RME Fireface 800 Firewire Audio Interface Buy Online at Gigasonic.com

RME Fireface 800

is a 56 channel 24 bit / 192 kHz high-end, high performance and high speed FireWire audio interface for use both the Mac and Windows. Fireface 800 provides the some of the best instrument input implementation to be found anywhere in an audio interface plus a high power headphone output and signal-to-noise ratios of 119 dBA - typically RME!

Item Includes

RME Fireface 800 Firewire Audio Interface
AC Power Cable
1 x 13' FW400 Cable (IEEE1394a)
1 x 6.6' TOSLink Optical Cable
Driver CD ROM
Two (2) Year Warrant

Features

Direct ASIO Headphone Monitoring
Fireface 800's headphone output delivers high volume with low-impedance headphones and mirrors playback channels 9/10. In contrast to the Multiface, the Fireface 800's headphone output is capable of direct ASIO monitoring.

Built-In "Tube Sound" Limiter For Guitar And Bass
The FireFace 800's Hi-Z instrument input offers an unprecedented fidelity and flexibility for guitar and bass. A soft-limiter, specifically designed instruments, provides overload protection for the A/D-converter and deliberately creates harmonic distortion to emulate tube sound. Due to a soft transition and creation of harmonics, the Fireface 800's limiter can emulate tube saturation. A 'fuzz' circuit, which can be activated in addition, deliversguitar distortion. A multi-stage filter can remove low- and high-frequency disturbances and guarantees a optimal sound even when recording directly into the computer or when monitoring through a mixing console. Signals from guitar or bass can be recorded clean for optimal plug-in processing in your DAW.

Balanced I/O at 192kHz and 119dBA Dynamic Range
RME's highly successful Multiface was the basis for the development of the Fireface 800. The Fireface 800 features 8 balanced line I/Os with software controlled reference level switching (-10 dBV, +4 dBu, HiGain), to guarantee highest dynamic range and fidelity. Apart from the levels of the Fireface 800's microphone pre-amps and the headphone outputs, all device settings are software controlled. The RME Fireface 800 is equipped with the latest A/D and D/A converter chips and all I/Os operate up to 192 kHz with a dynamic range of 119 dBA on playback.

Simultaneous TRS and XLR I/O
All inputs and outputs can be used at the same time. E. g., 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!

ADAT I/O
RME Fireface 800 has two ADAT I/Os and 1 S/PDIF I/O. When combined with two additional ADI-8 DS', you can have 26 analog inputs and outputs at 48kHz or 18 at 96 kHz. The SPDIF-I/O works up to 192 kHz, allowing 10 analog inputs and outputs at the highest sample rate, plus two digital ones.

4 Phantom Powered Mic Pres
RME Fireface 800 has 4 discrete balanced microphone inputs with class-A stage, 48 V phantom power and separate TRS and XLR inputs, which can also be used as additional line inputs. Two of the Fireface 800's four mic inputs are permanently available as channels 9 and 10 while the other two can be used with inputs 7 / 8 on the back panel.

SteadyClock Sync
The Fireface 800 is equipped with SteadyClock, RME's latest sync and clock technology. With SteadyClock, the Fireface 800 becomes a sync reference for the whole studio. the Fireface 800's SteadyClock refreshes clock signals, removes jitter, and takes permanent care of optimal conversion quality, thus guarantees a sensational sound quality.

TotalMix DSP
Thanks to the DSP-based TotalMix mixer from the Hammerfall DSP series, all of the Fireface 800 inputs and outputs can be freely mixed, distributed and routed. With the Fireface 800, up to 14 completely independent stereo submixes are possible. Thanks to an internal flash memory, all of the Fireface 800's settings including TotalMix are recalled during boot. After making all desired settings, the Fireface 800 works in stand-alone (without computer) as a submixer, A/D and D/A converter, headphone mixer, format converter, instrument or microphone pre-amplifier, monitoring mixer and much more.

Optional LTC and VITC Sync
Via an insert slot on the back of the Fireface 800, a time code option (TCO) for synchronizing to LTC, video and VITC can be added. Thanks to SteadyClock, the Fireface 800 does not only extract absolute positions, but also a very clean low-jitter word clock.

Latest Multi-Port Firewire Technology
RME offers the latest technology giving the Fireface 800 unprecedented power to provide FireWire 800 ports as well as SteadyClock, ADAT and SPDIF digital PLL, TotalMix and stand-alone mode. Using an integrated 32 bit RISC processor, the Fireface 800 is flexible, reconfigurable and one the first Giga-FW interfaces available, optimized for audio with latencies down to 48 samples. 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.

