1 (edited by Z30 Dandy Dust 2021-05-07 16:59:19)

Topic: RME victim of China - chip shortage together with costumers?

Since I cannot write to the RME support without a serial number I put my Letter to RME into the forums, maybe someone can send it to them with their serial number:

Dear Sirs and Madames,
I ordered an RME fireface 802 from Thomann on March 17th, 2021, which could not yet been delivered. Since I need the device for production after updating to windows 10 and buying Ableton Live 11 and haven't been able to seriously produce a piece of music for 2.5 months (since my previous audio interface is not designed for win 10), the question arises how useful it actually is to take the renewed consolation on 30.5. serious? Apparently there is a chip problem with China ... blah blah ... I'm not a conspirator .. that's just the way it is...

My actual question: Should I organize an interim solution after all (buying a used RME 800 for example), or is the 30.5. actually realistic?
With best regards, Mag. Artis Anton Herzl

(I dont want to go on anybodies nerves, I understand that it is not RME´s fault, it´s just that I´d like to be able to make music, for me it´s not about the buisness - deal... it´s about MUSIC!)  https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2021 … onductors/

Re: RME victim of China - chip shortage together with costumers?

How about a UCX or UC ? These are on stock.

M1-Sequoia, Madiface Pro, Digiface USB, Babyface silver and blue

3 (edited by ramses 2021-05-08 10:03:55)

Re: RME victim of China - chip shortage together with costumers?

Z30 Dandy Dust wrote:

Since I cannot write to the RME support without a serial number I put my Letter to RME into the forums, maybe someone can send it to them with their serial number:

Hi Artis,
sorry to hear about your ordering/availability problem ..

Did you try to enter a "fantasy number" in the contact form, so that there is something in the field ? I'm sure RME only marked this as a mandatory field, so that in case of a device defect the serial number is known for warranty or whatever reasons. But I think this doesn't really need to be a "valid serial number".

Other proposal/tip: when somebody was looking desperately for a Babyface Pro FS I could help him to find a new device by also looking at eBay offers and then he got one.

From own experience I can tell you, that UFX II and UFX+ are extremely nice interfaces as well, if budget allows I would widen the search for those devices, because
- they are quite similar from the amount of ports and
- offer even more interesting features
Maybe this increases your chance to find something.

I am also not sure, whether you really want to have the Mic Pres and Phones at the front being operated by knobs.
By this you loose the very practical feature to be able to save/recall the settings in TM FX digital.

You can compare the features of these interfaces very easily using my Excel here in this blog article: https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … B-MADIfac/
Direct Link to Excel: https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/index.ph … 0-08-xlsx/

If you have any question about interface alternative / features, then please do not hesitate to ask.

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

Re: RME victim of China - chip shortage together with costumers?

Hello Ramses,
thank You a lot for Your elaborate answer.

In the sellers site it says, that also these (UFX2...) are only availabe in several months from now?!

They offert me other products (not from RME) but I WANT my first RME rock solid - Audio Interface with rock solid - RME drivers and a future perspective... because the once I had are still fine technically, but the companies just don´t provide drivers for newer windows-versions which brought me to RME!  I want to be able to use my audio interface also with windows 11 and a half ;-) ...... ........  hope this problem gets solved soon!  maybe I by me a used fireface 800 in the meantime...

Re: RME victim of China - chip shortage together with costumers?

Just in case an UFX II or UFX+ might attract you as well (and if budget allows), here a blog article about those flagship interfaces: https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … 8-RME-UFX/

and how I use them in my setup: https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … -DURec-DE/

If you have plans to expand your solution at some point, then I would take a closer look at the UFX+ with MADI, which is not that much more expensive now, because only MADI offers you a very large variety for expansions.
Compared to the usual expansion possibilities via ADAT a much higher number of channels (64 channels at 44.1/48 kHz) and much longer cables - up to 2km between devices - if that would be necessary. Up to 8 devices can be connected in series at the MADI bus.

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

6 (edited by cyrano 2021-05-07 18:45:18)

Re: RME victim of China - chip shortage together with costumers?

Victim of China?

The fires were in Japan and Taiwan...

