Is RME 96/8 the way to go for me?

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umair

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Hello. I am happy to have found this forum after reading a ton of posts everyone on here everyone seems really cool and enjoys helping out new comers. I am going to end up posting two things. One in Mics and one in Computer Recording…. So bear with me in case you read both posts… it may seem a little repetitive.

OK. Here is my situation:
I have been tooling around with home recording for about two years but spend most of my time in my band. I started out with a Boss Br-8 about two years ago. And sold that and bought a C-port and some freeware software. Then I bought sonar off of a friend. Then I sold that on ebay and bought Nuendo which is by far the greatest purchase I have ever made (in my novice opinion).
I have gotten a lot more serious about the demo recording studio thing because people have liked all the equipment I put together and I have compiled enough stuff over the last year or so to start charging people to record demos. That’s kind of what I like about this. I can record my own band and also record others and make some money back. I am ready for a pretty significant upgrade (significant for me at least).
I am selling a few things now and I am ready for the next step up. I like to do things in steps rather than spending 5 grand all of the sudden.

This is what I have:
DMP3 Preamp
Alesis Nanoverb - (not really used for recording, mostly rehearsal)
Behringer MX3282A mixer - (used mostly for rehearsals but I also mic up drums through it… I know it needs to be upgraded eventually so please don’t yell at me for Behringer).
Two ¼” patch bays - (don’t use them much but I got them cheap)
Mics -nothing too great just yet:
- (2) SM57’s
- (1) SM-58 (mostly used for rehearsal rather than recording)
- AT3035
- MXL 660 - I know its cheap but I really like the sound out of it.
I sold a few mics and I am purchasing upgraded replacements, but that’s what I just posted in the mics section.
I also have NHT Pro-something Monitors. I think they are called Vergence now or something. They sound great.
Anyway, that’s the background info here is my dilemma:
I am selling my C-port. It did a great job for the time I’ve had it and I was happy with results but I think it is time to upgrade. For the money though, I think it was great but then again I have very little experience in this.

This is what I need:
8 ins. 2 outs should be fine because I have the mixer if I need to use something for monitoring.
Better converters than C-port.
Eventually I want to get the Behringer out of the signal chain completely and upgrade to a better mixer/pre-amps but for now I am stuck with it at least on drums. The other instruments are recorded two tracks at a time so I can pretty much just run through the DMP3 to the recorder.

My questions is, what do you suggest as my plan of action? I physically carry my desktop (just the main box) to the studio back and forth because I like to mix at my house but all of the equipment is in another place. That’s why I kind of like the RME 96/8 series because I can feasibly get 8 inputs right into my computer with no breakout box. That’s pretty sweet. I don’t mind a breakout box either. Originally I wanted to get the Delta 1010 but I would rather put in a few more bucks and really see a difference in the converters. And in the case of the 96/8, that doesn’t seem like much more money.

I also liked the Roland SI-24 studio pack but I have no idea if those converters would even be an upgrade to the C-port. The moveable control surfaces look really cool though. And it would solve my problem of not having to go through the Behringer. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think the behringer is that bad, but a lot of people suggested that I change it.

I know this is a lot of information but I hope you guys can guide me a little bit. I’ve changed my mind several times but it looks like the Digi96/8 is what I need. I don’t know which one though, the normal, PST, PAD? I can’t tell if PST is better than the PAD? I thought it was the other way around but the PST is more expensive in some places? That confused me a little. I have feeling though that for what I’m doing (no ADAT or anything), I probably don’t need anything to fancy. Just the digi, an expansion board for 8 ins (giving me a total of 10 with the two that are already on the PST or PAD), and some insert cables to split the signals going in. And then there is the Hammerfall Series which I don't know about it. Does it have better converters? If not then I shouldn't really even be worried about all thsoe extra features right?
Anyway,
Thanks for reading my long ass post.
 
The original Hammerfall series is digital only. The 9652 has 3 adat interfaces for 24 channels 24/44.1 (or48) and wordclock. The 9636 has only 2 adat interfaces and no wordclock. Both also have spdif. HAlve the number of channels if you work in 24/96.

TheHammerfall HDSP series is newer. The HDSP9652 adds midi I/O and an internal digital mixer to the 9652 and the new HDSP9632 is something like a 96/8 on hormones: 1xADAT, 1x analog, 1x spdif, 1x headphone, internal mixer.

Then you have the digiface and multiface products with the pci card. These are kind of complete solutions with a breakout box.

So you have choise enough, and the rme cards are usable in multiples. If you are really that serious about it, the I would go with a digital card, and external convertors (RME has nice ones). This would give you a lot more flexibility for expansion. What about an hdsp9652 with an ADI-8 AE or DS?

As the nuendo hardware is nothing more than rebranded rme suff, you could do worse.
 
Thank you for the reply.
REally quickly, How do the converters match up between the different RME's? Obviously the standalones will be better. I just want to keep cost reasonable for myself.
Originally I was hoping to get away with the 96/8 and an 8 channel expansion board..
How do the converters match up between:
digi 96/8, reg PST PRo (assuming same converters)
AEB8I
ADI 8 /DS
Multiface

It doesn't look like I need too much digital. I just want some good Converters and internal card routing. I am also enjoying reading comments on the "Best Audio Interface" Thread.
I appreciate your input.
I'm going to start pricing the ADI 8.
I have severe GAS (gear acquisition Syndrome) and that used to only involve guitar stuff. I wanted to get RME but cheap (and used) as possible so that I can spend money on mics and preamps (gotta get rid of that behringer).
 
