HRT's new "LineStreamer +" ADC For Digitizing Vinyl

Gang-Twanger

Resident Wharfedaliophool
I'm excited about this one. I've already been rather-vocal about my wonderful experience with their Music Streamer II DAC, but the LineStreamer + sounds very-interesting. It's apparently-designed to be a "soundcard" for convert your vinyl and other analog music to digital. If the performance is anything like the MSII, then this will be a killer product for vinyl-rippers. I haven't read any reviews yet, but HRT's other products are all very-highly-rated.

The EMU 1212m has been one of the "soundcard"/ADC's of choice in the vinyl-ripping community, and at around $200, it's a solid value, but if HRT has put enough thought into this LineStreamer +, then it just may blow the EMU 1212m right out of the water in terms of sound-quality (and for $349, it SHOULD be better). Now, the LineStreamer +, like HRT's other products, is only rated for sampling frequencies of 32khz on up to 96khz (A lot of rippers record at 32-bit/192khz), but I'm willing to bet that this is one great-sounding little ADC. Kevin Halverson designed the other HRT products the way he did for a specific reason, and I have to think that the same is true with the LineStreamer + (I had initially wondered why he only made the MSII dac compatible for up to 24-bit/96khz, but after hearing the thing, suddenly I was perfectly-content with 24/96... Besides, I don't think my computer handles 32-bit anyway... However, I can play 32-bit/192khz files just fine, though I'm sure it gets downsampled to 24/96).

Anyway, I'll curious to learn more about the LineStreamer +...

http://www.nhthifi.com/HRT-LineStreamer_

Vinyl-ripping is a funny thing. With a good ADC and a good turntable and phono preamp, you can create some incredible-sounding needledrops using clean vinyl, and I mean incredible-sounding... in many cases WAY-better than any CD/DVD/SACD versions. I know because I've heard plenty of them, and if this LineStreamer + can do for needledroppers what the MSII did for my digital playback, then the LineStreamer + is gonna' be a force to reckoned with for the vinyl-rip crowd...

*EDIT* - Judging by the "+" in the product-name, I'm assuming this is meant to be on par with HRT's Music Streamer II + rather than the lower-priced, base-model MSII.
 
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Yeah, I'm thinking it would be perfect for my Dual 1019 and my Akai reel-to-reel. I've been enjoying my digital stuff so-much that I've been neglecting my analog gear. The MSII leans towards the warm and smooth side of things, so if the LineStreamer is designed with the same sonic signature in mind, then it would fit right in with my setup. I've wanted to do the needledrop thing, but I didn't want to half-ass it. But I could have an awful lot of fun with this thing. It would be a nice project.

I'm looking right now for some reviews...

Kevin Halverson must have a lot of faith in 24/96. Normally I would be questioning why it doesn't go up to 32/192 like many similarly-priced ADC's, but knowing how good the MSII sounds and reading the specs, I'm really-curious to hear some pro-reviews. I know quite a few vinyl-rippers who record at 32/192 and then dither down to 24/96, but I'm willing to bet that Kevin H. put a lot of thought into this. He knows digital as well as anybody, so I'm sure there's a good reason why he left the ceiling at 24/96 (Perhaps that was the highest he could go without compromising on parts-quality/build-quality... Don't know).
 
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... then it just may blow the EMU 1212m right out of the water in terms of sound-quality...
You will be dissapointed. The E-MU cards that have the "m" letter have the best ADC available at this point. Period. It's the same as in the mastering grade studio equipment, the AKM AK5394. It has THD+N= -110dB.

At this time, you cannot get better ADC that the E-MU 1212m, 1616m, 1820m.
Of course, you can get equal quality at higher price point...

As for recording at higher than 24bit/96kHz - all the present day ADC and DAC will perform worse at that samplerate. You gain ultrasonic range (past 48kHz) but you loose clarity (increased distortion). Is not worth it.
As for 32 bit recordings... are just marketing. The existing 32 bit DAC's are not better (most of them are even worse) than the top of the line 24 bit DAC's. The actual limit of today technology is around 21-22 bit of real resolution (22 bit is equal to an impossible THD+N= -132.5dB).
The rest, past 22 bit, is just noise and distortion....
 
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You will be dissapointed. The E-MU cards that have the "m" letter have the best ADC available at this point. Period. It's the same as in the mastering grade studio equipment, the AKM AK5394. It has THD+N= -110dB.

At this time, you cannot get better ADC that the E-MU 1212m, 1616m, 1820m.
Of course, you can get equal quality at higher price point...

As for recording at higher than 24bit/96kHz - all the present day ADC and DAC will perform worse at that samplerate. You gain ultrasonic range (past 48kHz) but you loose clarity (increased distortion). Is not worth it.
As for 32 bit recordings... are just marketing. The existing 32 bit DAC's are not better (most of them are even worse) than the top of the line 24 bit DAC's. The actual limit of today technology is around 21-22 bit of real resolution (22 bit is equal to an impossible THD+N= -132.5dB).
The rest, past 22 bit, is just noise and distortion....

Oh, I realize that the 1212m is great (Basically the same thing that's in the big Pro Tools rig, right?). But considering the price of the E-MU, and also considering the price of the Linestreamer and the already outstanding price/performance of the other HRT gear like the low-priced MSII, I'm simply saying that this new HRT may surprise a lot of people. I've got tons of needledrops that were done with a 1212m (as well as some that were done with the 0404), and I agree, the 1212m is serious business for $200. Overall, I'm guessing the build-quality would be a little better with the LineStreamer + than the more-mass-produced E-MU (HRT is a lower-production company with boutique-style gear, while Creative/E-MU is a much-larger company, or at least that's what I thought), so I guess it depends on the design. If it's anything like their other stuff, then it's gotta' be good.

One other thing to consider is that any particular piece of audio gear (even dac's and adc's) has it's own sonic signature (It's certainly true with dac's, so why not with adc's?). I'll have to wait and see what the reviews say.
 
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E-MU is the "boutique" of Creative :)
As for E-MU 0404 is still good, but not at same level, different ADC...
From what I see on your link I think the ADC part won't be able to hold a candle to any E-MU. Their posted THD+N 0.003% is equal to -90dB...
To compare, E-MU "m" are at -110dB, normal ones (0404 included) are at -105dB...

OT: Pricewise, this days you can get the E-MU "m" cheaper on eBay. 1212, 1616 and 1820 are all still supported with Windows OS (XP, 7, 64bit...)
 
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