Topic: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

Could you recommend me a pci expresscard 34 for connecting a madiface xt to my older Lenovo t 410 laptop?
It doesn’t have usb3, and I want to record 128 channels.
I figure connecting it via pci Express would be the way to go.

Thanks, Georg

2

Re: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

Cards are listed in the manual, chapter 30.5.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

3 (edited by georgob 2018-07-30 12:05:07)

Re: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

Thanks Matthias,
Would you recommend buying a
USB3 PCI expressCard or rather one of the
PCIexpresscard-PCIexternal ?

Georg

4

Re: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

ExpressCard. But the question is if you still find one somewhere...

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

Thanks a lot.
Georg

Re: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

MC wrote:

ExpressCard. But the question is if you still find one somewhere...

Hi,
I am about to get a new Laptop...it is getting harder to get one with Expresscard.
So what is the best solution for our Madiface XT?

Thunderbolt 3 -> Expresscard -> Madiface XT

or

USB3 -> Madiface XT

I need stability (up to 64 Channel recording in 24/96) plus low latency - up to 2 hours of recording without Interruption.
My old Lenovo W541 was working great.

Any hint - maybe for a laptop as well? Lenovo X1 Extreme?

Thanks.
Fabian

Fabian Frank - Arcantus Musikproduktion GbR
www.arcantus-musikproduktion.de
www.arcantus.de

7

Re: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

With a good computer and a well designed USB subsystem USB3 will work perfectly. In reality chances are higher that TB3 reaches that state quicker and more easily.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

Thanks for the Info.
So the way to go would be a Laptop with TB3.
Would this adaptersetting work:

Apple Adapter TB3->TB2 to this

http://www.sonnettech.com/de/product/ec … rbolt.html

Or is there a way directly TB3 to expresscard?
Thanks.
Fabian

Fabian Frank - Arcantus Musikproduktion GbR
www.arcantus-musikproduktion.de
www.arcantus.de

9

Re: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

The Apple adapter does not work with all Windows computers. The Startech adapter does.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

MC wrote:

The Apple adapter does not work with all Windows computers. The Startech adapter does.

Thanks for the info - I did not know about an non Apple adapter.


So I think this is a Yes to my question that 2 adapters will work.

:-)
Thanks.

Fabian

Fabian Frank - Arcantus Musikproduktion GbR
www.arcantus-musikproduktion.de
www.arcantus.de

Re: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

Hi,
finally I have a new Laptop...but I have Problems.
Laptop is a Lenovo X Extreme gen2.
I use the StarTech Adapter via the mentioned sonnet Adapter to the Madiface XT.

Interface is recognized (but I can not boot with it - bluescreen).

But the main problem is: The System is not usable for audio. I can get rid of LABs - this is OK. But still lots of crackling. It is better with USB3 but still not great.
I already made the usual fixes like set the system to maximal performance and optimize for backgraound task. I also set the "Enable MMCSS for ASIO" in the driver.

Any Ideas left?

Would be great if I can keep the Laptop.

Thanks.
Best.
F.

Fabian Frank - Arcantus Musikproduktion GbR
www.arcantus-musikproduktion.de
www.arcantus.de

Re: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

Bios options checked?
I remember my wonderful T530 also needed some essential BIOS tweaking before running smoothly.

Re: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

Ulrich wrote:

Bios options checked?
I remember my wonderful T530 also needed some essential BIOS tweaking before running smoothly.

Yes, I checked all settings - but the only thing was powersettings and GPU settings. I tried them - no change :-(

Any hint?

Thanks.
Fabian

Fabian Frank - Arcantus Musikproduktion GbR
www.arcantus-musikproduktion.de
www.arcantus.de

Re: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

Fabian. 

Suggest you start with USB 3 and get that stable without LABs, then work your way backwards to the TB / External PCiE adaptor (where there could be multiple issues).

