High end audiocard with lots of I/O: firewire or usb?

[tonydubshot]

Hi everybody,

I'm new here, and i want to migrate in the next couple of months, from Windows + Cubase to a system that can support KXStudio + Bitwig / Ardour.

I've been trying to get an overview of my hardware options. I need a minimum of 8 analog inputs, 10 or 12 is even better (right now i use the MOTU 828MKII).

So i've been checking out the ffado website and this forum, and it seems that the RME Fireface 800 is a good option, provided the Firewire card works ok. But on the other hand, firewire is going the way of the dodo...

The other obvious option is using the MOTU 828MKII which i already have, but this seems to cause all kinds of issues, and on the ffado website people even say that MOTU is Linux-unfriendly (but they also say this of RME)

So my question is: should i go with one of the firewire options mentioned, or are there any solid USB-based alternatives that give me at least 8 high quality analog audio inputs and not too much of a headache?

thanx in advance
Anton

[glowrak guy]

You might look at Focusrite usb devices, they have good linux support. The firewire chip
in your computer will need some thorough google time, with appropriate linux-audio keywords,
as some are much better than others
In a desktop, mAudio Delta 1010's should work, and if the mobo
has two slots, you can sync a pair together, for tons of i/o
Good luck!

[tonydubshot]

Thanks a lot glowrak guy.

[gimmeapill]

Stay away from MOTU - they ARE linux unfriendly, better go RME if you can afford it.

At the top of the food chain (and as far as USB goes), I'd give a look at this one:
http://babyface.rme-audio.de/

No first hand experience, but a few people here seem to be happy with it.

Another option: If you can wait, and/or like experimenting, I'd suggest to wait a bit for thunderbolt audio interfaces (like maybe the Clarett range from Focusrite) - those should in theory offer better perf than both USB and FW, since thunderbolt is apparently just a PCIe passthrough.

Linux audio support doesn't seem to be ready yet (the few TB audio interfaces already on the market are not reported to work so far, so don't get me wrong), but I smell it around the corner

See this post by a famous kernel maintainer:
http://www.kroah.com/log/linux/

[asbak]

The Behringer UMC1820 is on the horizon, it may be released in March which could be an interesting option assuming that it works in Linux. (It should, judging by other UMC products.)

The Presonus 1818VSL should theoretically work, but DYOR to confirm.

Unless you're getting a spectacular deal on a firewire device I don't think there's much point getting one.

[tonydubshot]

At the top of the food chain (and as far as USB goes), I'd give a look at this one:
http://babyface.rme-audio.de/

That does look very nice, and proudly class compliant, looks like a winner. Unfortunately i really need more analog inputs than 4..

This is what i just read about Thunderbolt (i had never checked it before) "Under Mac OS, the Clarett interfaces offer buffer settings down to 32 samples" (see https://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct15/ ... -8prex.htm ) and that's very tempting, but i don't know if i can wait

And after doing some more Google research, i found this list which is also quite interesting, class compliant audio interfaces listed by number of outputs (or something like that) http://auriaapp.com/Support/auria-audio-interfaces

[stanlea]

I'd look for a USB2 class compliant device. Firewire is often tricky on Linux.

But consider also an ADAT solution :

- good old RME HDSP 9652 offers 3 x ADAT optical I/O, ADAT-Sync In, SPDIF I/O and word clock I/O. On top, there are 2 MIDI I/Os and the card is recognized
- add a Ferrofish A/N converter : FERROFISH A16 ADAT EDITION
- now you are free to add whatever preamps you want

you will have zero settings problems, 16 channels recording and the choice of preamps

[asbak]

- good old RME HDSP 9652 offers 3 x ADAT optical I/O, ADAT-Sync In, SPDIF I/O and word clock I/O. On top, there are 2 MIDI I/Os and the card is recognized

The 9652 MIDI was unusable when I tried it with Debian & Mint. Using it causes xruns, I don't know why, perhaps you know of a solution? The card works OK down to about 128 frames provided I use a separate MIDI interface.

A cheap(er) way to get 24x Analog to ADAT I/O is to connect it to a s/h Alesis HD24.

[Broomy]

The Behringer UMC1820 is on the horizon, it may be released in March which could be an interesting option assuming that it works in Linux. (It should, judging by other UMC products.)

The Presonus 1818VSL should theoretically work, but DYOR to confirm.

Unless you're getting a spectacular deal on a firewire device I don't think there's much point getting one.

I use a 1818VSL and it works great (straight out of the box), I could really recommend it.

Hans

[asbak]

Thanks Broomy, interesting info.

[stanlea]

- good old RME HDSP 9652 offers 3 x ADAT optical I/O, ADAT-Sync In, SPDIF I/O and word clock I/O. On top, there are 2 MIDI I/Os and the card is recognized

The 9652 MIDI was unusable when I tried it with Debian & Mint. Using it causes xruns, I don't know why, perhaps you know of a solution? The card works OK down to about 128 frames provided I use a separate MIDI interface.

A cheap(er) way to get 24x Analog to ADAT I/O is to connect it to a s/h Alesis HD24.

I still think that separate gear is a good options :
preamps->converters->computer

And I'd use a 9652 even if midi needs to pass elsewhere

[tonydubshot]

I use a 1818VSL and it works great (straight out of the box), I could really recommend it.

Hey Broomy, i'm wondering, do you also get access to any of the onboard DSP?

I read in the SOS review http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug12/a ... 212vsl.htm

"This means that not only can your monitor mixes employ hardware-powered reverb and delay, but that every input and output channel has its own gate, compressor and equaliser too."

That would be a really nice extra if it would work.

[Broomy]

No I don't use this feature (didn't even know it had it), all processing takes place on my laptop.

Hans

[tonydubshot]

But consider also an ADAT solution :

- good old RME HDSP 9652 offers 3 x ADAT optical I/O, ADAT-Sync In, SPDIF I/O and word clock I/O. On top, there are 2 MIDI I/Os and the card is recognized
- add a Ferrofish A/N converter : FERROFISH A16 ADAT EDITION

Stanlea, I'm coinsidering it right now. Might be the best solution for me. Do you know people who have this setup working?

[stanlea]

But consider also an ADAT solution :

- good old RME HDSP 9652 offers 3 x ADAT optical I/O, ADAT-Sync In, SPDIF I/O and word clock I/O. On top, there are 2 MIDI I/Os and the card is recognized
- add a Ferrofish A/N converter : FERROFISH A16 ADAT EDITION

Stanlea, I'm coinsidering it right now. Might be the best solution for me. Do you know people who have this setup working?

No, but if I had money for now, it would my setup. I use an old RME Digi 96/8 PAD connected to various ADAT stuff, including a RME adat daughter card, and an old Event EZBus. The thing is that ADAT is stable and as long as the PCI card works with ADAT, you cannot have surprises. You have zero driver issues. There are good reviews of the Ferrofish on Gearslutz forums. Actually it's the cheapest decent 16 channels AD converter on the market (if you don't want Behringer or other cheap products). Consider also the preamps cost, the ferrofish is only a converter. I have various different preamps, collected from years.