new soundcard?

[Sebastian]

I have a Digi 002

Im fine with it

Just curious....what would improve if I got an RME?

thanks!

[leedsquietman]

Lower latency for non Protools applications and slightly better pres and converters.

Although the Digi002 has pretty good pres and converters, so you probably wouldn't notice too much difference, although the RME has a slightly better s/n ratio and sensitivity (again, measured in fractional amounts).

[Sebastian]

OK, thanks. pres aside,

what about difs in latency? significant?

thank you

[leedsquietman]

RME has the best latency out there IMHO, but there are going to be variables depending on system specs, hardware and software configs etc. They have really good drivers too.

Which RME interface are you considering ? What are your system specs ??

[Sebastian]

I Mac, 10.4.11, 2Ghz Intel Core Duo, 2GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

Ext HD 160 GB
In the box new Ext HD 1TB

[Sebastian]

a lot of new interfaces have come out. any comparable to RME?

[solacerodgers]

I use benchmark a/d/a myself and love it but you dont need to buy a new audio interface you can get the clock and pres modded at http://www.blacklionaudio.com/ to make it topnotch.

[richdrich]

Anyone want to suggest a suitable soundcard for my config?

I've got Ableton 7, Vista (32-bit) on an HP tx2500, so it needs to be USB.

I want 1 stereo in and 2 (line and headphone) stereo outs, with the ability to pre-listen.

My mate has an m-audio fast track pro that shows up as two devices, so doesn't allow pre-listen.

[SubFunk]

a lot of new interfaces have come out. any comparable to RME?

in terms of price / quality / features ratio not really, there are a few other very good ones around, but RME is probably as said already the best ratio of all factors that make an interface worth while...

and again: the point is that most of the upper market interfaces use the same converters, but it's the clock that really sets them apart and there RME is pretty much on top of the game. plus the stability of the drivers, support, etc.

[greta]

Keep in mind that the RME Fireface units have had problems with the newer (mid 2008) Imacs as the FW chip was changed. There are workarounds though. (not sure if they have been solved completely)
http://www.rme-audio.de/forum/viewtopic.php?id=974

I was going to buy a FF800 but went with an Apogee Ensemble as i didn't want to spend that much money and have to rely on a workaround.

[Sebastian]

for the workaround are you referring to Leopard and up?

[Sebastian]

the tweaking by black lion audio looks very interesting....but are the prices as high as shown on their site? $600 to $1200 to tweak it???

[greta]

for the workaround are you referring to Leopard and up?

I presume that, because the problem came when the Imac's changed their FW chips from Texas Instruments to Agere (mid 2008), the problem does exist from Leopard and up. I don't think the OS would play much difference though, it seems to be a hardware issue. The workaround seems to be daisy chaining the device through an external hard drive.

[Sebastian]

per RME support....

-------
All Macs with the Agere chip will require e.g. a FW repeater cable to work well. New versions of this chips seem to work better, but I'm not sure whether they are used in production Macbooks etc. yet.


Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

[Sebastian]

guys

after several emails with RME, it seems I would need to get a repeater cable if I want to buy an RME anything

Im not very savvy on the tech stuff?

What does it imply to need to get a repeater cable? Is that going to be a pain in the neck? Will there be problems? Is one of those cables expensive?

RME claims its not their issue, which technically it may not be, but at the end of the day, they are the ones who should fix their stuff to work with Macs not vicecersa!