Crane Song Solaris Quantum D/A Converter Review (2020)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ม.ค. 2020
- More Mastering Gear Reviewed here... • TK Audio TK-lizer 2 Re...
The Set Up Before The Crane Song Solaris 0:40
Why The Need For The Crane Song Solaris 0:50
Findings 1:22
A/B Testing Previous Set Up 2:42
Jon and Brandon Weil of Fuzzywallz Mastering review the Crane Song Solaris Quantum D/A Converter. Watch Jon explain exactly why he went for the Solaris and how he has grown to love this Digital / Audio converter and it is now a fixture in the Fuzzywallz stable of mastering gear. All the music you hear in this video was written, recorded, mixed and mastered by Fuzzywallz Mastering, much of it using the Crane Song reviewed right here. Stay tuned for more!
Visit us at - fuzzywallz.com/
Get a FREE Mix Review - fuzzywallz.com/free-mix-review/
Follow us on Instagram - / fuzzywallzmastering
Like us on Facebook - / fuzzywallzrecordings
Follow us on Twitter - / fuzzywallz
Music Credits:
“Second Thing”, "Sweet Paradise" and “First Thing” all written, recorded, mixed and mastered by Jon and Brandon Weil.
ABOUT FUZZYWALLZ MASTERING
The Weil brothers grew up making, recording and listening to music together in the original room with fuzzy walls. Mastering is now the focus at their Seattle-based studio; lovingly dubbed, “The Echo Lake Suite”. A combination of optimized audio equipment and personalized approach fuels their ever-growing client base. With the majority of final mixes coming in online, Fuzzywallz Mastering can serve local artists and those from around the world.
#cranesong #cranesongsolarisreview #quantumDA #masteringgear #fuzzywallz - เพลง
This is a great video and very helpful! I've been looking into DAC's for a while and am wanting to get one. However, I wouldn't know how to set one up really. Would I lose sound quality and clarity if I used the Solaris to go into a monitor controller, rather than going straight to my monitors?
Thanks for watching and don't forget to subscribe! You would possibly lose a little sound quality by adding gear to the chain (ex. a monitor controller, extra cabling) but that really depends on the quality and state of that added gear. We use the Solaris as directly as possible - the headphone output feeds our headphones and our monitors are directly connected to the main DAC outputs on the back. Hope this answers your question!
@@FuzzywallzMastering thank you that does help!
Wow, this was a pretty good video!
Thanks! Don't forget to subscribe, we've got more in the making!
Mastering on Focal Solo6be is not ideal, no matter what DAC is used.. You can’t mix & master what you don’t hear! A monitor upgrade ( room for most as well ) would be a more wise quality investment, then a dedicated ADC + DAC for monitoring & an analog mastering chain. Most important ( beside experience ) to have an acoustically treated, measured, & corrected room w/ proper monitoring ( 20 Hz - 20 kHz )
My friend just got one of these in his studio with a pair of Adam S3H's. The stereo separation is the first thing that gets you. Oh man.. We noticed after a little burn in, everything just opened up and I've never heard music like that before. Simply amazing. The only DAC I haven't heard that I'd like to compare would be the Burl B2 Dac with the new Op Amps.
Thanks for the comment! We too have yet to compare the Solaris to the Burl. We DO have a Universal Audio 2192, the DAC on it is surprisingly good and was supposedly designed by the same person.
you ever get a chance to compare the 2?
thank you for this.
You're very welcome!
Bravo very good...
Thanks for watching! Don’t forget to subscribe for more new videos if you haven’t yet!
Nice video. ,,I have the Hilo. And like it want to try the Solaris. .
Hey, thanks for watching! We sure you'd love the Solaris.
Thank you for the review! Did you have any chance to compare Solaris and Avocet IIa? Is there any difference or do they sound the same? Or maybe you have some colleagues who made such tests before and know their opinion about it? Thanks!
Hey, thanks for watching!
