posted 08 September 2011 09:29            

My criteria are that I want to have something that's small (preferably not rack mounted), cheap, with MIDI I/O (not essential but would be very useful), and it needs to hook up to the Apogee Ensemble using ADAT lightpipe connections. The Ensemble is SMUX (96Khz) compatible so I would ideally like to have the option of using Kyma at 96Khz sometimes, even though it would only be 4 channels?? I think a few years ago when I last checked this was NOT possible with the Konnekt 48, but I assume this must be implemented by now?

As far as I can tell the only interfaces which tick ALL those boxes from the list of supported interfaces, are the smaller TC electronic ones, i.e. Konnekt 24d and Konnekt Live? Or are there any other options which I've missed?

I could keep the Digital Konnekt X32 which I currently have, and use the ADATs on that. However the interface is really overkill for me now (I was using the AES/EBU before then it was worth it), it does not have MIDI and although only 1U it is still rackmount and I really want something smaller if I can get away with it without losing too much quality... Also clearly I will save some money if I can downgrade, which seems to make a lot of sense as the cheaper interfaces do have all the features I want (which the X32 doesn't).

My main issue is this, if I decide to use the Konnekt 24D (ADAT) for example am I going to notice a significant drop in quality compared to using the Konnekt X32?? I know they're both digital connections but doesn't mean the quality will be the same necessarily, taking into account jitter etc.?? (sorry my technical knowledge is a bit limited here...).

One thing to consider is that the X32 has wordclock input, which the Konnekt 24D does not. However, although I intended to use the wordclock on the Konnekt X32 at some point, I never actually got around to doing it that way but found the audio from Kyma sounded absolutely pristine anyway, and I never had any problems with Kyma going out of sync. So I think the Konnekt 24D should just be able to clock from the ADAT connection coming from the Ensemble? Particularly if I feed the Ensemble with an external high quality wordclock perhaps?? (Black Lion Audio Micro Clock or something similar, or perhaps not even necessary as the Ensemble should be very stable?).

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated, as I need to do all this quickly. Unfortunately I won't have the chance to A/B the new interface with the Konnekt X32, so just looking for advice/opinions. Also, if anybody has a suitable interface for me, but wants to upgrade to a Digital Konnekt X32 then please get in touch and perhaps we could do a part-exchange? (I'm based near London, UK, so probably somebody in the UK for quickness/convenience, or could even swap in person if close by). Thanks in advance.

posted 08 September 2011 11:06            

However I've just noticed it's discontinued!! I swear this has happened to me like 4 or 5 times, I find a product which seems to be perfect after researching everything else that's available and then it's not long available!! Just Murphy's law I guess! Arrgghh, I hope I manage to get hold of one quick or no Kyma for a while, as I will have to sell the Konnekt X32 soon...

One other question which I'm not sure about, I just noticed both the Apogee Ensemble and the Konnekt 24D have SPDIF as well, so presumably I could also hook these up giving me an extra 2 channels at 96khz?? (in addition to the 4 channels I'll already get from the ADATs at 96khz, which I understand from reading up a bit more WILL in fact work because there seem to be a few other people doing just that). This would be really really awesome as it'll allow me to work with Kyma as an external effects system in full 5.1 at 96Khz alongside my Apogee Ensemble (as a hardware insert in Pro Tools 9). Should I be ok using the SPDIF and the ADAT together like this, in 6 channels??

posted 14 September 2011 18:22            

quote:

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Originally posted by lightwave:
Thank you Martin for posting your findings. It helped me out as well.

- Justin

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