Dangerous Music has premiered the CONVERT-AD+ A to D converter at the New York AES show.
Building on their legacy of award-winning monitoring and mastering D to A converters, the CONVERT-AD+ is the culmination of the company’s technical advances over the past 15 years, as always, addressing both the sonic demands, practical needs of professional audio engineers and to put the soul back into music.
The design and implementation of this unique converter realize the highest levels of quality and embrace the company’s credo, Sacrifice Nothing.
“It has always been our plan to create a complete round-trip system for tracking, mixing and mastering,” says Bob Muller, founder of Dangerous Music. “To reach that goal I asked our design team to develop a very special A to D converter to capture a performance at the tracking level, the essence of a mix, and the final master in the spirit of all our gear – sacrifice nothing to price-point and make the best sounding and most authentic A to D we have ever heard. I also wanted to shake up the existing A/D paradigm and give AD+ a creative edge – a flexible, switchable sonic tool that sounds cool and is as relevant on a vocal track as it is on a master. This is Chris Muth’s specialty, and in my opinion he wrecked shop.”
After beta testing the new AD+, engineer Chris Godbey, Timbaland’s right-hand man since 2008 stated, “I need to do far fewer tricks in the mix to smooth out high frequencies, and the low end is fantastic. This thing is remarkable. I need to be on the list to get one of my own as soon as possible”
Premier Los Angeles mastering engineer Mike Wells gave his reaction after working with the new CONVERT-AD+, “My immediate impressions of this box? Pristine excellence. Pure musicality. Unique features that smote other A-D converters.”
Grammy nominated producer, music director, and bassist, André “Dre” Bowman, praised the new AD +, “Shout out to the Dangerous team—you guys really created something special. This thing sounds amazing- I can hear where everything is supposed to sit, and the features on it are incredible.”
The new CONVERT-AD+ offers 5 unique innovations in the world of stereo A/D:
- Dual stereo analog inputs with front panel selection.
- “Clip Guard” for removing clipping indication at your destination meters resulting in no rejections for CD Masters, Mastered for iTunes, and Spotify.
- Meter Zooming technology to see the top 10dB of dynamic activity for a fine-resolution look at the zone that matters most when mixing and mastering.
- X-FORMER insert button engages some of Chris Muth’s sonic wizardry via a pair of custom- implemented HAMMOND™ transformers.
- EMPHASIS adds a custom shelving EQ/Compressor circuit to induce 2nd order harmonic distortion to blend in a bit of mid-warmth and sparkle.
CONVERT-AD+ features
- Dual Stereo Analog inputs with front panel toggle selection.
- 44.1 to 192K sample rate selection with Lock indicator.
- Selectable Calibration for -14, -16, and -18 dBFS.
- Unique “Clip Guard” for removing clipping indication from digital prints for CD Masters, Mastered for iTunes, Spotify.
- Extensive Metering control with 10dB Zoom Mode, Peak Over Average, Peak Hold, Over indicators, and more.
- X-FORMER integrates a pair of customized HAMMOND transformers.
- EMPHASIS shelving EQ/Compressor induces 2nd order harmonic distortion with engaged transformers.
- Word Clock: Internal, External or Master settings.
- Dual Stereo AES outputs.
- ADAT, SPDIF Optical, and SPDIF coax RCA outputs.
- Word Clock In/Out.
- USB connection for Mac or Windows.
- 3-Pin IEC auto-switching AC Power, 120V (US), 240V (Europe).
The CONVERT-AD+ is set for release in November 2017, with a street price of $2,599 USD.
More information: Dangerous Music / CONVERT-AD+
