Is SPDIF a cleaner transfer then RCA analog?

Hi, I have been running my tracks out 1 by 1 from my MPC 2000 Classic to my PC into cubase using the Stereo/Mono out on my MPC. Doing this puts a very small amount of line noise into my track. I am looking to get my track transfers as crisp and clean as possible with no sound quality loss. I want to know if I should look to get the 8-out board and use the SPDIF to digi out the tracks. Will that guarantee no noise?

hmm thats a good question, i know what you mean about the los of quality and that hiss, what I do is edit my samples, sounds, or songs on cool edit and cakewalk sonar, I use noise reduction and adjust the eq, and can get the quality better than it was even on the mpc. Just an idea for ya

OK Lamp, so would you recommend coming out of the SPDIF over analog?

sax, yeah I use wavelab with all the mastering plugins; but I just am trying to steer away form altering the structure of the original sample file too much. The samples I use are a very high quality as they are.

Do whatever you think sounds best. The noise your getting is from your MPC stereo outs being either dirty or bad contacts.

The noise will build up as you layer more tracks, so yes - digital is better with half a dozen tracks or more (my guess, noise will vary with sound card).

Thanks guys. I think I will go digital. Can you guys tell me the most economical sound card to get that has the SPDIF in?

Ok in answer to your question I was also having the same problem. Thing is with SPDIF because its a direct digital transfer as Lampdog stated it transfers everything including volume levels which if the sample was recorded low will output low via SPDIF which isn't great. I personally decided to stick with RCA analogue for the main reason that I can manually adjust the output to my DAW. To be honest there is no easy solution to eliminate hiss except first a foremost I would "choose clean loud samples!" sounds basic but it will help a lot ...basically the louder and cleaner your samples are away from the noise floor the better they will sound. Also use the highest quality cables, I eliminated at least 15% hiss doing so. Another tip is to use headphones when choosing or editing your samples. Its the audio equivalent to working with a microscope you can get up close and eliminate hiss from the onset.

Hope that helps !

I use the m-audio fast track pro, i like it a lot better than sound cards especially since its portable. and it has.....

insert jack (¼” TRS) for outboard processors
2 balanced outputs (¼” TRS)
4 unbalanced outputs (RCA)
S/PDIF digital I/O with w/ 2-channel PCM
S/PDIF out also supports pass-through of AC-3/DTS surround-encoded content
1 x 1 MIDI I/O with activity LEDs
headphone output (¼” TRS) with level control
headphone A/B source switch for DJ-style cueing
input/playback mix control for hardware direct monitoring
mono switch for input/playback direct monitoring
master output level control
near zero-latency hardware direct monitoring
low-latency ASIO software monitoring
USB connection to computer
powered via USB or optional AC power adapter
Kensington lock port
Mac and PC compatible; class compliant with Mac OS X 10.3.9 and higher
* 16-bit/48kHz 2 x 4 operation is class-compliant.
instrument and mic ins

Drum_Track wrote:Thanks guys. I think I will go digital. Can you guys tell me the most economical sound card to get that has the SPDIF in?

I highly recommend the Echo MIA (which is now the Echo MIA MIDI).
I've been using this soundcard since 2001 and it was $200 at the time. Now it's around $100.
Echo still supports the MIA and MIA MIDI with updated drivers for Vista and Mac OS.
The sound quality and the build quality are excellent.

http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/PCI/MiaMIDI/index.php

When I was recording a beat onto the computer today i had line noise and hiss, then i realized i had the wrong quality cable plugged in, for my keyboards i use a cheap Hosa cable, and for recording I use Mogami which are super high quality, i switched the cable and everything was kosher, just thought i'd mention that to ya, the quality of the cable you use makes a huge difference in your recordings.

Drum_Track wrote:Hi, I have been running my tracks out 1 by 1 from my MPC 2000 Classic to my PC into cubase using the Stereo/Mono out on my MPC. Doing this puts a very small amount of line noise into my track. I am looking to get my track transfers as crisp and clean as possible with no sound quality loss. I want to know if I should look to get the 8-out board and use the SPDIF to digi out the tracks. Will that guarantee no noise?