OK....

I just saw that the AEB boards are not 96Khz. So that option is out....

After a TON of reading previous posts....

Its either the Delta 1010 or Multiface. I'm just not sure if the Multiface is worth the extra 400 bucks. Used deltas can be bought for as low as 350 or so. It looks like the converters are very good for both. The RME's may be better and one person said its night and day... Is it worth the additional 400 bucks? I wish there was some hardnosed data that can kind of quantify it for me. I know I can always upgrade later but I do have the money. I may have to suffer with the Behringer mixer a little longer though.....

The other option with the ADI Pro is going to cost about 1200 bucks for everything used. Although that wouldn't really kill me, I just don't know if I'm ready for that just yet since I'm still learning. I think I can probably get by with the multiface or delta. If the difference between the two is really about 5% or so, then screw it, I'm just gonna get the delta until I get better at this. But if its night and day, then I want the multiface....

Either way, the upgrade should blow away the C-port right? And I would have a decent setup to charge a few people.
My C-port is just about sold, so I need to purchase a replacement in the next day or so. Any final advice would be greatly appreciated. Gosh, I don't want to sound like that annoying guy from before on the same subject.
 
If you dont think you will ever need to expand beyond 8/10 inputs then I think you will be perfectly happy with the delta 1010.
 
IMHO, any of the RME line will sound that much better than the Delta and is worth the money, unless you absolutely can"t afford it. The Delta is pretty close to the Cport quality wise, but the Delta is a very solid performer. Easy to set up, reliable etc... But then I have never heard of any problems with RME, and mine has worked flawlessly since the seconfd I installed it.
 
I think you will find the difference between the 1010 and the c-port will be much larger than the difference between a 1010 and a mulitiface. Up to you to decide if the incremental improvement is worth the cost. You might want to consider saving your cash by getting the 1010 and adding a high quality 2 channel A/D later for critical tracks. You cant go wrong with the RME if you can afford it.
 
I don't know about the difference between the external ADI convertors and the multiface ones. Think they must be pretty similar. Only other convertors are those in my Pulsar, and these are very good for internal ones.

I can only say that I'm very satisfied with my RME 9652 and ADI-8 AE. Easy to use and never any problem. Drivers are a joy to use, you install them and forget about them. No constant updating like others. I think in a (semi) pro setup that is also worth something. This gear is way over the top for my use, but then again, why not?

If you plan to charge people for their use, should you not plan this in? You got yourself Nuendo right? I cannot afford that, as my use is not much more than playing around with sound.
 
Havoc,
Do you mean that I should get the Multiface over the Delta.... or 9652+ADI 8AE over the multiface?... that second option is pretty pricey... if its the same converters as the multiface, then I should go with that.

Oh yeah... you can get nuendo cheaper by going on ebay (hit or miss) OR have someone who is a student use their university software discount program thing. I was going to do that but I got it off of ebay for cheaper.
 
Umair, I cannot comment on delta vs rme. I only have the rme at my side.

I guess there will be not much to tell the rme multiface and rme adi-8 from each other as they both are from the same stable. But I upgraded from a Fostex VC-8 to the adi-8 and that was noticable. But yes, you enter the region of diminuishing returns.

Ebay in the US may be great, but over here in europe, it stinks. Not ebay in itself, but what is up for sale and what people think they can get payed for selling junk.
 
^^^^^

I just got the MultiFace this weekend and was very impressed.

The balanced inputs are a huge upgrade to the C-Ports unbalanced inputs by far. The drivers sucked getting started but now are good as gold. The mixing is the second thing you notice behind the improvement in sound clarity you achieve with this unit. You will notice your mixing improve due to the added headroom and loudness you can push your mic to now.

The unit is small too. only 1/2 rack and 1 wire.

If you can afford the $800 - $900 do it. My C-Port got sold the minute this guy came in.
 
I'm interested.... I'm considering buying a C-Port myself, to replace my Gadget Labs card. What exactly do (all of you) not like about your C-Ports?
 
RWhite said:
I'm interested.... I'm considering buying a C-Port myself, to replace my Gadget Labs card. What exactly do (all of you) not like about your C-Ports?
Click to expand...

My problem arose when my preamp's never seemed to carry enough power to Sonar.... I always had to turn up the external preamp and use the preamp on the C-Port 9 o'clock to get a -12 to -6 level.. At that point the distortion and muddiness was clearly evident.

Everything else on the unit is cool. This is a nice step up from the $100 to $200 range. At $400 the AD DA convertors are OK. Many inputs, as well as the digital optical and coaxal cables. The new unit I got was double the price so the step up was clearly evident. (RME Multiface)
 
Just FYI, but the multiface converters are not the same as the adi series. I haven't heard either, but from what I've read on RAP, they are really in a different league. The adi stuff uses AK5393 ADC chips and the multifiace uses AK5383. Suffice it to say, it seems they are cheaper for a reason.

I think if you really need 8 I/O, either the multiface or the 1010 would probably do the job. I think they are both pretty good deals, with the multiface probably having better drivers and the 1010 a bit cheaper. I don't think there is really much better until to you step up to the next price range.
 
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