DAW advice needed - Expand up to 32 I/O

[EnJeanEar]

Hello good people, hope everything is fine with everyone.

Our studio recently expanded a bit with the creation of two iso rooms and the addition of a 32ch in line console plus some outboard eq's and comps.
We focus on both recording and mixing, from single to multi talent combos.

Until now, we are using 3 chained Presonus Firestudio Project units, which allow for recording up to 24 tracks, but outputs are limited to 10, which was ok because we were mixing solely ITB, but the analogue additions gave us new possibilities for both recording and mixing, either in or out the box, plus, at least for me, makes music making so so much more fun now.

Budget is tight right now with all the expenses, so i.e. the Antelope Orion is a bit out of reach.
My question would be, if anyone could be kind enough to share any info, or actual gear in use, as to how to achieve the desired 32 physical I/O's, plus MIDI.
I get so confused with all the connectivity possibilities (USB, firewire etc), which one will be master/slave, how to ADAT so, any help would be greatly appreciated.
We are on Win10, Cubase 12, EWQL Cloud.

Cheers!

 

[cyrano]

How about an RME Digiface USB and four ADAT boxes of choice?

Of course, you already have three Presonus ADAT units, so the fourth one could be a different one.

 

[EnJeanEar]

How about an RME Digiface USB and four ADAT boxes of choice?

Of course, you already have three Presonus ADAT units, so the fourth one could be a different one.

Thanks for the immediate reply.
Firestudio Project have no ADATs, they ditched them on this model. Just firewire and an S/PDIF. I will have to let these go.
I should have mentioned that in above.

 

[EnJeanEar]

@cyrano I think that RME Digiface suggestion got me to a right direction. At least one of them LOL.
So, is it possible that I use the RME with say 4 Behringer ADA8000? Simple as that? Of course involving any setup needed in RME software.
But in Cubase all I will see is the inputs/outputs from the RME?

 

[cyrano]

Yes, yes and yes.

I use one with Behringer ADA8000s and 8200s, a bunch of very old Fostex 16 bitters, mixers...

The Digiface USB comes with RME's TotalMix. Very flexible.

 

[totoxraymond]

+1 for RME !

There are also ferrofish converters which are affordable and work great.

While you're at it, have you considered Dante? That's probably the best path if you want to expand in the future.

Thomas

 

[Elksonic]

I can vouch for Ferrofish. I use two Ferrofish pulse 16 MX into an RME Fireface ufx+. All analog inputs to the frerrofish and MADI to the RME. 32 channels analog and no ADAT needed and no SMUX to deal with.
I agree MADI and Dante would give the best and most expandable solution. RME drives are solid in my experience.

 

[john12ax7]

I run 2 Lynx Aurora 16 with LT-HD cards with an Avid HD Native PCIe card. Originally got it for Pro Tools, but now use a lot with Cubase 10 on Win.

The 1st gen Aurora are cheap on the used market these days. You could also get them with a USB card.

Having good drivers is key, RME and Lynx seem to excel at this. Antelope not so much.

 

[EnJeanEar]

Thank you all for your inputs
For the time being I reckon will go with what @cyrano suggested, that is to connect 4 ADA8200's to an RME Digiface Usb.
As I read and understand, connectivity is pretty straightforward, as syncing happens through the ADAT in each unit individually, so this seems like the way to go for now.
@totoxraymond all this ADAT, Dante, Madi has me still confused after all this time, so I think I will stick with what seems (at least to me) like the simplest solution. In case of further expanding or upgrading in the future, Dante seems quite the possibility to me.

 

[RuudNL]

Are you sure an USB connection can handle 32 channels at a high bitrate?

 

[totoxraymond]

Are you sure an USB connection can handle 32 channels at a high bitrate?

RME engineers seems to think so:



Edit: if in doubt there's the HDSPe RayDat, also with 4 ADAT I/O but on PCIe format.

 

[Elksonic]

I've had no problems with 32 inputs at 24/96 with the RME and USB.

 

[Rob Flinn]

I use a Raydat with a pair of tascam hard disk (with both adat & analogue cards installed) recorders that I have had for ages for the convertors. Possibly not the most elegant solution but it works for me & hasn't cost me an arm and a leg. However if I could justify the expense I would go for the antelope or something like it. It's a shame presonus stopped making the quantum 4848, that was a lot of interface for the money.

 

[museric]

Good topic! I've too have been in search of a good replacement for an aging interface (Focusrite Saffire Pro 40), and looking at the RME with ADAT I/O for the analog side. (Not quite sure what I'll do for MIDI but I have an old midiman I think I'll dig out and try.)

For raw line level IO (which I'm particularly interested in these days) - Has anyone here taken a look at the MOTU 24AO and 24AI? (two separate units, USB2, plenty expandable, and a big plus - class compliant)?

 

[Beatpeat]

Since we are in groupdiy here, have you considered to build your own 32 Channel USB Audio Card?
There is a nice Option…

https://www.tindie.com/products/auverdion/freedsp-infinitas/

 

[Barry Hufker]

Unfortunately Out of Stock at the moment...

 

[museric]

Ooh! I'll give a bump to the thread. It appears to be quite an advanced build project (SMD soldering, firmware config, etc.), though, and limited signs of success from builders on this thread from what I can tell...
https://groupdiy.com/threads/infinitas-usb-audio-class-2-interface-32-in-32-out-dsp.68163/

 

[DB_]

For the time being I reckon will go with what @cyrano suggested, that is to connect 4 ADA8200's to an RME Digiface Usb.
As I read and understand, connectivity is pretty straightforward, as syncing happens through the ADAT in each unit individually, so this seems like the way to go for now.

You can get a lot of bang for your buck if you’re ready to pounce on a deal on the second hand market.

I ended up with 32 channels i/o for about the price of a second hand Lynx Aurora 8 (including a Lynx Aurora 8!)

The only downside of the my setup is 4 ADAT i/o limits me to 48kHz and I’m now itching to replace the RMEs with Auroras now I have one!

If RME released an 8 ADAT i/o Digiface USB I’d upgrade in a heartbeat. TotalMix as a front-end for whatever ADDAs you’ve got plugged in is a surprisingly simple yet brilliant idea.

Mine’s normalled through 2x 48pt patchbays to my 500-series modules which enables routing virtually in TotalMix before committing to patching, metering/monitoring/capturing the outputs of any module at any point in the chain - with TotalMix UI on an iPad perched on top of the rack.

 

[DB_]

For raw line level IO (which I'm particularly interested in these days) - Has anyone here taken a look at the MOTU 24AO and 24AI? (two separate units, USB2, plenty expandable, and a big plus - class compliant)?

I did but friends warned me off MOTU citing support and driver issues.

Digiface + 4 second hand interfaces capable of ADAT standalone mode was cheaper.

 

[Philbo King]

Are you sure an USB connection can handle 32 channels at a high bitrate?

USB2 can handle around 200 mono channels of 24 bit / 48KHz with no problem.

ADAT usage at 96KHz is a bit problematic; it generally requires cutting the ADAT channel count in half. And Behringer ADA8000/8200 can't do it anyway.