2 Audio interfaces in one DAW...is it possible?

[mr_lerer]

HI...I have RME hdsp 9632 pci and I want to add another two input and two outputs.
I want to keep the RME since its a real workhorse and very stable.
How can I add more I/O (not the rme's 9632 expansion boards but higher quality).
I'm not very good at the technical level of the digital hardware
Can I add another audio interface or just converters (is it possible to add convertors to the hdsp pci?)
BIG THANKS FOR THE HELP

[rackdude]

I believe you can get an expansion for digital in's, get that and an external converter

[screamingcatfish]

i think you can run a firewire and a usb at the same time......maybe optical too.....i read this somewhere on gearslutz so i'm not sure....i definately intend on trying it in the future as well......

[synthoid]

Under Mac OS X (not sure what platform you're on), you can create an aggregate device that makes several audio interfaces appear logically as one big audio interface. I have three Firefaces attached to the machine I use for tracking, and they appear as one big audio interface with a boatload of channels. You use the Audio MIDI Setup app, under Audio menu, "Open Aggregate Device Editor".

Dunno if you can do this on a PC. If not, you can always make a spreadsheet. haha, only kidding.

-synthoid

[rackdude]

Centrence Universal Firewire Driver = Free and lets you use more than one firewire interface

[diamondjim]

With ASIO 2 you can't have 2 different audio interfaces running at the same time with the RME FF800, and I assume that will be the case with their other gear. Centrance no longer has their free multi-client driver either, which in any case did not work with RME.

Your best bet is to use another interface with digital out and run that into your RME. That way you will be still using a single FW client interface.

[screamingcatfish]

i was just recalling a conversation i had with dan lavry.....he claims you can run his 2 channel usb a/d and a firewire converter like an ensemble or something all on the same computer,so i think you can do it but maybe not 2 pci's......maybe i'm off base with your needs though.....

[TheArchitect]

Originally Posted by mr_lerer

HI...I have RME hdsp 9632 pci and I want to add another two input and two outputs.
I want to keep the RME since its a real workhorse and very stable.
How can I add more I/O (not the rme's 9632 expansion boards but higher quality).
I'm not very good at the technical level of the digital hardware
Can I add another audio interface or just converters (is it possible to add convertors to the hdsp pci?)
BIG THANKS FOR THE HELP

Honestly, If the RME 9632 is good enough to keep why do you think the daughter boards are lesser quality?

[LittleJohn]

Originally Posted by diamondjim

With ASIO 2 you can't have 2 different audio interfaces running at the same time with the RME FF800, and I assume that will be the case with their other gear. Centrance no longer has their free multi-client driver either, which in any case did not work with RME.

Your best bet is to use another interface with digital out and run that into your RME. That way you will be still using a single FW client interface.

[Pignouf]

It depends on the DAW, and more specifically the drivers your DAW uses.

For Mac users you can make an Aggregate Device, like synthoid said provided your device is compatible with that mode (some devices won't show up in the list of I/O's you can add to the Aggregate).

For PC, as far as I know DAW's which use ASIO drivers can only use one such driver at a time. Unless your driver has multidevice capability, you're bound to make a choice.
The Centrance driver is a possible solution, as is the free Asio4All one (ASIO4ALL - Universeller ASIO- Treiber).
Those work a bit like the Aggregate Device in OSX (although I think Asio4All had that capability before Osx had), where you can add several devices (again, if compatible) into one combined ASIO driver. This driver will then show up in your DAW preferences.

Two big variables to take in consideration : those 3d party drivers won't necessarily work with your hardware. And second, they're 3d party drivers. So the resulting performance can be good, or can be horrible.

WDM and MME can be more lenient on this matter. For example, in Samplitude/Sequoia, when choosing the WDM driver, you can activate the I/O of several devices at once. I know this for a fact as at work we are running a setup like this (one card serves as ADAT I/O, a second one has analog outputs for monitoring. Has been working flawlessly for about a year or five). Reaper displays this behaviour also, so I think most other WDM capable DAW's will also.

[travisbrown]

In Digital Performer, I just select the devices I want to use in the hardware config panel. I've used four at once, I think, plus core audio.

[James Lehmann]

Running two (or more) different interfaces is a doddle on the Mac - you simply use CoreAudio to set up an Aggregate device and all your I/O appears logically as a single interface.

As with any multi-unit digital system though - be sure to get your clocking right!