We need to know how many channels of ins and outs you require. You didn't say how many you want to use ...

How many tape sends? Do you want to return all the tape sends back to the console for monitoring as well, or will a pair or just a few returns work ok? Do you want to send and return aux's? Cue feeds? All of these things need to be considered before a recommendation can be made.

Neither the Presonus or the RME, are converter only interfaces. They both include mic pres. That may or may not work for you. At the price point of these two items, I wouldn't hold out too much hope that the pres would be anything to write home about, especially the ones in the Presonus ... we all know what those are like ... useable but there are better.

The RME appears to be a convenient all in one interface that will accommodate mic line and digital ins and outs, with 8 line ins and 4 mic pres that may also double for line ins ... no clue what the mic pres are like... any one know?

The Presonus is an all mic pre input ... typical Presonus performance, real ok but it can be better.

Being a cheapo, I use Alesis AI3's, ... 8 channels in and out on ADAT light pipes for around $400 street. You will need a PCI card(s) to interface it to the computer ... once again, being a squeak, I chose the Frontier Dakota card, ... if you want more than 18 ins and outs, you can supplement the Dakota with the Montana card .. for another 16 in and out, as well as WC connections... all together it makes a great affordable system ... It is only 24 bit but for me it's fine ... I prefer to keep the file size down for bigger track and plug counts and easier managment by the computer. Besides that, all the kids are listening on IPODs anyway ... so why bother with high quality audio?

I did a search at [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.sweetwat…"]Sweetwater[/]="http://www.sweetwat…"]Sweetwater[/] and I found these items available ..

Alesis AI3,

Apogee AD-16X / Apogee DA-16X,

Apogee AD-8000,

Apogee Rosetta 800 96k,

Digidesign 192-Digital Interface,

Frontier Design Tango24,

Metric Halo Mobile I/O 2882 + DSP

This seems to be what is available. Click on the link I provided and check them out for yourself ... hope that helps.

the fireface is probably one of the best all in one solutions out there...ombining DAW interface, converters and mic pre, all pluged into your 1394 and no further pci or anything needed...

but you can still go better using rme...
i am using the rme hdsp digiface as the daw interface hooked up to the rme adi 8 ds broadcast converter...
all settings of interface and converter are optimized for each other and i dont think that there is a big difference in quality...
search sound on sound for the review!

talking about interfaces you cannot go better than rme, i am running several workstations with their interfaces, and any piece they sell, is just great for what it is meant to be...

Hi Foster,
thanks for replying. I am currently using RME-96/52 Card with three Adats for analog outs into my Soundcraft ghost. I need 8 inputs, 24 outputs. I want all the tape sends back to the console for monitoring. For mixing I use ghost & all my outboards are connected to the console so no aux's or cue feeds required.
I want a good quality 8 channel AD's & 24 channel DA's. I have a motu 2408 with pci 324 but not happy with the performance & a Rme-multiface but only 8 ins 8 outs. Wat do you think about motu 24 i/o.

Thanks & regard
D-gautam

with regard to the RME mic pre's, you can view a review of the RME Quadmic at http://www.synthax.co.uk (the UK distributors) on the reviews page ... these mic-pre's are used in the Octamic and the Fireface800.

If it's pure conversion that you're looking for also check out the RME ADI-8DS (8 channel converter) works perfectly with the 9652 (unsurprisingly). This unit recently went in for a head-to-head against the far more expensive Apogee AD-800 and won. The test results can be viewed at http://www.synthax.co.uk on the reviews page.

damienthorn wrote: with regard to the RME mic pre's, you can view a review of the RME Quadmic at http://www.synthax.co.uk (the UK distributors) on the reviews page ... these mic-pre's are used in the Octamic and the Fireface800.

It should be noted that damienthorn works for Synthax.
6 out of 7 posts (so far) from damienthorn are in regard to the Fireface800.

Is this a review by an independent third party or a review by someone who works for a retail outlet that is selling the product? I'm just curious, if it is a review by an independent party, then it may be of mention but if it is the later, then it should be noted as such ... so the reader can take that into consideration.

the reviews are by respected magazines ... Sound on Sound, Computer Music, Music Tech etc. ...

apologies ... i have just noted the editors comment and he's quite right too. I should make that clear, however, my interests purely lie in adding a suitable option for the poster and point them in the right direction of third-party unbiased literature to assist them in defining the best solution for them.

damienthorn,
Thanks for the immediate reply .... and for clearing that up. I noticed several of your posts in re: to the RME products and was curious about them. They come very close to being SPAM without crossing the line implicitly. I'm not trying to be confrontational, I just want to see all the cards laid on the table.

of course, perfectly understood.