We haven’t been able to directly compare, and no one we know has either... but from what we understand (if you have the quantum converters) it’ll be basically the same thing. Obviously the Avocet has more features, but we’re guessing it’s the same signal path for the DACs themselves. We still love our Solaris and if you need the monitor controller capability of the Avocet, then go for that and don’t look back…. Don't forget to subscribe if you haven't yet!
Im looking for an ad da or maybe just a da but for exemple the Solaris can either be a dac output going to hardware and then no monitoring possible or the contrary ( I have also an Apollo 16 mk2). I know there’s the hilo than can do everything but I was looking for something recent...
Thanks watching! Obviously we do love the Solaris and it is our best DA for monitoring. We also happen to have an Apollo 16 and it sounds really good when used for mixing duties, but the converters do not even compare to the Crane Song converters. Finally, we do not own the Hilo, but we know someone who does and they seem to love it. Best of luck!
Does anyone know if the Solaris can be used as an aggregate output interface?..and if so would the internal “stellar” clocking be compromised?..I get the feeling the only way the clocking is untouched is when using it as a primary audio source. I ask because I was almost ready to pull the trigger and buy one and then here comes UA with the Apollo X16...in detailed interviews they claim dual crystal clocking with accuracy down to 6000 ps where as the Solaris boasts just 45 ps..would this difference be audible?..and how usable is 133 dB dynamic range as opposed to an average range in the 120’s?.. yes obviously these are 2 different purposed units but..$2k for 2 channels of pristine d/a or apply that toward same level conversion with plenty of awesome a/d and endless mix capabilities?🤓
To answer your questions...
- I imagine it could be used as an aggregate device, as it does offer USB; but we haven’t tried it that way over here.
- From what I understand, the Solaris was designed in a way that the clock is "error-correcting”, so it would take a special situation to compromise it.
- Regarding the Apollo X16 and possible audible difference...impossible to answer this, as there’s too many other factors, and even then it could come down to personal sound preference. Some people swear they prefer X-brand, high-dollar patch cables and then pick inexpensive converters in blind tests! ;)
- We do have (2) slightly older Apollos and they work great for stem mixing and recording, but depend on the Solaris as our critical monitoring DAC- so it really depends on what you need to get done now. Apples to Oranges in every way.
Awesome video..thanks for the details. I have been using a UAD Apollo Twin as my interface. I recently got a Shelford Channel and definitely considering the Solaris. I'm pretty new to such workflow. Can you please let me know if I'll need any other device for the headphones monitoring? Also, will the Solaris go well with the Shelford? Many thanks in advance!
Sorry I meant I'll go with the HEDD Quantum instead (AD/DA)
A- To the best of our knowledge, there are no digital outputs on the Apollo Twin, so using it with the Solaris for monitoring duties wouldn’t work. The Twin does have an optical INPUT, but no way to get a digital signal out to the Solaris. Therefore I wouldn’t recommend the Solaris with your current interface.
A- We have yet to personally use the Shelford channel, but do have tons of experience with Neve, AMS and RND products. The Shelford series is extremely impressive and if you can afford it, it should complement pretty much any setup. Hopefully this helps, but feel free to ask more questions, if needed; and don’t forget to subscribe (if you haven’t already). Cheers!
@@FuzzywallzMastering Thank you so much. I already got the Shelford. Since I'll be using The Shelford as my primary preamp (and EQ/Compression), will I need an interface now? Or will I need a good AD/DA converter instead? If so, would you have any recommendation? Have subscribed and thank you so much for your reply.
@@soundofhope-composerriddhi8227 Congrats on the Shelford purchase. We’re actually a bit jealous! I’m pretty sure you mentioned you already have and use a UA Twin (which is an interface/ADDA) so just plug the Shelford into the Twin and start enjoying. Of course, one could always upgrade the Twin, but the Twin has pretty good AD quality already; so we recommend using this setup until you feel the need to upgrade/expand. “If it isn’t broken, no need to fix it”.
