BLACK LION MICRO CLOCK MKII REVIEW
Dont buy it for its looks (like anybody ever looked on the inside of a record cover to see what a digital device looked like) but rather pay attention if youre the owner of a Digidesign LE hardware unit or some of the other low to mid priced interface / converters on the market. The Micro Clock really does a lot to snap those 1s and 0s in line for a much smoother and more coherent, dare I say 3D sound. Features 3 BNC outputs for multiple sync of your studios digital devices.
Against many on board clocks, the Micro Clock MKII is like taking a camera off of auto focus and spending some time really dialing it in manually (not that you have to dial the unit in). Better yet, another way to say it is if youre looking out of the window and then you open the window for a more pure vision. I dont believe in voodoo but voodoo this box isnt: its a serious clock that on lower cost devices can change the way you hear into your mix. I hear a slight smoothing of the sound, the guys at BLA attribute it to the use of transformers in the output section.
Conclusion: The Micro Clock MKII is so good, you may forego a converter upgrade and just enjoy your own converters that much more! The imaging is amazing, super bang for the buck in performance.
BLACK LION SPARROW ADC REVIEW
What happens when you take a plain black boring looking casing and fill it with clean, detailed and full depth sound with super high headroom and 3D imaging? You get a clean, detailed and full depth sound at a great price is what happens!
44.1 to 192k, the Sparrow has you covered. Great sound, these guys know digital audio at Black Lion. This utilitarian approach gives you a converter that sounds every much high end as you could ever need (recently I talked to Matt @ BLA I think they were putting together a digital rig for Mutt Lange?) but without any fancy features, looks or meters. Go for what matters, the sound. The simplicity is nice also, dial in your sample rate and just rock.
Conclusion: Another winner from the bang for the buck experts at B.L.A. in Chicago. The Sparrow will likely be a vast improvement over your sound, give it a shot and hear for yourself what you might be missing.
SSL ALPHA LINK AX / SX REVIEW
AX = ADAT version, SX = AES version.
Solid State Logic (SSL) has been building unique consoles for decades, and now that the market is changing and getting more compact (like everything is!) SSL have been rolling out products that continue to impress me not only in build quality and sound, but in price point. Considering its all still built right there in Oxford it makes it even a bit more amazing to me. When it comes to the Alpha Link range of converters and DAW interfaces I have to say, they are well deserving of the name SSL and deserve serious consideration for any studio.
First of all, these converters sound fantastic. Such a natural, detailed and extended sound which gives you all the boom on the bottom and air on the top, in a very linear fashion. I do not hear them accenting one part of the range over another, it sounds like what I hear coming off my mixer or preamps. I know some companies incorporate a sound to their converters but sorry, Id rather achieve that with other gear. The fact that you get 24 in and out in a single box is astounding, nevermind the additional 24 digital in and out onboard (AES or ADAT). All 24 analog channels will operate at 96k / 24 bit without being halved in channel count as well. The onboard metering is simple (single multi colored LEDs for each channel switchable between AD and DA) but effective enough for my uses. When you look at the pricing it is absolutely a stunning deal, so do not let the low price fool you; this is SSL quality through and through.
I have used the PCI Mixpander cards and now own the latest generation of MADI PCIe cards and use them daily here at ZenPro Audio. Very simple and straight forward stuff to operate, my Rain Recording PC and Nuendo setup enjoy a 100% stable relationship with the SSL MADIExtreme card. I have seriously never had a glitch with interfacing, and I have owned two systems on two PCs thus far. Reliability is so important, so I can testify that it is delivered here as well when it comes to a strong and stable connection.
Conclusion: The pinnacle of tape machine recording has been 24 track, I find that having 24 analog in and out available for my DAW setup is never a limitation when producing rock and pop recordings. SSL has not only hit the nail on the head with features and sound, but knocked one out of the park on pricing. As a daily user of the Alpha Link system I highly recommend SSL for any serious recordist or studio owner.