1 Topic by Gantlett (edited by Gantlett 2026-06-10 20:47:34)

  • Registered: 2009-04-16
  • Posts: 15

Topic: A letter of appreciation

Hi,

I just wanted to say how much I love and appreciate RME. There is simply no other company like RME in the world, certainly in the professional audio business, and in a long list of industries.

Why you may ask?

Let’s start with stability: I bought my Hammerfall DSP 9632 PCI card along with the AI4S expansion board in 2003. In those 23 years, these cards went in and out of several computers, travelled with me to the other side of the world, lay in my cupboard for around 10 years, travelled with me back to the other side of the world, and recently re-installed in a dedicated “new old” PC. They have always worked every time, and they still do, just like the day I bought them all those years ago. I was so impressed, that I bought a BabyFace Pro in 2018 because I didn’t have room for a PC at the time.

But what about build quality? The best out there, period. RME gear is built to last decades. My 9632 and AI4S combo are living proof.

And is it flexible? The 9632, just like the BabyFace Pro and pretty much all RME interfaces, uses TotalMix. I will kid you not, it took me 23 years to finally get the hang of TotalMix. But once the penny dropped, I realized how incredibly powerful and flexible it is. The 9632 was a state of the art audio interface at the time, and it still holds its own. It features a DSP hardware mixer with a true 40-bit internal resolution. This is an incredibly high resolution, even by today’s standards, and most importantly, remains completely transparent. You have to understand that in 2003 this capability was rocket science, so RME really pushed the envelope back then. I can send any input to any output, and have submixes - effectively making the interface a format converter and channel router. For example, I’ve got a 24-bit S/PDIF input signal and analog inputs sending out channels 1-8 of the ADAT output to my BabyFace Pro in 24-bit. All done at the hardware level, managed by TotalMix. Incredible power.

OK but how does it sound?

  • Output - fantastic. I remember listening to Depeche Mode’s Exciter album through the 9632 and monitors after just installing it in 2003. I was immediately struck by the stereo image - I’d never heard such a rock solid image. That’s what clock stability does. And the BabyFace Pro? Even better - in fact, absolutely stunning.

  • Input - the balanced analog inputs on the AI4S sound beautiful. They are not as quiet as the newest interfaces, but at -100dB self noise we’re talking great performance. I mean that’s more than 16-bit of dynamic range right there. You can stack up dozens of channels recorded with this noise floor and won’t have a problem in the mix. If you have a small studio, this will get you professional quality results - this equipment won’t be your excuse for not making music!

Support? The drivers of my 9632 are not just “working”, but they’re supported by RME in Windows 11. Even though finding a PC with a PCI slot has been a challenge for many years, and will continue to be, RME just continues to support the card, and I get to continue to enjoy it.

But are there caveats? With the 9632 there is one: PCI is obsolete. To get the card working, I had to get a 13 year old PC, but even that didn’t have a PCI slot, only PCI-E. So I got a PCI-E to PCI adapter from AliExpress! Yes, I took the chance, prayed to the universe and hooked it up, and it works. Oh and I had to bend a couple of useless pins on the motherboard to get everything to fit...  But it’s fine. So the risk is now double: the computer may fail (although it’s in great shape and looks new), or the adapter may fail (more likely, but so far so good). But the bottom line is that this setup works beautifully and I get to continue enjoying my beautiful 9632 and AI4S rig.

So right now, my BabyFace Pro serves as my main interface connected to my monitors and DAW, and the 9632+AI4S computer expanding it by connecting my synths to coaxial SPDIF and six balanced analogue inputs sent over ADAT to the BabyFace Pro.
For me? A dream setup.

So thank you RME for continuing to make great products, drive for innovation and excellence, and support your products with such dedication and reliability.

  • ramses
  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Offline
  • From: UTC+1
  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 15,768

Re: A letter of appreciation

+1

BR Ramses - HDSPe MADI FX, M-1620 Pro D, 12Mic, UFX III, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, Nuendo 15, Win10 IoT Ent

3 Reply by Hopslost (edited by Hopslost 2026-06-12 21:19:58)

  • From: Germany
  • Registered: 2025-02-06
  • Posts: 36

Re: A letter of appreciation

just a note about the PCI: ASUS PRO H610M-C D4-CSM is a mainboard that has one, and it's the fairly recent Intel socket 1700. I use the 9632 and it works. It just doesn't handle power supply well, there are mods but I would just go with external power (and for the Multiface II in any case).
There's also the somewhat rarer HDSPe PCIe Card.

I would probably too stick with hardware and a workflow that is steady and trusted for so long. Which is why, for all the Gear Acquisition Syndrome, I always try to find solutions that are longstanding and as independent of outside factors as possible.

UCX II, BBF Pro FS, Quadmic II, PCIe HDSPe Multiface II, AIO Pro