High End audio interface solution: Prism Orpheus of RME AES-32 with extrenal A/D D/A?

anseo · 8th March 2009

I am ready for a high end audio interface

From what I've gathered so far, reading other threads on Gearslutz:

Prism: pristine sound quality, but the software and drivers are not top notch yet. During a session the superior sound quality would be of little use if the system is unstable.. By the way, the Prism would be the only device I will attach to firewire, to improve performance.

RME AES-32: rock solid stability and maybe more flexible because I can attach any A/D D/A. Right now, I have a Lavry Blue and for the money left over when I pass on the Prism, I could easily buy something like the UA2192 A/D D/A to add to the Lavry. If I would need more in/outputs (to attach a reverb unit for example), maybe the Mackie unit with the 8 A/D D/A would be good.

I would very much appreciate, if you own one of these units, your thoughts on this issue!

matucha · 8th March 2009

HDSPe AES with Lavry here (on PC/WinXP). Half a year of solid performance without any problem. So I guess I can recommend it without doubt.

On the other hand what I dislike about it is imobility. I just can't use the system with my laptop... because there are no affordable AES/EBU firewire interfaces. And taking my studio daw computer with me is not an option. So it is always pain in the ***.

High-Droid · 8th March 2009

Just for the record i'v had the orpheus and the new RME ADI-QS in my studio for a week and boy i'm super surprised!!

i was VERY skeptical about that QS thing but after few days of working with both i can say this new QS is a whole different thing from any other RME product.
its amazing!
not saying i liked it more then the orpheus....i liked both and i think the orpheus is MAYBE a tad better but definitely not worth his price (at least here in israel....almost twice the QS).
you should check it out

****what i did like alot about the orpheus was the limiters (actually more of a maximizer)! great sound , actually more then great!

tommy_asakawa · 8th March 2009

Prism is Rock-Solid under Firewire!

anseo · 8th March 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by tommy_asakawa

Prism is Rock-Solid under Firewire!

Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts. Looks like driver problems with the Orpheus are something of the past?

As far as the RME ADI-QS is concerned, the price difference with the Orpheus isn't that large over here in Holland. So I guess I would go for the Orpheus.

Anyone still having driver problems with the Orpheus on Windows XP 32 bit?

creative.control · 8th March 2009

+ 1 to Orpheus being generally solid! I've had mine about a year and had to physically restart it about 3 times to solve minor issues. I'm on XP Home, I think the drivers are fine, my bet is its a general firewire issue, I've never had a really solid firewire peripheral, I can remember having to endlessly restart/connect a TC powercore on firewire a few years ago (on a different machine).

radlid · 9th March 2009

I'm not a big fan of firewire. Altough I'm sure that the Orpheus is amazing. And I did make it work with the Ensemble for a while.
I personally would go with a pcie card and external converters it's just theoretically possible to run more plug-ins with such a setup over a firewire interface.

And without trying to start a whole new thread about the new issue of firewire disapering. I think fw400 is being phased out and another firewire protocol might be arriving on the horizon soon. Who knows!

I've been so much more satisfied with my pcie based setup that I got myself about 6 moths ago.

Not claiming to know what's best for you just thoughts. Thats all!

bmanic · 9th March 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by High-Droid

Just for the record i'v had the orpheus and the new RME ADI-QS in my studio for a week and boy i'm super surprised!!

i was VERY skeptical about that QS thing but after few days of working with both i can say this new QS is a whole different thing from any other RME product.
its amazing!
not saying i liked it more then the orpheus....i liked both and i think the orpheus is MAYBE a tad better but definitely not worth his price (at least here in israel....almost twice the QS).
you should check it out

****what i did like alot about the orpheus was the limiters (actually more of a maximizer)! great sound , actually more then great!

Strange, I have the exact opposite on both counts. Hate the limiters on the Orpheus (it's just a very basic diode clipper, worth 1$) and the sound quality of the RME QS is hardly even anywhere near the Orpheus in quality, at least in my opinion. Oh well..

EDIT: my bad, I mistook the RME QS for the DS version. I guess there must be some differences between these as there is quite a large price difference. The difference in price between RME QS and Orpheus is surprisingly small. I bought the Orpheus from uk for about 500 euros more than the QS goes for. Interesting..

Cheers!
bManic

High-Droid · 10th March 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmanic

Strange, I have the exact opposite on both counts. Hate the limiters on the Orpheus (it's just a very basic diode clipper, worth 1$) and the sound quality of the RME QS is hardly even anywhere near the Orpheus in quality, at least in my opinion. Oh well..

EDIT: my bad, I mistook the RME QS for the DS version. I guess there must be some differences between these as there is quite a large price difference. The difference in price between RME QS and Orpheus is surprisingly small. I bought the Orpheus from uk for about 500 euros more than the QS goes for. Interesting..

