Y-my-R wrote:If you actually like the sound of the D8B converters and the older Pro Tools converters, more power to you! That keeps expenses low, too!
There are no wrong opinions, if it comes to one's own taste for what sound good or doesn't. Just like some people like spicy food, while others don't. It just seems that your opinion and my opinion when it comes to what converters and/or devices give good clarity and a good sound stage/depth, is a bit different.
I'm not trying to convince you at all - I think it's great, if you found the gear that works well for you to find the sound you like - and that it sells well in Russia, too!
But I'm also not exactly new to all of this, and have worked with all the hardware devices that came up by name so far... and the stuff you like (e.g. 888 and D8B converters), I don't seem to like as much... but again, that's totally cool. I'm not trying to convince anyone.
I chose the D8B because I got it cheap, and because it a convenient piece of gear, that works much like a swiss army knife for me. It's good to have a round. I didn't buy it because of the converter quality, though...
FWIW, I worked with digital audio since 1994 (Atari Falcon) and have been working non-stop for a couple different audio software and hardware manufacturers since 1997 (as mentioned, including Avid)... that's how I formed my opinion over time.
Recording with a modern "budget" interface and mixing in the box, is likely to not give the sound much character or depth - that's true. That's why I usually add different pre-amps on the way in (my go-to is an Aurora Audio GTQ-2)...and most of the time go into the line-ins of my Universal Audio Apollo 8 from there. I DO like the converters in the Apollo a lot, actually, and (for example) prefer them over the converters in my PreSonus Quantum interface. They sound VERY different - both very clean, but the Apollo is a bit rounder and fuller, while the Quantum is a bit crisper.
...and as I mentioned before, I do also have a pretty strong opinion about some of the Avid/Digidesign converters from having owned a few of them. So, it's not that I don't hear the difference. I just have a different preference, and a different opinion which sound better and which sound worse.
But again... that's just me. If you like the gear you got and get good results, that's really all that counts!
As for getting more depth... the best thing for that is still to run everything through a high-end analog mixer (SSL, Neve, Trident, Harrisson, etc.). But I personally can't afford that, and the maintenance is a bit of a hassle, too. I still have an analog Mackie 8-Buss... that one's also not helping to make the sound better, IMO, so I don't use it at all.
IMO, a digital mixer (not just the D8B) doesn't add much depth,either. I don't notice much of an improvement in the soundstage/depth, when trying to mix something on the D8B vs in the box... maybe there's a difference, but it must be subtle. I DO notice a difference, if I get something mixed "professionally" via a better analog desk. The D8B just doesn't do it for me, when it comes to that.
When I have some extra cash, I still want to add an analog summing mixer to my setup, in the hopes that this will improve the soundstage in a similar way as when running everything through a "good" analog desk. But that's not a priority for me right now.
Luckily, I don't need better gear to make money. I got a good (music-related) job, but working on music and my home-studio is just a hobby for me. And for that, the results I get actually sound pretty good to me... so, again, I don't really agree that modern interfaces generally sound shallow or flat, etc. At least not the ones I've been using...
Anyway... sorry, I'm typing too much again. Great that you like the sound the 888 and D8B give you! I wish you many years of trouble-free use, and lots of great productions with them!
Anything I said above, is not meant to take away from that. I just prefer a "different" or "more modern" sound in my converters
Thank You, for Your opinion!
But, I not make money with music! And, I can not call it "hobby". My music is also popular because it is available for free! I told about peoples, hwo really can not to hear, nuances of the sound. But there are not many such people! I dont like 888 converters - it is was a reason for purchasing D8B console!
After implementation in the setup D8B, I would like to go back to 1991 when we were recording on tape. Really, sound result is more suitable for me, now. Ok. So that you have some understanding of my situation, let's do this: I will record a couple of songs and put them here for you to listen to. I am very interested in the opinion of a person who worked for AVID. I'm a musician, but I don't work with music for money. To compose music is to touch the Beautiful. For me, anyway. And more. I am sincerely glad to communicate with you. Reading your answers, I feel that this is a man who gave his life to the Beautiful. It is like serving God! My respects! I hope that we will continue to communicate with you! Thank You! 
P.S. This is the mixing with Cubase only - not the Mackie D8B, or Pro Tools! But, I dont like this sound!
The video was recorded in the Museum of Yuri Gagarin , the first cosmonaut of the planet. Koktebel is a mountain in the Crimea, over which a glider designed by Sergei Korolev - the man who launched Yuri Gagarin into space - made its first flight!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qm7CHR60m8
