Doye Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 I am at my wits end. I definitely must upgrade my audio interface. I am using a Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP. I use the pres on it to record vocals. I need 8 in and 8 out for summing purposes. I need an interface with above average press. Four pres would do. Right now my best option looks like the UAD Apollo Duo for $1999.99. Any suggestion would be appreciated. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shivermetimbers Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 1.) Why are you at your wits end? 2.) Why are you externally summing? 3.) are you recording multiple people at the same time? 4.) What is the specific issue with the vocals? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doye Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 Thanks for the reply. 1) 1 am also looking at other interfaces with the same features 2) I am using mostly software instruments and need to get them sounding more analog 3) I am setting up to use live drums 4) Need better preamps to get higher gains Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shivermetimbers Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Thanks for the reply. 1) 1 am also looking at other interfaces with the same features You already have an interface with the same features. 2) I am using mostly software instruments and need to get them sounding more analog Not sure how you will accomplish this? A plain ol' audio mixer is not going to help with this. 3) I am setting up to use live drums One of the Focusrite Octo pre boxes should help you here and the money you save will pay for drum mic's 4) Need better preamps to get higher gains Higher gains? How do you figure another preamp will get you higher gain? Get the signal into Logic at an unclipped level, and then you will have access to unlimited gain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doye Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 So I am really looking at 3. I already have enough Shure mics. SM57, 52 etc. I have a Behringer ADA8000 I am not using. The Saffire has ADAT. I think I would give it a try and see how it sound. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 You can also look at the RME Fireface 800 or 802, or Metric Halo 2882. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doye Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 The Metric Halo 2882 is one of the unit I was considering. Thanks David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Cardenas Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 One thing to keep in mind with the 2882 is that the weakest part of this design is in the preamps, they only provide 42 dB of gain. This is often not suitable for ribbon microphones or large diaphragm dynamic mics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doye Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share Posted May 7, 2014 OK. Thanks for the information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Cardenas Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Take a closer look at the Fireface UFX from RME. I can vouch for it a 100 %. The Apollo is also very interesting but I would only recommend it if you already are using the UAD echo system of plug-ins or if you have an interest in them. Another strong contender is the Antelope Zen Studio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doye Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share Posted May 7, 2014 I checked the specs on the Antelope. I see it is USB. I am looking at a firewire or thunderbolt interface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastfourier Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Sounds like a Fireface 800 would be good. It's pretty much a no-nonsense I/O box. Really configurable. Routing options for days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doye Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share Posted May 7, 2014 Thanks. The 800 looks interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 The 800 looks interesting. Then get the 802 which is the newer version! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doye Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share Posted May 7, 2014 Good advice. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doye Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share Posted May 7, 2014 The 802 is not available at BHPhotovideo as yet. It was supposed to be released in April according to the RME tech. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 Try here: http://www.soundpure.com/p/rme-fireface-802-firewire-audio-interface/9333 ... or there: http://www.fullcompass.com/product/464976.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rone2him Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 The 800 looks interesting. Then get the 802 which is the newer version! So, if I understand his broken english, the RME 802 has a FW 400 (IEEE 1394), and not FW 800 (IEEE 1394b), but because they have their own design, it will perform sufficiently well, without the increased BW that FW800 offers? The iMac I will be using has FW 800 ports only (no USB 2.0 conector), seeing I wanted to maximize BW (contemporary technology-wise), with a new interface. RME is thus touting, their FW 400 design, will perform sufficiently, not be compromising, users? Any further feedback, concerning this would be settling & assuring, as I'm considering the FF802s performance-wise, in this regard; I do need a new interface, BUT my iMac (an iMac 2.8GHz IntelCore i7) has only FW800 connector, or could I daisy-chain USB into my External HD's (G Technology G-DRIVE 1TB