[LAD] RME FIREFACE 400? RME MULTIFACE II?

[Jörn Nettingsmeier]

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.

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.
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.

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).

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.