DAW advice needed - Expand up to 32 I/O

[JoAvg]

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.

 

[JoAvg]

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.

 

[JoAvg]

@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.

 

[JoAvg]

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.