Anyone know what chips the Presonus Central Station uses?

[Category 5]

I had heard that the converters in this box weren't very good but after hearing them I am WAY impressed. the converters sound utterly beautiful to me.

They are much better than those of my Multiface, which I never minded at all until now. in fact, i think they are among the best I have heard.

So what chips is Presonus using? I heard a rumor that they were the same chips used in the Benchmard DA, using Burr Brown op-amps. Can anyone clarify?

This is moe a curiosity thing than anything, but I'd like to know what chips the Benchmark uses too. If theyre the same, I assume the Benchmark is still better because of the low-jitter clock. How else does the circuitry compare? I am wondering if getting the Central Station is enough, or if there will be an even more significant improvement using the Benchmark too?

I will be using the CS regardless of whether I get the Benchmark. I am running a Hafler P1500 into new Dynaudio BM6's and (or) Audix 1A's.

Shane

 

[gyraf]

Cat,

For a deeper understanding of clock and jitter, I recommend reading this thread over at psw. It punctures a lot of myths..!

http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/t/2133/0

Jakob E.

 

[Guest]

Check your PM - a good idea in there for a analogue version of the presonus

 

[Rossi]

The DA is an AKM4394. There's also Alesis/Wavefront AD and DSP chips, but those are for the metering, I suppose.

 

[Category 5]

Well, it makes sense that the CS is using one of AKM's best DA's. The thing really does sound fantastic to me.

There was a lot of bashing going on about the DA built into the CS, and when i first heard the converter compared to the Multiface my first impression was "What's wrong with my ears that it sounds so fantastic"?

I think it boild down to audio equipment elitism on the part of those who are doing the criticising though. To some, a Porsche just insn't fast enough for the Sunday drive...only a street legal F1 car will do.

thanks for the links and replys. It has been a rewarding night of reading!

Shane

 

[Rossi]

I found the Central Station to sound fairly analytic. You hear stuff that you didn't hear before that clearly. On the other hand it doesn't sound "nice." Which may be why some people don't like it.

 

[zmix]

I thought that the CS sounded shrill. I Bought the benchmark DAC-1. No regrets. This brings me to a very important point about DIY. The benchmark DAC-1 is notable in it's sound and jitter immunity, and it uses stock off-the-shelf components. The designer stated that the key to the exceptional performance is in the layout.

There is a commercial manufacturer who makes their living on LA-2A clones, the sound of these clones was always a bit more aggressive than the original, and the reason, as it turns out, was that the board layout caused the control signal to bleed into the audio....

To sum up: Components are maybe 10% of the sound of a product, schematic is 60% and layout is 30%.....

 

[Category 5]

[quote author="Rossi"]I found the Central Station to sound fairly analytic. You hear stuff that you didn't hear before that clearly. On the other hand it doesn't sound "nice." Which may be why some people don't like it.[/quote]

Eric at JRR told me that Presonus has gone through two new revisions since he first recieved the product, so maybe that has something to do with it too. The only "for sure" change he knew they made dealt with the volume knob. The original part wasn't linear across channels at lower gains. I am glad to report that has been fixed.

I wonder if some of the other improvements dealt with the DAC chain.

I too can hear things in music that I never heard before. I can hear rustling clothing...footsteps...singers counting under their breath...and on what used to sound like a smooth fadeout now I can sometimes hear the tracks ending before the actual audio fades to infinity. I also upgraded my amp at athe same time, changing out the Alesis for a nice Hafler trans Nova, but all in all I am hearing way more than I used too.

But I think the converters sound "nice" too. I am getting lost in my CD collection again. I can't even imagine the Benchmark if it's that much better. I feel like I've been under a rock...kind of like when i dumped my Mackies for my high end pres. What an eye opener!

Shane

 

[thestudio]

Is there any other units out than the Big Knob (Mackie), Central Station, CraneSong???????

Looking for unit similiar or would like to build a unit and info??? Don't digital I/O just analog :thumb:

 

[Guest]

There is a cheap one in the half width Samson range .C3 or somthing...

 

[Preben Friis]

[quote author="thestudio"]Is there any other units out than the Big Knob (Mackie), Central Station, CraneSong?
[/quote]


http://www.spl-usa.com/mtc/mtc_E.html

and

http://www.spl-usa.com/smc/smc_E.html

/Preben Friis