ULN-8 for classical work on Mac

[roonsbane]

Johannes said:

Yeah I'm probably dreaming. I keep hearing rumors though. Dreaming and hoping

I am sorry to say you are dreaming. In the past M.H. folks have always been rather indignant with their stance on the windows driver thing. I believe they have taken an Iphone/ATT position. Since it seems they have some kind of collaboration with new Sonic Solutions products, even though sonic seems to be a fairly "dead" product. Both companies have dug their heels in, refusing to develop for windows, believing this will save the mac mystic as "the" audio computer platform. Of course this mystic has already long past. I love my mac, but I really love using sequoia and Nuendo on my windows work machine.

I believe the fact that a Metric Halo developer is chiming in and not giving you any positive sign that they may develop windows drivers is further proof that they will not and won't do it. As a former ULN-2 owner that waited and waited and waited for for a driver that never came just so I could do something that seems so reasonable, if I were you I would wait no longer.

I suggest going the RME Digiface route. The thing has 3 ADAT Ins and outs and an SPDIF in and out using a super reliable HDSP card bus. Remember firewire bandwidth is 400mbps and the old PCMCIA bandwidth speed is 1,056 Mbps. The ExpressCard has a maximum throughput of 2.5 Gbit/s through PCI Express. RME drivers are rock solid. I have done hundreds of high client location gigs using my older PCMCIA digiface system and the thing screams. It never, ever hick-ups. If you need a safety, stick a joeco or alesis HD24 recorder in parallel. Use your favorite DAC/Headphone amp. This system will kick butt. RME makes another product using this express card that brings in a 64 channel MADI stream into your laptop super reliably. Try that with 8 ULN-8's using firewire. Good luck with that!

Feed the digiface anyway you want. If you really love the ULN-8 front end use it. This is easy to do with an RME format converter. Considering the cost of the ULN-8, it's not that much more money and you will not regret the stability. How about iz radar converters being fed by your favorite preamp. That will also work with this system. Best of all, you can use your favorite DAW windows or mac.
Cameron

[mh_bj]

Actually, he was dreaming about Magix porting to the Mac.

BTW, we have not dug our heels in about Windows drivers (and are definitely not indignant) -- it is not like we are opposed to them. It is simply a matter of limited resources to work on the various projects on our plate.

Oh -- and 3 ULN-8s on a laptop work fine :-)

Best regards,

[roonsbane]

BJ said:

Oh -- and 3 ULN-8s on a laptop work fine :-)

Yes but 8 ULN-8's (64 channels) the MADIface equivalent does not. For me, doing several remotes a week, I do feel more comfortable knowing that I am not pushing the bus bandwidth limits, or the limits of the computer in general for that matter.

I think many folks feel that programing windows drivers is an investment worth making. Double your potential client base equals money to make that happen and perhaps more profit as well. The Steinberg folks got that when it comes to porting Wavelab for the Mac and I am sure it will more than pay off for them. We'll see
Cameron

[roonsbane]

I appreciate that that you gave us the most recent Metric Halo position though.
Best.
Cameron

[JonesH]

Thanks for your suggestions, Cameron. I've designed a digiface solution for a colleague and know it to work very well tracking to sequoia. For me, I wanted everything in one box so the ULN-8 is a smart match.

I have no need for 8x8 channels with my rig, if I had those needs I wouldn't have bought a ULN-8
For the rare instances I need that many channels my colleague has a nice MADI rig with Micstasy and the MADIface expressCard. So that works out nicely.

Thanks for chiming in.

[Mazo Audio]

Originally Posted by sonare

All the angst described herein is why I sold my 3 ULN-8s and went with Prism Orpheus and Broadhurst Gardens (to fill in the line-only channels). Better sound, and I can actually talk to a human when I rarely need to talk to Prism.
Rich

Well, i use my ULN-8 for location classical work. The sound is fantastic, and it has been rock solid. There is NO company I have ever seen with a better/ more interactive online presence, and every time I've called metric halo, I've got someone on the phone. ULN-8, best interface built IMO, and best company to buy from.

[JonesH]

What system do you use for tracking, and editing?

[roonsbane]

Johannes said:

I've designed a digiface solution for a colleague and know it to work very well tracking to sequoia. For me, I wanted everything in one box so the ULN-8 is a smart match.

Thinking about the gig, I think you will still want a rack. Adding the two half rack RME boxes makes a very small two rack space rack. It can stay all wired up inside. I am usually doing less than 10 tracks with my digiface rig since I am recording orchestra's and recital music most of the time. I have also occasionally had to record 26 tracks with the ULN-2 synced to a word clock distro and fed into the SPDIF input of the Digiface along with all three ADAT ins also fed with no problems. Even if you work primarily on chamber music, you never know when you are going to need 10 or more tracks. I always have another nice 8 channel preamp back in the van that could plug into a 16 channel A/D converter with a simple DSUB connection. If the orchestra is doing a piece with prerecorded material and you feel you need to take a feed of it, or they are doing a triple concerto along with harp deep up stage, and an 80 voice choir behind on another piece, this not a problem. Recently I have been occasionally broadcasting things in surround, that has been pushing me over the 8 track count, but this is never a problem. Going the digiface route, you can always be ready.

I think it is strange to consider switching editing systems based on its front end, unless of course it is a reliability issue. There are so many really great front end combinations that can elegantly, reliably and sonically get the job done. The way you work and your comfortableness with your DAW seems so much more important. Learning the ins and outs of any DAW so that you can be fast, innovative, and not waste our customers time is no small feat.

By the way, I am just curious what the exclusive apple driver/metric halo options there are now?
Reaper
Nuendo
MOTU
Logic
Wavelab

Yes Metric Halo has great customer service, but I have never needed any RME customer service. It is such straight forward, reliable, well thought out gear. So is the Metric Halo stuff.
Good luck designing your rig.
Cameron

[Mazo Audio]

I record in the record panel, and then i transfer the files into either DP or Pro Tools. These two DAWS have worked fine for me.

Originally Posted by JonesH

What system do you use for tracking, and editing?

[JonesH]

Originally Posted by Mazo Audio

I record in the record panel, and then i transfer the files into either DP or Pro Tools. These two DAWS have worked fine for me.

Cool. I've just found record panels playback function a bit less than optimal but I think it'll work well for tracking since BJ informed me of the possibility to press the record button to create a new take. That plus A Better Finder Rename and some macro work will make it easy to import. Will check out Richs renaming utility which he kindly mailed me as well!

[Adebar]

Originally Posted by Mazo Audio

I record in the record panel, and then i transfer the files into either DP or Pro Tools. These two DAWS have worked fine for me.

I do it the same way, record in the record panel - rock solid - for location recording. Then I import the files either in ProTools or Soundblade to mix it in the studio

[JonesH]

I got word from a VERY reliable source that OS X support for Sequoiatude will be coming in (probably) v 13. They won't make it into version 12 from what I gather, though.

Happy day, even if it's quite some time away still