• Registered: 2013-03-28
  • Posts: 4

Topic: RME Babyface Sound Issues

Hi, I just got the RME Babyface and am just beginning to learn how to use it.  I upgraded to this audio interface from Saffire USB because the Babyface is supposed to have really clear / perfect sound.

Im trying to get it to work with my Yamaha P155 digital keyboard and I'm using FL Studio as a DAW.  I'm a little confused by TotalMix and how/why i need it (Saffire didn't have anything similar to this), but the main problem is that once I get sound to come in through the interface / out of FL Studio, the quality is greatly diminished.  When I plug my headphones in directly to the P155 the sound is crisp and so clear, but when it goes through the Babyface it becomes airy and affected.  It sounds similar to the Saffire USB... the whole reason I upgraded was to get sound which is unaffected and identical to the keyboard when I play directly out of it. Is there something I am missing/something I can do?

Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated smile

  • From: Germany
  • Registered: 2007-04-10
  • Posts: 9,560

Re: RME Babyface Sound Issues

If both the Saffire and the Babyface seem to agree on the sound quality, then maybe you should question your keyboard's phones output. Possibly that "crisp and clear" is not real, i.e. added to the signal at the phones output stage for better effect? I am assuming that you are connecting to the audio interfaces from a line output, which seems to sound different.

I don't know the Saffire, but I have no reason to seriously doubt its basic sound quality. Like the Babyface, it would appear to be designed to accurately reproduce the incoming signal, and not to make it "sound better" in a potentially superficial way. Therefore, I would also not expect the Babyface to sound "better" in a striking, in-your-face kind of way. And it certainly will not reproduce (much less add...) "crisp and clear" where that isn't already in the original signal.

Have you passed the line output signal of your keyboard through e.g. an analog mixer's phones output for comparison with the inbuilt phones connection? Have you also tried other headphones?

Regards,
Daniel Fuchs
RME

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

RME Support's Website

  • Registered: 2013-03-28
  • Posts: 4

Re: RME Babyface Sound Issues

When i connect headphones to either the headphone output or the line output it sounds the same / clean.  I was under the impression that the babyface was supposed to not alter the sound as it goes from the instrument to the computer.  When i say crisp and clear, i just mean that it sounds unaffected - after going through the interface it sounds like a filter or muffled effect.

What would you say is the main reason for buying a more expensive interface like the baby face ($700) as compared to the Saffire USB ($150)?  I had assumed that the main reason was that it is more true to the sound  -  on an expensive/performance keyboard like the one I'm using ($1000) I would be surprised if it didn't output cleanly.  If it is the same as the Saffire USB then i would just return the babyface, right?

Are there other factors which could contribute to the diminished sound? cables? DAW stuff? I think part of my problem is that I'm not familiar enough with the TotalMix software and I struggled to get the piano to make any sound at all.  I'm currently clicking on the analog 2 input, the wrench and then "inst" but thats all i know how to do.

  • From: Germany
  • Registered: 2007-04-10
  • Posts: 9,560

Re: RME Babyface Sound Issues

The BF as such will indeed not alter the sound. And while it may sound better than the Saffire, differences between modern converters will be subtle, and hardly strikingly obvious, as in clear vs. muffled or so...

While your cabling setup does not seem entirely clear to me, there is no need to activate the INST option here, which is made for e.g. guitar signals. The keyboard provides a line signal. Are you only using input 2? Have you somehow connected the stereo phones output to the mono instrument input on the BF's side panel? This will not work too well... Please try connecting line outputs (separate for L/R) to the XLR line inputs with sutable adapter cables (TRS-XLR).


Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

RME Support's Website

  • Jeff
  • Jeff
  • Moderator
  • Offline
  • From: USA
  • Registered: 2007-05-21
  • Posts: 4,621

Re: RME Babyface Sound Issues

Make sure FL studio is set for 24-bit recording, not for 16-bit, and make sure you don't have any plugins active in the software.

Regards,
Jeff Petersen
Synthax Inc.

Jeff's Website

  • Registered: 2013-03-28
  • Posts: 4

Re: RME Babyface Sound Issues

I went out and got trs to xlr cables (since i was doing it the way you described), but I'm still having problems.  It sounds different but isn't fixed.

http://imgur.com/CXYAcc5
http://imgur.com/HjGyG9B

This is my setup and also the way things look in TotalMix.  Do you have other recommendations?  I read something about needing to have cables balanced vs unbalanced and not sure if that has something to do with it.

Thanks for the feedback

  • Registered: 2013-03-28
  • Posts: 4

Re: RME Babyface Sound Issues

http://imgur.com/jexk3Ba