• Registered: 2020-11-29
  • Posts: 7

Topic: M1610 Pro Questions

Hello,

A few questions about this device if I may:

1. Does this AD/DA converter have built-in fans?

2. If it does, how audible are they in an otherwise silent room?

3. Is there any difference in sound quality between the M1610 Pro and the ADI-8-QS? If so, which one "should" be better and why?

One last thing and is more of just a general question/comment...

4. What is the reasoning behind many of the multichannel RME converter devices lacking AES/EBU D-Sub Digital I/O options? Is it because those are generally only considered consumer type interfaces?

In case this was not know, If RME made a "Digiface" type box with 16 channels or more via USB3 or Thunderbolt that goes straight out to either a 25pin AES/EBU or the same thing on XLR or the same thing via multiple SPDif on RCA jacks I suspect RME wouldn't be able to keep such a device on the shelves because it would sell out so quickly...Just saying, thats all.

The Digiface USB comes close but no cigar. Almost no consumer 2 Channel DAC's have ADAT In/Out or if using Toslink none of them will do 24/192. They cap out at 24/96 on Toslink. Just make one that has a more usable connection on it like the ones previously mentioned and you'll have a gold mine in the making.

There is a growing "Audiophile" community just drooling for a such a box that:

1. Most importantly, it has to work and be sonicly transparent in its duties
2. Allows for the connection of multiple 2-Channel "Audiophile" DAC's for multi-channel music playback and room correction purposes

I wont go too far and ask that such a box also does better than passing only 24/192 but being able to do all the above at the higher Sample/Bit Rates sure would be REAL NICE if it existed smile

Thank you

2 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
  • Administrator
  • Offline
  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 25,537

Re: M1610 Pro Questions

The "Audiophile" community is drooling for a multichannel box that also supports DSD, plus all the stuff usually found in AVRs. That is not our business, sorry.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • Max
  • Max
  • Moderator
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2007-05-09
  • Posts: 315

Re: M1610 Pro Questions

1. Does this AD/DA converter have built-in fans?

Yes.

2. If it does, how audible are they in an otherwise silent room?

It depends on the environment temperature. They are usually silent, but if the M-1610 Pro sits directly on top of another hot device without space in between, I'd recommend to let them do their work. It's up to you, you can choose different fan profiles in the web remote and monitor the temperature yourself.

3. Is there any difference in sound quality between the M1610 Pro and the ADI-8-QS? If so, which one "should" be better and why?

Since the M-1610 Pro uses newer converters, its specs seem to be a bit better than the ADI-8 QS, but both devices play in a league where these differences can be neglected.

  • Registered: 2020-11-29
  • Posts: 7

Re: M1610 Pro Questions

Thank you for your replies

5 Reply by clusterchord (edited by clusterchord 2021-02-20 01:23:33)

  • From: Croatia, Zagreb
  • Registered: 2011-02-28
  • Posts: 9

Re: M1610 Pro Questions

hello, i plan to expand my UFX plus with M1610.

since with 16 ins and 8 outs M1610 occupies only a small part of the total 64i/o channel bandwidth (for a single MADI connection @48k), i presume its possible to cascade several units for more i/o ?


however i couldn't find any mention in the manual, explaining where do you assign which of the 64 channels range will each respective unit occupy.

previously i utilized a pair of Mytek 8x192 with my UFX+, and they had dip switches at the back. so you could, for example, set your unit1 to channels [1-8], unit2 to channels [9-16] and so forth.


anyone knows how this is setup with M1610, or M32 Pro serie, for that matter ?





P.S.  (edited)   i just noticed the answer about fan.  ugh, that's problematic as i use my mixroom as tracking room as well, and all my gear with fans (daws, vepro slaves, lexicons etc) are in the machine room.  tho theoretically possible, it might not be practical for me to move M1610 there too.


now if i keep the top 2U above the M1610 empty, or possibly even unscrew the top lid, would setting the fan speed to very low or even zero, work okay ?

i used to do this with Myteks that could fry an egg on the top. i removed the lid and simply disconnected the whiny fan. recommended by the manufacturer actually.



thanks

www.babic.com - music for theatre, film and television

clusterchord's Website

6 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2021-02-20 08:35:26)

  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Offline
  • From: UTC+1
  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 13,132

Re: M1610 Pro Questions

x

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

7 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2021-02-20 08:41:24)

  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Offline
  • From: UTC+1
  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 13,132

Re: M1610 Pro Questions

clusterchord wrote:

hello, i plan to expand my UFX plus with M1610.

since with 16 ins and 8 outs M1610 occupies only a small part of the total 64i/o channel bandwidth (for a single MADI connection @48k), i presume its possible to cascade several units for more i/o ?

however i couldn't find any mention in the manual, explaining where do you assign which of the 64 channels range will each respective unit occupy.

previously i utilized a pair of Mytek 8x192 with my UFX+, and they had dip switches at the back. so you could, for example, set your unit1 to channels [1-8], unit2 to channels [9-16] and so forth.

anyone knows how this is setup with M1610, or M32 Pro serie, for that matter ?

