• Registered: 2012-06-11
  • Posts: 4

Topic: RME Fireface UC - thinking about buying

Hey everyone, new member here.
I'm currently in a music project that will be using a lot of midi for live gigs.
so we've been hearing and reading good reviews about the FF UC for a while now.
but a large investment always requires some good research and we were thinking about asking on the oficial forums for advice and opinnions.

we will have a Midi Merger from midi sollutions combining 2 or more midi signals into the Fireface's MIDI in.
is that viable latency wise?
we also want to record our guitars, bass and drums using the fireface, and from what we've heard, there are some good quality preamps in there.

We will be using windows 7 x64, modified and stripped down to the essential services and features. does the fireface work well with windows 7 ?

Thanks in advance.
Regards,
GMX750

  • Knut
  • Knut
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 1,618

Re: RME Fireface UC - thinking about buying

Yes, yes and yes.

best regards
Knut

  • Registered: 2012-06-11
  • Posts: 4

Re: RME Fireface UC - thinking about buying

lol thanks for the reply.
do you think that using a PC in a live gig is a reliable sollution?
for a band that's just starting to perform live, what are the alternatives?

Thanks again,
GMX750

  • Registered: 2012-06-11
  • Posts: 4

Re: RME Fireface UC - thinking about buying

*bump*

  • From: Connecticut, USA
  • Registered: 2011-08-01
  • Posts: 376

Re: RME Fireface UC - thinking about buying

Hi,
Much of this will depend on what you are trying to accomplish with the laptop.

Using a laptop can a be problematic there are so many variations of price, quality and reliability with PC laptops that it can hard to find on now that will be reliable for live use.

Even though most will seem to have same components the performance can vary wildly depending on how the laptop manufacturer integrates the hardware and BIOs.
BIOs Power management, wifi and video card drivers are the main source for performance on laptops. Windows will only perform as well as your computer hardware.

Most current DAW software such as Cubase, Ableton Live, Sonar and Reaper will work great for live VSTi performance, backing tracks or recording.

For a mission critical Live performance scenario I would look at a custom DAW builder that offers laptops.
There may be some off the shelf major brand laptops that may work. People have reported working configurations on the forums.
But keep in mind that what they may consider reliable and stable may still not be usable for live.

The other 2 options would be going for a Mac Book Pro or a desktop/rack computer.

Apple route depending on what software you use will have some hidden costs outside of just buying the laptop.
If you do go that route I would recommend looking at refurbed or used MBP.

A desktop/rack mount PC will be substantially faster, reliable , upgradable and cost effective to any laptop solution. It will also be far cheaper and faster to repair and replace parts on the road compared to a laptop.
The trade off is it won't look as cool.

Chris

Chris Ludwig
North East USA Sales | Synthax/RME
www.facebook.com/RMEAmericas
Twitter @RMEAmericas

ChrisLudwig's Website

  • Registered: 2012-06-11
  • Posts: 4

Re: RME Fireface UC - thinking about buying

The laptop is a bit unreliable in my opinnion as well... overheating issues, and slow disk performance...

I think the most important aspect is a solid live performance and a reliable PC.
We were thinking of using Cantabile Performer as our VST host... it's suposedly very stable and has rock-solid performance.
what do you think about it?
cantabile is a dedicated vst host, unlike sonar, or ableton which have a lot of other funcionalities.

what did you mean by custom daw builder? like cakewalk certified laptops or such?

  • From: Connecticut, USA
  • Registered: 2011-08-01
  • Posts: 376

Re: RME Fireface UC - thinking about buying

Hi,
Yes That can act a guide. The site is out of date system wise but it will give a good idea of what companies specialize in Laptop and Desktop DAWs as well as some mainstream models that work.

Thanks Chris

Chris Ludwig
North East USA Sales | Synthax/RME
www.facebook.com/RMEAmericas
Twitter @RMEAmericas

ChrisLudwig's Website