Todd Weaver Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 I'm getting ready to put a firewire interface on the cart to provide functionality for not only boom recorder, but pro tools playback and multitrack DAW on the cart. My MacBookPro rides on the cart already. I own a MOTU traveler, although this is my third replacement due to crappy firewire circuitry. I never have been too crazy about the sound of the unit, but the weight and 12v power are on point. I'm considering an upgrade. The RME fireface 800 with Timecode card looks very nice. Also, the Metric Halo ULN-8 is at a higher price point, but seems like very good quality stuff and just what daddy might need on his cart. Apogee Ensemble looks nice, but 120v power and heavy as hell.. So, what are you other Deva/O1V96/boom recorder/pro tools guys thinking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MT Groove Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 I love the RME Fireface 400. It's light, compact, can be bus powered or DC powered, sounds great, and very stable with Boom Recorder and other DAWs. It seems RME has freplaced it with the Fireface UCX which is a very similar unit with USB 2/USB3/Firewire 400. This may be worth a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Visser Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 ULN-8 is great, but the 2882 is also a great unit from MH, especially if you don't need the built in preamps of the ULN - 2882 conversion is great, pres can be a bit noisy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesper Magnusson Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 The Metric Halo cards that Tom mention are of very good quality. A cheaper choice if you don't really need fantastic pres and ADDA but decent build and solid drivers, is the echo audiofire line (12V, and can also be used as a stand alone). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathaniel Robinson Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 I've been looking at some of the same units, and am really intrigued by the RME UFX. The big downside is 120v operation, but it does work stand-alone AND can record all inputs to USB stick (also a stand-alone feature). Built-in backup recording makes it pretty attractive to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesper Magnusson Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Nathaniel, the UFX and it's durec feature was complete news to me - really cool! I hope that function catches on, even for smaller cards. A 4-8 channel sound card with durec and 12V operation would be very attractive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Weaver Posted December 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 Thanks guys. I'll have a look at the RME 400. The only downside I see to the UFX might be the abscense of a LTC card like the 800 can have. Any ideas about timecode? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Weaver Posted December 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 I could pull out my o1V96 and put it on the trailer for backup and replace it with a O1V96i. Is anyone using those into boom recorder? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VASI Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 I vote RME.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole Hankerson Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 RME fireface 800 is amazing and built like a tank. Would def get the job done for you. I used one in a post sound studio and the onboard preamps are very nice and you can get it even modified by Black Lion Audio if need be. Nicole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Visser Posted December 28, 2012 Report Share Posted December 28, 2012 I haven't tried using it yet, but Boom Recorder recognizes the O1V96i in the patch bay... will try some tests later. That seems like the best way to go to keep it all compact and less "moving parts". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petros Kolyvas Posted December 29, 2012 Report Share Posted December 29, 2012 Long time no-post here and so happy holidays to all! I'm also a longtime Fireface 800 user - almost 7 years without a single issue and Total Mix is quite the useful piece of software. I've found the drivers to be rock solid. Regarding the TCO (timecode option - http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_fireface_800_tco.php) it does not and will never support 23.98 and so while that's not the end of the world, it's important to note depending on if productions you work on might want such a thing and therefore the option would be useless. I'm also unclear on if the TCO add-on is actually necessary when something like Boom Recorder can take and AUX timecode and properly stamp the files for you... I've fed Boom Recorder through a FF800 input timecode from a camera and it will properly jam-sync, Although I didn't check for drift in a exact way; in several hour-long shoots all the audio sync'ed up properly. With the small price difference though I'd consider the Fireface UCX and/or UFX if I were purchasing new today for a few reasons; moderate improvements on everything and as mentioned above with the UFX, backup recording direct to a USB drive (flash, SSD or otherwise.) I'd also suggest that with IEEE1394/Firewire disappearing from laptops and desktops alike, coupled with the longevity an interface like any of the ones mentioned (RME or otherwise), it's worth considering how they interface with a host system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Paine Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 I could pull out my o1V96 and put it on the trailer for backup and replace it with a O1V96i. Is anyone using those into boom recorder? I've recorded a project this past summer with 01V96I into Boom Recorder. No problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfisk Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 I've been very impressed with what RME does and their build quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Visser Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 Here's the results of my little informal test with the O1V96i. In Pro Tools 10 I armed 16 channels for recording via USB and had a stereo AUX track sent back on USB 1/2 for monitoring. At 32 sample buffer, the setup seemed to work, but had some overflows every few minutes. At 64 samples, it seemed stable, no dropouts after a half hour of recording or so. When I checked the "Minimize Additional I/O Latency" box, I got buffer errors after 5 minutes or so. Host Processor - 6 processors, CPU Usage limit - 95%, ignore erros on playback / record checked. Mac Book Pro 15" Retina with 2.7GHz i7 16GB RAM and SSD CPU activity hovers around 4% with disk I/O at a meager 1% On Boom Recorder, I was also loosing samples at 32 samples. The machine is barely breaking a sweat, so am sure that I'm hitting the USB buss' data throughput abilities... which is very reasonable, 64 samples is still excellent for an externally bussed audio signal. I figure PCIe interfaces would be hard pressed to be completely stable at 32 samples. mono input was bussed to all 16 channels for recording, monitoring off, single BWAV at 24/48 written. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audio911 Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 Does the interface need to be 12V powered? I'm using Metacorder w/ a Macbook Pro. My interface is a MOTU 896 MK3 getting lightpipe audio from a Focusrite Octopre. Clock is from a Rosendahl Nanosyncs. Timecode can come into the system on an analog input on the 896 or the Mac 3.5mm input. The 896 can use USB2 or FW800 to connect to the laptop/hard drive. I was using a Protools HD3 rig w/ a 96I/O, a digi Sync unit and a tower G5. Lots of road cases!!! Recording 16 channels with no problems with a much smaller footprint, but you need AC power for the rig... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MT Groove Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 I've been very impressed with what RME does and their build quality. I agree. They are very solidly built units. My FF 400 is has been great in the studio and in the field. Sammy Huen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadoStefanov Posted December 31, 2012 Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 Check RME audio. They have great quality products... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Weaver Posted January 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 Thanks guys for all the input.. Looks like the solution is.... an RME FF800 and a YAMMY o1v96i. I just picked up a small apogee to use at home and maybe for playback. I'm going to setup BR temporarily as a mix only backup to get used to it while I find my sales victim for the new units. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted January 3, 2013 Report Share Posted January 3, 2013 " a YAMMY " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Alan Hill Posted March 29, 2016 Report Share Posted March 29, 2016 I know this is resurrecting a dead post but I'm mining JW Sound for info. How are those of you using studio based sound cards powering them in the field ? Many thanks Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted March 29, 2016 Report Share Posted March 29, 2016 The MOTU Traveler can be powered directly from 12VDC (has a 4 pin XLR). The others will need AC or an invertor rig. Small (2ch mostly) USB interfaces can be bus powered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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