P.S.  (edited)   i just noticed the answer about fan.  ugh, that's problematic as i use my mixroom as tracking room as well, and all my gear with fans (daws, vepro slaves, lexicons etc) are in the machine room.  tho theoretically possible, it might not be practical for me to move M1610 there too.

now if i keep the top 2U above the M1610 empty, or possibly even unscrew the top lid, would setting the fan speed to very low or even zero, work okay ?

i used to do this with Myteks that could fry an egg on the top. i removed the lid and simply disconnected the whiny fan. recommended by the manufacturer actually.

thanks

MADI allows for 64ch at single speed. So you can use at one MADI bus at
- single speed   (44,1/48 kHz): up to 4x M-1610 Pro
- double speed  (88,2/96 kHz): up to 2x M-1610 Pro
- quad speed (176,4/192 kHz): up to 1x M-1610 Pro

The physical channel assignment to MADI or AVB channels or in other words the routing between channels on the unit itself is easiest to be done with an Internet Browser via network.

See also manual https://docs.rme-audio.com/shared/_atta … online.pdf
- 8.5.2 "Web Remote"
- 10.1 "Routing Signals to the Outputs"

I would 1st try whether the fan is an inssue if it is being set to lowest level.

BTW the new devices like 12Mic, M-1610 Pro bring some other nice features with them, like e.g. the later possibility to integrate "old" MADI equipment into an AVB network which offers also features like RME MADI delay compensation.

Maybe take a look into my review about the 12Mic. It contains some information about it.
You have to download one of the two PDF files in English or in German on this page.
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … XTC-DE-EN/

There you can also see some screenshots of the Web based management interface..

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub14
  • Marc S
  • RME Developer
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2019-06-11
  • Posts: 110

Re: M1610 Pro Questions

Hi,

clusterchord wrote:

P.S.  (edited)   i just noticed the answer about fan.  ugh, that's problematic as i use my mixroom as tracking room as well, and all my gear with fans (daws, vepro slaves, lexicons etc) are in the machine room.  tho theoretically possible, it might not be practical for me to move M1610 there too.

now if i keep the top 2U above the M1610 empty, or possibly even unscrew the top lid, would setting the fan speed to very low or even zero, work okay ?

i used to do this with Myteks that could fry an egg on the top. i removed the lid and simply disconnected the whiny fan. recommended by the manufacturer actually.
thanks

The fan is temperature controlled and has 3 different profiles. In the "off" preset it's disabled until temperature reaches a critical limit. But leaving a bit of space in the rack (less than a unit is usually enough) above and below should be sufficient to prevent that. Of course this depends on other devices in the rack, air flow, room temperature, etc., but normally this shouldn't be a problem.

Best regards
Marc

  • From: Croatia, Zagreb
  • Registered: 2011-02-28
  • Posts: 9

Re: M1610 Pro Questions

ramses wrote:

..The physical channel assignment to MADI or AVB channels or in other words the routing between channels on the unit itself is easiest to be done with an Internet Browser via network.

See also manual https://docs.rme-audio.com/shared/_atta … online.pdf
- 8.5.2 "Web Remote"
- 10.1 "Routing Signals to the Outputs"

a that's great, thanks wink

ramses wrote:

the new devices like 12Mic, M-1610 Pro bring some other nice features with them, like e.g. the later possibility to integrate "old" MADI equipment into an AVB network which offers also features like RME MADI delay compensation.

Maybe take a look into my review about the 12Mic. It contains some information about it.
You have to download one of the two PDF files in English or in German on this page.
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … XTC-DE-EN/

There you can also see some screenshots of the Web based management interface..

will do thanks.  have no plans to move to AVB atm,  but will see what the future brings..


Marc S wrote:

The fan is temperature controlled and has 3 different profiles. In the "off" preset it's disabled until temperature reaches a critical limit. But leaving a bit of space in the rack (less than a unit is usually enough) above and below should be sufficient to prevent that. Of course this depends on other devices in the rack, air flow, room temperature, etc., but normally this shouldn't be a problem.

i see, that sounds viable. i could probably switch to the "off" profile just bfr i start tracking acoustic stuff with mics. for other louder signals like electric guitars or bass, it won't be an issue anyways.

i will also have 1U free above, possibly 2U if it turns out needed.


thnx



P.S. is the DAC section of M1610 same quality/fidelity as one on M-32 DA Pro ? 

reading the numbers it seem like it,,

www.babic.com - music for theatre, film and television

clusterchord's Website

  • Marc S
  • RME Developer
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2019-06-11
  • Posts: 110

Re: M1610 Pro Questions

clusterchord wrote:

i see, that sounds viable. i could probably switch to the "off" profile just bfr i start tracking acoustic stuff with mics. for other louder signals like electric guitars or bass, it won't be an issue anyways.

i will also have 1U free above, possibly 2U if it turns out needed.

I would suggest to just select the "off" profile and leave it running for a couple of hours or a day. If temperatures are within limits then (i.e. core not higher than 80-85 deg C), your environmental airflow is totally sufficient.
To be honest, for one of my development units I didn't even bother to put a fan in there.

clusterchord wrote:

P.S. is the DAC section of M1610 same quality/fidelity as one on M-32 DA Pro ? 
reading the numbers it seem like it,,

Yes, it is.

11 Reply by clusterchord (edited by clusterchord 2021-03-08 22:27:46)

  • From: Croatia, Zagreb
  • Registered: 2011-02-28
  • Posts: 9

Re: M1610 Pro Questions

thank you all for info, i ordered M1610 and SFP Madi Module from Thomann wink


got SFP to be able to connect it to UFX+ via optical madi. this will keep the UFX+ word clock i/o free for syncing to other stuff down the road.


will post a followup once i get all this running together with UFX+.

www.babic.com - music for theatre, film and television

clusterchord's Website