How do you hook your interface into and run it through your DAC?
Thanks for watching! You simply run the digital (AES or SPIDF) outputs from your interface into the Solaris’s corresponding digital inputs.
It also has USB functionality, but we haven't tried that yet... should work fine though!
You guys should definitely jump on the usb option! I watched a video on a guy saying it was much better when he had Solaris converting the signal to analog first.
Hi can u pls help me decide btw prism Lyra 2 and Solaris? With Lyra it's complete audio interface but if i buy Solaris wht other stuff I need to add to make it interface? I m new in this field and buying for my home studio for myself. Not for any business. Thanks
Thanks for watching! If you're needing an interface AND high quality DAC, then the Prism Lyra would be the logical first step. You could add the Solaris as a DAC upgrade later. If you wanted to start with the Solaris and “build” from there, you would still need an interface (something with DAW connectivity and additional ADC/DAC channels). I haven’t personally owned or used the Prism Lyra, but I HAVE heard Prism converters myself and they are really good. I have also heard from many trusted engineer friends that the Lyra is an amazing value... Hope that helps
@@FuzzywallzMastering thanks. Appriciate your reply
Do you only use Solaris as monitoring converter? I'm thinking about getting one myself but I'm quite confused what's the best way to use it. Can you actually run your mixes through it apart from using it as a monitoring DA?
Thanks for watching! Yes, we currently are only using the Solaris as a monitoring converter, but it could certainly be used as a DAC for sending mixes to outboard gear. In fact, the Solaris has a headphone output that can be set at a different volume than the stereo line outs, so that opens up some possibilities too…However, if you’re asking whether the Solaris has any internal DSP or a way to “loop through it”, then the answer is no. We have the Crane Song HEDD for our analog loop and occasional DSP processing. Hope that helps! ... and don't forget to subscribe if you haven't yet!
@@FuzzywallzMastering Thank you for your answer. So correct me if I'm wrong. You cannot send your whole mix through Solaris to get that sound. So basically you can't print your mixes through it? Also how's does sending your stems to some other analogue gear through Solaris help? Does it require some different cable routing than standard monitoring duties? Thank you. Ps. Subscribed.
@@LucasMichalski So you can run a mix “through” the Solaris, using it strictly as an DAC, but cannot do much more than that, and it certainly doesn’t add any particular sound to the mix by itself. Hopefully that clarifies. As far as using the Solaris to output stems to analog gear, one could simply use XLR cables out of the Solaris, but once again, the Solaris isn’t going to impart a “sound” of its own. Thanks so much for subscribing!
@@FuzzywallzMastering Thank you once again. I'm thinking about buying Solaris and trying to get as much info as possible to make sure that this investment is worth it. Do you find big improvement in your mixing while using Solaris? If yes, how does it translate into your mixing and your final masters? Thank you once again for your time.
@@LucasMichalski The short of it is that this a brutally honest DAC. It doesn’t distort or pretty-up anything. We keep it as our main montoring converter because of that and personally feel like it was well worth the investment.
Would you guys use a Solaris in a HiFi rig or is it meant for more of a mastering piece? The HEDD also has me interested because of the saturation controls.
Thanks for watching! I see no reason why it couldn’t be used as hifi DAC. It will be very revealing and accurate of all source material. Please don't forget to subscribe if you haven't yet!
I use the Solaris in a Music Setup with Active Unity Audio Speakers and man, i love this combo. Had Mytek & SOtM Dacs before that also priced 2k and higher but the Solaris is my Favorite so far
Had both a Solaris and a Convert-2 for a year running straight into a pair of Geithain RL 906 speakers for recreational listening.. The Convert sounded dramatically more detailed and accurate on everything I listened to. Also the Solaris was lacking energy in the low mids big time too. Overall acoustic instruments and human voices sounded thin and lacking in individual character and nuance.
@@pibroch thats good to know. I need to hear the convert-2 vs the burl b2 bomber dac..
