• From: Bloomington, Indiana
  • Registered: 2023-01-06
  • Posts: 161

Topic: Difference between Babyface and Dacs

Hi everyone!

David here, back again with another question. This time, it is a question out of curiosity.

I've noticed that, according to various Internet sources I read, the ADI-2-Pro FS and DAC fs can work with sample rates up to 768 KHZ, and supports special codecs like DSD, in addition to traditional PCM. However, no matter what audio interface by RME, from the Babyface to the Fireface line, the best they can do is 192 KHZ, and no DSD.

If I'm understanding correctly, the abilities between a DAC and an audio interface is similar. So, I'm curious -- why can't the audio interfaces also have high sample rate support and DSD playback like the DACs? Or, are we talking about very different product levels and these two are not compatible to be compared under the same context?

Thanks for answering my curious question.

David

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  • Jeff
  • Jeff
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  • From: USA
  • Registered: 2007-05-21
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Re: Difference between Babyface and Dacs

Basically, the last point is correct, very different products. In Pro Audio, sample rates over 96k are rarely used. The Fireface models have a lot of features aimed at studio and live recording, while the ADI units are made for audio labs and home hi-fi.

Regards,
Jeff Petersen
Synthax Inc.

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  • From: Bloomington, Indiana
  • Registered: 2023-01-06
  • Posts: 161

Re: Difference between Babyface and Dacs

ramses wrote:

DSD makes no sense for studio work. It's a HiFi thingie for audiophiles.

I see. So this is not a performance question or a feature difference, though I am indeed using the Babyface Pro FS as an external DAC. Still, I was curious why can't the audio interfaces also have 768 KHZ and DSD, since the DAC side is similar? Now I'm beginning to understand that these can be very different and that it's probably best to not let the DAC chips go up to these crazy rates.

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  • From: Bloomington, Indiana
  • Registered: 2023-01-06
  • Posts: 161

Re: Difference between Babyface and Dacs

Jeff wrote:

Basically, the last point is correct, very different products. In Pro Audio, sample rates over 96k are rarely used. The Fireface models have a lot of features aimed at studio and live recording, while the ADI units are made for audio labs and home hi-fi.

Thanks, Jeff! Apart from loopback, I guess I am using the Babyface Pro FS as an external DAC. But this is good to know -- just very different proudcts and probably not a good idea to compare one with the other.

But one question still remains -- how come the DACs can go up to 768 KHZ while audio interfaces always stay at 192? Sorry, but I'm just curious about how these things are like this, and what makes them different.

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  • Jeff
  • Jeff
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Re: Difference between Babyface and Dacs

Digital connections like ADAT, AES/EBU and S/PDIF can only support 192k max. Up until recently, the AD and DA chips were also limited to 192k. Only specialized chips like RME uses in the ADI can support these extremely high sample rates, and then only via the USB connection.

Regards,
Jeff Petersen
Synthax Inc.

Jeff's Website

  • From: Switzerland, Zürich
  • Registered: 2013-02-20
  • Posts: 193

Re: Difference between Babyface and Dacs

There are audiointerfaces which do 358kHz more I have not seen.

However the higher the samplingrate the worse the quality of AD and DA conversion. Speed goes against precision. This is not new. Its a general principle, Heisenberg theorem.

Now you can sample Mhz or Gigahertz today, however you will not find ADC or DAC Chips with 24Bit and presicion of real 21Bit. However in Audio this is possible (low sampelrate of 192kHz, 358kHz).

Thats why it makes no sense to go up with the sample rate as the ear is limited to about 20kHz.

Peter

  • From: Bloomington, Indiana
  • Registered: 2023-01-06
  • Posts: 161

Re: Difference between Babyface and Dacs

Thank you both! All this makes logical sense. So in short, an audio interface that does 24bit 192KHZ has better precision than a DAC that can go to higher sample rates and support audio formats that have nothing to do with professional audio engineers. Hope I understood this well.

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