Hi!

In medias res: I bought a 32 channel British analog mixing console. I was really surprised how I could improve the sound with tiny movements on those fine British EQ, and with clever gain-staging.

BUT,

I have a trusty RME Fireface 400 since 2012 I think. (Only one minor problem that the push/turn knob on the front behaves erroneously; if I turn down the volume with normal rotation speed, it jumps back to +6, but if I turn it slowly, it goes down as it should be... or if I pull the knob, then it works. Might be the potmeter?)

So this tiny and powerful FF400 has not enough I/O to serve this console. I started to search RME website, then Google, then stores, and forums. And it seems that the market hasn't offered a good solution for users who are on a tigh budget and don't want to spend 6-7000 EUR for a converter and maybe just needs additional I/O channels.

So far I found the following converters:

• Motu 16a, 24 Ai, 24Ao

• Ferrofish Pulse 16, A16, A32 (seems to be the best value/price ratio)

• Antelope Audio Orion 32

Meanwhile RME offers multilinking interfaces but mostly up to 3 pieces, or there's the M16 or M32 option, but it's really for the budget of big studios.

My question: Has RME noticed that there is a market niche, and does RME plan to drop something similar to users on a tight budget? Like a pumped up Hammerfall 16/24/32 AD/DA in a 1U unit only with analog IOs, that might be linked via FW to interfaces like my trusty FF400?

...and I'm talking about the market up to 2-2500 EUR.

Because I love my gear so much and I'm really used to good drivers, DigiCheck, Totalmix, the clean and accurate sound. I wouldn't like to change service provider.