RME Fireface or Apogee Ensemble?

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 5:17 pm

Now I'm really in a pickle.....I'm selling my FW1884 and what to get either the RME Fireface or the Apogee Ensemble.

I use Cubase SX2 and DP4.

My main concerns are:

Which preamps do you think are better?

Which has better converters?

Which will provide the best overall performance?

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:22 pm

I'm not familiar with the Apogee Ensemble, but I'm willing to hazard a guess that the converters will be better than the RME. Just a guess, and I'm not a professional.

We use the Fireface 800 at the studio I work at, and it does a good job. we haven't had any issues with it. Of course, we're using Nuendo 3 for recording, the old Mackie d8b for talkback and other various routing (yes, the whole thing basically just for a talkback) and we run API 312's, Neve 1272's, Manley VoxBox, Drawmer 1960, and an Aguilar DB 680 bass pre-amp into the line-in's, so we aren't really concerned with how the pre-amps on it sound by themselves. The only thing we really use them on are the 12" tom on drums and the bottom snare mic. Sounds fine to me.

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2006 4:51 am

hi recording art,

it's difficult to say, the ensemble looks promising, but is just to new, i am not even shure if it ships already!? defenitely not in europe yet.

the converters might be a touch better then in the fireface, about the pre amps no idea, the only thing i know for shure is that the RME fireface is a very, very good soundcard, exellent performance, reliability and sound...
the drivers and mixing software are also very, very good.

from what i have heard on the logic pro forum... some of the guys have had a sneak at it (i mean the ensemble) at the NAMM, and said that they could not make any real judgement of how *excellent* the converters are due to lack of professionel circumstances, like monitoring, etc.
but that a main point of the design of the ensemble is to work *hand in hand* with logic...

so i am not shure if that makes sense as an cubase (on a mac???) and DP user... maybee you are better of choosing any other high end converter like a rosetta 200, also RME or something, but hey the RME fireface is really the freakin' bomb for the money!!!

just my2cents
cheers
axel

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