AES vs S/PDIF vs USB vs XLR

D

DFauvre

Inspired
Ok...I went to Axe Fest. Great event. I talked to Cliff, the founder of Fractal. In brief, he said that AES is the pro version of S/PDIF and that is what he recommends using coming out of the Axe II for recording. Further, that he uses an RME Fireface UFX which has AES AND USB inputs. Further, he said that the S/PDIF should be indistinguishable tonally from the XLR outs...that said, going into an Apollo Quad...which has not AES...the S/PDIF def sounds inferior to my ears to the XLR outs.

So...anyone out there using the AES for recording? How is it going?
 
DFauvre said:
going into an Apollo Quad...which has not AES...the S/PDIF def sounds inferior to my ears to the XLR outs.
Click to expand...

Can you post the same recording through each? On other interfaces spdif sounds slightly better than XLR but it sounds like there might be an issue with the Apollo Quad or your use of it. I'm asking b/c I'm interested in the Quad but I would use spdif.
 
I own a RME UFX as well and AES quality is NOT the same as analog or USB. Which is a pity since it's the most stable option.

I created an aggregated interface between Axe Fx and the UFX, then opened three different tracks with three different inputs, one for Analog, one for AES one for USB, then recorded.
The AES one has way less punchy transients than USB, lacks tightness and definitely has less low end. Analog sounds almost as good as USB but USB is the most transparent and "complete".
 
Speculum Speculorum said:
I call shenanigans. I want to hear how inferior Spdif sounds to analog connections - were you sure to be running at 48k?
Click to expand...

Of course. As soon as I have a free moment I'll repeat the procedure and post soundclips for you to compare.
PS: I'm using top quality Mogami jack cables and Mogami AES cables for both connections, so it's not a cable issue.
 
If you're comparing recordings of each, make sure your levels are the same.
Other than an extremely slight difference in coming out D/A into A/D into your preamp, I find it hard to believe the tonal diffence would be much different. This is setting aside analog issues such a noise levels and proper gain staging into your preamp. Well, unless your preamp is not transparent and coloring your tone to much... Sometimes this color is chosen from preamps.
 
FWIW, I compared recording the AES Output (into Fireface UFX), USB and the analog outputs and could not hear a difference between the digital outs, maybe a slight difference to the analog outs but I decided to stick with AES for convienience. The signal is identical to USB, but I would have to change the interface everytime I choose to record guitar (no aggregate device on PC). For recording the dry signal I use a splitter before the Axe.
 
AES/EBU sounds better than S/PDIF and USB? Smells like bullshit to me; they're all digital.

My Comparison:

AES/EBU vs S/PDIF ... the former is better for longer cable lengths

AES/EBU vs USB ... the former won't use additional Axe-Fx CPU
 
FrancescoFiligoi said:
I own a RME UFX as well and AES quality is NOT the same as analog or USB. Which is a pity since it's the most stable option.

I created an aggregated interface between Axe Fx and the UFX
Click to expand...

The aggregate device may be your issue. I have yet to hear of anyone successfully creating an aggregate device with the AxeFX where it works for more than a few minutes or works on a "real" interface. For example, long ago, I had it working with an Apple display audio device just for kicks b/c I was having trouble with my FF400. It worked so at the time I thought there was an issue with the FF400 but it turns out that it's an issue with every device that people have tried (at least that I'm aware of).

So you should try AES by itself with the AxeFXII and report back if possible. Others have reported that the UFX AES quality is equal to or better than analog. Their shouldn't be a difference between AES and USB unless there's a clock issue.
 
grape said:
The aggregate device may be your issue. I have yet to hear of anyone successfully creating an aggregate device with the AxeFX where it works for more than a few minutes or works on a "real" interface. For example, long ago, I had it working with an Apple display audio device just for kicks b/c I was having trouble with my FF400. It worked so at the time I thought there was an issue with the FF400 but it turns out that it's an issue with every device that people have tried (at least that I'm aware of).

So you should try AES by itself with the AxeFXII and report back if possible. Others have reported that the UFX AES quality is equal to or better than analog. Their shouldn't be a difference between AES and USB unless there's a clock issue.
Click to expand...

It honestly worked just fine with me: I set everything at 48k, use both Axe and UFX via USB (Firewire and USB together could bring issues) and then change the Word Clock input to what doesn't give issues, honestly don't remember what I set it to.
I could record them without being aggregate devices but it would have to be different takes (or different computers haha) so the comparison won't be fair. Although I can honestly clearly hear that when I play thru AES something is lacking in the response.
To the other guy that mentioned comparing them at the same level, yes I put them at the same exact level, AES and USB had exactly the same level already and I had to level the Analog one a bit to match them.

Will find a minute next days to play a random riff for you guys to compare. I really want AES to be equally good because I can reamp with it just fine and hear the mix going on at the same time, beautiful.
 
FrancescoFiligoi said:
It honestly worked just fine with me: I set everything at 48k, use both Axe and UFX via USB (Firewire and USB together could bring issues)
Click to expand...

Oh, this may be a combination that hasn't been exercised. The RME users including myself have been using Firewire, not USB as far as I know. If that works, that's great. How long have you had it connected that way and working?

In my previous post I may have been confused. When you checked the AES signal from Axe to UFX, were you using an aggregate device?
 
I almost exclusively use the AES into my Metric Halo ULN-8 interface or whatever interface a studio has and wants me to use - this would always be my prefered recording out.
I have also used the XLR out a couple of times when I had to lay down some tracks on an existing project that was not in 48k, and the XLR out to a quality interface sounds great as well.
I haven't tried the SPDIF or USB out.
 
Digital in this case only means that the transfered signal should represent only ones and zeroes. But electrical signals need to be transported somehow, which means a bad or extremely long cable can tamper with that signal, but not in the same way as it would with an analog signal.
So yes, they are both digital and all of them should sound exactly the same way, providing that the conditions are ideal (=identical bitstream gets received).
 
Wondering if there has been any breakthroughs in testing AES vs S/PDIF vs USB from the participants of this thread? I've been following it as I'm in the market for a new interface to go between my AFII and ProTools. Not sure if I should just settle on USB if the consenus is that's the best way to go, or a 3rd party interface to take advantage of AES quality.
 
I haven't tried AES/EBU. USB and S/PDIF sound the same to me with USB having the advantage of greater simplicity for recording a DI track. Digital sounds slightly better than analog, but not much so I usually record from a digital output. I still find Axe-FX sketchy via USB so I track in small pieces. Within DP I can have the Axe-FX and MOTU 828mk3 active simultaneously without creating an aggregate device although I've tried it both ways with comparable results.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom