freshandclean wrote:Ok, simultaneously only a set of 3 hdsp on the same pc?
Its not the same driver using an hdspe aio + an hdspe madi?
For future communication please use proper product names which you can take from RME product pages / webserver.
There are different cards with HDSPe in the name, but with different drivers, e.g. these two HDSPe cards with MADI support:
- HDSPe MADI driver: "driver_hdsp_win..."
- HDSPe MADI FX driver: "driver_pciefx_win..."
You make it difficult to understand / create a little confusion when using a) different and b) non-official product names:
- in post#1 you use "madi fx" and "madifx" as name.
- in post#3 you use "hdspe madi".
From your posts I deduce/assume "HDSPe MADI FX" with three MADI busses (if you need to exchange at least 128 channels between two PCs/DAWs, if I understood correctly.
BTW .. the HDSPe MADI FX got a separate driver of its own, which is optimizing resource consumption of the driver on your PC. It has an optimizing driver organizing the I/O ports in groups of 8, where driver resources are only allocated for those 8 ports, where at least one port is in use for audio.
Same for the USB recording interface MADIface XT but only for the E-PCIe port (not for USB3). E-PCIe is not so common on mainboard and would require an additional PCIe card which I think you should avoid to make things easier (not sure whether they are currently still available, esp. in this special corona situation, they are simply not so often being used).
To sum-up a few products and drivers
HDSPe MADI, AIO, AIO Pro : driver_hdsp_win...
HDSPe MAID FX, MADIface XT (E-PCIe): driver_pciefx_win...
I made some thoughts and have a proposal for you based on
- HDSPe MADI FX
- ADI-2 Pro FS R BE
- optional: ARC USB
see below.
If you should need something different, maybe also try to make such a drawing in ASCII to make things clearer.
freshandclean wrote:Which card could i add to an hdsp aio pc, to have also 128 madi input or output ?
HDSPe MADI FX card (but this one has a different driver than the AIO or AIO Pro). The card is very flexible, has 3x MADI (2x optical, 1x bnc), AES, Analog out, FX chip (!), MIDI.
There is an optional expansion card available to get the 3rd port as optical ""Opto X", which is very practical as "optical" provides galvanic isolation and supports even longer distances.
freshandclean wrote:Sending 128 ch via madi from daw 1 to daw 2 , then from daw 2 sending 12 channel of audio back to daw 1 via madi, then monitoring via daw1 with 2 hdsp aio
If I were you I would use a combination of HDSPe MADI FX and ADI-2 Pro FS R BE
The ADI-2 Pro FS R BE is the best that you can do for your monitoring section in terms of quality and features. By this you avoid any "different driver" problematic.
You will use the ADI-2 Pro FS R BE in standalone mode connected to the HDSPe MADI FX.
You can keep it connected through USB though to be able to perform firmware upgrades at any time or if you want to use it as USB DAC for DSD playback and what not in a different operation/routing mode.
It's possible to store different setups for different purposes and even to remap front keys to recall setups and many other things.
Regarding Clock / Quality of D/A conversion
The ADI-2 Pro FS refreshes any inbound clock signal (SteadyClock FS) and performs the D/A conversion in highest quality using its own FS clock.
See the RME Youtube videos in my blog article about:
- SteadyClock FS
- Extreme Power Headphone Outputs and
- Converter Shootout, ADI-2 Pro FS A/D comversion compared to Crane / Lavry Gold
-> https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … ses-EN-DE/
ADI-2 Pro FS R BE offers a lot of advantages for your setup, to put some examples:
excellent ad da conversion
support of four reference levels and a feature called auto reflevel that automatically chooses the optimum reference level so that SNR and dynamic is optimum over a much wider volume range (honours also B/T, PEQ and dynamic loudness settings in the calculation to select optimum reflevel)
ear protection by slow ramp-up of volume when plugging phones or switching between monitors and phones
"Bittest" to be able to perform an end to end test whether audio from a PC player was received lossless to ensure/check highest quality playback
State Overview Display ideal for troubleshooting status of digital connections (Sync, Sample Rate, State, Bit depth)
5 band PEQ to compensate deficits of phones or hearing weakness, even possible per channel
B/T controls to compensate bass and treble for bigger differences in music material/masters
dynamic loudness (as it should be!) so that music keeps it's body if you turn down the volume, customizeable
support for DAD in case you want/need it
different levels of crossfeed
extreme power headphones outputs driving even phones that need a lot of power
balanced mode for phones in case you want it
useful status screens with the possibility to troubleshoot digital connections better
SRC (sample rate converter) to connect devices with fix clock like DAT recorder
two dac chips to connect and compare phones at the same type of da converter
can act as a monitor controller for your monitoring section finalising the end volume so that a 0dB fader setting in TM FX can not harm your ears and/or equipment just in case you performed no proper level matching eg using attenuators if needed.
possibility to choose between different DA filter of your DAC for eg either most linear frequency courve or to use have an emphasis on other things of a little bit higher separation of certain percussive music instruments. These are only nuances and might depend on your room, equipment, etc (see one of KaiS's postings)
remote control
and even more
Here some more information about the ADI-2 Pro FS R BE from my blog:
- Model differences (I strongly recommend the Pro model here): https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … ses-EN-DE/
- Integration of ADI-2 DAC/PRO into your setup: https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … our-Setup/
For getting more ports, connect preamps and converters e.g. to the 3rd MADI bus
By using MADI bus 3 for this you do not get any potential offset between channels on MADI Bus 1+2 when connecting a different number of devices to the two different busses. Forwarding of audio from device to device in such a "chain" of devices needs a few samples time, see e.g. Octamic XTC manual for a few examples and depening on sample rate.
Some RME preamps devices can also being used as format converter: Octamic XTC (ADAT, 4xAES) and 12Mic (3xADAT).
Otherwise look at the other RME MADI products for AD/DA conversion or conversion between MADI and ADAT or AES.
ARC USB on both sides for more comfort operating TM FX and it's control room.
Example:
Note: HDSPe MADI FX on the left side is here the clock master for all connected digital devices in both rooms (left and right side). If you have a separate master clock in your studio, then you can also use this as clock master and connect e.g. the left HDSPe MADI FX through Word Clock (WC). The other devices learn the clock then through digital connections like MADI, AES, etc:
Room or Building 1-----------------------------------------------------| |------------------Room or Building 2
PC/DAW1 PC/DAW2
+--ARC USB +---ARC USB
HDSPe MADI FX (Clock Master) HDSPe MADI FX (Clock Slave via MADI)
HDSPe MADI FX --- MADI1 (1..64) --------------------------------------------------> (1..64) MADI1 --- HDSPe MADI FX
HDSPe MADI FX --- MADI1 (1..64) <-------------------------------------------------- (1..64) MADI1 --- HDSPe MADI FX
HDSPe MADI FX --- MADI2 (65..128) --------------------------------------------------> (65..128) MADI2 --- HDSPe MADI FX
HDSPe MADI FX --- MADI2 (65..128) <------------------------------------------------- (65..128) MADI2 --- HDSPe MADI FX
HDSPe MADI FX --- MADI3 (129...192) -----> XTC ----> 12Mic ---> M-32 Pro --> (129..192) MADI3 --- HDSPe MADI FX
HDSPe MADI FX --- MADI3 (129...192) <----- XTC <---- 12Mic <--- M-32 Pro ---- (129..192) MADI3 --- HDSPe MADI FX
| | | |||| ||| | | |
| | ADAT 4xAES 3xADAT AD or DA | |
AES (IN+OUT) AES (IN+OUT)
| | | |
++-ADI-2 Pro FS R BE---1/2(XLR)--> Active Monitors Active Monitors <-- 1/2 --- ADI-2 Pro FS R BE------++
" ---3/4(TRS)--> Headphones Headphones <-- 3/4 --- "
" <-- SRC/ADAT--- DAT DAT---ADAT/SRC----> "
(clock slave via AES IN) (clock slave via AES IN)
Room or Building 1-----------------------------------------------------| |------------------Room or Building 2
In this example I intentionally connected the other MADI devices to the separate MADI Bus 3 of the HDSPe MADI FX. The forwarding of packets need a few samples latency. This I wanted to avoid for you in the connection between the two PC/DAW through MADI1+2.
More information about the HDSPe MADI FX
See product page or you can also see my review here: https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … Pro-FS-BE/
Direct link to the complete PDF: https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/index.ph … l-v1-1-pdf
Something about MADI
Optical MADI connections with OM3/4 Multimode can be up to 2km between each (!) of the MADI devices. If you have structured inhouse cabling, clarify whether its Multimode (OM3 or OM4) or whether its single mode which supports even 10km between each device (!). Patch cables are usually available up to 50m length which is already a lot, if you do not have structured inhouse cabling.
I would recommend to get the optional daughter card "Opto X" for HDSPe MADI FX, then your 3rd MADI bus will be optical which is nice, because it provides galvanic isolation for your setup which is IMHO a very good thing.
In case this is of interest for you:
- RME devices with optical MADI ports can be equipped on special order with Single Mode instead of Multimode, if this is a special requirement (because of inhouse cabling or distances).
- The newer RME devices like 12Mic or M-1610 Pro offer more flexibility, as you can choose single or multimode by getting the propper pluggable SFP module by separate purchase. This is easier and will surely go quicker compared to make a special HW order for e.g. HDSPe MADI FX or Opto X dauther card with Single Mode, which needs to be manufactured for you.
Final thoughts
This is just an idea based on my experience with RME setups and MADI.
If you like the above and want confidence then I recommend you to ask RME for validation, but then you should perhaps also detail your use cases and requirements clearly.
BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub14