[LAD] RME FIREFACE 400? RME MULTIFACE II?

[Ralf]

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.
> 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