I have a dual boot PC system with an XP installation solely for my music producation and a Windows 7 installation that I currently use for everything else. The XP installation suffers from regular crashes due to some hardware conflict that Windows 7 does not have and I just prefer using the latter, so I'm thinking about upgrading my music interfaces to enable me to use my studio equipment with Windows 7.

One problem that I'm having is finding a sound card to replace my excellent RME Digi9636 which has two in/out pairs of ADAT ports and an SPDIF in/out connection via a D-Sub adapter port. The SPDIF I could possibly live without, but I definitely need the 2 ADAT pairs to connect to my mixer and sampler. So, do you have any ideas of items I could replace this with (preferably a PCI-e card)?

Many thanks in advance.

That RME card should work with the 32 bit version of Windows 7 but not with the 64 bit version.

If I was going to replace mine I would look at RME again.

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

RME RayDat?

http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_hdspe_raydat.php

James, I had the 32 bit Windows 7 version first and the RME didn't work on that either. RME still don't seem to have an updated version of the Digi9636.

Jaminem, the RayDat has twice as many ADAT sockets as I need, takes up two PCI-e sockets and costs a packet... I had looked at that, but I don't need the extra sockets and I can't spare the extra PCI-e slot, so unfortunately it's not suitable.

Thanks anyway.

Well, it's not PCI, but the RME FF800 offers all of that bar the d-sub connector. And if you're worried about stability, you could always buy a decent FW800 or 400 PCI card and run it on that. It's working well for me here on Win 7 64 and has worked without problem for me on 32-bit XP in the past.

Your initial post made me think - what would I do if I wanted to go 64 bit? I had a quick look on Ebay and found 3 HDSP cards selling for under £200 quid so I'd say that was an easy choice to make (although they're not PCI-E). The 9632 is the nearest equivalent to your card but I believe you can just remove the second card from the 9656 if you don't want to take up another slot.

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

Edited by James Perrett (25/04/12 10:48 AM)

Quote Mixedup:

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Well, it's not PCI, but the RME FF800 offers all of that bar the d-sub connector. And if you're worried about stability, you could always buy a decent FW800 or 400 PCI card and run it on that. It's working well for me here on Win 7 64 and has worked without problem for me on 32-bit XP in the past.

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If £450 for a RayDat is too expensive an FF800 is going to decimate that budget...

You may be able to use the RayDat without the expansion card, and you should note that it only connects to one of the slots, the expansion card just hangs over a slot rather than using it so you could obscure a PCI slot rather that a PCIe one if that's an option?

What about the 9652? It's PCI rather than PCIe but it's a lot cheaper than a RayDat.

Thanks for your comments everyone.

James, the HDSP 9632 only has one ADAT in/out pair, so that's no good.

Both the HDSP 9652 and HDSPe RayDAT take up two PCI/PCI-e slots and have features that I don't need, but it seems as though I'll have to make do with one of them. They're both similarly priced.

Thanks again everyone.

Hi Sheridan, if you do go with the RayDAT I'd be interested in hearing how you get on with it. I'm in a similar situation but need 4x ADAT I/O and have been considering whether to go for the RayDAT or an outboard lightpipe<>FW converter and PCIe FW card. Good luck!

=Goddard

The HDSP version of that card works fine. I bought one when I ran out of ADAT ins and outs on my Emu 1212m, which also works under win7 just fine.

Currently have a HDSP9652 pci card running under win7 pro 64bit using reaper and it all works fine in both the 32 and the 64 bit versions.

So I guess the answer is if you want to stay close to what you have get the HDSP version of your existing card.

If you go with the 9652, you dont need to waste a pci slot area on the mobo as the daughter card is only held in place on the backplane in front of a pci slot for convenience. no connections to the MOBO at all.

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Me? But I`m such a loveable old bugger!

Quote Goddard:

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I'm in a similar situation but need 4x ADAT I/O and have been considering whether to go for the RayDAT or an outboard lightpipe<>FW converter and PCIe FW card.

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Forget about the lightpipe to firewire option (unless it is RME) - the Raydat will be far more reliable and cost effective.

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

Quote James Perrett:

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Quote Goddard:

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I'm in a similar situation but need 4x ADAT I/O and have been considering whether to go for the RayDAT or an outboard lightpipe<>FW converter and PCIe FW card.

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Forget about the lightpipe to firewire option (unless it is RME) - the Raydat will be far more reliable and cost effective.

James.

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The pricing for the RayDAT just seems IMO a bit extreme, even allowing for the premium that it's from RME. Perhaps because it is a lower volume product, or perhaps because there is little if any competition.

I came across the ESI MaxIO32e which looked appealing feature-wise, but could never confirm whether it is still available or even being supported.

A Lightpipe<>FW solution has the advantage of portability between FW-equipped systems, but it seems the few products that were available are no longer made or supported. Perhaps because Apple have been dropping FW.

I do find it rather odd that there remain so few solutions available anymore for interfacing ADAT with PCs (and MACs), and fewer still for PCIe, given that many people and studios still use ADAT interfaces.

At least RME have recognized a demand still exists, and have updated to PCIe, and it must be said they do make excellent gear and do support it pretty well, even if not forever.

Ok, think I've talked myself into a RayDAT now...

=Goddard

Quote Goddard:

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I do find it rather odd that there remain so few solutions available anymore for interfacing ADAT with PCs (and MACs), and fewer still for PCIe, given that many people and studios still use ADAT interfaces.

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...yeah, I find this strange and exasperating. (I use a Marian Marc A PCI ADAT card, but driver development ceased years ago and I wouldn't recommend it. Their current products might be worth a look though.) RME seems to be the only game in town, and overpriced accordingly.

Quote BJG145:

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Quote Goddard:

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I do find it rather odd that there remain so few solutions available anymore for interfacing ADAT with PCs (and MACs), and fewer still for PCIe, given that many people and studios still use ADAT interfaces.

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...yeah, I find this strange and exasperating. (I use a Marian Marc A PCI ADAT card, but driver development ceased years ago and I wouldn't recommend it. Their current products might be worth a look though.) RME seems to be the only game in town, and overpriced accordingly.

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Thanks for the pointer to Marian! Their Seraph A3 line certainly do look very interesting.


=Goddard

Quote Goddard:

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A Lightpipe<>FW solution has the advantage of portability between FW-equipped systems, but it seems the few products that were available are no longer made or supported. Perhaps because Apple have been dropping FW.

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It is more likely that they just didn't work reliably enough. It takes a great deal of effort to make a reliable FW interface and the manufacturers probably just couldn't justify spending that amount of effort on a small market.

In my experience FW video devices work much better than most FW audio devices - which is odd when you consider how much more data bandwidth video requires.

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

Having thought about it a bit more, I think that I'll probably go for the HDSP 9652 as it has all the connectivity that I need and I could even connect the Word clock to my 02R96.

I really appreciate all the comments guys. Thanks again.

Quote James Perrett:

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In my experience FW video devices work much better than most FW audio devices - which is odd when you consider how much more data bandwidth video requires.

James.

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Video doesn't require nearly as low latency.

Quote markhodges:

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Quote James Perrett:

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In my experience FW video devices work much better than most FW audio devices - which is odd when you consider how much more data bandwidth video requires.

James.

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Video doesn't require nearly as low latency.

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Yeah, a decent processor can make the tea and bath the baby between frames!

Dave.

Neither the RAYDAT not the HDSP 9652 take up two PCI-e or PCI slots. The extension units take up space in the PC case but not the board. I have recently installed a RAYDAT plus the W/C board to replace my HDSP 9652 and I have not looked back since.