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Reply With Quotehi cucco...nice to hear you're liking the FF800, too...
Got the RME Fireface 800... and loving it so far!
In the process of trying to scale down, I'm moving to Firewire and a laptop instead of Lynx AES 16 cards and a desktop and monitor...
The conversion in the RME is surprisingly QUITE nice. I got it so that I could do the extra optical inputs from my other converters, but to be honest, unless I need more than 10 to 12 channels, I don't see the disadvantage in using the RME! It really does sound quite good!
And I LOVE the mixer software! It makes sense!!! (Lynx - I love you guys to death, but seriously, look at RME's mixer software and get yours working like this!!!) I can make just about any submix combination I want - this is perfect for in-studio recording!!! I can have 5 stereo submixes! 1 for me (digital out to my monitor controller), 1 for the vocalist ("MORE ME!"), 1 for the guitar ("WAY more me"), one for the bass ("DUH....I like me...") and 1 for the drums ("I hit things...YAY")
Or I can insert outboard processing for monitoring or recording or both!!
Oh...and it sounds really friggin nice too! Hey, even the preamps are usable! I've actually done a couple stereo tests using the Royer SF12 with the pres at max gain and I'm not hating the sound (and they're pretty quiet too!!!)
I think I may have to pick up a couple more of these! If you haven't tried one, you owe yourself the time to play with it!
Something else I find odd (and seriously - nothing against Lynx! I absolutely love Lynx!), but for 8 tracks of recording with my AES 16s, I'd need 1024 samples in my ASIO buffer. For the RME, I've needed to use at most 256 and I've even been without hiccups below that!
Just thought I'd pass on the thoughts.
J.
hi cucco...nice to hear you're liking the FF800, too...
Are you running a single 800?
If so keep it that way. I had two for a short amount of time. I had lot of trouble get both units converting in cooperation. But yes the ADC's are nice. I did a quick test before I got rid of them, so I could compare it too my new CraneSong ADC. And the FF800 did pretty well. I have to say to my ear the Cranesong Hedd was a bit clearer and had slightly better low end response. But it was close.
Oh and the PCB layout on the FF800 is great!
have fun.
I'm envious, Jeremy; I've had my eye on one of these for a while now, and am getting closer to making a decision for an important recording in December. Looks like a winner, indeed. Please keep us posted on how it's going with this. (Although it looks like you're head over hells in love with this already!) 8-)
The Multiface II is also interesting, but it doesn't have the pre's and it needs a PCI card to hook it up to a computer. (I see that RME has come out with PC Express cards now, too, although that COULD be just vaporware at the moment....) The Fireface 800 still looks like the best deal overall.
Joe Hannigan, Producer
WestonSound.com - Philadelphia, PA & Greenville, DE
Acoustic Music Forum co-moderator.
I have had one since '06 (I think) and also have a FF400. Anyway, I have been very content with mine. The unit is quite good out of the box. As usual, mine is highly modified and now compares very well against much higher-end converters. I still haven't yet got the HP amp to be something special, but its still totally usable. There is another thread floating somewhere discussing this.
The driver/mixer software is mo' pro. I have found that other (not to be named) manufacturer's drivers to be poorly implemented. In fact, I have found level shifts through these drivers when their controls where supposedly set at unity.
Re: Got the RME Fireface 800... It sure looks that way.Originally Posted by Cucco
I've always heard good things about the way RME integrate their hardware AND software to produce a complete solution.
Now that you've got that system up and running, your next purchase ought to be a new 'exclamation mark' key - I'm sure you've worn out your existing one.
"In giving advice, seek to help, not please, your friend."
- Solon (640 558 BC); Athenian legislator & politician.
Re: Got the RME Fireface 800... Ha.....I think I've worn out my period key first..........
Now that you've got that system up and running, your next purchase ought to be a new 'exclamation mark' key - I'm sure you've worn out your existing one.
!
And the next post by Cucco, I bet, will be "got a laptop, it's freakyyour next purchase ought to be a new 'exclamation
mark' key
light !!!!!" Right, Jeremy ?
Just kidding. Anyway, it seems that Onyx 800R could be a nice
extention for this RME 800, isn't it ? Or you are going for some
better pre's ? Cheers,
The 800R would be a great option for extra channels through lightpipe. They'll occassionally get some use. I'll likely use the Graces or the ones that Zilla's making for me right now though.
I use the Fireface all the time, but not usually for recording with mics. I use it mostly with software to set midi orchestral music to indie films and to do audio editing. The drivers are good although there are some issues with the WDM drivers. In terms of recording with mics, the preamps have very low gain untill turned way up, then the gain increases very quickly at a very short ratio of turning the knob. No other complaints except that the phones jack broke inside but was fixable. I use it for recording multitracked recordings when tracks need to be layered one at a time, but prefer to use linked Sound Devices recorders for location or basic studio recording. I'm interested to hear about any mods for the Fireface. It's definately a good all around problem solving interface.
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