From the pictures in this thread I’d expect some multi-channel converters. I wouldn’t bother much since nowadays chipsets are pretty much comparable (within realworld fidelity requirements) and the major differences are introduced from the analog part (noisefloor, THD, near-clipping behavior etc.).
Yeah, from the block diagram, the conversion looks to be happening immediately after the gain stage on the mic inputs. Just curious to know if this is using their TC DICE chipset that’s in the ZED R16 and if 96kHz is ever going to possible.
I wouldn’t correlate the two. The R16 is an analogue mixer with integrated sound card, whereas the Qu is an entirely digital product. Apples and oranges. DSP memory and horsepower would need to be doubled in the Qu, for example.
The DICE isn’t a codec/converter, its the protocol engine to interface between digital audio and host via firewire/USB/AVB. Not sure which codecs are used inside the ZED. I guess you can be pretty sure Qu and GLD will never run at 96kHz for the reasons already stated by Merveka and additionally to maintain compatibility with stageboxes and the ME1 system.