RME Fireface 800 users with PC?

[Zorran]

hello all,

i have been lurking this forum for a while. i was turned onto this awesome board through a friend, forumite jamesboyd and i have to say i have to thank him. lots of awesome info here

i started a thread on gearslutz, but got 4 responses, so i figure i might get some more here. so much friendlier here i reckon.

ive got a decent setup atm, i record eps for local bands for a living. i use a few mics, dynaudio bm 5as, rnp/rnla, delta 1010, a p4 3.2 with 4gb ram. a few guitars, dfhs, nuendo 3. i reamp guitars at local studios, but i am thinking about building my own room.

do any of you use a fireface 800 with your pc? if so, why did you choose it over a pci card solution? ive heard alot of people say they do not trust their audio with firewire. personally i gather since its all digital, the method of connection shouldnt make all the difference? id love to hear some clips etc too, preferably with the fireface pres.

the main reason im getting the fireface is because i can get an 8 channel pre and add it on via adat.anyone think i should just save up and get like an rme adi 8 and aes card?
cheers,
zorran

 

[Zorran]

i should also add, the main reason im not buying a multiface is because i cant rack it!! the multiface II pics have rack ears, but i dont know what kinda racks theyd fit on?

 

[JeffTD]

Aye Zorran! Big fan of your stuff... really loved New Way Home when you guys were more active. Got anything recorded since?

I believe everyone on here who has an FF800 uses it with a PC, and I know a bunch of the guys use it without any problems at all!

The Multiface is a 1/2 size rack - you'd have to put it on a shelf with another 1/2 size rack unit, or find some kind of specialty rack for it. I still haven't found a rack that would fit those, tho .

 

[Zorran]

hey dude!! thanks man, that helps heaps its really reassuring because theres not much definitive info on this topic around. and nowadays reviews are like longer ads.

about nwh, if you want, flick me and email and ill mail you some recent clips

 

[sparkyness]

Heya Zorran, welcome lad...

I have a similar unit, the RME Fireface 400. No issues whatsoever with the thing since I got it and I also upgraded from a Delta 1010. As DSS3 said, there's a few of us here using RME Firefaces (both the 400 and 800 units) and I haven't heard any complaints from any of us yet.

I have mine mounted into a standard rack. I just bought a shelf which has an array of screw holes on it and screwed in the RME on the right and another half-rack piece (M-Patch) on the left.

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

Got Fireface 800, works perfectly with the PC (desktop and laptop) and the Mac.
The best card you can get: many ins and outs, good drivers, great mixer software, good preamps and converters. Why choose FW? To be mobile. I'm sure you won't regret it.

 

[Glenn Fricker]

FF 800 user here too. Fantastic piece of gear. As for the FW naysayers, I'll say this right now. It NEVER glitches. It just sits in my rack & works. No problems, no bullshit, it's reliable & sounds great. Hands down, one of my best gear purchases.

 

[QV]

Everything the guys above said, I would also add that you actually have 10 ins if you use both front and back connectors. I was able to expanded this unit successfully with addiotnal 16 in/out.

There is one bug - if you use other converters then the RME like say ADI 8, you'll find that there is a slight difference in in the frequency balance (different conversion algorithm?) or timing of the signal going out between the fireface AND the other converter unit. In my case I found there was a minor phase difference between RME and Apogee output... I got it confirmed with an osciloscope - it was an interesting excercisde.
Just don't split up your overheads or anything that's stereo mic'd between various converters - this may hold true for all gear not just RME. Otherwise great piece of gear all around.

 

[Ben Johnson]

FF800 & PC here.

Like Oz said, it just works...and work extremely well it does!

Just make sure you get a PCI firewire 800 card - supposedly it'll run better than using the port on your motherboard.

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Everything the guys above said, I would also add that you actually have 10 ins if you use both front and back connectors. I was able to expanded this unit successfully with addiotnal 16 in/out.

What did you use for the additional I/O?

BTW, does anyone know where the fuck unity gain is on the front panel knobs (last 2 channels) when using the line ins?

 

[Zorran]

you guys are awesome! im completely sold on it now out with the 1010!! in with the fireface! ill try make some a/b clips as well, although im sure the fireface will smoke the 1010. i was a bit worried about the whole firewire thing, but if its good enough for so many of you, its good enough for me.

 

[Zorran]

Just make sure you get a PCI firewire 800 card - supposedly it'll run better than using the port on your motherboard.

hey ben, i read on the rme website and they said there were a few issues with fw800 cards, but it worked flawlessly with fw400 cards? i think i might try the 800 card anyways, just for the extra bandwith

 

[VH100R]

welcome Zorran.

love your Palmer PDI-03 clips

take care

LG

 

[QV]

What did you use for the additional I/O?

There is an XP patch that lets windows use full 400Mbit Firewire transfer rates, with it there seems to be no contention. Without that patch windows is crippled down to 100Mbit and craps out after 16+ tracks of 48K. There is a nice description of how to get arround the XP FW limitations on the RME site.
As for the AD hookups I'm using all 4 light pipes on the RME, clocking over dedicated BNC with wordclock.

BTW, does anyone know where the fuck unity gain is on the front panel knobs (last 2 channels) when using the line ins?

In TotalMix, feed a test tone to channels 1-8 and match 9-10 with the remaining ones.
Or try the same with DigiCheck.

 

[JeffTD]

about nwh, if you want, flick me and email and ill mail you some recent clips

Oi, you've got a PM, good sir.

 

[Ben Johnson]

hey ben, i read on the rme website and they said there were a few issues with fw800 cards, but it worked flawlessly with fw400 cards? i think i might try the 800 card anyways, just for the extra bandwith

Hmm, I've been using this card, and it's worked perfectly since day 1. Little on the expensive side for a device that isn't very much "fun" though...

Funny thing, Zorran - I upgraded from a 1010lt too! I still have it in my PC, SPDIF'ed to the FF for when I have to do a Pro Tools project for school. Cubase/Nuendo were my main DAWs for a long time, but I've been using Reaper for the past couple days, and I think I'm in love!