本帖最后由 wvwvwv 于 2013-9-4 19:17 编辑
HD high noonConverter shoot-out at Metropolis
In November's review of the new Avid HD Omni interface for Pro Tools HD systems, we pointed out that although Avid's new generation of A-D and D-A converters clearly sound excellent, making an informed choice against rivals from Apogee or Prism Sound on the basis of sound quality alone would require detailed listening tests in a controlled environment — tests which, unfortunately, we were unable to arrange in the review timeframe. Fortunately, it turns out that UK Avid resellersMediaPros had arranged exactly the sort of blind tests we would have liked to conduct ourselves. What's more, not only had they arranged the loan of the test units and the studio — Studio A at Metropolis — but they had also brought along some of the UK's top engineers and producers to do the listening. The golden ears in question belonged to producer Stephen Street, mix engineer Cenzo Townshend, Abbey Road engineer Sam Okell and engineer Donal Hodgson, who has recorded much of Sting's recent output. Four units were included in the tests: the new Avid HD IO(which has the same A-D and D-A converters as the Omni, and thus should in theory sound identical to it); an originalDigidesign 192 IO from the previous generation of HD interfaces; a Prism Sound ADA-8XR; and the new Apogee Symphony I/O, with beta Pro Tools HD drivers. The outputs from each were brought back through external monitor returns on the studio's SSL 9000 desk, and level-matched to within 0.1dB. Tests were conducted in two phases. First, in order to test both A-D and D-A conversion, the analogue output from an HHB CD player was multed to the analogue inputs on each converter (again calibrated to within 0.1dB). After that, a couple of Pro Tools Sessions were loaded for playback through the D-A stages of each converter. The tests were conducted 'double blind', with no-one in the studio knowing which of the four groups on the desk represented which converter. One thing that all the participants agreed on was that the differences between the converters were very small — much less significant than any of them expected, and much less obvious than would have been the case with previous generations of converters. Nevertheless, after much switching back and forth between them, there was broad agreement on the results. All those present favoured, by a small margin, converters B or D over converters A and C. Converters B and D were universally praised for their solid and rich bottom end and for their stereo imaging; B was thought to have the best vocal reproduction of the group, whilst D perhaps had the edge in other respects. As Stephen Street put it, it seemed to "open everything up". Coming third, just, was Converter A, which seemed marginally brighter than the others; Donal Hodgson said that this initially made it his favourite, but that after repeated listening he came to find it slightly artificially smooth-sounding by comparison with the others. In last place, though again by a small margin, was converter C, which was deemed simply a solid performer. When the patch cables were unscrambled to reveal the results, it turned out that the golden ears had indeed picked out the two newest converters as being the best-sounding. Converter B was revealed to be the Avid HD IO, while the other favourite on the day, converter D, was the Apogee Symphony I/O. Most of those present were surprised to see the Prism ADA-8XR, aka converter A, beaten into third place, but it was perhaps less of a shock that the 192 I/O came last. Once again, though, it should be emphasised that the most notable feature of the entire test was the lack of difference between all four. Without repeated, careful listening within the sweet spot and repeated switching, the differences were all but inaudible. An online video of the event will be available on the MediaProsweb site soon. Our thanks go to MediaPros and Metropolis for organising and hosting this fascinating test, and to Apogee, Avid and Prism Sound for supplying the equipment. — Sam Inglis
谷歌翻译，凑合看吧
高清中午转换器拍摄在大都会
在11月的回顾了新的Avid高清全接口的专业工具高清系统中，我们指出了Avid的新一代AD和DA转换，虽然清楚听起来优良，音质的基础上对对手从远或Prism Sound的一个明智的选择就需要在受控环境 - 测试，不幸的是，我们无法安排在审查期限内详细的听音测试。 幸运的是，事实证明，英国的Avid经销商MediaPros已安排完全盲目测试，我们本来希望进行自己。 更重要的是，不仅他们的测试单位安排贷款和工作室-工作室A的大都市 -但他们也带来了一些英国最顶尖的工程师和制作人做听。 金耳朵属于混合的工程师Cenzo汤森 ，制片人斯蒂芬街 ，Abbey Road的工程师山姆Okell和工程师多纳尔卫 ，谁记录了许多刺的最新输出。 四个单位在测试中包括：新的Avid高清IO（具有相同的AD和DA转换为全方位，因而应在理论上声音相同）;原Digidesign的192 IO从上一代的高清接口;一个Prism Sound的ADA-8XR和新远交响乐团I / O，与β的Pro Tools HD的驱动程序。 每个输出被带回通过工作室的SSL 9000台外接显示器的回报，和电平匹配在0.1dB之内。 试验分两个阶段进行。 首先，为了进行测试，AD和DA转换，从HHB CD播放机的模拟输出被multed每个转换器的模拟输入（再次校准，以在0.1dB以内）。 后，一对夫妇的Pro Tools会话加载播放，通过DA转换器的每个阶段。 测试进行“双盲”，没有人知道桌子上的四组代表变换器工作室。 有一件事，所有的参与者同意转换器之间的差异是非常小的 - 比他们预期的少得多重要，比本来的情况下与前几代转换不太明显。 然而，在很多在他们之间来回切换，有广泛的协议的结果。所有在场者的青睐，由一个小幅度，转换B或D的三相转换器转换器A和C B和D的普遍好评，其固体和丰富的底端，其立体成像，B被认为拥有最好的声音再现ð组，而在其他方面也许有边缘。 正如斯蒂芬街道把它，它似乎“打开一切”。 位列第三，公正，转换器一个，这似乎稍微比别人亮，多纳尔霍奇森说，这最初是他最喜欢的，但经过反复听他来找稍微人为顺利冠冕堂皇通过与他人比较。 在最后的地方，虽然再次小幅度的，是转换器C，这被视为只是一个坚实的表演。 当补丁电缆被解读揭示的结果，它变成了，金耳朵确实挑出了两个最新的转换作为最冠冕堂皇。 ，转换B被发现是的Avid高清IO，而其他喜欢上了天，转换器D，远交响乐团I / O 大多数在场的人都惊讶地看到ADA-8XR棱镜，又名转换器，殴打到第三位，但它或许少了一个冲击，192 I / O排在最后。 再次，应当强调的是，在整个测试的最显着的特点是缺乏之间的差异所有四个。 如果没有反复，仔细聆听的甜蜜点内，反复开关，其差异有但听不见的。 在线视频事件将很快可上MediaPros网站。 我们要感谢MediaPros和大都市，举办和托管这个迷人的测试，到Apogee，Avid和Prism Sound的供电设备。 - 山姆英格利斯 | 
发表于 2013-9-4 19:13:45
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