or a mixer.

Well in my case, I track and mix in analog, but I like to send a digital out mix to the cd recorder too. I can hear the difference in definition and imagery because I'm clocking two layla 24/96 interfaces off of an apogee big ben via w/c.

So I'm hearing a better image in digital mode than I do analog. It's like night & day to me. Of course, I can't vouch for anybody else.

mhann wrote:cheers for the reply, i always thought that would be the case but wanted to hear it from someone else before i go out and by the mbox3...

There are plenty of interfaces out there with coaxial S/PDIF inputs and outputs. You are already running Logic (which I hear is good), so unless you NEED to use Pro Tools for some reason then I suggest looking past the Mbox (you're paying for Pro Tools as well as apart of the package, you can either save that money or use it towards a higher-end interface).

Kavie wrote:

mhann wrote:cheers for the reply, i always thought that would be the case but wanted to hear it from someone else before i go out and by the mbox3...

There are plenty of interfaces out there with coaxial S/PDIF inputs and outputs. You are already running Logic (which I hear is good), so unless you NEED to use Pro Tools for some reason then I suggest looking past the Mbox (you're paying for Pro Tools as well as apart of the package, you can either save that money or use it towards a higher-end interface).

Yeah, especially since PT-9 allows the use of any asio capable audio interface.

mhann wrote:worth paying the extra money for a audio interface like the mbox 3 because it has the digital I/Os

Thanks!

It's easy to get caught up in the pursuit of a the 'best possible sound quality'.

But do you think the people listening to your music really care whether you used analog or digital I/O?

No, they don't.

If you have the option to use ADAT or S/Pdif in place of eight analogue outputs or main outs, do it.

Using digital cables to track out will not make anything sound better than it was before, but it does allow you to bypass TWO A-D-A conversion stages. Firstly the digital to analogue stage on playback from the MPC and secondly the conversion back to digital that is performed by your audio interface.

You could carry out some tests to see how various A-D-A conversions affect the overall sound quality of your audio.

Then you could determine for yourself whether digital was the way to go.

you don't need to buy an audio interface. Your macbook has optical digital in/outs as standard. that's what i use on my macbook.
all you need is a little box that converts SPDIF digital to TOSLINK optical.

beach_break wrote:Your macbook has optical digital in/outs as standard.

Good point, I forgot about that.

clint246clint wrote:If you have the option to use ADAT or S/Pdif in place of eight analogue outputs or main outs, do it.

Not that it matters in this case, but is the toslink connection on a mb pro two channel or multi-channel?

IMO, this would affect whether you can track 8 channels of adat at once vs not being able to right?

Or correct me if I'm missing something.

If you have a choice,I would definitely go digital. Analog requires GOOD cables, but with digital, any coaxil cable will give the same results. Like Dab said, I notice a differnce..and I'm using decent cables. I make dirty music,but it sounds cleaner and more full (if that makes any sense! haha).
Also, you don't have to spend $$ on protools to use the digital outs. Use anything with coaxil and optical inputs. I was going digital out from the mpc to digital in on my CD burner, then optical out into my macbook pro.
BTW, the inputs/outputs on your macbook are both analog and digital.

it's just two channel (on the 1000)

dabmeister wrote:

clint246clint wrote:If you have the option to use ADAT or S/Pdif in place of eight analogue outputs or main outs, do it.

Not that it matters in this case, but is the toslink connection on a mb pro two channel or multi-channel?

IMO, this would affect whether you can track 8 channels of adat at once vs not being able to right?

Or correct me if I'm missing something.

Analog requires GOOD cables, but with digital, any coaxil cable will give the same results.

With digital signals you start running into more impedance issues, so you need to use either really short cables, or proper SPDIF cables.
Using a cheap cable or a long cable (+3ft) will likely produce dropouts.
And really the same is true for analog, the cable itself isn't going to make a difference. Maybe the connector if it is poorly soldered or loose, but that can happen to a digital cable as well.
Cables transmit voltage, they don't alter it. What makes a 'good' cable is construction + durability.