Eternal question - AES EBU interface for a laptop (MacBook Pro)

[ISedlacek]

Difficult to understand why among those thousands products there is no simple AES-EBU interface directly connectable to laptop (8 in, 8 out). If there are digital interfaces, they have many other features (other formats, analog connections and what not). I used to use an older Magma PCI expansion chassi (PCMCIA connection) with Lynx AES-16, but it will not work with MacBook Pro even when using Express 34 Card adapter (as I just learned from Magma). Magma pricing for these boxes is a bit insane (almost $1000).

There is an alternative: ExpressCard 34 to PCI Expansion Box - PC & Macintosh for very reasonable price .... I wonder whether someone has ever used it ... Looks tempting but this company sounds VERY untrustable. During the last 3 weeks I sent them 3 emails (including reminders) enquiring about these boxes, not a single reply (!!). The telephones they mention on their website are just answering machines (all their "all around the world" offices). It seems very strange and is not how a serious company should behave ...

There is Weiss AFI1 box, but for $2000 and with all the other options it is quite overkill ... I am not aware of anything else ... If the Virtuavia box works, it would be ideal, but I am not sure whether I can trust it. If I order it, it does not work and the company is not responding, what to do ...

Do you have any other suggestions ? I just need up to 8 AES EBU in and 2 AES EBU out (or 8 - does not matter) connectable to MacBook Pro, nothing else ... (no ADAT, SPDIF, analogue, preamps, SRC etc.). I have my own ADCs and preamps which I want to use ...

[ghellquist]

Been there. Ended up with an AES->ADAT converter, RME ADI-4 DD. And then an ADAT sound card, I have used RME Digiface and have been happy. Both are halfrack width.

//Gunnar

[ISedlacek]

Originally Posted by ghellquist

Been there. Ended up with an AES->ADAT converter, RME ADI-4 DD. And then an ADAT sound card, I have used RME Digiface and have been happy. Both are halfrack width.

//Gunnar

Hmm, but then (these two boxes + the card ) it comes to a similar price like the Weiss box ...

[Larry Elliott]

I too have been looking - to no avail. Think the Weiss box is the best option so far.

Larry

[just.sounds]

HTTP://www.tcelectronic.com/Default.asp?Id=11617

Products :: Series 300 Main

[ISedlacek]

Originally Posted by just.sounds

HTTP://www.tcelectronic.com/Default.asp?Id=11617

Products :: Series 300 Main

Nice AES EBU interface for $4000 )

Out all of the mentioned, Magma PCI expansion still sounds the cheapest ... (if we forget about Virtuavia )

[passion4opera]

Struggled with the same problem... I found a used Lynx Aurora 8 with LT-FW card installed for $1,400. I only use the Lynx (clocked to Lavry Blue converters) to convert AES/EBU into firewire. Has been a rock solid solution!

[Adebar]

Originally Posted by ISedlacek

Difficult to understand why among those thousands products there is no simple AES-EBU interface directly connectable to laptop (8 in, 8 out). If there are digital interfaces, they have many other features (other formats, analog conn

This is really difficult to understand.

The Sonic Model 303 does exactly offer this but with additional features up to a better connection than a simple Core Audio interface. You get that only by extra price. It is said that there are advantages with the intrinsic connection to soundblade. But what about a simple Core Audio FW-AES interface?

The TC and all the others offer too much features.

I wonder if it is really so difficult to offer a simple FireWire - AES/EBU interface for less than, say, 1000 €. Do the marketing people oversee that or is there really no market for that? I think there is a real market for that.

[zzmook]

If you google it now it's still in the total tech-geekness stage, bit it amounts to this - within a year or two we'll all just be putting an RJ-45 connector in our L-Slots (that sounds dirty, I know) and hooking straight up to our machines' ethernet jacks, be they desktop or laptop. I'm pretty sure this is why everybody is hemming and hawing about putting too much effort into MADI or AES50.

[ISedlacek]

Finally I am thinking of replacing Magma/Lynx with this Weiss AES/EBU interface AFI1 for mobile recordings with MacBook Pro.

