@KZe, long story short .. jump to the end and use UFX+
I made my proposal only because one of your statements in port #1 sounded as if you have a strong requirement for 192 kHz for a quite high number of channels (around 8-12 Mic Pres and maybe up to 24 analog ports. Therefore I checked very thoroughly for 192 kHz support and ended up with my proposed solution..
There might other solutions be possible, but then it would be very kind if you could be more specific in terms of your requirements.
Questions regarding A/D and D/A converter:
1.1) Does the number of analog in/out channels need to be equal ? Why I ask: the RME M-1610 Pro has more input than output channel, because most people do not need an equal amount of input and output channels. Additionally the the M-1610 do not have that "costy" display to cut some costs.
1.2) So, how many analog in, analog out do you need at minimum and what would be "nice to have" with a little reserve ?
1.3) Do you need to set reference levels per port ? I heard, in the old studio days you had the typical situations that all input and output ports were connected to the same device or same type of device. So it was sufficient to set the reference levels per inputs and outputs, but not per port (example: ADI-8 QS). In my home recording studio I have different requirements, I need to be able to set reference levels per port, so for me the newer devices like UFX+, M-1610 Pro (or even M-32 Pro if I would need that many channels) would be required, where you can set reflevel per port. To whatever device you look, you should ensure whether this requirement is met or not.
Questions regarding Mic Preamp:
2.1) How many channels do you need at minimum, what would be "nice to have" ?
2.2) Do you need additional Instrument ports ? Some RME devices offer 4 Instr ports (Octamic XTC, 12Mic)
2.3) Do you need a feature like Autoset to automatically set the proper gain (UFX+, XTC, 12Mic) ?
2.4) Do you need a feature like Auxdevice to be able to remote control the most important parameters of your preamp by TotalMix FX (by using the MIDI over MADI feature)?
2.5) Do you need a feature like Auxdevice to be able to easily store and recall your preamp settings in TotalMix FX snapshots?
If you answered any of the last three questions with yes, then you should look for a RME preamp like the Octamic XTC or the 12Mic. Note: Auxdevice support for the 12Mic will come later in a firmware upgrade. For the XTC its already available.
2.6) Do you need a feature like delay compensation, so that Mic Stereo recordings arrive sample exact at your DAW. Especially needed if the amount of Mic Pres is >1 and if it should not matter, to what device you connect the Mic stereo pair. RME MADI solutions with an XTC makes this possible. And it is also possible with AVB as far as I heard.
If you answered the last question with yes, then you should look either for a RME MADI solution and the Octamic XTC preamp or for a AVB based solution where I heard that the timing should be as exact as the delay compensation feature of RME MADI based solutions.
3. General question
3.1 Is recording in double speed required for all channels ?
3.2 Is recording in quad speed required for all channels ?
Regarding ADAT based solutions
ADAT based solutions I regard as tricky (or even not really possible) because of the high number of channels and your demand to work with double or even quad speed.
Look at the RayDAT: 4x ADAT I/O
32ch in/out @44.1/48 kHz (single speed)
16ch in/out @88.2/96 kHz (double speed)
8ch in/out @176,4/192 kHz (quad speed)
I think we can agree that ADAT with one PCIe card does not bring you any further if you look at double and quad speed.
If you think about using two cards, this is fine:
64ch in/out @44.1/48 kHz (single speed)
32ch in/out @88.2/96 kHz (double speed)
16ch in/out @176,4/192 kHz (quad speed)
But then you have
- still not enough channels for quad and maybe even double speed
- limitations in TM FX routing, because you can route channels with TM FX only inside of one instance.
Workaround would be to route in the DAW, but then you loose a certain flexibility by TM FX routing / loopback functions.
You need to use two optional WC modules to synch by word clock, check whether you have so many Slots free in your computers tower. For two RayDAT cards with WC you need already 6 Slots.
MADI based solutions in contrast to ADAT
Several advtantages:
- more channels 64 vs 8 at single speed
- higher cable length, up to 2km (with single mode even 10km between each of the devices in a MADI "chain")
- everything over MADI, even the management traffic (MIDI over MADI) saves you MIDI cabling
Things would be much much easier to you if you would use double speed and quad speed only with fewer channels:
then you could use an UFX+ with its nice features and DURec.
Then you can still decide or "differentiate" whether you want to make use of RMEs unique features for preamps or not, like Autoset, Auxdevice for remote control and storing/recalling Preamps settings in TM FX snapshots.
And you could make use of all the very nice features of the UFX+..
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … 8-RME-UFX/
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … -DURec-DE/
Additional Advantage of RME Mic Preamps / ADDA converter
Additional features that other devices do not offer, e.g.
- power supply redundancy (12Mic, M-1610 Pro, M-32 Pro)
- remote management over MIDI, MIDI over MADI, Ethernet (AVB products)
- three different remote management options (MIDI remote, Auxdevice, via Browser), individual for each device, check)
- Delay Compensation over MADI (and AVB)
- Format conversion features between MADI, AVB, ADAT, AES .. (individual for each device, check)
- Class Compliant mode to connect even to iPAD (Octamic XTC)
- Features like Autoset, PAD, INSTR, one or two phones outputs (individual for each device, check)
- Integration of MADI devices into AVB
- Start with UFX+ and MADI, but your devices are also capable to be operated in an AVB environemnt
BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13