RME Card

[mazz]

Hi all,I've been considering getting an RME HDSP 9652 card for my Vision DAW to replace the EMU card I got with it. I really need the 24 channels of ADAT that the RME card has, I have one on my other machine and it really makes a difference being able to have a template with all the I/O active at one time.So I've been hemming and hawing and now AudioMIDI.com has a special deal on these cards for almost half price!! Decision made.This is a great card, it has Word Clock I/O (I use a dedicated clock so that's a biggie for me) and has never caused any issues on my other machine. I was concerned about loading the drivers on my XP64 system because I'm not very up on the Windows side of things but the VisionDAW folks will set up an appointment with a tech, go online with my machine and assist me in setting up the drivers. Now that's service!!!!!Anyway, if anyone's looking for a fantastic PCI based card, this is a good time to get one. www.audiomidi.comCheers!!!Mazz

[mewman]

Hi MazzI have an RME Fireface 400 and am very happy with the sound and function. I'm sure you are going to love the HDSP 9652. Enjoy!Mewman

[elser]

I've had a 9632 card for about 6 years. It's very flexible and it has migrated through 3 different computers, but if they keep modifying the PCI standard I'm afraid it'll eventually be obsolete. I wonder if there might be something in the wind to that extent that might explain the price drop?Hmmm, Elser

[mazz]

I'm not a huge fan of PCI cards except for the fact that this particular machine is a single purpose machine (sample streaming only) and is not a DAW so in this case, it makes more sense for me to go this route (don't need I/O, just O). I treat both of my PCs as glorified samplers (remember those?) and their sole purpose in life is to sit there and spit out samples. I'm learning that I need to have templates with dedicated outputs and having 48 ADAT channels between the two machines will give me the ability to have my templates set up and routed ahead of time for quick access. Having word clock input is key as I run a dedicated master clock in my studio and all of my digital gear is clocked off of it.My Mac has a MOTU 424 PCI card with 4 interfaces with 96 channels of I/O and it's never caused me a problem. I think that Firewire interfaces are here to stay but I've found that I've got too many drives on my Firewire buss which makes Firewire audio interfaces not as reliable. I tried an Alesis FW interface and it just compromised the performance of my Mac due to all the drives I've got going. So I'll stick to PCI for my main interfaces until FW 800 interfaces come out.Mazz

[elser]

Mazz, just curious, is that a Gigastudio setup you've got. Do you have your sampler application on the PC or is it just a giant tank for the audio samples.Elser

[mazz]

Actually I run Kontakt 2 on one of the PCs and Kontakt 3 on the newer one. Soon I'll be running Play on the K3 machine, it's an XP 64 bit Vision Daw machine. My main composing machine is a Dual 2.7 G5 Mac running Digital Performer. I run MIDI cables to the Kontakt 2 machine and I use MIDI Over Lan for the K3 machine (it works great, by the way). I stream 24 channels of ADAT from the K2 machine in to a 2408 MK1 and right now 8 channels from the K3 machine in to a 2408 MK2 (soon to be 24 channels of ADAT when I install the new card). I also run 2 channels of analog from the K3 machine as well. I'll be adding another 4G of RAM to the K3 machine for running Play when it arrives for a total of 8G RAM.Cheers!Mazz

[aubreyz]

Mazz,I use a 9652 on my second Mac (I have it hot rodded and use several instances of logic at once as a Gigastudio type sample playback unit piping back into protools). I've had it for over 4 years, it's been rock solid and sounds great. The word clock was a necessary feature for me too.You'll love the card and it's a good tip for anyone needing similar I/O.Aub

[mazz]

Yeah Aub, I already have one in my other PC and it's been trouble free and rock solid. I like to have my orchestral sections broken out as much as possible prior to mixing for maximum flexibility. I know it sounds like I'm a pig but after doing this film project, I can see why composers use multiple computers for streaming samples. It really makes things quicker and more flexible, which is a big thing when you're under the gun!!Now that 8 core Mac is looking pretty tempting. OK, I guess I really am a gear pig after all!! Cheers!!Mazz

[elser]

Jul 26, 2008, 2:16pm, mazz wrote:Actually I run Kontakt 2 on one of the PCs and Kontakt 3 on the newer one. Soon I'll be running Play on the K3 machine, it's an XP 64 bit Vision Daw machine. My main composing machine is a Dual 2.7 G5 Mac running Digital Performer. I run MIDI cables to the Kontakt 2 machine and I use MIDI Over Lan for the K3 machine (it works great, by the way). I stream 24 channels of ADAT from the K2 machine in to a 2408 MK1 and right now 8 channels from the K3 machine in to a 2408 MK2 (soon to be 24 channels of ADAT when I install the new card). I also run 2 channels of analog from the K3 machine as well. I'll be adding another 4G of RAM to the K3 machine for running Play when it arrives for a total of 8G RAM.If I get all that stuff will my music start sounding good? Nyuck, just kidding. But seriously, one more question; are all your computers in the same room with you, do you have 'em in iso boxes? I know on a hot day my G5 dual 2.5 sounds kinda like a 747. Can't imagine what 3 would be like.Elser

[mojobone]

My Pentium 4 is pretty noisy, too. Really, it only comes into play when recording acoustic tracks or vocals. Condenser mics rule, but only when they're in the next room.