1 Topic by goodkeys (edited by goodkeys 2022-11-15 16:40:05)

  • Registered: 2021-05-15
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Topic: Hammerfall DSP PCI/Multiface I together with AIO Pro?

Hi everyone,

Currently I am running a HDSPe AIO Pro on my Windows 11 machine, which drives my stereo speaker setup. I would like to add a surround setup to this. Is it possible to add a Hammerfall DSP PCI card plus Multiface I to the same machine, and run them side by side? The two question marks that I have are:


  • Will a Hammerfall DSP PCI card run on an AMD Windows 11 machine, using a PCI to PCIe adapter?

  • Can I run a HDSPe AIO Pro and a Hammerfall DSP side by side, and switch between them?


The basic idea is that my AIO Pro will be used for working in stereo, where I need low latency. The Hammerfall DSP and Multiface will be used to drive a surround setup.

Is such a setup possible in Windows 11?

2 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2022-11-16 20:37:51)

  • ramses
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Re: Hammerfall DSP PCI/Multiface I together with AIO Pro?

I am not so familiar with the older Hammerfall cards.
Sadly you didn't detail, which Hammerfall card you have so that it would be easier to identify the suitable driver.
Is it the Hammerfall® DIGI 9652?

From the HDSPe driver description it appears to me, that these older cards are not supported anymore by this driver,
but I also could be wrong.
The HDSPe driver README lists these cards:
HDSP Serie (AES-32, MADI, 9652, 9632, Multiface, Digiface, RPM)
HDSPe Serie (PCI, MADI, MADIface, ExpressCard, RayDAT, AES, AIO)

If you run two of the same or two different cards you need
- same driver, as an application can only load one audio driver
- clock synchronisation between these card, so depending on which card you have exactly, whether there is a digital port (either internal on the cards or external) for synch purposes (see also comment (*) below).
If you operate them you need to ensure to use the same AIO buffer size in the driver for both cards.

Its less an issue of the particular Windows version, 1st of all the cards need to be
- supported by the same ASIO driver
- clock synched

(*) Word Clock is not supported for the AIO Pro, so you do not need to check this out for the other card.

When you talk about surround setup … how many channels 5 are you talking about? 6 (5.1) or more?

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

3 Reply by goodkeys (edited by goodkeys 2022-11-17 10:46:00)

  • Registered: 2021-05-15
  • Posts: 13

Re: Hammerfall DSP PCI/Multiface I together with AIO Pro?

Thank you for your help Ramses! The Hammerfall card isn't specified in the ad. The picture reads:

'RME Hammerfall DSP
PCI Interface Card
Rev. 1.9'

It comes with a Multiface I (which reads 'Hammerfall DSP Multiface' on the front plate).

My goal is to run a 7.1.4 Atmos setup of speakers through this card. I would add a Behringer ADA8200 to the Multiface to get the necessary number of line outs.

If I could run the two cards separately that would actually be fine. I would use the AIO Pro when working in stereo, and switch to the multiface for surround/Atmos. So the two cards would not have to work at the same time. I am not sure whether that makes a difference for the clocking.

4 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2022-11-17 11:25:25)

  • ramses
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Re: Hammerfall DSP PCI/Multiface I together with AIO Pro?

Maybe you did not understand my posting above fully.
In the list of supported cards, you find Multiface and AIO.
Then ASIO Pro is also supported. You can validate this by checking the download link for the driver for the AIO Pro.
I think as the card is quite new, it has simply been forgotten to mention it in the driver README as of supported card.

So, in short, the Multiface and AIO are using the same driver.

Both interfaces have ADAT and SPDIF ports, if I looked correct, so you can synch the two devices using the SPDIF port.
This leaves the ADAT port free on both devices.
So, you could even connect two Behringer ADA8200, one to each of the card's ADAT port.

The application/DAW will load the ASIO driver and detect both cards and list the I/O ports in a certain order.

You won't be able to route in TM FX channels between the cards, but you can route
- in TM FX: channels of each card individually, not across cards/rec-interfaces
- in DAW: channels of both cards

The AIO pro you can use as clock master, the Multiface as clock slave.
In the driver settings ensure, that
- both cards are in status “synched”, not only locked, but also really synchronized
- you use the same ASIO buffersize for both cards.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub14
  • Registered: 2021-05-15
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Re: Hammerfall DSP PCI/Multiface I together with AIO Pro?

Thank you Ramses, that sounds fabulous. I checked on the driver pages, and the driver for the AIO Pro lists the multiface as supported product, and vice versa.
You are right about the SPDIF, that's available on both cards. So I will use that to sync the cards, as you wrote. That way the ADAT out will be free to use for expansions.

Thanky you for your help. I greatly appreciate it.

  • ramses
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Re: Hammerfall DSP PCI/Multiface I together with AIO Pro?

You're welcome and good luck with your little project.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub14
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Re: Hammerfall DSP PCI/Multiface I together with AIO Pro?

Hi, as for the adapter, this will work in principle. You may need to shorten the card's slot board, otherwise it won't fit. People have posted pictures of such solutions here earlier, but I think the images are gone...

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

RME Support's Website

  • Registered: 2021-05-15
  • Posts: 13

Re: Hammerfall DSP PCI/Multiface I together with AIO Pro?

Thank you Daniel. I found some information about using a pcie-adapter googling it. It looks like that solution should work.