RME soundcards

[Doc]

I've been reading some older posts and it seems like RME products are very popular around here. I went to their website to look at different products and ...... got very confused, haha.

If anyone can bear with me and read my poor description of how I think each product works, possibly correct me, that would be great.

HDSP9632 is a complete PCI card with converters included. I wouldn't need anything else to record.

HDSP9652 is a PCI card that requires outboard convertes.

Carbus interface allows you to connect a souncard to a laptop, but it's only 16-bit.

PCI interface allows you to connect Digiface or Multiface to a desktop.

Digiface is an I/O box that, just like HDSP9652, requires outboard converters and either a PCI or cardbus interface.

Multiface is a complete audio interface, doesn't require outboard converters and could be compared to HDSP9632, but in order to be connected to a computer, either a PCI or cardbus interface need to be used.

FireFace 800 is also a complete interface with converters included, but it doesn't require the additional PCI or cardbus interface to be connceted to a desktop or laptop. It uses a firewire connection.

Thanks a lot guys....

[Sam C]

Doc, I use the FF 800 and you're right, it doesn't need any card as long as your computer has the firewire connection. 10 + 16 + 2 chnls analog, adat, spdif, and total mix, it is a pretty cool interface.

[Neal Starrett]

Hi Doc, I've got the HDSP9632. All you need is a good preamp and mic for recording vocals, acoustic guitars and such. I'm very happy with it.
niles

[Craig Allen]

A couple of corrections on the Multiface/Digiface/PCI Card/Cardbus combos.

The Multiface has is a 24 bit breakout box with 8 analogs I/O channels, 8 channels of ADAT I/O, and 2 SPDIF/AES channels of I/O. The Digiface is a 24 bit breakout box with 24 channels of ADAT I/O with 2 channels of SPDIF/AES I/O. The Multiface needs external converters if you want to use it with more than 8 channels, and the Digiface needs converters to be used at all as all the I/O is digital.

Both breakout boxes require either the PCI card to hook it to a PC or the Cardbus interface to hook it to a laptop. Both interfaces run at 24 bit no matter which interface they're hooked to.

I personally use a Multiface and have both the Cardbus interface for my Toshiba laptop and the PCI interface for my PC, so I can use it with either.

I'm not that familiar with the other interfaces, so I can't really comment on them.

[Bob L]

The rock solid drivers are what makes the RME cards a good choice for a solid SAWStudio experience.

I also find the ADAT light pipe interface idea an easy and good way to go... because you are not stuck with any converters built onto the card and are free to fit things into your budget... Behringer ADA-8000 units for cheap (but excellent) or all the way up to Apogee or any other high price choices if you have the budget and can hear the difference.

Bob L

[Doc]

Thanks a lot for your posts...

Buck Shamus, I thought I pretty much said the same thing as you about Digiface / Multiface having to be connected to either a PCI or Cardbus interface. Digiface also requires A/D converters.

Regarding the 16 bit thing, this is what threw me off:

"Available PCMCIA solutions at the moment are nearly always designed as 16 bit PC Card and therefore only make use of the ISA bus."

I went back to RME website and realized that both PCI and Cardbus are actually 32 bit.

Bob, I admit I have no experience with either Behringer or Apogee, but how can a $200-300 converter rival a $2000-3000 one?

[Craig Allen]

Bob, I admit I have no experience with either Behringer or Apogee, but how can a $200-300 converter rival a $2000-3000 one?Cheap labor.

[AudioAstronomer]

Cheap labor.

and lower markup, and cheaper components (but not always worse), fewer pretty colors and the biggest cost of all... the name.

[Bob L]

All I can say is visit the www.LonBronson.com (http://www.LonBronson.com) site and listen to "What Is Hip" and some of the other cuts from their new CD.

I did that entire project live into 2 laptops (35 mic splits) using the Behringers direct into the RMEs... it should give you an idea of the possible quality of these cheap converters.

The entire project was done at 44.1k and 16 bits.... this again shows what is possible. The mix was entirely virtual using only the built-in SAWStudio eq and dynamics and Reverb plug and a few other fx plugs.

Bob L