NEW: RME BabyFace with new Total Mix FX

[el_gato]

Originally Posted by Daeveed

Does anybody know if I can bypass the preamps on this thing, in case I wanted to use other ones?

Thanks!

this

[PTS]

How would it compare to this:

Sound Devices USBPre 2 - USBPre 2 Microphone Interface for Computer Audio | Sound Devices, LLC

Seems to be set at a similar price bracket.

[Neenja]

Originally Posted by PTS

How would it compare to this:

Sound Devices USBPre 2 - USBPre 2 Microphone Interface for Computer Audio | Sound Devices, LLC

Seems to be set at a similar price bracket.

The biggest thing is that RME is a well known entity with tons of users and a great history.

[Fergies Watch]

waiting to pull the trigger on this...

can anyone give some feedback on converter quality, sound examples ?

don't want to trust hype and marketing....

how much of an improvement over my harsh motu 828 mk1 converters ?

are the dsp fx any good ? can you run really low latency without glitches etc ??


anyone?

cheers

[thebri]

Originally Posted by Neenja

The biggest thing is that RME is a well known entity with tons of users and a great history.

The same can be said for Sound Devices. In the TV/movie world, Sound Devices are the most commonly used products with tons of users. They are build like tanks and made to be portable. A great history of taking over an industry ruled by a company with a storied past: Nagra. I have both a FF800 and several Sound Devices products. Both do what they are designed to do and do it better than other "comparable" products.

If I was planning on taking stuff to gigs, I would get the Sound Devices. If it was studio, I would get the RME.

[tim0thy222]

You know, I see a lot of criticism of the color here, but I actually like this thing in blue. Does that mean I have bad taste? Maybe I'll get the silver anyway, just so it looks better to everyone else.

Okay, the real question is this: I am going to be buying a laptop with audio as my top priority, and I want to use the RME Babyface with it. Should I be shopping for a specific chipset? I've read so many stories of people getting screwed by bad firewire chipsets, so I want to find out if this is an issue with USB 2.0 as well.

[wretch]

Originally Posted by Fergies Watch

waiting to pull the trigger on this...

can anyone give some feedback on converter quality, sound examples ?

don't want to trust hype and marketing....

how much of an improvement over my harsh motu 828 mk1 converters ?

are the dsp fx any good ? can you run really low latency without glitches etc ??


anyone?

cheers

I'm wondering the exact same thing!

[tim0thy222]

Originally Posted by wretch

I'm wondering the exact same thing!

Don't know if this is what you are looking for, but there are some audio samples at this review:

RME Babyface Review : USBaby - Audiofanzine

[wretch]

Originally Posted by tim0thy222

Don't know if this is what you are looking for, but there are some audio samples at this review:

RME Babyface Review : USBaby - Audiofanzine

I really was wondering about latency and the quality of the converters vs. a certain similarly looking FireWire interface.

[rectifier]

Originally Posted by wretch

I really was wondering about latency and the quality of the converters vs. a certain similarly looking FireWire interface.

Speaking of which, now would be a great time for Apogee to announce PC support for the DUET. Would be an act of all out war with superb timing. I bet they saw the BF and the breakout cables and thought 'what the...' - so go for it Apogee!

[tim0thy222]

Originally Posted by wretch

I really was wondering about latency and the quality of the converters vs. a certain similarly looking FireWire interface.

Yeah I think that's the question on everybody's mind. Sure it LOOKS like a duet, but does it sound as good? Please somebody comment as soon as they find some useful info!

[marconaz]

Originally Posted by el_gato

3 days more and a silver one is finally here. And waiting to see how it works along with the sm7b, too.

Lots of tests to be done actually due to the lack of info, specifications... I will test it against a 003.

Many months waiting for this since they announced the availability and many problems with the distributors. Hope the sound and stability worth the continuous delays in the distribution. I got 30 days to return it back if it doesn't do the job as expected.

Were you able to est it against the 003. I have an 003 rack plus but I usually only need 2 inputs at one time so i was thinking of getting this instead.