Still pondering: can firewire be considered as really stable and reliable connection for professional use ? Or is there a danger of some drops, failures etc. when recording few channels ? That can be suicidical for location recordings ...

[John Moran]

mytek 8x192 with firewire card

8ch. ad/da + 8ch. aes i/o <-> FW<-> mac/pc

you also pick up headphone output and selected stereo pair output on xlr with monitor pot on the mytek. you will find this very useful for location work monitoring.

you can find clean examples of the 8x192 on the slutz classified page for good prices and add the FW card for much less than the weiss and end up with more capabilities.

i did this (got my 8x192 from fred forrsell in immaculate condition), added the FW card from michal at mytek and it has been fine with my sonica laptop/sequoia.

www.mytek.com

[ISedlacek]

Thanks, but as for convertors, I have quite top end convertors already (Forssell MADC), so I need just AES EBU interface ... My question just is whether firewire is OK in general.

So your experience with the above combo says there is no problem with everything connected via FW connection ? No drops, unreliability etc. ?

[DrDeltaM]

Originally Posted by ISedlacek

Thanks, but as for convertors, I have quite top end convertors already (Forssell MADC), so I need just AES EBU interface ... My question just is whether firewire is OK in general.

So your experience with the above combo says there is no problem with everything connected via FW connection ? No drops, unreliability etc. ?

Firewire was designed for such realtime audio/video data transfer

[John Moran]

Originally Posted by ISedlacek

Thanks, but as for convertors, I have quite top end convertors already (Forssell MADC), so I need just AES EBU interface ... My question just is whether firewire is OK in general.

i realize that. the aspects you pick up are FW, the aes i/o and the headphone/stereo xlr outputs come as a bonus. fred was using these boxes for dsd recording, the analog front end isn't awful.

Originally Posted by ISedlacek

So your experience with the above combo says there is no problem with everything connected via FW connection ? No drops, unreliability etc. ?

so far, so good with simple 8 ch track record counts. i was a bit skeptical about the tc DICE driver because tc had early problems with it but it seems to be sorted out now and has been tested as stable here on the sonica laptop/sequoia 7 and on an ancient G4DP-450 mac with it's antique FW interface/Digital Performer 5. fwiw, neither of those were the TI fw chipset so it seems fairly compliant with other FW interfaces. michal has been very good with support and the units are manufactured in poland so you should be able to get good support in your neighborhood too. it's worth the look if nothing else.

the sonica laptop (which is basically an ASUS C-90, great machine) is running XP stripped for audio and the mac is 10.4.11

[mixedupsteve]

I do 16 tracks via firewire into Macbook. Never a problem. If you want redundant recording just split into a HD24.

[ISedlacek]

Originally Posted by mixedupsteve

If you want redundant recording just split into a HD24.

What do you mean ?

[fifthcircle]

Assuming good drivers (like any interface) and a well-built machine without a lot of extra junk, firewire is as stable as anything. I use it daily here with my Digi interfaces and it is bulletproof.

Now, that being said, my MBP has the TI chipset and is used for sound only and has absolutely no software "of ethically-questionable orgin."

If your laptop doesn't have the TI firewire chipset and has the Agere instead, get an expansion card that has the TI chipset and use that for the interface. The second FW port on the laptop can be used for the disc (I use Rocstor discs here as they have no fans and a standard IEC power cord- no wall warts).

--Ben

[ISedlacek]

Originally Posted by fifthcircle

Now, that being said, my MBP has the TI chipset and is used for sound only and has absolutely no software "of ethically-questionable orgin."

If your laptop doesn't have the TI firewire chipset and has the Agere instead, get an expansion card that has the TI chipset and use that for the interface. The second FW port on the laptop can be used for the disc (I use Rocstor discs here as they have no fans and a standard IEC power cord- no wall warts).

--Ben

How can I find out ? ("about this Mac" says nothing specific). I have quite new one - the previous generation of MBP (not the latest "zebra" one) 2,5 GHz Intel Core Duo

BTW do you use Sequoia for MBP recordings ? (i.e. Windows)

[Doc Mixwell]

Originally Posted by Larry Elliott

I too have been looking - to no avail. Think the Weiss box is the best option so far.
Larry

+1 Yes, if you look at what that thing is capable of, its quite an amazing choice.

