RME Debuts FireFace 800 FireWire Audio Interface
 |
Front Panel (Artist's Rendering)
(Click for a close-up) |
 |
Rear Panel (Artist's Rendering)
(Click for a close-up) |
April 6, 2004
After more than 2 years of development, RME announced the Fireface 800, a 56-channel 24-bit / 192
kHz Wire audio interface.
RME's Multiface was the basis for the development of the Fireface 800. The unit offers 8 balanced line I/Os
with software controlled switching of the reference levels (-10 dBV, +4 dBu, HiGain), realized discretely in
the analog domain. Apart from the levels of the microphone
pre-amps and the headphone outputs, all device settings are software controlled. Equipped with the latest A/D and
D/A converter chips, all I/Os operate up to 192 kHz and reach even 119 dBA dynamic range on playback.
On the front side, the Fireface 800 has 4 discrete balanced microphone inputs with class-A stage, 48 V phantom
powering and separate jack and XLR inputs, which can also be used as additional line inputs. Two of the four mic
inputs are permanently available as channels 9 and 10, the other two can be used together with or alternatively to
the inputs 7 / 8 on the back.
The FireFace 800's Hi-Z instrument input for guitar and
bass includes a soft-limiter, which has been tuned especially for musical instruments, providing overload
protection of the A/D-converter. The limiter deliberately creates harmonic
distortion and can be used as a distortion with tube-like sound according to RME. A 'fuzz' circuit, which can be activated
in addition, delivers guitar distortion. A filter with several stages, which can also be switched on separately to remove low- and high-frequency noises.
Two ADAT I/Os allow connecting and inserting effect devices, mixing consoles or external converters. The SPDIF-I/O works up
to 192 kHz, so that there are still 10 analog in- and outputs at the highest sample rate, plus two digital ones.
All inputs and outputs can be used at the same time. For example, the instrument input can be used either instead of the line
input on the back, or together with it. Even the jack and the XLR sockets of the microphone inputs can be used
simultaneously. In this way, up to 35 signal sources can be connected to the Fireface 800 and recorded onto 28
separate tracks.
Thanks to the DSP-based TotalMix mixer taken from the Hammerfall DSP series, all inputs and outputs can be
freely mixed, distributed and routed. Up to 14 completely independent stereo submixes are possible. Thanks to an
internal flash memory, all settings including TotalMix are recalled during bootup. After making all desired settings, the
device works stand-alone even without computer as a submixer, A/D and D/A converter, headphone mixer, format
converter, instrument or microphone pre-amplifier, monitoring mixer and more.
The FireFace 800 is equipped with SteadyClock, RME's latest sync and clock technology. With this, the device
can be a sync reference for the whole studio. SteadyClock refreshes clock signals and removes jitter. Via an insert slot on the back, a time code option (TCO) for synchronizing to LTC, video and VITC can be added.
The latest FPGAs in the FireFace 800 use 90 nanometer technology designs in order to offer the FireWire 800
ports in addition to SteadyClock, ADAT and SPDIF digital PLL, TotalMix and stand-alone mode. The Fireface 800 has a second port for hub functionality, bi-lingual mode for full FireWire 400
compatibility, and an additional FW 400 port. Thanks to the multi-ports, several Fireface 800 can be used in parallel
and at the same time on one FireWire port without any problem.
MSRP: t.b.a. Shipment expected late summer 2004.
For more information, visit their web site at www.rme-audio.com. | 
