I'm thinking the Fireface 800 from RME might be a good upgrade from a Delta 66 and am wondering about the preamps.

Are they any good?

Are they totaly bypassable?

I know there is a line level input on each channel but will it totaly bypass the preamp section?

At this point I have an API7600 channel strip, a Joe Meek VC1, a couple of sm57's an AKG535, and a Soundeluxe U195.

Mostly I want the converters and ADAT I/O. If the pre's are usable then it's a bonus but I want to be sure I can keep them out of teh signal chain.

Thanks

the fireface is great. the preamps are soso... not horrible, but don't try anything funny.
without the preamps I would've bought it anyway. and the extra knobs look nice and interesting.

Can I totaly bypass the pre's and use API, Chandler, ect........on all eight channels ?

on the back there are balanced TRS i/o holes

really cool is that you can switch between -10 or +4 or "really hot" (probably +6 Db)
for in- or output seperately. so you can feed it a nice hot signal, and monitor that on consumer level. Ideal when using small active mixing speakers on the road. the headphones output is extra, so are 2 of the inputs on the front. the other two you can switch between back front and both. input 1 has a guitar amp emulator thingie
I've hit the limiter more than once recently,(not a bad limiter, much much nicer than the crappy one in the otherwise excellent focuswrong mixmaster) and will go for the "extra hot" on the input.

the routing is awesome, and completely programmable

timing is solid, though not as solid as the completely concrete Hammerfall series

I am completely happy, but when going for 16 channels, you can also look at the lynx that people seem to like over here...

oh and on the 800 firewire bus, you can cascade firefaces, theoretically raising the number of i/o to more than 32 at 24bit 96khz (with some adat interfaces)
currently I use a ADI-8 AE with the fireface. flawless. the G4 has to run hard to keep up.

just download the manual at www.rme-audio.de
(no I'm not a rep)

I'm trying to download the manuel right now but seem to be having some trouble. I get the manuel for the ADI-8 no problem, but when I try download the fireface manuel I get nothing.

I'll keep trying.

It looks like a great box, the thing that really appeals to mes the flexibility of routing and the additional channels of ADAT.

If I use the line inputs with external pres will I totaly bypass the Fireface pres?

yes

I can download it fine. so it's worth trying

Cool.

correction: "extra hot" or "hi gain" as they call it, is +4 db but with extra headroom

Hey! I also have a delta 66 at the moment.

I don't really think that the fireface 800 pre amps would beat a delta 66 with a vtb-1 or something similar?


Is that right?

no.

I've never directly compared either the pres in the fireface to a vtb or the converters in the delta 66 to those in a fireface, but from everything I've heard the converters in the fireface will smoke those in a delta 66. The pres might be a closer contest but I'm not really looking to use the pres in the fireface much anyway.

I finally managed to get the manual and it looks pretty impresive. It looks like they're using solid state switches to control the signal routing so that depending on how you set up Total Mix, you can you can bypass the preamps altogether, or use both a line leval input and mic leval input at the same time into a single channel. I'd like to see a signal flow diagram but the manual doesn't have one.Total Mix looks awesomel, I'm pretty much sold at this point.

Had a Delta 44, changed to a MOTU 2408 and heard a slight improvement (down to conversion I assume) and went from that to a Fireface 800...Definate improvement in conversion quality, esp. over lot's of tracks.

Nathan

I am really satisfied with the Fireface 800. Probably one of the best investments in gear I have ever done so far. I think the preamps are ok. It is nice to have them available. Hey, I like the way bass sounds direct through input 1 (with speaker simulation on). Nice for those very "in a hurry" recording sessions... heh

Another here! The converters sound great. Very flexible routing. Definitely a quality piece. However, the pre amps IMHO are the weakest link in the chain. I strongly reccommend putting a decent pre in front. Besides that, it is an excellent value in the Guitar Center wasteland of gear!

Don

Can you play any type of music files with the RME (mp3, ogg, WMA etc.), as well as recording with the RME?
Lame question, yes. But I read somewhere you need a different card for most casual music listening.

I play commercial CD's through the Delta 66 now, I also use it to play back mp3's and wma files with Windows media player. If you can make the RME drivers the default drivers in Windows Media Player I expect you can play back through the fireface whatever Windows Media Player will accept.

It's not out of the question that if you are using the Fireface inside a software program like Sonar, or Nuendo, you might have to make some adjustments in the software in order to get it to work.

I can play mp3, ogg, WMA etc. just fine with the Fireface. No problems at all.

Stepped up to the Fireface 800 from the Delta 66 Omni Studio and Delta 1010 combo. The best upgrade ever! They even quoted me in the new sweetwater catalog. Just go to Sweetwater and see my review and check out there new catalog. I didn't put my name but I was happy as hell. As far as the preamps go I didn't like them enough to use them. I use an external pre amp. But if I couldn't afford one they sure as hell beat the Delta 66.