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Tascam DA-3000 vs Benchmark ADC1 USB

In a previous thread the subject about using a Tascam DA-3000 to archive vinyl was discussed. I had posted that my initial tests with the Tascam were far from satisfying. I speculated that I thought the issue was the analog circuitry in the front end of the Tascam.

Well I just received a Benchmark ADC1 USB and have run a few test recordings to compare with the Tascam.

I set the ADC1 up to feed digital AES/EBU 24bit/96KHz into the AES/EBU digital input on the Tascam. Clock on the Tascam was set to DI (digital input from the ADC1). Clock rate and bit depth were set to match the ADC1.

So I was effectively using the Benchmark for the basic analog to digital conversion, and the Tascam to convert the digital data stream into a WAV file saved to a 4 G SD card in the Tascam. This way I avoided any USB and computer related variables in building the WAV file of the recording.

The analog inputs to the Benchmark ADC1 were straight out (DC out) of the Spectral DMC-10 phono preamp. I used custom built single ended RCA to XLR cables. Surprisingly, I found hum levels were about 6 dB better that the same inputs into the Tascam directly.

I recorded some quick cuts from LPs I am pretty familiar with (Steely Dan Gaucho Babylon Sisters, John Klemmer's Touch, and Blind Faith's Had to Cry Today that I used initially). The recording levels were very easy to set as the Benchmark ADC1 has really nice analog front panel controls for gain. Setting up the Tascam to "Monitor" confirmed the digital levels and both units agreed with each other to within a dB or so.

What about the results?

I was very happy with the recordings made with the Benchmark. When A/B'd directly with the LP, the recorded 24/96K WAV was not identical, but pretty damn close. Much better than recordings made with the Tascam alone. The original LP was a tad bit smoother and very slightly more detailed, but if you were not A/B ing you might not notice the difference. What was important to me was that the recording maintained the space and 3d sound field of the LP, and not crush it into a plane like many CD recordings.

All in all not the cheapest solution, but still cheaper than the Ayre 9A product. Plus using the Tascam gives you a stand alone solution with no need to connect USB to a computer, but it's there if you want it.

I would say Benchmark was pretty true to what they said their product would do.
dhl93449
dhl93449 OP
438 posts
 
DTC:

If VS can remove tics or pops "individually" without processing the entire track, that would be amazing. I have some early first pressings that have the one depressing loud tick or pop that ruins the whole track. Being able to remove that without affecting everything else would be a plus.

But how do you locate these? Do you listen while watching a waveform playback to identify their location?
dtc's avatar
dtc
1,024 posts
 
Dhl93449 - You just listen to the track and identify the track time. You can then zoom in on that point. The click will be pretty obvious in the waveform. You can select a small region and have VS do the correction or there is a manual tool which lets you adjust the width of the correction. It shows you the original and the corrected waveform and lets you listen to either one. You do each channel separately. Again, I use headphones for doing this.

For more complicated corrections there are also patch tools (e.g. FFT) that analyze the surrounding waveform and fit a corrected waveform. This is usually a last resort, but can be good. for example, if you have a scratch that runs along the grove rather than perpendicular to it.

You should try doing click repair on a whole track at the lowest sensitivity. You can look at the waveform and you see clearly the little clicks and pops which may be barely audible but have distorted the waveform and the correction smooths them out. People are always concerned about changing the music, but the flaws have already done that. I would say the same thing about hiss. If you can hear hiss on a low volume section, why not try removing the hiss? Again, you can do that on the whole album, a single track, or on an individual section.

The nice thing about VS is that the corrections are non-destructive. That is, they are stored in a separate file and only applied on output. The original file is never changed.

People also use Isotope RX 5 as a correction tool, but that is $349. For me, VS does the job for a lot less money.
dhl93449 OP
438 posts
 
DTC

Could you clarify that point about the corrections?

Are you saying that at the end of the process you have two files, the original and a corrected version?

Or is VS needed to apply the corrections during playback?
dtc's avatar
dtc
1,024 posts
 
The original files (e.g., wav files from the Tascam) are left unchanged and the output files (usually the individual tracks - I use flac) contain the corrected audio. The changes are maintained in separate files and are only applied to the output files when their are created. The VS website has documentation and screen shots of the process if you want to see the details.
jeff_ss
88 posts
 
I'm probably getting a Tascam DA-3000 to digitize my LPs.  What attracted me to it was this write up on the Decware site, where they sell the DA-3000 with an upgraded analog output stage:

“Although it can be hooked to a computer or your favorite transport or anything with a digital output... our favorite thing about it is the SD cards! This makes it possible to hear your sound files on a 100% hardware solution without being hooked up to a computer or the internet. Below is a list of the following variables this can eliminate:

    1) What type of computer you have and its effect on the sound?
    2) What operating system does it run on?
    3) How fast is the hard drive in it?
    4) How much memory is available for buffering?
    5) Which of the dozens of playback software solutions you have?
    6) Are they configured correctly?
    7) What plug-ins are installed?
    8) Do you have the proper and up to date software drivers?
    9) Are the sound adjustments on the computer configured right?
    10) What USB formats does your computer support?
    11) What kind of audiophile USB cable should you run?
    12) Is the computer running an aftermarket updated power supply?


“BONUS: YOU CAN RECORD DSD AUDIO WITH IT - If you're not into wasting money on special software and inferior hardware to record your albums or tapes, stay tuned because this machine is simply a fantastic digital recorder. It records directly to SD cards making it possible to get perfect hi-res bit perfect DSD and double DSD recordings of your analog treasures with results so true to the source you'll have trouble telling the two apart.”

The discussion in this thread re: Vinyl Studio confused me at first since as Decware states no special software is required for recording with the DA-3000.  But here we are talking about using VS to enhance the files created by the DA-3000, and the VS is not used during the recording process, correct?


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