Profire 2626 + RME HDSPe AIO - Anyone tried this combo?

[Erkan]

Hey guys! It's time for me to step out of my internet cave and slowly become active again.

Right now I'm doing a little bit of research on my next setup for my next album. I recently bought a new killer computer and thought "FUCK IT, I'm not running FireWire anymore, I'm fed up with that shit". This is mostly due to the picky nature of FW, and that you must find a damn controller card with the correct TI chipset and yada yada. I've got no time for that shit. So I stumpled upon this RME PCI-e audio interface:

http://www.thomann.de/se/rme_hdspe_aio.htm

And what I have right now is M-Audio Profire 2626 with 8 Octave Preamps that are pretty decent. I don't think I'll get much if I sell the Profire, and I know it's possible to connect stuff together through ADAT and SPDIF and stuff, so I thought why not try using it only for its preamps.

Now, I'm very new to ADAT and SPDIF, but from my quick googling I've seen that most people use ADAT to hook up different devices together. Has anyone tried this type of combo with an older audio interface hooking up to a newer for its preamps? Since the RME has no preamps (from what I can tell), the Profire would be hooked up to it via ADAT. But how hard is it, and are there any tedious issues along with it?

Some insight would be tremendously appreciated!

TLDR; I want a low latency audio setup with 8 mic preamps and it should be stable and not tedious and picky (bye FireWire). It should not cost super much and it would be great if I could use the Profire 2626 I already have for its preamps, but with a PCI-e card (since they give the lowest latency).

 

[Line666]

Yeah the RME PCI/PCIe interfaces are designed for exactly that - using the external devices preamps plus A/D conversion and basically just getting all the data straight into the computer via ADAT without the need for anything internal. They handle super low latency really well due to the efficiency of RME's drivers and it's not really difficult at all to set up; just plug in, make sure everything is clocked to the same thing and the routing is all set up properly and go.

However it'd be a damn sight cheaper to just get a TI firewire card if you are running a desktop setup as theres not as many compatibility issues to run through as on laptops etc.

 

[Erkan]

But have you tried it for yourself though? I really need some real world proof that it is a good way to go

People say different things about the clocking and syncing, and how the Profire would follow the RME if I was to change the buffer settings in let's say Reaper while recording. Does the Profire match the RME's buffer settings? Does the Profire have a buffer setting at all when used this way? I mean, if it maybe works as purely getting the signal into the preamp, then converts it as fast as it can to a digital signal and ships it to the RME. Maybe there is no buffer when it's used that way, but I might be totally wrong.

Thanks for letting me post this, even though there are similar threads out there but I have to be sure and aquire some up to date information. Any more people who use a similar setup - please post your experience and gear!

 

[Line666]

I ran a Behringer ADA8000 into an PCI RME 9652 for a good period of time; it's not the exact same setup but it's the same principal and it was the most rock solid setups I've had in terms of stability and latency; basically the RME sets the buffer, provides the digital input and clocks and lets the external device (in this case the Profire) do the rest of the work - Preamps/conversion and the like. FWIW I run a Profire + Firewire setup now and the only difficulty I could see you coming up against is using the Profires headphone outputs as they as they are routed in the Profire control panel normally and I don't know if the RME would allow any more than just let you use the 8 line outputs that are standard with ADAT.

On the setup itself you can sync to either the Profires native clock or the internal RME one, latency is set up in RME Totalmix software just as you would the Profire control panel on a comparable firewire setup.

 

[Erkan]

Owen, you rock man, thanks for the info.

So the headphone thing - I guess I need some sort of breakout cable for the RME HDSPE AIO to access some outputs, or how else would I access any type of output from it? Where do I plug my monitors/cans in? Or does it go back to the Profire via ADAT so I use the outputs on the Profire?

 

[Line666]

Actually sod it I'm lying, I just checked my Profire control panel and the headphones are set at output 1/2 and 3/4 anyway so you should be fine; that's just me getting my head in a twist trying to remember the irregularities.

I don't know how you have your Profire set up typically but I just have my first 6 analogue outputs taking the master mix (1/2 - Headphones 1, 3/4 Headphones 2, 5/6 - Monitor outputs) and you'd basically just have to do the same just with the RME software instead.

 

[Erkan]

Oh cool. It sounds almost too good to be true.

One more thing, what about MIDI? If I connect let's say an e-drum kit via MIDI, do I connect them to the Profire as well? Does the MIDI follow through the ADAT with the rest of the channels?

 

[Erkan]

I've read more on the net and some say the RME HDSPE AIO has 1x ADAT and that ADAT is only 1-way communication so you need one for in channels and one for out. So I'm confused - if you send signals out from Profire into the RME, how do you send them back to the Profire so you can use the Profire's outputs for monitoring and so on?

 

[Melb_shredder]

I use the rme Multiface with the hdspe card and I usually run it at 1.5ms latency when tracking... So I assume that's what you wanted from real world experience? I love it! Never had any issues at all

 

[Erkan]

I use the rme Multiface with the hdspe card and I usually run it at 1.5ms latency when tracking... So I assume that's what you wanted from real world experience? I love it! Never had any issues at all

Yes, useful info - thanks! I've read enough around the net now to understand that this is amazing latency-wise and I've never been this sure to dump firewire for this.

Now the only thing I wonder is the question in my previous post. I'm trying to read when I have the time here at work but if anyone knows please do write

 

[Line666]

Your Profire has an adat output and an adat input (as does the RME model you linked); you would wire the Profires adat output to the RMEs adat input for your input channels and you would wire your RMEs adat out to your Profires adat in for your output channels - it will take two ADAT cables (one for sending/receiving at each end effectively) and each cable will deal with 8 channels - 8 channels input on one and 8 channels out on the other. There's no issue with just being able to receive but not being able to send as both pieces of equipment have adat ports for sending and receiving data, hope that clarifies!

 

[Erkan]

Thanks man

 

[drew_drummer]

I've done this with an RME Hammerfall PCI card before - very stable and very low latencies. Only reason I got rid of it was because I wasn't having any problems with the Firewire of the Profire 2626 at the time.

You could even get an RME ADAT card, and two 2626's and run them both as standalone converters and get 16 simultaneous inputs. Schwing!

 

[Astrikos]

Oh cool. It sounds almost too good to be true.

One more thing, what about MIDI? If I connect let's say an e-drum kit via MIDI, do I connect them to the Profire as well? Does the MIDI follow through the ADAT with the rest of the channels?

From the RMR website:1 MIDI I/O with 16 channels of hi-speed MIDI via breakout cable

 

[mickrich]

I use RME Digiface PCIe running ADAT i/o to A&H Zed-R16.
Super low latency and super stable on quad 2.6 mac pro.
If you can route the mic ins to ADAT outs and vice versa in the mixer for the profire you are good to go.

I would suggest the raydat or digiface card for future upgrade options.