I will be the first to admit that I am not 100% certain of what I’m talking about and this is in no way a scientific study -- I’m just trying to figure this out and put my 2 cents into ether of GS.

I think that PEP is a combination of the following:

1) An EQ based (probably/maybe) on the average of various legendary reproduction heads.
2) A transients smasher
3) Some sort of time-intermodulation that algorithmically speeds up chunks of audio samples by fractions of samples, as can be seen from this 808 sample (which is a real 808 that I am currently sampling).

I think that each channel of PEP is speeding up the audio by various degrees. Independent of each other. In this sample, this .12 second 808 sample is being sped up by degrees of the following amounts of samples at every peak and valley: 46, 78, 76, 64 and 74.

So, when Josh says that tape imparts a “fortuitous time based phenomena” -- I believe that he is referencing the fact that tape heads are not digital. They are not 100% sample precise. That’s why they have a ”feel.” Thus, the fault of digital is that it is too precise. It’s not just saturation (Phoenix... etc) or Transient Smashing. It’s also the time thing.

Phoenix II is an incredible DSP plugin that sounds amazing and can definitely color/tape compress a signal to give it a more tape-compressed sound. I think it sounds dope and put it on every channel of every mix. PEP appears to be a different beast. I don’t believe that it is intended, necessary, to affect the way it sounds (although it does) as much as the way it feels. While the EQ curve is evident and can be seen on a graph, along with the initial transient smash…. the ebb (and flow?) of the wavefile is - I believe - where the magic of PEP lies.

I also find it wild that the AD8 affects the original signal simply by it going through its transformers, without PEP. If I had to guess, part of the magic is in the actual design of the unit.

The original 808 is this sample was sampled by me direct via Redeye into DW Fearn.

I hope that at least a few people will appreciate what I spent the last few hours of my life doing.

Thanks for this!
I have often mused why my AD-8s sound the way they do...
(Favorite tracking A to D ever)

Do you Use Pep? Cause they sound great also without PEP

I do sometimes but it sounds great without and the latency of the dsp is logistically tough for most tracking.

I dont use PEP as it seems to "Separate" sonics in a very strange way for the way I mix into it. I USE his AD8 every single day though.

Don't get me wrong, I come from the Doug Sax camp and josh is a friend of mine.. I love his converters and think they are about as top as you can imagine.

I just notice strange separation in the size and thickness of my drums. and seemed to loose impact on things.

I don't use PEP

Great thread! I'm considering an AD8. I come from a Radar setup, and though I love my new Metric Halo LIO-8 3D on the D>A side, I do find the A>D a tad too clinical. Wondering if the JCF will get me back into IZ Radar land in terms of the feel, smoothness and overall musicality of the capture.

I like radar but the JCF is my favorite of all time for tracking.
I own Prism , Metic Halo 3D and have used Burl and all the heavy players in conversion.

How would you describe the difference on the A to D side between the Metric Halo and the JCF? Is the JCF converter tech essentially the same as MH but simply adding the tone of transformers and a passive signal path? And being a digital process, is PEP really a large step above DSP solutions in the box for the same type of tape effect?

I also am currently enjoying an Overstayer MAS which seems to do the transient rounding routine quite beautifully. Wondering whether I will significantly benefit from a move in the jcf direction as I'm hitting various nice transformers on the way in already (API preamps, etc).

The JCF stuff sounds more analogue for lack of a better word. No digital artifice at all and stacks so naturally in a mix. The HAlo is broad and clear and not quite as forgiving but still great..
My preference for tracking is the AD8.....

Agreed! Leading to the another important thing to mention, is how different it sounds when you hit the tracks with any type of processing, EQ/compression etc. It's like a whole different planet. For instance, a Generic Stock EQ plug in turns into something way more usable and far more effortless.

I would suggest thinking about PEP as a new tool in the arsenal. FWIW, it is most similar to a tape machine's reproduce head and its analog equalization path.

If you have ever noticed the difference in sound between the Sync head and the Repro head, it is similar to that. PEP Is a more "pristine", or perhaps enhanced result. So it's not so much the "effect" of tape.

Which most people think is compression or even order harmonics. it's not similar to that. Really, PEP is a custom EQ process that takes you into a different "feel", from the glorious signal path of the AD8. It is attempting to "Finish" the tracks right there on the AD.

Fascinating. Thanks Doc Mixwell for the explanation. I love the philosophy Josh is pursuing with JCF gear; 'tape but better' is as noble a goal as I can conceive for audio in the digital realm.

it's absurdly musical. Even with just the normal mode. The instant I patch my stuff into it, I get "sounds like a record". Its a super special sound, IMO.