unit) USB 2.0 connection, then use FW800 from HD into iMac FW800. So, guess I'm questioning if that IS a workable solution for me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Cardenas Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 So, if I understand his broken english, the RME 802 has a FW 400 (IEEE 1394), and not FW 800 (IEEE 1394b), but because they have their own design, it will perform sufficiently well, without the increased BW that FW800 offers? The Fireface 800 was also using firewire 400. Band width is more than enough for all it's inputs and outputs. The 800 protocol was only needed when daisy chaining 2 or 3 interfaces. The new Fireface 802 supports FW400 and USB2 so you have pretty future safe combo. The iMac I will be using has FW 800 ports only (no USB 2.0 conector), seeing I wanted to maximize BW (contemporary technology-wise), with a new interface. RME is thus touting, their FW 400 design, will perform sufficiently, not be compromising, users? Like I stated above. Bandwidth is more than sufficient. Which iMac do you have that supports FW800 but not USB2? Any further feedback, concerning this would be settling & assuring, as I'm considering the FF802s performance-wise, in this regard; I do need a new interface, BUT my iMac (an iMac 2.8GHz IntelCore i7) has only FW800 connector, or could I daisy-chain USB into my External HD's (G Technology G-DRIVE 1TB unit) USB 2.0 connection, then use FW800 from HD into iMac FW800. So, guess I'm questioning if that IS a workable solution for me? Now you've lost me. So your iMac has USB2? Also how are you going to daisy chain USB and Firewire??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ploki Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 So the FW800 port on FF802 is just a dummy connected to the same FW400? or can it be used for daisy chaining? I've worked with UFX on USB2.0 and its just insanely stable... I can't really believe how well they managed to pull their drivers off. I also routinely record @64samples/buffer with FF400, even if the project is packed with plugins and flextime. I don't think I've had an interface that would work so stable at buffers at less than 128. You can always get a thunderbolt dock/splitter to get more ports Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Cardenas Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 You can daisy chain up to 3 unit's but it's only going not going to utilize duplex (FW800) "In real-world an operation of more than one Fireface 802 might be difficult. Each further unit will lead to problems on the USB and FireWire bus, caused by the high number of channels. It makes more sense to connect external converters to the ADAT I/Os of the 802, adding up to 16 channels of analog record and analog playback." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rone2him Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 The Fireface 800 was also using firewire 400. Band width is more than enough for all it's inputs and outputs. The 800 protocol was only needed when daisy chaining 2 or 3 interfaces. The new Fireface 802 supports FW400 and USB2 so you have pretty future safe combo. Like I stated above. Bandwidth is more than sufficient. Which iMac do you have that supports FW800 but not USB2? Now you've lost me. So your iMac has USB2? Also how are you going to daisy chain USB and Firewire??? Ok, sorry Eric, I was a little confused, as I have always used Firewire in the past, and didn't understand that the USBa connectors, were usable, to connect an interface; duh! I received my new RME 802 yesterday, and everything was plug & play (business as usual), yeah! So thanks for your explanations, as they helped me make the jump, in purchasing the RME802 unit, a safe one and bring me into the lasted developments, hardware wise anyway... now to figure out how to use "Logic Remote" & "TotalMix FX for iPad", but that probably, is best dealt with in a separate post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Cardenas Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 You're welcome rone2him. I highly recommend RME. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ploki Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 +1 for RME. By far the most stable and versatile interfaces in the price range Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rone2him Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 +1 for RME. By far the most stable and versatile interfaces in the price range Yep! +1 for RME 802 Very happy with my new, RME 802, & TotalMix FX... Setup a mix of several mics & DI, into TotalMix FX, EQ Comp, routed to phones & now I understand the word 'pristine', so heavily used, to describe nice preamps; so much has changed, since I first bought my old (now defunct) 'konnekt 24D' unit, which served me well, but, then it;s not quite in the same class $$$ wise. I just wish the manual was a little more detailed, but some RME tutorials were, more, helpful to get me rolling (Are we rollin' Bob? hehe), and would still like to find more information on the TotalMix FX plugin (as I'm still fuzzy on the 'leveling' adjustment), there is nothing in the manual, on the plugins, function or controls... but experimentation, is the best teacher. hehe If this unit is in your price range, the newly designed RME 802 is a top performer, and having latency free monitoring, in the box, with open-ended routing, all indispensable features. cool cool Looking forward to tracking some stuff sounds, and hearing the AD-DA performance, & my expectations on the units performance are high, given what I've heard so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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