Lynx or RME

[Inner Light]

Hey guys I have a little dilema, I'm interested in picking up a lynx2 A(4in/4out) card. After reading the great comments here. it's about $999 and i know i can add 16 channels of adat lightpipe for an additional $299. can you run the adat and analog ins at the same time ?

but i could also for $699. pick up an rme 9632 which is 2 in/ 2 out analog plus spdif and 1 light pipe. and i can add on the 4 in/4 out or 8in card and it still comes to a little cheaper or about the same. and they all work simultaneously. or better yet the 9652 for $549.

now obviously the rme is more bang for my buck. but i've read really good things about the lynx2 cards.

so basically how do the converters compare on these 2 cards or do they even compare? and how about the drivers, since they will be used on a pc running xp pro. running nuendo 2.0 and I'm looking at samplitude 7 as well.
and are there any known conflicts with the uad-1 cards ?
thanks in advance
joe

[Teacher]

i use a lynxtwo in conjunction with samp 7. Extremely Stable. Only one or 2 crashes in recent memory and that was probably because i was net surfing, burning a cd and playing back a 30 to 40 track mix @ 24/96(dual athlon mp1900+)

there was a post comparing the RME and lynx2 converters not to sure how scientific it was but i thought as well as everyone else thought the lynxtwo is a step above the rme sonically.

[fifthcircle]

I use RME and Lynx here with Sequoia. The Lynx stomps all over the RME- sound quality isn't even close. And yes, your ADAT ports will function while the analog I/O is working. The Lynx 2A with the ADAT card will give you 22 channels in and out (14 at 96K, 8 i believe at 192K)

--Ben

[Inner Light]

thanks for the reply's guys

I've been checking out the prices here in Montreal and the lynx2 is 1k more than the RME. Granted i know the converters are worth it. just not sure if i can justify that for 4 ins. What if I were to combine and RME HDSP 96/32 with a swissonic ad24mk2 (it cost about 1k here)?

what are people's thoughts on swissonic gear ?
thanks

[Teacher]

no relatives in the states inner light? you could order it to your relatives house and go pick it up...

[Inner Light]

I've thought about that many times i do have some in rhode island . it been a while ...

[edyer]

I'm not sure what the lynx card has for converters. The 9632/9652 cards. are pretty much just lightpipe patch bays with spdif attached for fun.the first card is the same in both if I read the specs right and with the 52 version there is an add on for a third lightppipe plus midi.
You still need to have an ad/da converter attached. I have The 9652 since I needed midi to my mackie control. I use it with lucid converters plus a digimax lt. It is solid as a rock and very easy to use. You can change settings while working and it plays well with all the apps I use. (DP,PEAK ). It also syncs up nicely with the lightpipe connections and allows you to sync from anything attached. For the money I am very happy with it.
Eric

[Inner Light]

it's a hard decision for me because I'm on a very tight budget, and the RME is a great deal and I know they are solid. So I'll most likely pick one up soon and save up for some A/D.

edyer you pretty much have the setup I'm looking to get , the digimax lt + rme 9652.

anyone check out the focusrite octopre yet ?

[edyer]

The digimax was an add on to extend the life of my 001. I have to say for the money it has been really useful. The pres are better than the mackies on my vlz mixer. They are a bit noisier though.
It's also a good portable rig. The only gripe I have is that it doesn't always sync up and play well with other converters. The RME clock is much better but you need a wordclock cable to connect them since it will not sync to the lightpipe connection.
Eric

[edyer]

I should actually clarify that a little. The digimax will not sync from the rme card without a cable. You can select it as the master but the rme clock is better. The 9632 version goes for about $350 Yankee Dollars if you need to save some cash.
Eric

[Geert van den Berg]

edyer, as I've read correctly you are using the RME with a Mac?

Currently I use a Motu828 but I plan on switching for something better. I opt for either another MOTU or RME. RME seems more focused towards PC's while MOTU is more focused towards Mac.

Does the TotalMix features also work on the Mac? Because that's what I like about it?

Regards,
Geert

[edyer]

yep,
G4 733 with digital performer and peak.
Total mix launches so I assume it works.
I haven't used it yet but the little meters dance and I can adjust the outputs with it. I run 9.2.1 but they have Os x drivers for it. So far it's been really solid. I had one little midi glitch but it mysteriously corrected itself after being shut down for a while.
Their installer leaves much to be desired as you have to drag stuff all over the hard drive to make it work. They must not license the installer app in Germany.
Eric

[Geert van den Berg]

Thanks for the info, I'll have to investigate into this further, since I use OSX. I'll mail the distributor when I am ready to switch. I read somewhere there might be an MultifacePro in the works, that's sounds very appealing, the new Motu stuff is also very nice though.

Regards,
Geert

[Inner Light]

i've noticed quite a few people have been ditching the motu cards and going with the lynx2 or RME cards.

[Geert van den Berg]

At the moment I am using a MOTU828 and it has always performed okay. The converters aren't really great, but not bad for the money and installation and drivers are functioning correct. I don't really like the build quality but that has somewhat improved with the newer stuff.

The main reasons for upgrading are better converters and no latency monitoring, that bothers me the most, causing too much strain on the computer when tracking.

Regards,
Geert

[cannikin]

The converter quality of the MOTU units is exactly why I no longer use them.

[edyer]

I was curious about the hd 192. It looks good on paper but has anyone used it?
It would be nice to have a higher k converter. I would think that cuemix would be easy to use also if you need a monitoring platform. I tried to use total mix the other day and while it works it's kind of lame compared to a real console for monitoring. Something I have done in the past is use a second mic/ mixer for monitoring purposes. It actually ends up being easier to do than the software route and you can create several mixes with ease and little mouse work. Plus you can change on the fly without disturbing your computer as it tracks and plays.
Eric