@@nine27 I'd love to do that comparison too. If you do audition the convert-2 be aware that it performs slightly better with the output trim bypassed (output knob turned fully clockwise): if you are then going straight in to active speakers and using youtube or some other streaming service you may have to set the volume level on these web players to almost zero to avoid a deafening sonic blast!
Did it take more than 1 year to get a Brandnew Solaris?
I don't remember waiting longer than a couple weeks, but I was lucky and bought mine new two years ago. Although, more recently when I looked into buying a new Crane Song " HEDD" (with Quantum DA), I was quoted it could take months or years, so this doesn't surprise me.
Fuzzywallz Mastering I see! Thank you for your answer!
Is buying this a good idea for mixing duties??
Thanks for watching! In short yes, if you are intending on using this for mixing is will work great. Don't forget to subscribe!
can you print a mix through this ?
Yes, absolutely! Thanks for watching!
How did you hook it up with your Apollo?
Thanks for watching! In our case, we simply plugged the AES/EBU output of our Apollo 16b into the AES/EBU input of the Solaris. The Solaris gets its clock from the Apollo and feeds our monitors via the line outs. Headphones plug into the headphone jack. Don't forget to subscribe if you haven't yet!
@@FuzzywallzMastering Oh great, thanks for clarifying. So I have a newer Apollo x8p, and it has no AES/EBU, just 4-8 ch's of ADAT depending on the sample rate, and 2 ch's of Spdiff using the same Toslink ports. Do you think it would be the same type of setup for me but just using the Adat or SPDIFF instead of AES? Also what confuses me about the SPDIFF is on some devices(just like the solars, the SPDIFF is on an RCA looking jack, but on the Apollo I guess for SPDIFF it just used the ADAT(toslink) ports so I have no idea how that would work even though both pieces have SPDIFF but different connections for the same protocol. Maybe ADAT would be my only option?
@@jamescassidy4045 We would recommend using the ADAT connection out of the Apollo and into the Crane Song. That’s the only easy way I see it working. Then clock the Solaris to the Apollo and enjoy!
@@FuzzywallzMastering Okay I see. Makes sense, thank you so much! Also if one wants to use the clock in the Solaris, then the only way is to use the USB straight from the Solaris into the computer? But that would mean you could only use it for the DAC for playback and couldn't use/interface it with your interface or? Any idea about that?
@@jamescassidy4045 pretty sure that your assumptions are all correct, but having never used the Solaris via USB I can't say for sure. Perhaps someone else has done this and can answer this in the comments?
Wonderful Video I have the same d/a love it so much. I also made a video about it.
Thanks for watching and always nice to hear the Solaris working out for you too! We'll check out your video as well.
Just watched it! Great work sir. I also subscribed to your channel.
Stop using LSD due to the listening)))
Well yeah, there is that, haha. Thanks for watching!
@@FuzzywallzMastering :)
anybody have any feedback on the solaris vs the convert-2 vs the burl b2 bomber?
Thanks for watching! We have never used the Burl DAC units, but we have used the Burl ADC units and they impart a good amount of color. Lovely, lovely converters for tracking but wouldn't see ourselves using the ADC for mastering. Pretty sure the DAC units are less colored, but I doubt they are as clean as the Solaris. As with anything audio-related- your mileage may vary! Don't forget to subscribe if you haven't yet!
@@FuzzywallzMastering thanks for the info. what about the dangerous convert-2? have you used those before? cause I planned on gettong a solaris but they’re on backorder til may 2023’ so its gona be burl or dangerous at this point
@@nine27 We do not have hands on experience with the dangerous convert-2, mainly because we've been so happy with the solaris. Like you, we'd be curious to hear what engineers have to say about it too!
@@FuzzywallzMastering I hear ya. the solaris is now on backorder til may 2023’ so thats out although the feeback Im hearing is dangerous and burl over crane song but Id rather not make that assumption with hearing it firsthand. thanks again for your reply. peace