Members DVaz Posted December 5, 2007 Members Share Posted December 5, 2007 I'm gonna get one. Or anything else worth suggesting. Min 4 xlr inputs. ADAT is a must. I want this to be a good enough interface that it will do me for a few years at least. I'm not gonna be setting up any pro studios any time soon, but think "cornerstone of a project studio" level of quality. Have at it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Matt Hepworth Posted December 6, 2007 Members Share Posted December 6, 2007 Two words: RME & TotalMix. Converter quality aside (a nod to the RME in that department, BTW), once you've used TotalMix (which is part of the FF800) and done some routing and monitor mixes, you'll wonder how you ever got by, even if you have a huge console. That thing is incredible. Now the FF800 also has great converters, decent preamps, and very stable drivers. I also like Presonus just fine, but it's a little more of a good "budget" solution, while the RME is a more suitable as a longer term studio centerpiece. Just my opinion and experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members diy guy Posted December 6, 2007 Members Share Posted December 6, 2007 +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PrActical_AV Posted December 7, 2007 Members Share Posted December 7, 2007 I really like my Fireface 800. I have the RME Octamic D and a ADA8000 connected to the 2 ADAT optical ports. Running it on a Macbook Pro via FW800 to Logic Pro. Runs great and able to record 26 channels @ 48khz/24-bit. The customer service has been great in their response over the phone, e-mails, or on the forum. If you live in the US, they also have a dedicated US division that provides local support. The only complaint I have about the Fiireface 800 is that the pre's are on the front and the line 1-8 ins are on the back. I would have like all the connections either in the front or in the back, not a mix of the two - just makes cable routing a pain if you are using 8-channel snakes. But I guess RME made up for this by allowing you to use the pre's and the line in's simultaneously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members organometallica Posted December 10, 2007 Members Share Posted December 10, 2007 I agree with gsHarmony, I got the FF800 this weekend, very easy to set up, the software to control the routing is way better than firestudio. I recorded about 15 hours this weekend and never had a single problem. Its not that the firestudio can't be used, I eventually did get it to work, but there would be random crashes. For example when I adjusted the zoom on the tracks it would freeze up. When loading some vst instruments it would crash. Unfortunately I can't return it, but I can still use it as preamps through ADAT running the RME as the master. FF800 is definately worth the extra money in comparison to firestudio. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members loonsailor Posted December 13, 2007 Members Share Posted December 13, 2007 I haven't used either yet, but I'm about to buy either one of these, or the new TC Electronics Konnekt 48. If the drivers on the Konnekt are right, this one might be hard to beat. BTW, although I do like the look of TotalMix, it doesn't seem to be available for Mac. Also, the Fireface 800 ASIO drivers don't seem available for Mac either. Is this really true? It would certainly be a deal killer for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chaeridley Posted December 13, 2007 Members Share Posted December 13, 2007 What about the Presonus Digimax LT? That things seems much better than the Firestudio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members organometallica Posted December 13, 2007 Members Share Posted December 13, 2007 loonsailor... I'm not sure about total mix and a mac (I use PC), I'm sure you could look on the rme forum chaeridley The digimax lt is not an interface for recording. It is just a preamp with digital outs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members loonsailor Posted December 13, 2007 Members Share Posted December 13, 2007 I haven't checked the forums, but at http://www.rme-audio.com/english/firewire/ff800.htm, it shows driver support as follows: Driver support Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP/XP64: Full ASIO multi-client operation of WDM, MME (not XP64), GSIF 2.0 and ASIO 2.0. WDM (DirectSound) with stereo and multi-channel support. Full hot-plugging. Up to 3 units operational. Mac OS X (10.3. or up) and x86: Core Audio, Core MIDI. Since 10.4 (Tiger) up to 3 units operational. It doesn't show ASIO drivers for mac. The TotalMix page at http://www.rme-audio.com/english/techinfo/hdsp_tmhard.htm doesn't say one way or the other, but all the pix definitely look PC-like. In general, though, all these pages look pretty old, and have old copyrights showing. That's why I asked. I'll take a look at the RME forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chaeridley Posted December 13, 2007 Members Share Posted December 13, 2007 Would it be a decent idea to hook a DIGIMAX LT into the Fireface 400? You'd have to run everything at 48k huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members organometallica Posted December 13, 2007 Members Share Posted December 13, 2007 Loonsailor try this link it has the driver update history. If you look at the mac it definately seems like it includes total mix. I'm am not sure about ASIO drivers. That page you are looking at is definately dated. Because for the PC they don't list windows vista and the FF800 is vista compatible according to their main website. http://www.rme-audio.de/en_techinfo_content.php?page=content/downloads/en_driver_updates_readme_firewire chaeridley, yes thats exactly what the digimax is for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members diy guy Posted December 13, 2007 Members Share Posted December 13, 2007 while i must say im continually impressed with the sound of the firestudio, everyone is right to say the drivers suck. nowhere near as stable as the firepod. random crashes when cpu gets intense, and problems with my daw recognizing it if i fire it up with the daw already open, unlike firepod. though i gotta say i only paid 350 for the firestudio, while the ff800 is what, nearly 2000. for that price......i dunno, tough call, especially if you upgraded pres for the firestudio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rimmer Posted December 14, 2007 Members Share Posted December 14, 2007 Loonsailor try this link it has the driver update history. If you look at the mac it definately seems like it includes total mix. I'm am not sure about ASIO drivers. That page you are looking at is definately dated. Because for the PC they don't list windows vista and the FF800 is vista compatible according to their main website. http://www.rme-audio.de/en_techinfo_content.php?page=content/downloads/en_driver_updates_readme_firewire chaeridley, yes thats exactly what the digimax is for. My Fireface 400 came with Total Mix. It is really rather hand and easy to use. Just got to remember to save your different mixes!! The Mac driver is RME written where as many FW interfaces for the Mac run with Apple FW drivers. The Mac drivers address the systems Coreaudio so the Fireface works with any audio application you use on your Mac. Nice and simple. It works too..! Rimmer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rubber Lizard Posted December 16, 2007 Members Share Posted December 16, 2007 Another vote for FF800, here. It's just solid. Having pro quality in your project studio is not a bad thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.