Question

I'm looking for some general information on the differences in sample rates between the Studio 192 and Digimax DP88.  I keep reading about how well these two pair together, but am not sure what practical/functional implications there are to one being 192k and the other being 96k.  If both units are running in series, will audio content captured through mics connected directly to the Studio 192 be of a higher quality than content captured through the DP88?  I'm not familiar with how this works.  Thanks!

Answer 1

Think of Sampling Rate as the resolution of digital audio recording.  It's the frequency in which analog audio is "sampled" to digital.  More digital samples means higher resolution.

The Studio 192 is of course capable of high Sampling Rate, but the DP88 will only go as high as 96k.  This is a limitation of ADAT.

ADAT will offer 8 channels of digital audio per ADAT port at Sampling Rates of 44.1k and 48k.  This is industry standard.

Because ADAT is optical, it must use more bandwidth at higher Sampling Rates and therefore halves the channels count.

ADAT will offer 4 channels of digital audio per ADAT port at Sampling Rates of 88k and 96k.  This also industry standard.

Using two ADAT cables will allow you to have 8 channels of digital audio at 88 and 96k.  This uses a protocol called SMUX.

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The Studio 192 is the ultimate interface here and will dictate all settings.  You cannot mix Sampling Rates between devices.

The pair perfectly together.