1 (edited by matteo2303 2019-07-14 06:22:54)

Topic: Rme babyface (old) + audient asp880

Hello,

I have an "old" rme babyface. Can I connect audient asp880 to babyface?

What's the best way in details? (Adat, clock)

I like recording at 96k sample rate. How many mics can I use at 96k using babyface+audient?

Thank you for any reply and Sorry for my bad english.
Bye
Mat


already that there are ..

about the same price ... what do you think is better based on the declared specifications?

audients asp880
audient.com/products/mic-pres/asp880/tech-specs/

arturia audiofuse 8pre https://www.arturia.com/products/audio/ … e/overview

.. to combine with the rme babyface thus having a different style preamp but still of quality.

2 (edited by ramses 2019-07-25 06:53:48)

Re: Rme babyface (old) + audient asp880

You can connect any Audio Preamp via ADAT.

In regards to your questions, see also BBF manual: https://archiv.rme-audio.de/download/bface_e.pdf

ADAT (and also the BBF) supports
- 8 channels @44.1/48 kHz
- 4 channels @88.2/96 kHz (S/MUX)
- 2 channels @176.4/192 (S/MUX4)
see also manual chapter 10.2.

Connected devices like Mic Preamps, Converter, etc should be able to be set to clock slaves and to read the clock from ADAT.
In this case (preamp) you need 2 TOSLINK cables:
- one from external device to BBF
- one from BBF to external device to deliver the clock (and maybe a few audio channels IF the external device support to route some audio channels from ADAT IN to analog outputs. Note: some devices have analog outputs but only to be used as cue out channels which do not allow audio to be routed from ADAT IN to analog outs, you need to consult the manual of such a device).

Required settings on the BBF:
- the ADAT input of the BBF automatically recognizes ADAT format, nothing to be done here
- for the ADAT output you need to set Optical to "ADAT" in the settings dialog: see manual chapter 9.8

Clocking:
On the BBF: set clock source to "internal" (acts then as "clock master")
On the external device: set as "clock slave" by configuring to read the clock from it's "ADAT IN" port

In regards to the two preamps:

As the BBF doesn't support Word Clock you need a preamp with a digital input to be able to read the clock from the BBF.
It looks that only the Arturia AudioFuse has a matching ADAT IN port.
The Audient seems to have coaxial S/PDIF via breakout cable, but the BBF Pro is missing such a port.
So go for the Arturia or compareable.

From RME you could use the Octamic XTC - http://www.rme-audio.de/en/products/octamic_xtc.php
It has some very cool and unique features and integrates very well as channel strip into TotalMix FX,
but has also a higher price for that reason. I only want to mention this so that you can take the decision
whether the add-on price is worth for you:

The advantages:
- can be integrated as channel strip into TM FX (so called "AUX Device"), then you can digitally save the most important settings of each channels in TotalMix FX snapshots of your BBF (this needs MIDI cabling for remote controlling the device)
- can be fully remote controlled by RME MIDI Remote (use either TM FX AUX device or MIDI remote)
- audio format conversion features
- has an USB 2 port and supports class compliant mode, by this ist can directly be connected to Windows and Apple, it can even be directly connected to an Apple iPAD, this is the best "recording interface" for the Apple iPAD.
- offers to you 2 additional phones outputs
- 8 Mic Inputs can also be used as line inputs, 4 Ports support PAD, 4 Ports support INST
- additional 4 AES inputs and outputs
- MADI support if you should have such an environment later
- easily to be configured stand-alone by the Display and to configure internal routing options for phones, etc ..
- ...
Its a very versatile unit with excellent Mic Preamps and can be integrated later into any other larger setup by MADI.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13

Re: Rme babyface (old) + audient asp880

Thank you for reply.
But working with adat at 96khz:

A) Are 4 external preamp Channels + 2 rme internal preamp Channels

Or

B) Are 2 rme internal preamp + 2 external preamp?

Sorry but I'm very noob.

Bye
Thank you

4 (edited by ramses 2019-07-25 07:10:34)

Re: Rme babyface (old) + audient asp880

I think you misunderstand ADAT completely.

It offers 8 channels @44.1/48.

If you need a higher sample rate then this is achieved by channel multiplexing,
because with i.e. double sample rate you get the double amount of audio data.

To get one 88.2 kHz channel you need two 44.1 kHz channels combined.
At the end you have only 4 channels when you choose 88.2 or 96 kHz for your recording project.
Or only 2 if you use even higher sample rates (which nobody really needs).

If you want to record @88.2 / 96 kHz for whatever reasons
and if you need 8 additional MIC channels, then you need
- a mic preamp with 2 ADAT outputs
- a recording interface with 2 ADAT inputs

The BBF only support 1 ADAT port IN and OUT.
So you have to live with it that you can only record 8 Mic channels @44.1/48
Or 4 with 88.2/96 and so on.

If you need to record 8 Mic channels @88.2/96, then you need a different recording interface that has
at least two ADAT ports (IN and OUT): 802, UFXII, UFX+, RayDAT, DIGIface USB, ...

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13

5 (edited by matteo2303 2019-07-25 09:42:17)

Re: Rme babyface (old) + audient asp880

Thank you
finnaly I understood adat.

If so my best option Is arturia 8pre + babyface because 8pre can work also in standalone mode like audio interfacce and on osx I can create aggregate device.

In this way i have 2 rme preamp and + 8 mic different "style" preamp at 96khz

(Probably i can also Sync the two interface)

Thank you again for info
Bye!

Re: Rme babyface (old) + audient asp880

You do need to sync the devices for sure. If that is not possible it will not work as the buffers/audio slowly go out of sync.

Vincent, Amsterdam
https://soundcloud.com/thesecretworld
Babyface pro fs, HDSP9652+ADI-8AE, HDSP9632

Re: Rme babyface (old) + audient asp880

You could use aggregate device and then clock synchronize the two devices by using one ADAT Port simply for synchonization.
Use BBF Pro as Clock master, then TOSLINK cable from BBF Pro OUT to Arturia ADAT 1 IN, configure Arturia to learn clock from ADAT 1 IN.

The only bad thing with such a solution is, that you can't use TotalMix FX as Mixer for both interfaces and can't route the channels. For this reason I would use 44./48 and connect the Arturia via ADAT to the BBFP as I said initially.
Then you have TMFX as Mixer and create nice headphone mixes.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13