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I just found this new product from RME
What first hit me is the redondant powersupply, this is some serious pro stuff :


http://www.rme-audio.de/en/products/m_32_pro.php

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kmetal Thu, 12/27/2018 - 09:30

These look like one heck of a package. My only negative thought is the 120db signal to noise ratio. Im not sure exactly how that compares with dynamic range, but the new zoom uac 2 has a dynamic range of 120db, apollo x, 127- 133db depending on model and output. I think it rests at 123db for input.

Having looked into the RME adi pro quite a bit i have been confused by their use of signal to noise instead of dynamic range spec on their gear.

Im also inteterested that they use AVB instead of Dante. Both have their own advantages.

That said the Ad/Da pro units have an absurd channel count. And i like the idea that the DA and AD units are seperate. This means alot when considering the demands on DA dolby atmos can have. Very interesting.

Boswell Thu, 12/27/2018 - 10:36

Those look to be really interesting products. I've yet to see any pricing information.

The terms "dynamic range" and "signal-to-noise ratio" are often used interchangeably. However, they are not the same. Dynamic range (DR) usually comes out as the larger number, so is frequently used (sometimes mis-used) by manufacturers in their specifications.

DR is the ratio of the largest signal that can be processed by a piece of equipment to the level of the noise floor. The mis-use is that these are often taken as separate measurements, one after the other, whereas the strict meaning of the term is that of the noise floor when outputting the largest signal, as this can include distortion products of the signal rather than just broadband noise. As an example, if you used a high-range spectrum analyser to look at the output of an amplifier while it's passing a pure sinewave, you may see products at x3, x5 etc of the sinewave frequency emerging from the noise floor. The strict dynamic range figure is the ratio of the maximum output to the level of the highest distortion product, or to the noise if any distortion component is below the noise.

By contrast, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is the dynamic range between the signal at the output of a product and the noise floor, both measured when the output is at normal operating level with a defined headroom (e.g. 15dB). This means that it is usually a lower figure than the dynamic range, even for the same piece of gear. I've seen equipment double-specified with figures of something like 128dB for DR and 119dB for SNR. Note that this does not mean that a headroom figure of 9dB was used, but that other factors come into play, and the manufacturer was trying to be honest.

I have no additional information as to how RME measure their SNR figures, but I would advise care when comparing their numbers against other manufacturers' DR figures.