[LAU] rme fireface 400 on debian?

[Pieter Palmers]

Malte Steiner wrote:
> eva sjuve wrote:
>> hi all
>> is anyone using this? I'm considering new hardware, but want to find out 
>> first if there are drivers available?
> 
> The fireface uses a custom protocol over firewire which RME dont want to 
> give out, hence no drivers.
> In general, when I remember the freebob lecture on last years LAC 
> correctly, Firewire is not capable to be driven with a really small 
> latency.

Actually I have to revise the opinion I expressed at the LAC talk. There 
are scenario's where firewire might even provide better latency than 
PCI. I think the lowest latency achievable (at the interface side) is 
approx 32 frames (i.e. 2x16) which is quite comparable to PCI I guess. 
The problem is the extra latency added by the device. This can be high, 
but for some it is very low (e.g. 16 frames).

To summarize: a total roundtrip latency (jdelay) of less than 100 frames 
is achievable with firewire. A delta1010 has approx 180 frames (if I 
remember correctly), so I guess firewire can be competitive.

Greets,

Pieter