Fireface 800

[ryanwalters]

How many microphones at a time can I hook up to this thing I have 10 channels of preamp and there is 4 on the fireface is the correct answer 14 not using a digital mixer or is it ten I am not sure?

[Manfriday]

there are 10 analog inputs, but 4 of those are the mic pres you spoke of, so you can only get 10 inputs.
Unless you have external converters to connect to it via the ADAT ports.

[FS0420]

SPDIF also. You can get another converter to sync with spdif in/out. Im not clear on the need for, or know if an additional word clock cable would work or help to slave the spdif unit to a non async clock
There is mention of Asyncronous clock being more jitter prone in RME's manual, and its limited to 20 bit audio tranfers using 4 bits for non audio data.You can view the manual on RME's site for an other information you need on its schematics.
Can someone clairify on clocking spdif to other units for me please?

[FS0420]

Also if I were you before buying a Fireface I would make sure they cleared up the latest driver issues. You can search for my previous posts on the Fireface I just sent back to RME.
Heres a little update for that thread.
As of today head of support at RME does not know what the function in Digicheck actually does that is showing errors, he is contacting RME to find out what this function actually is.
So 2 and a half weeks later they do not even know what the function does that is not functioning. Anyhow, The MME drivers are also not working as of right now on a fresh install. You will somehow need to find the old drivers until they release new drivers. The versions on the site now will not work from fresh install acording to RME.
The head of customer support waited 2 weeks before trying 2 help me with this problem the driver set is having. I heard RME support was top notch, and have used their products for years. I have never had to deal with customer support, but what a joke. The guy didnt even know what the function that was not functioning was suppose to do, nor did he take the time to check it out. Just yesterday, 2 days after returning my unit, I was told he tried to figure out the problem and had the same problems as I did and he would try to figure it out. I had bugged them for 2 weeks to straighten this out before sending the unit back.
My Fireface800 cost me 3 times what I paid for it. I would have saved money if I got a Mytek.

[TinderArts]

Originally Posted by FS0420

As of today head of support at RME does not know what the function in Digicheck actually does that is showing errors, he is contacting RME to find out what this function actually is.

?
I've no problems wih my FF800.

Can you be more specific.
Who is "the head of support" at RME?
What Digicheck function do you speak of?
What is your computer and DAW?
What is your firewire chipset?

All this info might help get your situation fixed.

[FS0420]

"You can search for my previous posts on the Fireface I just sent back to RME"
try uninstalling all drivers, then re installing from just the new drivers, but I warn you, MME drivers were not working for me or the head of RME support after doing this.
The function, if I didnt make it clear in other posts is the Bit and Statistics function. Under MME it reads constant Validity Bit errors, and flutters with errors when recieving signal. MME drivers are not working.

[Solafide]

Were you using the beta digicheck. You need this to work properly with the current driver release.

http://www.rme-audio.com/download/digicheck_beta.zip

Originally Posted by FS0420

"You can search for my previous posts on the Fireface I just sent back to RME"
try uninstalling all drivers, then re installing from just the new drivers, but I warn you, MME drivers were not working for me or the head of RME support after doing this.
The function, if I didnt make it clear in other posts is the Bit and Statistics function. Under MME it reads constant Validity Bit errors, and flutters with errors when recieving signal. MME drivers are not working.

[FS0420]

Yes, that was about the only attempt at help I recieved.First response from them was to send beta digicheck, then nothing for 2 weeks. It did not change anything for me or the head of RME support after installing fresh from new drivers

[Slaytex]

It seems that a lot of problems have come from the new mac/intels and RME is not the only company having a hard time fixing driver issues for them. My FF800 has been kicking ass on multiple machines of mine for the last 7 months. If I needed more inputs I would buy a 2nd. The converters are also great.
Good luck.

[Solafide]

The function, if I didn't make it clear in other posts is the Bit and Statistics function. Under MME it reads constant Validity Bit errors, and flutters with errors when receiving signal.

Am I understanding you correctly?

Are you saying that the reason you sent the fireface back is because a function in digicheck (which is like bonus software) didn't work correctly?

(I might have missed something here)

Before I bought a Fireface I had a motu product. There was a significant problem with there asio driver. (asio driver wouldn't work properly under most hosts, if connected to an external clock) It took me several months with tech support (waiting weeks between emails, and all I really got was no conclusive admission of a problem) It took a year and a half for them to update the driver and fix the problem!!

I don't think an immediate email with what they thought was a fix (the beta driver) is to bad, or two weeks for them to admit there is a problem, and with my experience with them I'd give them a couple more weeks to have it fixed.

I have reported a bug to them before and had it fixed in a day!

Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to minimize your problem I'm just saying if I'm understanding you correctly, There was a problem, and within a couple weeks you have them working on a fix. Compared to most companies that is stellar service.

Also If you had posted here or in the rme forum and asked for previous drivers many users (myself included) would have gladly given you older drivers (I always save them for some strange reason).

I hope you get an interface that you are pleased with.

[dubrichie]

in response to the original poster,

you can in fact use up to 13 analog inputs at once.

this is achieved by connecting your preamps/whatever to BOTH the front AND rear inputs of channels 1, 7 and 8.

there is an option for this in the FireFace settings window.

the signals from front and rear inputs are mixed together, so you can still only record 10 individual tracks, but 3 of these may each have 2 inputs combined.

capice?

regards,

richie.

[TinderArts]

You can add a further 8 channels with the OctaMic D.

[FS0420]

Originally Posted by Solafide

Am I understanding you correctly?

Are you saying that the reason you sent the fireface back is because a function in digicheck (which is like bonus software) didn't work correctly?

(I might have missed something here)

Before I bought a Fireface I had a motu product. There was a significant problem with there asio driver. (asio driver wouldn't work properly under most hosts, if connected to an external clock) It took me several months with tech support (waiting weeks between emails, and all I really got was no conclusive admission of a problem) It took a year and a half for them to update the driver and fix the problem!!

I don't think an immediate email with what they thought was a fix (the beta driver) is to bad, or two weeks for them to admit there is a problem, and with my experience with them I'd give them a couple more weeks to have it fixed.

I have reported a bug to them before and had it fixed in a day!

Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to minimize your problem I'm just saying if I'm understanding you correctly, There was a problem, and within a couple weeks you have them working on a fix. Compared to most companies that is stellar service.

Also If you had posted here or in the rme forum and asked for previous drivers many users (myself included) would have gladly given you older drivers (I always save them for some strange reason).

I hope you get an interface that you are pleased with.

No, the MME Drivers were not showing up on my machine, therefore they were shown as errors in digicheck
I did not know I needed previuos drivers until after the unit was sent back since they didnt check out the problem until the unit was in the mail

[Solafide]

No, the MME Drivers were not showing up on my machine, therefore they were shown as errors in digicheck
I did not know I needed previuos drivers until after the unit was sent back since they didnt check out the problem until the unit was in the mail

I can see how that would be a problem!

I would immagine that this would be a priority for them to fix.

[bobx]

i was wondering how many I/O you can get if you hook it up to the firewire 400. i plan to use it with my laptop occassional and i only have a firewire 400 connection.

[Solafide]

i was wondering how many I/O you can get if you hook it up to the firewire 400. i plan to use it with my laptop occassional and i only have a firewire 400 connection.

You can use all of the imputs and outputs. You only need firewire 800 if you are using more than one fireface at a time.

I use mine with firewire 400 - I don't think I've ever recorded from all the imputs at once, but pretty close, and I've never had a problem.

[bobx]

that's wonderful news! i think i'll be getting one sooner than expected. does anyone want to buy a motu 828 MKII? =)