[EDM_D]

Originally Posted by tomgadd

i'm using the babyface side by side with my lynxTwo.
i think the two preamps sound good.
when recording with babyface and listen through babyface
it sounds huge, pretty much low end.
when listening the recordings with babyface through my lnyxTwo it
suddenly sounds flat. low end is much more controlled and the high end too.
lynx sounds deeper, better stereo handling.
the overall sound is smoother and controlled.

but i think the whole babyface package is fantastic!

did yesterday a drum oh recording with babyface using only the two baby-preamps...little reverb added... toms are a little out of tune...but hey..
lineaudio cm3 mics are used (these mics are so good!!)

Maybe my english just sucks but I didn't understand what you thought about the sound quality of the babyface.

Anyone else have it and can shed some light on how the sound quality is compared to apogee duet or echo audiofire 4 for example?

[Fruit]

Originally Posted by tomgadd

sound quality is best to describe to compare to a pretty good soundcard .
so is the lynxtwo.
as i wrote, recording is very fine with babyface, listening with babyface
seems to put more to ears than it is in reality. thats all.

it's strange... it's like the d/a converters of Babyface are better than Lynx converters.
Do you listen noticeable differences between d/a converters of Lynx and Babyface?

[Ceoltum]

Just noticed this one from the RME forum:
New RME Babyface Review at Music Tech Magazin 1/2011 (PDF file)

[Mats H]

Initial feelings about my brand new Babyface:

I love the bag. Could care more for the breakout cable but it will probably last a while at least. For most of my applications, I won't have to connect it anyway.

Good sound. It reminds me a bit of the Fireface 800 converters but with a better headphone amp. The headphone output has RME sound, very detailed, clear and focused. The UFX headphone output in comparison sounds a bit smoother, but not by much. Mp3 artifacts are quite audible even at 320 kbps, which is a bit annoying at times.

It's stable and doesn't draw a lot of current. I've used it on my early 2010 13" MacBook so far and it doesn't worsen the battery time by that much. I could get around three hours of battery time with moderate usage, playing back music and with a pretty bright screen. I've only tried the mic inputs with two mics so far (voice test with a large diaphragm mic and acoustic measurement of a room today) and it sounded pretty good. I have more testing to do later when I get time.

I did have an issue with DPC latency when using it in Boot camped Windows 7 Ultimate on my MacBook but it usually has DPC issues when I don't disable bootcamp.exe and some other services.

I've grown accustomed to Totalmix FX and as the UFX and Babyface share drivers, I can switch soundcards easily. One thing that's a bit bothersome is that one can't set the output sensitivity of the line outputs. The UFX lets you choose different levels from -10, +4 or hi gain.

The scroll wheel doesn't have the scratchy travel reported by some users. Guess I'm lucky. Though I could use a bit more precision when setting mic gain and output volume with it. Luckily Totalmix offers that presision when mousing around.

I'll report more soon.

[Mats H]

Both interfaces connected and synced up over ADAT @96 KHz on my PC. I think I'm going to do some A/D tests today.

[wretch]

Thanks mats! Looking forward to the results. How's the latency compare on the two?

[Mats H]

Originally Posted by wretch

Thanks mats! Looking forward to the results. How's the latency compare on the two?

The latency is basically the same. For exact figures, check out RME's web site. I've done some work at 128 samples but I haven't really tried messing with latency, as I mostly listen back through Totalmix and use 512 samples latency when recording live gigs.

Check out this page: http://www.gearslutz.com/board/new-p...ce-ufx-18.html

[gm5k]

What's the deal with the Babyface and USB 3.0? On the site it says...

"The Babyface is compatible to USB 3 chipsets."

[el_gato]

RME User Forum / Babyface and FFUC, USB2/USB3 support

Long story short usb 2 fit into a usb 3 slot.

[gm5k]

Originally Posted by el_gato

RME User Forum / Babyface and FFUC, USB2/USB3 support

Long story short usb 2 fit into a usb 3 slot.

Thanks appreciate it thumbsup

[NuMystic]

Originally Posted by Neenja

The biggest thing is that RME is a well known entity with tons of users and a great history.

Actually Sound Devices have an extremely well established history and reputation as well. Their products are used all over the world by AV professionals in the film and broadcasting industry.

