trade PCI RME Hammerfall for new Fireface (need help)

Hi there,
maybe someone can help me make an important choice:
I use a pair of Musicnet DA/AD24 converters with a RME hammerfall lite pci card for recording. The converters are old, use 44.1 or 48 Khz but the whole thing works fine, and sounds ok, provided I don't do to many conversions. I can trade trade the card and some cash for a RME Fireface.
Should I do this? I'm thinking of getting this fireface, because the quality is supposed to be better. As I do my mixes on my analogue desk, I have to get audio in and out the computer a lot, and experience a slight loss of quality, each time when doing a conversion. Considering this:
Is the higher sample rate of the fireface of importance?
Should I also sell the older converters, as it is not possible to run them at the higher sample rate of the fireface, and it is not pratical as I have to change the sample rate of recordings a lot?
Does anyone have experience with a fireface, or has faced the same choice?
What is your experience when upgrading to a higher sample rate converter?
The latency is supposed to be higher than the Hammerfall, but still low, does someone know this latency is noticable in the Fireface?

Sorry to raise the converter question again, sample rate and all, but I'm at a loss for answers. The fireface is quite expensive, but looks like a solid investment I can use for years, on the other hand, my setup is not perfect, but is solid enough..
thanks

Well for starters I am not one to get rid of anything mainly because you never know when you have to go backwards and upgrading is usually too $$. with that being said. The real question for you should be how does it sound. If it has been working for you so for a nd it sounds good then there is no real reason to upgrade. But if you considering it lets look at your options. ask yourself do you need the higher sample rates. I know studios here in Los angeles that purchased pro tools HD and 192 interfaces not for the higher sample rates but for more tracks at lower sample rates. Also most systems sound good provided we don't do a lot of conversiions so nothing shocking there. It sounds to me that without even me knowing the fireface specs you really don't need one at this point in time. It would be one thing if you out grew or were unsatisfied with your system but things seem good. the old saying if it ain't broke don't fix it comes to mind. Save your money and buy a 2 inch machine you can get them so cheap now :wink:

The firface is rumored to have excellent conversion. Far better than the Multiface 9which I use and love) so I don't think it will leave you wanting.

Second, there is more to it than sample rate. Good converters are good converters regardless of the sample rate they work at.

Third, there is plenty more reason to get a fireface. Look at some of the other options. It has about the lowest latency in the business. Is stand alone and therefore ultra portable, it allows tons up additoinal ins and outs to be added without another interface, it has a DI and preamps (for people you hate, or just a spare for dummy tracks) and it is RME's new baby so it will get the most support attention.

I chose to stick with the Multiface for now, since it fits the bill and sounds great, but a fireface will be in my future if the price drops $500.

Shane

:thumb: :sam:

After a long and hard search for the best setup for my particular needs and budget, I paid $1225 for a FireFace 800. While the mic amps are not quite as lofty as my Hardy/Jensen or Neve copies, I think they are quite good and are a step above most semi-pro stuff out there (MOTU, et al). Same with the converters. I've read that the discernable quality of the converters are in the same league as some more expensive gear (like Rosetta), so this along with the ease and functionality makes it for me a good value for the money. Someday I might look into by-passing the RME pre-amps, but right now they do well for all but my most critical sonic ambience requirements.

I pretty much agree with all the postings above. Consider first if you'll really need the higher sampling rates (and have the soft/hardware with which to support it without trouble). It sounds as if your main issue is CONVERSION problems. I feel that the particular technique used for conversion can be more important than just the initial sampling rate. In other words, 192 kHz gains us nothing if the down-conversion technique introduces errors. Personally, I'd prefer an accurately represented lower -sample sound than a skewed version of a higher -sample sound. My thing is predominantly acoustic music that is minimally processed, so this is from where I'm coming. Heavily modified and/or electrified music tends to be much more forgiving when it comes to innaccuracies.

Good luck with your project, and please let us know what you end up doing.

:grin:
thanks for the info!
@rlantis:
yes this is exactly the issue here: Is the down-conversion good enough?

I use a lot of electronic instruments, and especially the nuances that they produce set them apart from any software instruments; bad processing kind of ruins that. So as less processing as possible (most plugins are definitively out, because most of em mask the carefully made sounds) and I do an analogue summing mix. which is much better sounding than the logic audio mixer i've used for years. Especially logic 7 is CRAP. they rewrote the audio engine to cater for garageband loops vercrissakes! It sounds and feels like elastic band. bloody idiots. but that is another story

the best audio software I used for recording is still TC electr. Spark: the quality is strangely enough better than anything else within my budget (small project studio)
as it's discontinued, I'm trying peak now, opening it with a keycommand from within logic.

Anybody know good software to downsample with minimum loss?
or is the logic-peak thing good enough?

@pucho812
as for the idea of tape: the tapes themselves are getting more rare and expensive.. yes the quality is unsurpassed, but in a survival studio strategy, it doesn't really fit
friends of mine buy every stock of tape they come across
so tape would be another money pit for me

:green:

Too bad about TC Electronics Spark being discontinued... I've heard others' acclaims, too; but with such intense competition in the software market, if TC wasn't making money on it, their bottom line is (appropriately) their focus.

I don't know how it stacks up with other resources, but I've been very happy with the down-conversion quality of Sonar 4 Producer Edition.

http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/default.asp

Their claim:

POW-r Dithering?unique, patent pending algorithms for converting 20, 24, and 32 bit audio to CD standard 16-bit format, while retaining dynamic efficiency and very low noise, optimized for use with all sample rates.

Click to expand...

Does anyone know of a definitive, "ideal" down-conversion source? Seems to me it's more a matter of choosing your poison, dependant upon subjective perceptions, theories, and preferences.