Another factor was that car manufacturers estimated that Covid would mean less demand, so they lowered their orders. Later on, they noticed demand didn't go lower, so now they have a problem with supplies. Only exception: Toyota.

Nothing Chinese in there, I'm afraid.

I've mailed support several times without a serial. Something new I'm not aware of?

MB Pro - 2 X FireFace 400, FF800 & DigiFace USB
ADAT gear: Korg, Behri, Fostex, Alesis...

Re: RME victim of China - chip shortage together with costumers?

Hi

where at Thomann? Germany?

If the 802 is in shortage an UFX (second hand) or an UFX II could serve.

If I search, I find 802, UFX II and UCX in stock at several dealers. Just check by phone if they really have for immediate shipment.

8 (edited by ramses 2021-05-08 10:22:15)

Re: RME victim of China - chip shortage together with costumers?

I went through my comparison Excel to find out the differences, to make it perhaps a little bit easier for you, to take the flagship models UFX II or even UFX+ into consideration.

Some might argue, that an UFX+ might be overkill, but keep in mind two important things:

1. when using higher sample rates the loss of channels in double speed is with ADAT only quite severe. So it might be a good thing to have also MADI for any future demand in the future without having to get a new recording interface. Those free MADI ports can also be used very nicely for loopback recording. You do not have to waste analog or ADAT channels, if you need them for other purposes

2. Its always a big advantage if you have different possibilities to connect to the PC. I remember myself that in some cases USB worked better for me compared to Firewire with a certain Mainboard. With USB2, USB3 and Thunderbolt (external PCIe) you have a wide range of options to use the best / most stable connection towards the computer.

Here a comparison between 802 and UFX II / UFX+ over the 802:

  • higher quality analog section

  • higher mic gain (75dB vs 60db gain), higher input level of +18dBu (vs +10), little higher SNR (118 vs 116dBA)

  • digital gain control, Gain can be saved/restored in TotalMix FX

  • better / stronger phones outputs with lower output impedance

  • Hi-Z instrument inputs (1 MOhm vs 800kOhm)

  • Autoset (automatic overload protection that also can be used to quickly/only find the proper gain for recordings)

  • DURec, direct USB recording on USB sticks, etc. for backup or stand-alone recordings, also in CC mode for iPAD

  • Internal real-time clock to get timestamps for files on DURec recordings, easier to identify recordings by this

  • uses the newer MADIface USB driver that allows sample rates down to 32 (vs 48) samples if needed

  • New ARC USB can be connected to a special USB port on the back for this purpose, also nice for stand-alone operation

  • 100% fully standalone operation through the Display

  • UFX+ can be connected to PC in three ways: via USB2 (without MADI), USB3, Thunderbolt

  • UFX+ can be expanded through MADI (more channels available at higher sample rates compared to ADAT only solution)

  • UFX+ "MIDI over MADI" to control Mic Preamps (Octamic XTC, soon also 12Mic) without the need for separate MIDI cabling

  • 802: "old" ARC for remote control also in stand-alone mode is not available/purchaseable anymore

Differences between 802, UFX II / UFX+ in terms of loopback operation:
802: pre-fader, UFX II / UFX+: post-fader
The loopback function in TotalMix FX is implemented either "pre-fader" or "post-fader", depending on driver and hardware support. The "pre-fader" implementation allows to mute the HW output without affecting the loopback operation.
This is useful, for example, to mute connected active monitors without disconnecting the cables.

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

Re: RME victim of China - chip shortage together with costumers?

Hi there, nice discussion, but makes no differnce, no matter what You think about the more expensive RME - audio interfaces, they are also not deliverable at Thomann.  The things written on other suppliers homepages may express that they have something on stock, but Thomann has may money already. I asked them for my money back, let´s see what happens...

10 (edited by ramses 2021-05-08 14:49:23)

Re: RME victim of China - chip shortage together with costumers?

Like the 1 I found on ebay which I wrote to you in private e-mail, so that nobody other can grab it ... wink

On the shops website they had zero, but maybe they were so honest, to substract the one from shop as it was offeren on the eBay platform. I would simply call them by phone, to ensure the device on eBay is really available on stock.

And I thought, when pointing to the flagship interfaces, that you repeat the procedure, to look also at other shops than Thomann and on eBay ..

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