• dede
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Topic: Advice: upgrading old PCI system

Hello,
I'm using an old (but excellent) system based on a 2002 hammerfall PCI card that works with 3X optical plugged on a Roland  vm7200 console, so I use Roland's converters providing 24 i/o to the RME interface.

Audio from PC is monitored via RME's Spdif OUT plugged into dedicated Roland VM7200 Spdif chinch IN.

Now that console is gone, I just want to keep my RME and I need I/O for that hammerfall.

I'm a little bit lost about the options I found in RME's site:
What should I get if I want:

-8 mic preamps communicating via optical with REM PCI card  (OctaMic II??? Micstasy???)
-8 analog LINE inputs to use some nice external preamps I have (M16-AD ???) again connected via optical to PCI.

Besides my big studio's Roland "old style" console setup, I work home with a fireface UC and got used very easily to the Total Mix virtual console, don't need a hardware fader/trim setup anymore, but:

-does some kind of Total mix come included with this converter/preamp/units? How do control routing and i/o etc???

I'll appreciate any guidelines on this, any single unit I used to know are long gone now, you know how hard it is to get into the "market" every 5 years or so...

Thanks, Regadrs

dd

  • From: New Milford , CT USA
  • Registered: 2007-05-01
  • Posts: 347

Re: Advice: upgrading old PCI system

Hi DD,
The Octamic, Micstacy and M-series are standalone Mic-pre amps and converters. They do not have any internal routing. Routing would be done within your software or within the RME Total Mix software.
I would recommend the combination of the Fireface UFX and the Octamic II as a replacement for the Roland Mixer.
This combination will give you 4x Mic/Line/Instrument inputs, 8x Mic/Line Inputs, 8 Line Inputs, 8 Line outputs, 2x Independent headphone outputs, 2x ADAT I/O (ADAT 1 inputs used for Octamic) and 1x AES I/O. You will have a toal of 30 I/O in this 2 rack space setup.
If you need more analog I/O you can setup your Fireface UC when needed as a standalone 8 channel AD/DA and plug it into the 2nd ADAT port. You will end up with 29 analog inputs and 20 analog outputs.

Thanks Chris

Chris Ludwig | ADK Pro Audio
www.adkproaudio.com
https://www.facebook.com/adkmg

ChrisADK's Website

  • dede
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Re: Advice: upgrading old PCI system

Thanks Chris, your recommendation is a good one.
But as I have a Fireface UC (at home) I can take to the studio if needed for more I/O, I would like to stick to the sole HDSP drivers installed there, so just using the ADAT optical io I've been using till now. I wont use digital (AES/EBU) nor SPdif or optical IO, it's a quite "old style" small studio there. So One (or Two) octamic could give me enough analog mic premaps (I have 4 more external Pre) , and I just need some kind of line leevl Analog IO that could go on the Adat Optical. Does RME make some kind of "line" equivalent to Octamic, so I can plug my Avalon and SSL external Mic Pre there?
Or, what am I loosing if I just take 2XOctamic and use one octamic as "Line In Converter" for my preamps? I still can use Total Mix, can't I?
I just have 600EUR more needed for the UFX (instead of a second Octamic), and I'm wondering of it's worth it (for the use we'll give to it: just line level I/O)
Thanks a lot
dd

  • vinark
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  • Registered: 2009-06-05
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Re: Advice: upgrading old PCI system

Yes the ADI8´s are line level, but both in and out and not exactly cheap. I have an ADI8AE which is an older type but I love it.

Vincent, Amsterdam
https://soundcloud.com/thesecretworld
BFpro fs, 2X HDSP9652 ADI-8AE, 2X HDSP9632
  • dede
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Re: Advice: upgrading old PCI system

hey Vincent,
I see that RME ADI 8 DS is almost same price than Octamix. My idea was having both for almost 2500EUR, that's in my budget and'll give me 16 analogue  i/o. I can move my fireface UC if I need more, or buy a 2nd Octamix in the future...
Just got to figure out how to manage the whole thing (monitor, phones) without a hardware console. That's where Chris suggestion above (Fireface UFX) comes handy, having 2 phone out...

  • dede
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Re: Advice: upgrading old PCI system

ChrisADK wrote:

Hi DD,
The Octamic, Micstacy and M-series are standalone Mic-pre amps and converters. They do not have any internal routing. Routing would be done within your software or within the RME Total Mix software.
Chris

I'm wondering if this units (Octamix, ADI8) come with TotalMix, cause it wasn't included with my HDSP and can't find a downloa dfor ti on rem's site, just a TotalMix DEMO version...
My HDSP just has digicheck.

7 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
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  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 25,565

Re: Advice: upgrading old PCI system

Seems you have no HDSP, but the original Hammerfall (DIGI9652). Not included then.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • dede
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Re: Advice: upgrading old PCI system

MC wrote:

Seems you have no HDSP, but the original Hammerfall (DIGI9652). Not included then.

yes exacytly, DIGI9652, that's the one. SO: no total mix?
There's no routing possible without an external mixer?

If i do get a UFX with total mix I wouldn't be able to use it for DIGI9652 routing?

I'm really confused now...

  • From: Germany
  • Registered: 2007-04-10
  • Posts: 9,766

Re: Advice: upgrading old PCI system

This card does not have a mixer and a UFX would replace it as an audio device, and not be used to "route" something.

What exactly do you need to "route" that can't be done in your audio software?


Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

RME Support's Website

  • dede
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Re: Advice: upgrading old PCI system

RME Support wrote:

This card does not have a mixer and a UFX would replace it as an audio device, and not be used to "route" something.
What exactly do you need to "route" that can't be done in your audio software?
Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

Well, actually I'm still used to the console (Roland) so perhaps I can handle most of it through Sonar.

But I guess my main concern is routing monitor to headphones.
Globally: headphones mixes and real time monitor (no latency) of the sigan  I'm recording.
At home, when I use Sonar+UC for that, I never monitor through Sonar, I always use totalMix to send a latency signal to my headphones-monitors....
SO I grew up for that no-console workflow with Fireface UC working alone at home (ie recording one track at the time, one main/montior mix), but the big 24 track system in the main studio is a different situation.
And our card there (DIGI 9652) has no physical interface/io whatsoever, so I don't know how to add those IO to it (OctaMix, ADI8) and handle a couple of monitor mixes etc..
Thanks for your help,
dd