RayDAT or AES?

[Bill Park]

I'm looking for a new interface. I need only 16 channels of 96k and a MIDI port on a PCIe card. Anything else is a bonus but not needed. My converters will work with either AES or ADAT.

So I seem to be looking at the RME AES card, the RME RayDAT, and the Lynx AES16e card.

Any reason to pick the RayDAT over the RME AES card?

[DominicPerry]

The only obvious thing is that AES/EBU supports upto 192KHz at full channel count, which you say you don't need. I guess the convenience of avoiding all the fiddling with S/Mux on ADAT is nice. I'd certainly choose AES/EBU if I hadthe choice, I much prefer the cabling arrangements to lightpipes, although lightpipes do have the advantage of automatically avoiding earth loops between the computer and the convertors. Can't find the official cable lengths for AES/EBU but it sounds like 100m is one oft-quoted figure. In the UK the RayDAT is 30% cheaper. I think the cards use the same driver, based on the same core, run the same latencies. So it probably comes down to which cables you own and/or which you prefer. And price.

Dominic

[Bill Park]

....I'd certainly choose AES/EBU if I hadthe choice,....avoiding earth loops between the computer and the convertors....it probably comes down to which cables you own and/or which you prefer. And price.

Dominic

Thanks, Dominic

That is how it appears to me as well. I have the ADAT cables, my lengths will be under six feet, the RayDAT is a little cheaper here too but no so much as to be the deciding factor, and given my setup I should be able to avoid or solve for ground loops. I'd like to use the AES connections, but I will have to make or buy cables (again, making them is not such a big deal....)

It looks to me as though I could buy the RayDAT, plug it in and start to work. If I go AES with either Lynx or RME, some additional labor is involved. The Lynx AES card is quite a bit less expensive than the RME AES, but not so much as the RayDAT.

In my head I think that setting up for AES should be 'better', and I've been curious about Lynx for a long time. On the other hand I am ADAT-ready, and I have a long successful history with RME. (sigh...)

[RBIngraham]

Other than the fact that you can run reasonably long distances with AES connections and that some would view that as a more "professional" standard than the ADAT Optical I don't see any real reason to go with the extra expense, other than the higher sample rate ability that Dominic mentioned.

Remember that is you do go with AES, that's not just any mic cable that is the "right" stuff for those run. Now I've used stock mic cable for short runs and it was just fine. But if you ever did need longer runs, you should make sure it's the cable quality that will support AES transmission. It's about not having too much capacitance in the cable since the frequencies going over the cable for AES data are much higher than typical analog audio, so you don't want to loose any high freq. data, or it can compromise the AES data.

The only other advantage I could think of is that if you needed to plug and unplug these connections a lot, then obviously a nice XLR connector will hold up a lot better than the fragile ADAT plugs, which is why I think it's viewed by some to be a more "pro quality" standard.

[DominicPerry]

I think that one of the key advantages of Lynx has been their superior on-card conversion for some of the lower channel count cards. That's obviously not relevant for external conversion in your case. Beyond that, although I've not used Lynx cards myself, my impression from reading this and other forums is that Lynx are not always quite as trouble-free as RME, and there were times when buffer settings were very poor on Lynx users' cards, although not any more.
I share your feeling of AES being perhaps a more 'pro' format, but perhaps 8 lightpipe cables has an appeal over a pile of DB25s with XLRs on the end if space or clutter is at a premium. Personally, love XLR, hate DB25, but I can't solder so when I break one I throw the whole thing away and buy another.
I guess, if the choice is this 50/50, then it probably doesn't matter.

Dominic

[Bill Park]

.... why I think it's viewed by some to be a more "pro quality" standard.

Well, yeah it is, but for me it would be just splitting hairs. And my hair is pretty thin as it is.

" not just any mic cable that is the "right" stuff for those run."

I have a pile of top quality 110 ohm mic cable here.

But the while point to this current setup... no clients. Nobody here but me and any invited musicians. A converted den, so no real space, no good acoustics, but no distances to talk about either. Just a rack of mic pres converters and other goodies right by the desk. No need to converter to various sample rates or do any of the other things that have been needed for so many years. A man and his music, so to speak.

The only silly thing at the moment is that I have decided to wait until the next generation of RME cards because fo the improvements in TotalMix before I commit. So I'm going to use an old Frontier Dakota/Montana setup which only hits 48k until something new comes out and I have time to consider the options. (Or maybe I'll offer the Dakota/Montana to some SAC users...) I've seen various problems crop up with Lynx and seem to take forever to get fixed, and now another has turned up over on the Samplitude forum with a cockup between the Lynx and Aurora converter set. So I'm pretty sure that my choice will be RME.

[Carlos Mills]

Hi Bill, I'm not sure this post will help you, but RME has been as reliable as SAWStudio is for me. :) I still work with two old DIGI 9652 in a DAW that records up to 48 tracks. These interfaces must have about 10 years, and are rock solid. But I guess this are not news for you... ;)

I just bought two HDSPe RayDats, but they are not here in Brazil with me yet. In January I will be in the US to 'rescue' them. :) And then I intend to build a 64 channel SAC-SAWStudio RIG with them.
For dealing with the 'long cable length problem' I am using RME ADI-648, which convert ADAT-Lightpipe into MADI, but maintaining an identical ADAT lighpipe output (it acts as a digital splitter and protocol converter). MADI can go up to 100 m (300 feet) using cheap coaxial cables and up to 2 km (6500 feet) using optical fibre glass. Of course you can buy it only if/when you need it.

2 cents. Cheers.

[Bill Park]

Thanks Carlos,

It looks like it will be RME, but the decision is on hold for a while anyway. Like you, I am a long time very happy RME user, but I did not want to be blind to other options.

[Carlos Mills]

Thanks Carlos,

It looks like it will be RME, but the decision is on hold for a while anyway. Like you, I am a long time very happy RME user, but I did not want to be blind to other options.

Always a good move... :)