• Registered: 2017-05-19
  • Posts: 4

Topic: Which soundcard do I need?

I want to buy an new audio interface  (I can get my Steinberg MR816x working anymore with my new PC) and I want to choose an RME. I am only a bit confused by all the different models.

Budget not more than +/-1500 euro

First priority sound quality, but possibility to expand inputs and outputs, not so much
Preamps, 1 is enough for the mic but more bal jack are welcome.

Second priority is latency. I need the lowest latency possible, does this mean I need a PCI e card which is perfectly fine for me or is there no (notacible) latency difference between PCI e and usb?

I was thinking about the RME HDSPe AIO but it’s aleready 8 years on the market. Maybe the technology (latency, sound quality, features) improved in these 8 years and how does the sound quality compare to the latest rme interfaces is it the same or is does theRME Fireface UCX, RME Fireface 802 or the RME ADI-2 Pro 2-channel AD/DA converter sounds better.

thx

Martijn

  • Registered: 2016-12-10
  • Posts: 37

Re: Which soundcard do I need?

I think you may do well with the ucx, I purchased the babyface pro but I was overwhelmed when I was in need of physical ins outs.
Sonically they are pretty much the same even MC will tell you himself, when it comes to RME products it really comes down to how many ins and outs you require as all the interfaces are made to sound SUPER clean.

i5 6600k - 16gb DDR4 - 2 x 850 evo (250gb)
Babyface Pro - Babyface Silver - Pro Tools
  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
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  • From: UTC+1
  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 13,183

Re: Which soundcard do I need?

A combination of RayDAT and ADI-2 Pro could be very interesting, but slightly over budget.
http://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/inde … ort-DE-EN/

Comparison of RME recording interfaces here:
http://www.tonstudio-forum.de/index.php … 017-01-pdf

You could go for the UFX II .. slightly over budget, but has interesting new features like the UFX+ (without MADI, Thunderbolt, USB3), see the list in this article about features compared to old flagship interface UFX: http://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/inde … 8-RME-UFX/

Or you get the former flagship interface UFX, which is available for an exceptiopnally low price, as this year we got 2 new flagship interface (UFX+ and UFX II). This would be in budget for you.

What could be interesting to you with UFX, UFX II, UFX+ .... fully standalone configurable, enhanced with UFX II / UFX +.

Combination of RayDAT and ADI-2 Pro would result into very nice analog sound with reference quality, althought the audio quality of UFX II and UFX+ also increased further.

Here a comparison of the RTT times of different recording interfaces:

http://www.tonstudio-forum.de/index.php/Attachment/1931-UFX-UFX-RayDAT-Latencies-jpg

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub14
  • Registered: 2017-05-19
  • Posts: 4

Re: Which soundcard do I need?

Thanks for the suggestions. I did go for the UFX it 2 was over the budget but I hope I can use this soundcard for many years to come.

5 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2017-10-30 12:01:46)

  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
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  • From: UTC+1
  • Registered: 2012-10-14
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Re: Which soundcard do I need?

The UFX - the former flagship interface - is being sold for €1600 in the shops which is a phantastic price.
Get it, as its much likely that it becomes "sold out".
Its only €100 over your budget, but if I were you, I would simply do it.
Its a very nice and flexible interface.

If you want latest converter technology and slightly better analog circuits, then you should get the UFX II.
Because if you spend already so much money, then I personally would go for the "real cake".

But to be honest .. I dont know exactly what your expectations / requirements are for "low latency".
Everybody seems to have another understanding of it.

As you can see all the RME interfaces are in terms of round trip time of the driver between DAW and recording interface on par with PCIe based products, the differences are minimal.

If for some reason you require very quick A/D D/A conversion on the unit itself, then you can see in the handbook section of each device the times for A/D D/A conversion in dependency of sample frequency.

UFX II @44.1 kHz: AD 0.28 (13 samples) , DA 0.16 (7 samples)
UFX     @44.1 kHz: AD 0.27 (12 samples) , DA 0.63 (28 samples)

So D/A latency for conversion is with the new generation of converters only a quarter of the previous generation of converters in the UFX.

https://www.google.de/url?sa=t&rct= … WYorPIQVvs

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub14