Hi there. I hope this subject isn't totally done to death - I mostly lurk in the Electronic Music sub because...

I make electronic music!

I like to work with hardware. I had a multichannel OTB mix setup at one point, and now I do not. I would like to go back to what I had before, but better.

Pertinent gear:
Good mixer forthcoming
Dangerous Convert-AD+ and Dangerous D-Box+
Mac mini 2018 running Logic and Big Sur

Chip scarcity, pandemic effects, crazy used market, inflation, Apple OS changes, there’s a lot of “stuff” making what should have been a fairly easy decision a bit harder. Not to mention the longer trends away from standalone units and discrete AD and DA boxes to interfaces. So this feels really up in the air to me.

So what do I want to do?
I want 24 channels of DA so I can mix OTB again
I want use AES or SPDIF instead of USB on my Dangerous boxes
I want to connect all of this to the computer with as little fuss and latency as possible
I want things to sound as excellent as I can afford
24/96

I’ll be tracking one or two channels at a time into the Convert-AD+, likely via the active DIs of a stereo mic preamp TBD.

I’m trying to stay close to $3,000. I’m generally open to buying used, last-generation high end tools.

In trying to narrow everything down, I’m really struck with a couple of questions. Should I worry about using AES or is SPDIF alright (all converters will be in the same rack right above one another)? I know clocks are important, but how important will clock distribution be within the context of my setup? I’ve read good things about the Convert-AD+ clock connected to other converters, but I’m not sure how important WC is in the context of multichannel DAs clocked to master AD compared to other situations. On the one hand, there is only one way to know, experimentation within the context of my setup, on the other, some interfaces don’t have WC in or out/thru…

Other than that, it all feels rather open. TB3? Dante? USB? MADI? All-in-one or an RME or Focusrite or Apogee card in a Thunderbolt 3 PCIe enclosure? Or a MOTU 112D?

Drivers are important but I won’t be using the (software) mixer or changing the routing at all once it’s all set up. If I record vocals, I’ll monitor off the (hardware) mixer. All that being said, I’d like to be able to upgrade the OS every so often, so an active and responsive approach on the part of the manufacturer is crucial.

I doubt there is a way to avoid getting a bunch of AD channels I won’t use.

Sonics are super-relative to everyone. I am generally really happy with the Dangerous boxes, though my synths always seem to sound just a bit better before conversion, but then again, I think this is just the case with all transfers to all storage mediums. I will say that I am making better decisions at the very beginning of the programming process based on being able to hear what I am doing compared to my old “cheap and cheerful” setup of a pair of FW Apogee Ensembles and a Soundtracs Topaz (monitoring with Topaz monitoring section). I’m definitely headed in the right direction! I’m not worried about color; transparency is fine and I can’t afford Burl or JCF anyways, but “sterility”, “edgy”, “plastic” do bother me. Of course, as stated above, it’s all relative.

Again, budget is 3k, and if that seems low, I dunno, I don’t think it would be that hard to get an Apogee Symphony mk1 with the right cards and an OWC PCIe/TB3 enclosure with a Symphony 64 card on my budget. Sound would be great, I’m sure; my only concern would be longevity in relation to current and future macOS updates. I could also get my hands on older Focusrite RedNet units, though I’d probably be pushing my budget a bit, especially if I couldn’t find a good deal on any of the boxes that have AES I/O and/or clock distribution, if such things are necessary. I also wonder if Dante might be overkill for a modest home setup like mine and am concerned that this solution could potentially eat a lot of rack space (RedNet 1 + 2 + 3 = 6 and 6ru).

I will appreciate any ideas and answers you have.

Thanks so much!