Cheers!
bManic

Yeah , there's a huge difference between the DS and QS.
damn here in israel the orpheus cost about 6000 usd while the rme cost 3500 usd.
if the difference is only 500 euros i suggest you go for the orpheus as well

anseo · 11th March 2009

Hmm.. I guess I'm going to get an Orpheus I think..

Although my gut, after reading the comments about firewire, doesn't feel quite reassured.

anseo · 12th March 2009

For the record.. Before I made the plunge I spent half a day reading Orpheus threads to reassure myself I was making the right choice.

I found quite a number of issues with the driver of the Orpheus. And, most alarming, saw that the Orpeus driver on the Prism website had not been updated for quite some time.

I also researched the RME AES 32 and found virtually no messages of driver problems, it seems to be rock solid.

So... I've changed my mind. Pity about the stellar conversion of the Prism that I will be missing though.

8th March 2009	#1
anseo Gear nut Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 106 Thread Starter	High End audio interface solution: Prism Orpheus of RME AES-32 with extrenal A/D D/A? I am ready for a high end audio interface From what I've gathered so far, reading other threads on Gearslutz: Prism: pristine sound quality, but the software and drivers are not top notch yet. During a session the superior sound quality would be of little use if the system is unstable.. By the way, the Prism would be the only device I will attach to firewire, to improve performance. RME AES-32: rock solid stability and maybe more flexible because I can attach any A/D D/A. Right now, I have a Lavry Blue and for the money left over when I pass on the Prism, I could easily buy something like the UA2192 A/D D/A to add to the Lavry. If I would need more in/outputs (to attach a reverb unit for example), maybe the Mackie unit with the 8 A/D D/A would be good. I would very much appreciate, if you own one of these units, your thoughts on this issue!

8th March 2009	#2
matucha Lives for gear Joined: Dec 2002 Location: Prague, Czech Republic Posts: 2,952	HDSPe AES with Lavry here (on PC/WinXP). Half a year of solid performance without any problem. So I guess I can recommend it without doubt. On the other hand what I dislike about it is imobility. I just can't use the system with my laptop... because there are no affordable AES/EBU firewire interfaces. And taking my studio daw computer with me is not an option. So it is always pain in the ***. __________________ Matous Godik www.soundcloud.com/zka4t

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8th March 2009	#3
High-Droid Gear interested Joined: Feb 2009 Location: israel Posts: 16	Just for the record i'v had the orpheus and the new RME ADI-QS in my studio for a week and boy i'm super surprised!! i was VERY skeptical about that QS thing but after few days of working with both i can say this new QS is a whole different thing from any other RME product. its amazing! not saying i liked it more then the orpheus....i liked both and i think the orpheus is MAYBE a tad better but definitely not worth his price (at least here in israel....almost twice the QS). you should check it out ****what i did like alot about the orpheus was the limiters (actually more of a maximizer)! great sound , actually more then great!

8th March 2009	#4
tommy_asakawa Master of the Universe Joined: Oct 2006 Location: Huntington Beach, California Posts: 479	Prism is Rock-Solid under Firewire!

8th March 2009	#6
creative.control Gear maniac Joined: Apr 2008 Location: UK Posts: 181 5 Reviews written	+ 1 to Orpheus being generally solid! I've had mine about a year and had to physically restart it about 3 times to solve minor issues. I'm on XP Home, I think the drivers are fine, my bet is its a general firewire issue, I've never had a really solid firewire peripheral, I can remember having to endlessly restart/connect a TC powercore on firewire a few years ago (on a different machine).

9th March 2009	#7
radlid Gear maniac Joined: Mar 2008 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 230	I'm not a big fan of firewire. Altough I'm sure that the Orpheus is amazing. And I did make it work with the Ensemble for a while. I personally would go with a pcie card and external converters it's just theoretically possible to run more plug-ins with such a setup over a firewire interface. And without trying to start a whole new thread about the new issue of firewire disapering. I think fw400 is being phased out and another firewire protocol might be arriving on the horizon soon. Who knows! I've been so much more satisfied with my pcie based setup that I got myself about 6 moths ago. Not claiming to know what's best for you just thoughts. Thats all!

11th March 2009	#10
anseo Gear nut Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 106 Thread Starter	Hmm.. I guess I'm going to get an Orpheus I think.. Although my gut, after reading the comments about firewire, doesn't feel quite reassured.

12th March 2009	#11
anseo Gear nut Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 106 Thread Starter	For the record.. Before I made the plunge I spent half a day reading Orpheus threads to reassure myself I was making the right choice. I found quite a number of issues with the driver of the Orpheus. And, most alarming, saw that the Orpeus driver on the Prism website had not been updated for quite some time. I also researched the RME AES 32 and found virtually no messages of driver problems, it seems to be rock solid. So... I've changed my mind. Pity about the stellar conversion of the Prism that I will be missing though.