[ISedlacek]

Originally Posted by Roc Mixwell

+1 Yes, if you look at what that thing is capable of, its quite an amazing choice.

I think this box cannot do basically much, just passing the digital data from AES/EBU to firewire ... nothing more ... It has no meters (not even software meters). I fear, it is a bit overpriced for what it can do ... Unfortunately (and very surprisingly) no other manufacturer has come yet with this simple solution, where 1/2 or 1/3 of price would be just adequate I think ... So there is not much choice ...

[Doc Mixwell]

Originally Posted by ISedlacek

I think this box cannot do basically much, just passing the digital data from AES/EBU to firewire ... nothing more ... It has no meters (not even software meters). I fear, it is a bit overpriced for what it can do ... Unfortunately (and very surprisingly) no other manufacturer has come yet with this simple solution, where 1/2 or 1/3 of price would be just adequate I think ... So there is not much choice ...

Well, in doing my own research, I've found that its AES and ADAT capability far exceeds what other companies are offering in this format. As far as the metering, well, don't you have AD metering on your converters? The AES/ADAT channel count, was the only thing I was referring to.....

Whether or not its right for you, is another story entirely.

[ISedlacek]

Originally Posted by Roc Mixwell

Well, in doing my own research, I've found that its AES and ADAT capability far exceeds what other companies are offering in this format. As far as the metering, well, don't you have AD metering on your converters? The AES/ADAT channel count, was the only thing I was referring to.....

Whether or not its right for you, is another story entirely.

It is something for me, for sure, apart from ADAT which I have absolutely no use of .. As for metering - I mean a kind of indication that a signal passes through the channels ... (like Lynx or RME mixers). If you hear nothing, by that you can know in which stage of signal path to look for a problem. But as I already undirectly heard from Mr. Weiss, this can be addressed in some of the next SW updates ...

[Doc Mixwell]

Originally Posted by ISedlacek

It is something for me, for sure, apart from ADAT which I have absolutely no use of .. As for metering - I mean a kind of indication that a signal passes through the channels ... (like Lynx or RME mixers). If you hear nothing, by that you can know in which stage of signal path to look for a problem. But as I already undirectly heard from Mr. Weiss, this can be addressed in some of the next SW updates ...

Yea, I thought the lack of "input/output" control, seemed to be an issue. I still think this box is awesome though.

[d_fu]

Originally Posted by ISedlacek

It is something for me, for sure, apart from ADAT which I have absolutely no use of

Hi Ivo, what's wrong with ADAT?


Daniel

[ISedlacek]

Originally Posted by d_fu

Hi Ivo, what's wrong with ADAT?


Daniel

Nothing, but I have nothing to connect it to ) All my convertors have just AES EBU I/O

[d_fu]

Originally Posted by ISedlacek

Nothing, but I have nothing to connect it to ) All my convertors have just AES EBU I/O

I see - good... I thought you were going to tell us that AES sounds better...
There are inexpensive format converters from AES to ADAT - which is an easier format to find laptop interfaces with...


D.

[ISedlacek]

Originally Posted by d_fu

I see - good... I thought you were going to tell us that AES sounds better...
There are inexpensive format converters from AES to ADAT - which is an easier format to find laptop interfaces with...


D.

Inexpensive ? I heard they are very expensive ... (if we talk about SMUX = ADAT in 96 kHz). If they are inexpensive, it can still help to increase the number of I/Os for this Weiss device

[Larry Elliott]

Originally Posted by d_fu

There are inexpensive format converters from AES to ADAT - which is an easier format to find laptop interfaces with...
D.

Daniel

Can you please give some examples?

Many thanks

Larry

[d_fu]

Guess it depends on your definition of inexpensive - compared with some of the converters you (Ivo) are known to be using, I guess they are...
See this SOS thread for some suggestions.

[mixedupsteve]

Originally Posted by ISedlacek

What do you mean ?

I just meant that if one is afraid of a problem with firewire recording then they could make a backup by splitting the analog signal off into a Alesis HD24 recorder. I've seen this done often.