2 Possible Interfaces for PT 11

[lowlights]

I have a Digi003 rack - and while it may continue working into PT 11, word is it won't be supported. I'm on Windows 7 with a Siig PCI Firewire card, etc. and I'm pretty much stickin' with it.

I'd like to consider an alternate interface. Two that seem to stand out are:

RME Fireface 800 or Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56 (possibly the Focusrite Saffire Pro 40).

Both feel similar in terms of the Digi003 i/o. I mostly run my fiyr Grace M101 into the Analog 5-8 inputs, so I don't use the built-in pres much. But of course the AD/DA is done by the 003, and so I'm hoping for similar or improved quality there. Only, you know, future cmopatible.

I've heard good things (rock solid drivers, etc.) re both the RME and Focusrite. I'm a hobbyist, I don't have paying clients - I just have fun and do mostly acoustic recording (guitar, mando, vocal with some drums via V-Drum MIDI and Superior Drummer, and some Mini-Grand and Xpand for "flavor")

I'd love your thoughts - seems like I should start thinking about this now.

[lowlights]

Nuthin'?

[YYR123]

Stay away from focusrite and win7 - mine started fine then started to have the hardware not connected error - AISO properties have changed and all kinds of mess - working good now on a Mac but that's a big pile of cash with no paying clients - (it's easy to find someone who wants a demo -btw)

I like the focus rite pre's but they are not apogee's or anything - liquid pre's are nice one less thing I have to buy (decent quality stereo pre-amp's for the money channels )

I really got it for the liquid pre amp emulations and the fact I can smux adat @ 96khz which makes it scalable should I need 12-16 pre's - it also can sample at 192k I don't know that u would need it but it can do it.


But no windows - shame in focusrite - it works but beware - search the duc for focusrite, win7, AISO

[soybalm]

I just heard great news about RME on the Mac but I imagine they must put out good solid drivers for Win 7. Support is better than Apogee from what I heard. I got lip service from Apogee myself and they made me feel sorry for buying their product. Then they pulled support altogether for their product as well as the Windows format.

[Raggi]

I have had the Focusrite Liquid 56 for some time now with Win7 64bit and I'm loving it. It took some time getting to know how things work to iron out the "properties has changed" thing, but as long as I stick to the std setup, it's great.

I normally record in 24bit 48k using 64samples and it's rock smooth. I wrestled allot in the begining with newer Nvidia Quadro Fx card with displayport audio and went to AMD HD 5770 and I havn't had any problems after that. (knock on wood).
The latest versions of the driver also helps keeping it stable.

[lowlights]

I use an ATI Radeon vid card, so hopefully that will help me avoid any NVIDIA problems, and I can disable the Ethernet while recording.

I'm just a hobbyist - I record every song/session at 44.1/24 - so I'm not likely to suffer much back and forth on sample rate. The Saffire 56 gets such great reviews - but I really would like something "rock" solid re: PT 10.0.1 and Win 7.

[lowlights]

I'm feeling good reading around the forum on the RME FF 800 or 400. Both would suit me, I/O-wise, and seem to be solid on Win7.

Any sense of whether I'd have any trouble with these and the eventual PT 11 - based on the hints and rumors out there about PT 11's functionality.

[Killjoy]

Loving pt10.0.1 with my focusrite pro 40! Rock Solid

[Blissful World]

Originally Posted by lowlights

I use an ATI Radeon vid card, so hopefully that will help me avoid any NVIDIA problems, and I can disable the Ethernet while recording.

I'm just a hobbyist - I record every song/session at 44.1/24 - so I'm not likely to suffer much back and forth on sample rate. The Saffire 56 gets such great reviews - but I really would like something "rock" solid re: PT 10.0.1 and Win 7.

If you're a hobbyist you should be at least considering a Mackie Onyx Blackbird since it's half the price of what you're considering and may be 100% of the sound. Honestly, you will probably encounter an issue or two no matter what components you pick on the way to "rock solid," but I have ATI, PT10.1, Onyx, Win7 64-bit, and have had good luck so far even with Ethernet on while recording [not wireless, and one or two tacks at a time, not a full band]. I imagine 16 GB RAM helps with that.

[lowlights]

Killjoy - is that focusrite 40 with Win 7?

Would the Mackie Onyx Blackbird feel like a side-step or a down-step from the Digi003 (the only interface I've known)?