[RME Fireface 800] La carte firewire de RME !

Citation : Fireface 800 - RME goes FireWire!

After more than 2 years of development, time has come: RME presents the Fireface 800, a 56 channel 24 bit / 192 kHz high-end, high performance and high speed FireWire audio interface.

The Fireface 800 combines the latest and also proven technologies of previous RME products with the fastest FireWire technology. Analog technology of the ADI-8 converters, microphone technology of QuadMic and OctaMic, TotalMix technology of the Hammerfall DSP series, years of experience in programming of efficient and reliable drivers up to complete support from DIGICheck - only the best of the best, and even a bit more. The Fireface 800 offers the best worked out instrument input that could ever be found in an audio interface, a high power headphone output and signal-to-noise ratios of 119 dBA - typically RME!

RME's world-wide successful Multiface was the basis for the development of the Fireface 800. 8 balanced line I/Os with software controlled switching of the reference levels (-10 dBV, +4 dBu, HiGain), of course realized discretely in the analog domain, guarantee highest dynamic range and highest fidelity. Apart from the levels of the microphone pre-amps and the headphone outputs, all device settings are software controlled. Equipped with the latest A/D and D/A converter chips, all I/Os operate up to 192 kHz and reach even 119 dBA dynamic range on playback.

The front-sided headphone output in high power technology does not only deliver high volume with low-impedance headphones, but represents the playback channels 9/10. In contrast to the Multiface, the headphone output is directly ASIO Direct Monitoring capable.

On the front side, the Fireface 800 has 4 discrete balanced microphone inputs with class-A stage, 48 V phantom powering and separate jack and XLR inputs, which can also be used as additional line inputs. Two of the four mic inputs are permanently available as channels 9 and 10, the other two can be used together with or alternatively to the inputs 7 / 8 on the back.

The FireFace 800's Hi-Z instrument input offers an unprecedented fidelity and flexibility for the use of guitar and bass. A soft-limiter, which has been tuned especially for musical instruments, takes care of an efficient overload protection of the A/D-converter. The limiter does not work without distortion, it deliberately creates harmonic distortion. Due to a soft transition and deliberate creation of harmonics, the input signal is compressed steplessly according to taste, or the limiter can be used as a distortion with tube sound. A 'fuzz' circuit, which can be activated in addition, delivers broad guitar distortion. A filter with several stages, which can also be switched on separately, takes low- and high-frequency disturbances away and guarantees a optimal basic sound even when recording directly into the computer, or when monitoring through a mixing console. Signals from guitar or bass are not being alienated in this case, but pre-conditioned for later processing in the DAW, so that the known amplifier plug-ins can make the most out of the sound.

Two ADAT I/Os allow connecting and inserting effect devices, mixing consoles or external converters. With two additional ADI-8 DS, there are 26 analog inputs and outputs, which remain still 18 at 96 kHz. The SPDIF-I/O works up to 192 kHz, so that there are still 10 analog in- and outputs at the highest sample rate, plus two digital ones.

All inputs and outputs can be used at the same time. E. g., the instrument input can be used either instead of the line input on the back, or together with it. Even the jack and the XLR sockets of the microphone inputs can be used simultaneously. In this way, up to 35 signal sources can be connected to the Fireface 800 and recorded onto 28 separate tracks!

Thanks to the DSP-based TotalMix mixer known from the Hammerfall DSP series, all inputs and outputs can be freely mixed, distributed and routed. Up to 14 completely independent stereo submixes are possible. Thanks to an internal flash memory, all settings including TotalMix are recalled during boot. After making all desired settings, the device works stand-alone even without computer as a submixer, A/D and D/A converter, headphone mixer, format converter, instrument or microphone pre-amplifier, monitoring mixer and much more.

The Fireface 800 is equipped with SteadyClock, RME's latest sync and clock technology. With this, the device becomes a sync reference for the whole studio. SteadyClock refreshes clock signals, removes jitter, and takes permanent care of optimal conversion quality, thus guarantees a sensational sound quality.

Via an insert slot on the back, a time code option (TCO) for synchronizing to LTC, video and VITC can be added. Thanks to SteadyClock, the Fireface 800 does not only extract absolute positions, but also a very clean low-jitter word clock.

The latest FPGAs in 90 nanometer technology with unprecedented power are used in order to offer the FireWire 800 ports besides SteadyClock, ADAT and SPDIF digital PLL, TotalMix and stand-alone mode. On the basis of an integrated 32 bit RISC processor, an interface optimized especially for audio was developed, which is flexible, reconfigurable and one the first Giga-FW interfaces available. And of course it allows operation at latencies down to 48 samples. The Fireface 800 has a second port for hub functionality, bi-lingual mode for full FireWire 400 compatibility, and an additional FW 400 port. Thanks to the multi-ports, several Fireface 800 can be used in parallel and at the same time on one FireWire port without any problem.

Manufacturers suggested retail price: t.b.a. Shipment expected late summer 2004.