[LAD] RME FIREFACE 400? RME MULTIFACE II?

[Gustin Johnson]

I would stay away from the Fireface and the multiface (unless you
connect the multiface to another interface).

FWIW, I have a 9652 PCI card and an RME ADI 8-DS.  If I need more
channels there is an Alesis ADAT that I can connect to it, albeit at
only 16/48.  It is important to note that the 9652/9652 do not have
any ADC/DACs on them and rely on outboard gear for that.

This particular rig has been solid and stable for years and has been
in 3 different rigs, the latest being an Intel Sandy bridge.  If you
can afford it I highly recommend the RME PCI and PCIe solutions.
Their Firewire solutions have traditionally been the exact opposite
under Linux.



2011/5/22 Ralf <ralf.mardorf at alice-dsl.net>:
> On Sun, 2011-05-22 at 12:46 +0200, Ralf wrote:
>> On Sun, 2011-05-22 at 12:08 +0200, Jörn Nettingsmeier wrote:
>> > On 05/22/2011 11:43 AM, Ralf wrote:
>> > > Hi :)
>> > >
>> > > I only watched pictures and read texts but didn't hear one of those RME
>> > > devices, anyway, until now I tend to order the RME FIREFACE 400 or RME
>> > > MULTIFACE II if they shouldn't cause issues with Linux. The two HDSP be
>> > > possible too.
>> > >
>> > > Any experiences, information?
>> >
>> > ralf, as usual, your level of disinformation is astonishing.
>>
>> Hi Jörn,
>>
>> thank you :).
>>
>> Disinformation? I didn't have any information, neither right nor wrong
>> information, that's why I'm asking.
>>
>> > the fireface is an ieee1394 device, and the ffado drivers are somewhat
>> > experimental. so yes, this would be an "issue with linux". i suggest you
>> > check the ffado.org website and look through the ffado mailing list
>> > archive to see if the current level of support is sufficient for what
>> > you want to do.
>> >
>> > the multiface ii is a break-out and converter box. it doesn't work on
>> > its own. consequently, there are no driver issues associated with its
>> > use, other than the firmware upload which the host computer has to take
>> > care of when you boot the device.
>
> Oops, my broken English ... there are issues? Googleing for "multiface
> ii linux" results with reported issue :S.
>
>> > what you want to look into is the corresponding pci(e) card with the
>> > connector that looks like firewire but isn't (proprietary rme protocol).
>> > the quality of the converters on the multiface leaves nothing to be desired.
>>
>> You do write the same as another one does write in a forum :). I tend to
>> order a Multiface.
>>
>> > the 9652 and 9636 cards are digital-only, with two resp. three adat i/o
>> > connectors. consequently, their "sound quality" is perfect.
>> > you will have to combine them with some external adat ad/da converter.
>> >
>> > most if not all rme cards come pci and pci express flavours. as you
>> > mentioned in a previous posting, the pci prices have dropped a lot, but
>> > when you consider one, factor in the cost for mainboards with pci slots
>> > - they will become quite rare in mass market in the near future, and
>> > then you would have to pay extra to get some "industry"-type product
>> > that still has them. for an idea of the extra cost, try shopping for an
>> > industry board with ISA slots today (still needed to run legacy process
>> > control cards and whatnot).
>>
>> Yes, my ASUS M2A-VM HDMI motherboard only has 2 PCI slots, occupied by 2
>> Terratec EWX 24/96 cards.
>> I removed the HDMI thingy and used the PCIe slot for a GeForce 7200GS,
>> because 3D doesn't work for the integrated Radeon X1250-based graphics.
>>
>> Btw. the board has got one PCIe x16 and one PCIe x1 slot.
>>
>> I could remove the GeForce, 3D isn't important at the moment. Because
>> the Multiface is less expensive, I also could order a new motherboard,
>> if I should need 3D ... perhaps, I don't know what I need to replace
>> too, I randomly picked some mobos ... DDR3 instead of DDR2 seems to be
>> no moneywise issue, I guess this is all I would need to change.
>>
>> So the future is NO PCI, but several PCIe x16 and x1 slots?
>>
>> > all rme cards i've come across will happily run at 64 frames, and some
>> > of the newer ones let you go down to 32 or 16, although i have not tried
>> > this yet.
>>
>> Somebody on a forum wrote that 32 frames are ok for his RME, for a real
>> multi-channel productions!
>>
>> Thank you very much. My impression is that RME cards are the best choice
>> for Linux.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Ralf
>>
>
>
>
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