I haven't had a lot of time to A/B back and forth between my Rosetta 800 and my modded 1814, but my first impressions are that the analog DA on the 1814, even unclocked from the Rosetta, is a huge improvement!

I am not going to say yet that it sounds better or worse, but I am hearing the mix break apart or rip up more on the 1814, meaning I think I am hearing more detail on the 1814 than I did on the Rosetta!!! (meaning a janked up mix was distorting when I first ran it thru the 1814, exposing a bad gain structure the Rosetta was letting me get away with) I just need to see now if it has the depth / clarity that I have become accustomed to with the Apogee.

My first impressions of the AD stage are good too. I just plugged directly into the mic pres on the front of the box and it sounds so much better than it did before.

Basically I thought the 1814 was kind of a POS before. I was using it for scratch ideas with a laptop, but for serious recording and playback it had no place in my setup, it just sounded awful and it was dull. Now it's totally useful and I think it will hold it's own against my Rosetta! I was running the Rosetta thru the ADAT on my RME Multiface because the Multiface buried the 1814, now I'm going to move the RME out in favor of the 1814. I'm sure it can replace the Multiface, though I doubt I would ever ditch the Apogee.

-Olivia Neutron-Bomb
-www.olivianeutronbomb.com