Need help with soundcard for D8B..

[BrianJ]

Hey everyone! I'm trying to get the studio back up and running since buying the D8B, however, I'm stuck at what soundcard to buy...? Alot of people have suggested an RME 9652, which is what I planned on buying and which is why when I purchased the D8B I bought one with 3 OPT-8 boards in it. However, what I didn't know was that the 9652 does NOT have an analog output for my Mackie HR824 monitors.

Now, this isn't a problem if I use the D8B standalone as it was designed, HOWEVER, I had been planning on using the D8Bridge software as well which disables all the audio on the board. My goal here was to use the D8B in "normal" mode to record tracks into my DAW of choice, and then reboot into D8Bridge mode for mixing, but at that point I won't have any output to my monitors via the 9652...

So, any suggestions? I'm really not sure what to do here...

Thanks!

Brian

[FrankH]

You could try something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005D7SY8K/ref ... B005D7SY8K

...from the RME's SPDIF output. Use TotalMix to route a 2Mix to the SPDIF outputs. Set the speaker inputs to the appropriate input sensitivity level (-10dB) and it should work just fine.

You will need the appropriately wired RCA to 1/4" TRS or XLR unbalanced cables.

There are a ton of devices like this out there. Google: SPDIF to Analog Audio

[BrianJ]

Hello Frank! I was wondering if something like this was possible...seems like it would work, but I wonder, would a device like this degrade the audio quality? This is afterall going to my main monitors... any thoughts? Wouldn't it need to be of comparable quality to the RME? Such as good 24 bit converters?

Or, should I be looking for another all-in-one solution from a high quality source? Something that might have all the optical inputs/outputs as well as the analog outs...is there even such a beast?

[FrankH]

If I were in this position, this is what I would do as a quick and inexpensive solution. There shouldn't be any degradation to the monitored signal as long as you properly wire it up and set the sensitivity on the 824's correctly.
Try and make the SPDIF run the longer one, so the analog run from the converter is as short as possible to the speakers. XLR's could, of course, be substituted for the 1/4" TRS plugs.

I recently sold my RME-9652 to one of our forum members. I'll tell you what I said before selling it:

This is a PCI card. It is not PCIe. If your PC has a PCI slot, this card will absolutely work. RME has continuously updated the driver so it will run on the latest Windows system. This card will not work on any Intel Mac. Apple ceased equipping the Intel series with PCI slots. PCIe only.

RME-DA-824.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1931 times

[BrianJ]

Peter, thanks for that diagram...it's very helpful! I am still a bit confused though, maybe I'm thinking of it the wrong way or something, but aren't the SPDIF to AUDIO box specs going to matter? Shouldn't I be concerned at all about the signal to noise ratio and number of bits of it's d/a converter? I feel like I would be putting a very high end signal into a possibly quite low end box...and if so, I don't see how the sound wouldn't be affected.

For example, if the RME is outputting a 24bit signal with a high signal to noise ratio, and the SPDIF box is only operating with a 16 bit converter and a much lower s/n ratio wouldn't that have a negative impact on the final sound?

Please understand I'm not trying to say "you're wrong" or anything of the sort, I'm just confused and trying to understand if the SPDIF box specs should be considered, and if not, then WHY not?

Thanks again for your response!

Brian

[Casey_Pittman]

There are analog expansion boards for the RME card. EDIT OOPS THAT CARD ONLY WORKS WITH THE 9632 NOT THE 9652 SORRY.

http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_hdsp_expansion_boards.php#AIAO

Or you could go with something like the presonus central station which is just the monitor section of the board in a 1U rack unit with a remote controller.

If you don't want to sacrifice quality then you'll have to sacrifice some $$$

-Casey

[BrianJ]

There are analog expansion boards for the RME card. EDIT OOPS THAT CARD ONLY WORKS WITH THE 9632 NOT THE 9652 SORRY.

http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_hdsp_expansion_boards.php#AIAO

Or you could go with something like the presonus central station which is just the monitor section of the board in a 1U rack unit with a remote controller.

If you don't want to sacrifice quality then you'll have to sacrifice some $$$

-Casey

Hey Casey! That presonus central station looks nice, but yes, a decent amount of added expense...

Let me ask you this...is there any reason I couldn't use my Fractal Audio AxeFx II as an interface to my monitors? Product can be found here...

http://fractalaudio.com/p-axe-fx-ii-pre ... cessor.php

The specs and manual can be seen here...

http://fractalaudio.com/downloads/manua ... l-600c.pdf

I'm thinking this could be a "free" solution for now if I want to get the D8Bridge running...


On a side note, I was looking at an HDSP9652 on ebay, the box clearly says 192kHz/24 bit on it...what's up with that? Here's the link...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RME-HDSP-9652-c ... 27ca265321

[FrankH]

Peter, thanks for that diagram...it's very helpful!

If only Peter had drawn it.

Let me ask you this...is there any reason I couldn't use my Fractal Audio AxeFx II as an interface to my monitors?

Only if you plan to run your DAW at 48kHz exclusively. Read the SPDIF I/O spec.

[BrianJ]

Peter, thanks for that diagram...it's very helpful!

If only Peter had drawn it.

Let me ask you this...is there any reason I couldn't use my Fractal Audio AxeFx II as an interface to my monitors?

Only if you plan to run your DAW at 48kHz exclusively. Read the SPDIF I/O spec.

Oops! Sorry about that Frank! I was talking with Peter about my PM issues and must have gotten confused! My apologies!

Yeah, I remember seeing that 48khz only thing...ugh, I'll be doing mostly CD work...

What about the converter quality? Should I just find one that has at least 24bit/96khz operation and not worry about the s/n ratio?

Brian

[FrankH]

Yeah, I remember seeing that 48khz only thing...ugh, I'll be doing mostly CD work...

Well....in a pinch....and without spending a dime....you could run your DAW at 48kHz. Do all your recording and mixing (and monitoring via the pAxe) in 48kHz, finally doing a down conversion of the mix from 48kHz to 44.1kHz.
Again...in a pinch and no money spent.

But if you want to optimally keep track of what you are mixing for CD....you really should be recording and mixing and monitoring at 44.1kHz.....so there are no tonality surprises at the end. So...that means you need to start searching the internet for Digital to Analog converters. The thing I suggested was literally the first thing I found. There are tons of 'em and they range from $16 to hundreds. It is really up to you determining how much quality you realistically need and can afford.

What about the converter quality? Should I just find one that has at least 24bit/96khz operation and not worry about the s/n ratio?

Most of these things spec out on the bottom end at around -85dB or so for S/N....which is quite reasonable for cheap.
You just need to find something that's going to handle 24bits and auto-switches through all the standard sample rates (32, 44.1, 48. Even better to 88.2 and 96).