First thing to check: does the X1 Extreme have Nvidia with Optimus?  I.e. Can you set it up in the Bios to use the CPU's Intel graphics adaptor and not use the Nvidia at all?  I would try that first.

Simon

Madiface XT, Madiface, 3x Micstasy, ADI8QS
Sequoia 17, W10 x64
https://bsound.co.nz/tools-nix

Re: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

Yes, avoid NVIDIA. On my old t410 I have to use the powermizer feature that disables the grafic power schemes and lets the card run always at full speed.
Georg

Re: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

Hi all,
thanks for the help. But this Laptop is going back...with this new generation of Laptops it seems that there are more problems under the hood.
I had quite some BSOD during my testings. And I could not bring the DPC-Latencies to an exaptable level. Maybe MC can shed some light on there testings?

Probably this will be solved during the next month of new firmwares from Lenovo...but I had to decide now if I want too keep it on the shelf and hope for the best or stick with my trusty W541 for now...I just have some work to do ;-)
So I hope to get a new Laptop soon with good dedicated graphic and suited for audio work.
If you find any, please drop a note.
Thanks.
Fabian

Fabian Frank - Arcantus Musikproduktion GbR
www.arcantus-musikproduktion.de
www.arcantus.de

Re: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

FFrank wrote:

So I hope to get a new Laptop soon with good dedicated graphic and suited for audio work.

Why dedicated graphics?  I would prefer to go with Intel graphics.

18 (edited by Potscrubber 2019-11-13 07:18:44)

Re: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

Hi Fabian

I appreciate the need to get work done.  But I can't help feel you didn't fully investigate the X1 extreme, or at least not describe the detail of your experiments here.  The Nvidia/Optimus thing is crucial, especially with Sequoia (which I assume you are using as you mentioned LABs).  My trusty T430's were BSOD DPC sh*tboxes until I got them setup right too, and now they record 64 tracks in hybrid mixing mode without even breaking a sweat.  Still it's entirely possible the new X1 extreme has some fatal DPC flaw, but I think it's helpful for everyone to get into the detail on these discussions, if time allows of course.  The X1 Extreme / P1 are of interest to remote recorders here due to their capacity for two internal drives.

Simon

Madiface XT, Madiface, 3x Micstasy, ADI8QS
Sequoia 17, W10 x64
https://bsound.co.nz/tools-nix

Re: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

Hi and sorry for answering so late,

I tried a lot with the X1 Extreme. I installed a totally fresh system, installed all drivers from Lenovo, disabled optimus and all other stuff not needed - sadly there is no battery to take out... ;-)

I could not get it to work via the startech adapter and the Sonnet box to the Madiface XT.
And I xould not get it to work reliable via USB3 as well.

This is the same problem here:
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=29539

So I returned the Laptop.

I need a dedicated GPU for my Video work. And yes I, need it at the same time to my Madiface XT via Thunderbolt3 (PCIe).

I setup a lot of Laptops/Desktops for pro Audio work the last 18 years.  I tried hard with the X1 Extreme...but there is a limit. I make my money from doing recordings ;-)

Best.
Fabian

Fabian Frank - Arcantus Musikproduktion GbR
www.arcantus-musikproduktion.de
www.arcantus.de

Re: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

FFrank wrote:

I need a dedicated GPU for my Video work.

For many kinds of video work Intel GPU is sufficient nowadays. As long as I don't want to play games on my laptop I try to avoid a non-Intel GPUs.

Please let us know when you find a solution with another laptop model.

Regards, Ulrich

Re: Madiface xt, which pci Express card

Hi Fabian

Fair enough, thanks for extra info.  Shame really.  I have to say I saw a P1 for very good price here in NZ but passed on it due to your experience.  Still part of me thinks it must be possible to wrangle, I would like to have a shot at it sometime.  These models are very attractive from the outside.

bis bald

Madiface XT, Madiface, 3x Micstasy, ADI8QS
Sequoia 17, W10 x64
https://bsound.co.nz/tools-nix