D8B to ProTools 9

[anyhorizon]

RME have a seriously solid reputation, essentially.

Peter

[High C Double G]

Yea

RME Raydat is 32 ADAT and $899 PCI
The other RME's were 24 ADAT
The Presonus is 32 ADAT and $499 FW

I really need to see what the pros/cons are for the extra money and PCI interface.

I am sure you meant PCIe as PCI is being left in the dust soon, I am sure that is what you meant.

FW and PCIe are two very different ways to get itb and the general thought is PCIe is better in a lot of ways... one of them is getting in and out of the d8b for instance. With handy 8-channel RS (Radio Shack but no longer made)switch gizmos one could easily route ADAT signals. The FW is easier generally to hook up, but doesn't give you as much flexibility Going in and setting up menus etc.. PITA

Finally this subject is deep and varied, opinions abound. The two 32 channel units above will sound different, I have recorded at a studio with Presonus w/FW and it sounds really good, but I would think that the RME is going to sound better and ultimately give you less grief. YMMV...

There is a $400.00 difference in price and it is most likely worth it in the long run, but there is nothing wrong with the FW and the presonus is a solid unit. But... 400 is 400, that is half of a really good brand new mic and/or a lot of guitar strings!

Hope this helps (although I can't imagine) Good luck let us know what you end up with.

Michael

[anyhorizon]

Now that Thunderbolt has been released on the new Macs, it makes decisions more difficult. 12 x FW 800 speed. Yikes!!!

Peter

[NigelC]

Well as I am in the UK I got my RME for a great deal new and I paid £450 which was the equivalent price for the Presonus. Not sure why and some are still selling at £475. Perhaps as RME are German they do not sell at as good prices in the US as they price to recover the exchange rate? Its usually the other way round and we usually get stung (Apple Macs, Mac software like Adobe are all usually sold for more than in the US).

So for me it was a no-brainer. And the best is I found even without a clock source it played nice using its own clock even though the D8B was the master. I think its internal clock has some kind of auto regulation or such. I have clocked it using ADAT but it seems to work either way. And its very stable.

[Petersueco]

Download and install the DIGICheck software. That's the real bonus for having RME:

RME's download page

[Star AV]

Now that Thunderbolt has been released on the new Macs, it makes decisions more difficult. 12 x FW 800 speed. Yikes!!!
Peter

You made me Google Thunderbolt.

Info: Thunderbolt has maximum data rate of 10 Gbits/s or 800 Mb/second compared to Firewire 800 at 70 Mb/second.

Sounds cool, but I assume it will be a while before we get a lot of choices in audio periphs.

The RME PCIe solution is sounding pretty good. May do some price shoping or look for used.

[Axeman098]

Well, the biggest advantage with the PCIe card is throughput....plain and simple. Bus speed of PCIe is a HUGE advantage over a Firewire "Lightbridge" type interface. Less chance for a data bottleneck that can cause issues with glitching, latency, etc. Plus the PCIe card is an internal solution, so it's one less box to hook up, less cable spaghetti.

I'm looking at the RayDAT, but if Marc's project becomes a reality I won't really have a need for a $850.00 ADAT Card, as I'll switch off to other Pre's anyway. Plus I have a hard time shelling out more for an interface card than I did for my entire board

[Star AV]

Is anyone using ProTools 9 with the D8B?

I'm selling a bunch of stuff to get a new interface and new PT9 upgrade.

Still looking at:
M Audio Lightbridge
REM Ray Dat PCIe
Presonus FireStudio Lightpipe

Are there any others.....