I too would love to know how the two compare in the AD/DA department in particular.

Unfortunately it seems the two companies have pretty segregated user bases. I hear nothing but great things about Sound Devices from folks in broadcasting, but they've never used the RME products. And vice versa w/ RME and music studio folks… great rep here, but no basis for comparison with Sound Devices. :(

[drumster]

I'm currently testing out an RME Babyface vs. an Apogee Duet as a possible candidate for my portable writing rig. Needless to say, I've been very impressed. The sound is crisp and uncoloured and very representative of the source. The Duet, by comparison, has a coloured sound and seems more forgiving. I also like the RME Total Mix Software with it's dsp effects; much more flexible than Maestro in my opinion.

Although I like the sound of both units, the biggest advantage of the Babyface for me is the fact that it's USB and not Firewire. This eliminates me having to run my interface off the same port on my MacBook Pro as my external drives.

[beyond]

Originally Posted by drumster

The Duet, by comparison, has a coloured sound and seems more forgiving.

Hmmm...I'm not sure about "colored"....Are you sure? Seems very unlikely. So you're saying the tone curve on the Duet is off by how much???

[Fruit]

Originally Posted by drumster

I'm currently testing out an RME Babyface vs. an Apogee Duet as a possible candidate for my portable writing rig.

Thank you for sharing your opinion.
Could you, if it's possible, record something with both and share with us?I'm sure a lot of people here will be grateful for a shoot-out between the Duet and the Fireface!

If you are interested here there are many examples of shoot-outs:
Gear Shoot-Outs / Sound File Comparisons / Audio Tests - Gearslutz.com

[Mats H]

Hi,

Today was concert day, so I recorded my choir with my brand new Babyface. Here's a piece called "To see a world", by Sven-David Sandström. It was recorded with a pair of Microtech Gefell 296 omni mics 35 cm apart (K&M stereo bar) through the Babyface preamps at 192 KHz. I believe the gain was set to 24 dB.

Post processing was made in Sonar 8,5: 5,8 dB gain, Sonitus FX EQ (high pass filter @ 30 Hz, a high shelf filter @ 1900 Hz, Q 0,3) and very little reverb with an algorithmic reverb to compensate for the audience dampening the church slightly.

Resampling and dithering was made in Sound Forge Pro 10 with Izotope algorithms.

Anyways, here's the final file in 16 bit 44 Khz .WAV format (zipped) and MP3

http://www.livingsound.se/toseeaworld.zip
http://www.livingsound.se/toseeaworld.mp3

[miscend]

Originally Posted by Mats H

Hi,

Today was concert day, so I recorded my choir with my brand new Babyface. Here's a piece called "To see a world", by Sven-David Sandström. It was recorded with a pair of Microtech Gefell 296 omni mics 35 cm apart (K&M stereo bar) through the Babyface preamps at 192 KHz. I believe the gain was set to 24 dB.

Post processing was made in Sonar 8,5: 5,8 dB gain, Sonitus FX EQ (high pass filter @ 30 Hz, a high shelf filter @ 1900 Hz, Q 0,3) and very little reverb with an algorithmic reverb to compensate for the audience dampening the church slightly.

Resampling and dithering was made in Sound Forge Pro 10 with Izotope algorithms.

Anyways, here's the final file in 16 bit 44 Khz .WAV format (zipped) and MP3

http://www.livingsound.se/toseeaworld.zip
http://www.livingsound.se/toseeaworld.mp3

Mats Helgesson
LIVING SOUND

Amazing! That's as good A/D as anyone would ever need.

[Tom Hakala]

I have been thinking of downgrading from FF400 to Babyface. Can I still mix projects with huge track count? Or does it really matter?
I'm working on early 2011 MBP

[EMXPRSS]

Originally Posted by Tom Hakala

I have been thinking of downgrading from FF400 to Babyface. Can I still mix projects with huge track count? Or does it really matter?
I'm working on early 2011 MBP

Track count won't be an issue, you can max out your daws track limit as much as your laptop can handle. Loving the babyface tho...Highly recommended