ADC?

There is "gspaudio.co.uk >> Products >> DACs & ADCs" but no A/D converters yet and I was curious if there are any coming... Let me share some of my research on A/D converters. I ended up looking at the following models:

1. Mytek stereo96 $800 (up to 96KHz; 16-24bit)
2. Mytek stereo192 $1200 (up to 192KHz; 24bit only)
3. Benchmark ADC1 USB $1800 (USB up to 96KHz; digital output up to 192)
4. P.S. Audio NuWave Phono Converter $1900 (+phonostage; up to 384KHz :)

The first two (by Mytek) have S/PDIF and Toslink output only, and it turned out very difficult to send the digital output to a computer! Most, if not all, recent motherboard do not have digital inputs; external soundcards with digital inputs such as Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD USB are severely brain-dead windows-only (not even mac!) [well, some part of it works on linux, but not the digital input]; even current mac powerbooks dropped their support for Toslink input (mac mini models still seem to sport a digital input, though). Known ways out:
A. Someone suggested a great option to use a digital recorder (TASCAM DR-100) to record onto a CF card. $200.
B. The USB Phono Plus from ART allegedly sends TOSLINK >> USB without proprietary drivers, but according to its manual this is limited to 16/48KHz.
C. The BEST option must be to use the UX1 Sabre USB DAC S/PDIF to USB 2.0 converter from HiFimeDIY.
This seems to be the only piece of the kind; it DOES work without any proprietary drivers (I tried it under Linux), sending up to 24/96KHz from Toslink to USB.
The good thing about Mytek is that it is 110/220V mains switchable.

Benchmark ADC1 and NuWave Phono converters both have USB output, usable without drivers; there is some interesting information about these two models at www.audiomisc.co.uk/HFN/ADC/HighQualityADCs.html
There, NuWave's A/D converter loses in comparison to Benchmark, and also its phono stage has been harshly criticized at analogplanet.com
so probably NuWave Phono is not worth the premium (well yes I simply do not like its looks:).

Returning to the subject, are A/D converters going to make it to the product list? Besides the quality, the features which I would enjoy are
1. USB output without need for extra drivers;
2. up to 24/192KHz;
3. 110/220 mains...

UPDATE: When I finished writing what would be my first post, I made another search... and found Graham Slee's remark, I think I once promised myself that I would only do three digital products: two are done and the ADC was number three, but by the time I find time to do it, it will be completely out of date.
So I got my answer... but I will post anyways in case someone is on a market for an ADC, and also hopefully I'd learn more about A/D conversion :)

Edited by bakastra - 16 Dec 2014 at 9:07am

bakastra wrote: UPDATE: When I finished writing what would be my first post, I made another search... and found Graham Slee's remark, I think I once promised myself that I would only do three digital products: two are done and the ADC was number three, but by the time I find time to do it, it will be completely out of date. So I got my answer... but I will post anyways in case someone is on a market for an ADC, and hopefully to learn about better ADC models :)

We have a rule about seeming to promote other product brands.
It is OK to mention other equipment that we use or have used.

This forum is provided by Graham Slee himself to help all members of the forum in their quest for the ultimate audio listening experience.
We all can share our experiences freely here.

I am not criticizing, only hoping to give you a "heads up" as your last sentence is on the border of...

Here to help,
Bruce

@bakastra,

like you I have spent some time in trying to find a decent ADC for vinyl digitisation.

I have also looked at some of the units you mention.

I did like the look and reputation of the Mytek but it seemed to require addition of their DAC to be able to provide either USB or Firewire connection/transfer to a computer.  Not a cheap option.

I have tended to like firewire connected devices, they often will run on Windows, Mac & Linux and have appropriate drivers for so doing.

As a resolution and hardware upgrade from my previous 24/96 soundcards, I settled on an M-audio Profire 610.  Not overly expensive and from my experience so far, quite an acceptable level of performance.

I run my Revelation phono stage into this and connect one pair of line outs to my preamp.

The S/PDIF connects to my DAC.

This allows me to preview the recorded signal through my main system whilst recording should I so choose.  Either from the line-out as a signal pass through, or via the DAC to immediately guage the conversion effects.

This device works under Windows, Mac OSX and will, I think, work with Ubuntu Studio 12 LTS.

There is no comparable GSP product at this stage so I do not feel this discussion out of order.

Naturally our host may wish to differ.

Edited by tg - 16 Dec 2014 at 8:55am

I would also like to see GSP release an ADC, for faithful recording/preservation of analogue audio.