And in comparison with your HAPI, how would you describe the differences?

The JCF AD8 has an uncanny mojo to it. It has weight and punch, thickness. It has a subtle halo of magic around the source. It's wide and warm. I fuggin love the way it sounds. Its more of a creamy sound, that has a calmness and purity to it. The HAPI sounds cleaner, less weight or harmonics. Its super fast sounding, but the top end is sweet and soft. It is more "electronic" sounding, for lack of a better descriptor. But its still very natural, to my ears anyway.

I both and the JCF just sounds more vital more detailed less "cloudy"
oh and the JCD word clock improves the Hapi's preformance in my opinion

Order is placed ! Can’t wait to use the JCF also in a recording set up

HAPI is going to be ordered, too .

They make a fabulous team

Cheers on the AD8 score. What you will find is that it is fishing with dynamite and you'll feel bad for other studios that don't use JCF. It's not really fair to compare HDIO/Apogee/Lynx to it, because it's a completely different thing. The low end that the AD8 captures is so massive, the mids and highs are so clear and smooth. The only time it sounds bad is when you overload the transformer, which I recently did with trumpet and easily corrected with ST's Devil Loc deluxe (dark knob). Like it never happened. I also find that it's tough to get a lot of edge out of the kick because the low end is so smooth and round. It's not a bad problem to have, because you can still get it. It just makes everything sound so good and then mixing is almost funny as you think to yourself, "Hm. I'm not really hearing anything that sounds bad, so I don't have to fix anything, so how about I do this and that"... and then the mix is finished. Done and done.

The low end is so deep that I actually damaged one of my focal twins... and this in no way is disappointing. I'm pretty sure it shook the cabinet apart (it's fine at lower levels and none of the electronics/speakers were damaged). AD8 captures so much low end that I find I have to roll a lot more off than I used to. I shouldn't be monitoring that loud anyways, so now I no longer can. Thanks, Mr. Florian.

And then there is the clock. Clocking off an AD8 instantly makes HDIO DA sound better. It made me a believer in what a clock can really do for a system.

Congrats again! ...and enjoy! Mixing is about to be a lot more easy and fun!

thanks

You will not be disappointed ! I have 16 channels of this conversion and it travels with me.....

It actually makes the Hapi sound better

Actually.... should I cancel my order on the HAPI and go for the JCF DA-T ? Opinions on those two regarding DA-conversion?

A big plus for me with the merging are the 8 built in Pres ... but Udi Koomran has let me know that NPNG+JCF sounds better then HAPIs Pres.

I knew I couldn’t suppress those thoughts

As far as I know the ADA8 from merging are going to be updated and merging is working on it.

And big thanks to Udi for letting me hear the differences between JCF/HAPI AD with a loop! If merging update will be what I hope it is going to be than I might prefer the HAPI For its 8ch AD and DA + 8 Pres over the JCF DA-T

Dear GLM
you need to consider Hapi is more then the converters - in order to go with JCF for a/d and d/a you will need an audio interface with sufficient AES connectivity
so it all depends on your specific needs and budget
recording and then mixing in the box
mixing with analog summing
mastering
each of these requires a different hardware/ conversion set up
and note the Hapi's preamps on the ad8 can only be used with their converter

very good point!

Well, HAPI for on location recording (classical music) is only HAPI.
Mixing Setup should be: antelope eclipse 384 as an interface and monitor controller, JCF for AD and JCF for DA or HAPI for DA. is the latter an option? How are you using your setup?

For a recording Session in the studio I would reconnect stuff to use JCF AD if I like.

Mhh, seems like the Antelope eclipse has the opportunity to use the 8 ch JCF AD8 but not enough AES outputs for the DA8-T.

So what Unit would fit my needs if I’d like to use JCF AD8 and DA8-T?

Or I could use the Eclipse solely as monitoring and HAPI as my main Converter + JCF via AES, right?

JCF is a class above Merging IMO unless you are doing orchestral DSD recordings. MOTU 112D is nice as it has 24 channels of AES I/O plus MADI and ADAT should you need it. Be aware the AES is limited to 96khz for some dumb reason. Metric Halo LIO-8 or ULN-8 3D are nice if you need extra AD/DA and the extra USB host while using the ethernet for your main host computer is cool too. You can add another 8 channels of AES via edge card to them as well. RME has a pcie AES interface. Focusrite has a rednet AES interface.

thanks for helping me out with the AES connection options. coming from UA Apollos, this whole connectivity is a bit confusing at first times.