Hi,

Please have in mind this whenever you transfer stuff.

Make sure you have a good SIGNAL to NOISE ratio. That means that when you transfer your sounds one by one you have to set each sounds volume to its maximum value.
For example if you have the HiHats low when you listen to the track on the 2k DO NOT transfer it at the same volume. Max it out and then transfer it. THEN in your cubase set it to the desired level.

Think of this: the noise is where its at every time ok? like -70, -80 or -90 (not sure where). If you transfer a sound and its set to -40, when you bring it up in cubase you will bring up the noise floor too. If a sound is to be mixed at -40 level, then track it in cubase with that sound at -1 and then by setting it to -40 again inside cubase, the noise will practically disappear.

Its a good idea thinking to transfer digital (SPDIF) but again youll have to set the volume at max levels so you wont lose the 16bit depth. (Unless you want to) ...

I personally aint afraid of hiss and noise

i run my mpc2000 through an tube TL Audio Ivory 5051 to EQit, Compress and then record it in my cubase.

I prefer shaping the sound of my snares and kicks and hihats and other stuff on my tube.
I try to use the cubase eq plugins as less as possible.

When I get hiss due to agressive EQ and compression I just trim the tails of the tracks so it wont be noticable before the samples start playing.

On some cases I transfer my final mixes on 1/4" or even better 1/2" analog tape for more punch.

You should know that before digital, all commerical recording had hiss in them.
You cannot tell on vinyl records cos of the surface noise between tracks but if you buy or own CDs that were released before 1995 (i think), you can hear silence between tracks and when the next tracks comes in, if its just bass at the start you can hear tape hiss on it!!

Dont worry!!!

Drum_Track wrote:Hi, I have been running my tracks out 1 by 1 from my MPC 2000 Classic to my PC into cubase using the Stereo/Mono out on my MPC. Doing this puts a very small amount of line noise into my track. I am looking to get my track transfers as crisp and clean as possible with no sound quality loss. I want to know if I should look to get the 8-out board and use the SPDIF to digi out the tracks. Will that guarantee no noise?

Hi,

Please have in mind this whenever you transfer stuff.

Make sure you have a good SIGNAL to NOISE ratio. That means that when you transfer your sounds one by one you have to set each sounds volume to its maximum value.
For example if you have the HiHats low when you listen to the track on the 2k DO NOT transfer it at the same volume. Max it out and then transfer it. THEN in your cubase set it to the desired level.

Think of this: the noise is where its at every time ok? like -70, -80 or -90 (not sure where). If you transfer a sound and its set to -40, when you bring it up in cubase you will bring up the noise floor too. If a sound is to be mixed at -40 level, then track it in cubase with that sound at -1 and then by setting it to -40 again inside cubase, the noise will practically disappear.

Its a good idea thinking to transfer digital (SPDIF) but again youll have to set the volume at max levels so you wont lose the 16bit depth. (Unless you want to) ...

I personally aint afraid of hiss and noise

i run my mpc2000 through a tube TL Audio Ivory 5051 to EQit, Compress and then record it in my cubase.

I prefer shaping the sound of my snares and kicks and hihats and other stuff on my tube.
I try to use the cubase eq plugins as less as possible.

When I get hiss due to agressive EQ and compression I just trim the tails of the tracks so it wont be noticable before the samples start playing.

On some cases I transfer my final mixes on 1/4" or even better 1/2" analog tape for more punch.

You should know that before digital, all commerical recording had hiss in them.
You cannot tell on vinyl records cos of the surface noise between tracks but if you buy or own CDs that were released before 1995 (i think), you can hear silence between tracks and when the next tracks comes in, if its just bass at the start you can hear tape hiss on it!!

Dont worry!!!

sorry for the 2nd post.