MOTU 624 vs. Lavry AD10 – A/D converter comparison

I plan to make some short LP samples for this website, so I did a quick comparison of the two A/D converters I have at hand at the moment.

MOTU 624

• USB3 audio interface
• ESS Sabre32 converters
• line inputs IN 1 and IN 2 on the back panel used for the test

Lavry AD10

• a dedicated stereo A/D converter
• the converter chip used is not published
• used in the “Clear” mode; connected through the MOTU 624 (optical digital TOSLINK connection) to the computer in this test

Samples

In both cases the source was the same LP played on my Thorens TD 320. The samples have no digital processing except a volume change of about 2 dB to match RMS levels as closely as possible.

• MOTU 624 sample
• Lavry AD10 sample

My impression

I have no scientific method to tell which of the converters is more accurate. As a listener, I subjectively prefer the AD10, which renders a little more bass. At the same time I feel the MOTU may represent transients more precisely. The differences are subtle to me.