Specification

Converters
24-bit

Sample Rates
Internally: 32, 44.1, 48, 64, 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz, 128, 176.4 and 192kHz
Externally: 28kHz to 200kHz

Analog Input
4 x XLR/4 x 1/4" TRS phone (front)
8 x 1/4" TRS 1/4" phone, software controlled switching of reference levels -10dBV, +4dBu or HiGain (rear)
1 x 1/4" TS phone

Analog Output
8 x 1/4" TRS phone, servo-balanced, DC-coupled
1 x 1/4" TRS unbalanced

Digital Input
2 x ADAT optical or S/PDIF optical
1 x RCA S/PDIF coaxial (AES/EBU compatible)

Digital Output
2 x ADAT optical or S/PDIF optical
1 x RCA S/PDIF coaxial (AES/EBU compatible)

MIDI In/Out
Yes

Sync In/Out
2 x BNC WordClock
S/PDIF

Headphone Output
Yes. Headphone output can be used directly with ASIO direct monitoring

THD + N
AD: < -104dB (< 0.00063%)
DA: < -100dB (< 0.001%)

Dynamic Range
AD: 109dB RMS unweighted, 112dBA
DA: 116dB RMS unweighted, 119dBA (unmuted)

Frequency Response
-0.1dB: 5Hz to 21.5kHz @ 48kHz
-0.5 dB: <5Hz to 43.5kHz @ 96kHz
-1.0 dB: <5Hz to 70kHz @ 192kHz

System Requirements
Drivers:

Mac:

OS X 10.3 or up
Core Audio
Core MIDI
Up to three units operational simultaneously

PC:

Windows 2000 SP4 or XP
ASIO multi-client operation of WDM, MME, GSIF 2.0 and ASIO 2.0. WDM (DirectSound) with stereo and multi-channel support
Up to three units operational simultaneously
Fully hot-pluggable

Specialties
The unit has a second port for hub functionality, bi-lingual mode for full FireWire 400 compatibility and an additional FireWire 400 port

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Number of Reviews: ( 12 )
Share your thoughts with other customers on RME Fireface 800 Firewire Audio Interface.
Write Your Buying Experience

01/17/2012 - The sound is crips clean and transpearent. fantastic connectivity, and ease of use. This product files where similar products don't on both my mobile and stationary DAWs. I tried a dozen interfaces (firewire), and the RME Fireface 800 represents the best marriage between sound fidelity and driver functionality. I love, love, love it!

Rating:

[5 of 5 Stars]

-- Brian Baldinger

09/16/2011 - Since I've bought my unit I've had zero problems. I also subscribed to the RME audio forum which keeps you up to date on all things RME! The drivers are rock solid and have been tweeked several times since its realease which has improved an already excellent product.

Rating:

[5 of 5 Stars]

-- Phil Keisling

07/16/2010 - The sound is so professional, it puts many other sound interfaces to shame. What's more, it's very easy to use. It works flawlessly and installed with out a hitch. If my fireface 800 ever fails to serve me, than i would easilty replace it with another without a blink. This interface is destined to be an industry standard FW solution.

Rating:

[5 of 5 Stars]

-- Vanessa Grant

06/26/2010 - I think the rme fireface 800 is the most powerful interface. It has everything our studio could need. Very well built, and the face plate looks nice as well. I will be keeping this forever.

Rating:

[5 of 5 Stars]

-- NEIL MACKAY

06/07/2010 - For all its greatness I have only one small gripe. The Mic pre on this unit are excellent. But I'm a guy who craves a lot of gain. It just didn't give me the gain I'm normally accustomed to. It seemed like I had to crank it just short of clipping before I got the gain I wanted. Not to worry though I already have a stand alone Mic Pre and didn't buy it for the mic pres included. Otherwise this is a dream product and should be on anyone’s wishlist if they are serious about their music!

Rating:

[4 of 5 Stars]

-- Luke Meier

05/25/2010 - The question should be - How many features does this beast 'not' have? It has it all, and to date it hasnt proven me wrong. I use all the analog channels for I/O, i use the first 8 channels of Adat digital, as well as a couple of the pres. It’s very simple to use, it pretty much plug and play. On my mac it was no more than a few minutes and i was recording right away.

Rating:

[5 of 5 Stars]

-- Edwin Black

05/11/2010 - With the latest AKM chips and RME's own analogue components, the sound of the Fireface 800 is killer. The A-D is very clean, clear, and Un Coloured. What you put in is what you get out. Superb sound al the way...very impressed with the conversion. The D-A output of 119db is just brilliant (even thru the headphones as specs claim). My audiophile grade headphones sound awesome through the RME output. My highend monitors pay off even further with the gorgeous output of the D-A on this beast. You can hear all the detail of the audio, precise imaging, and natural depth of bass with clean midrange. The top end is extremely smooth. Wonderful. I have to say, i had never heard of RME a few years ago, and used M Audio sound cards previously. But what ever i did hear about the company was positive and all praises. So i am glad i bought the fireface over other units. The damn thing worked first time round, which doesnt normally happen with other sound cards. No tweaking, just recording...no joke.

Rating:

[5 of 5 Stars]

-- PeterArzt

04/29/2010 - Great mic pres and software. good build. great sound. would be a 10/10 if there was better metering and a dedicated Vol Pot attached to main outs (this is available only through the software). I tried a dozen interfaces (firewire), and the RME Fireface 800 represents the best marriage between sound fidelity and driver functionality. I love, love, love it!

Rating:

[5 of 5 Stars]

-- Connor Pettway

04/16/2010 - Total mix is a key feature that actually acts like a real world mixer with actual gain rather that the just level indicator’s like the Maudio interface had. Not only do you get the +4 reference level you come to expect but you can actually dial in an additional 6dbs of gain! Incredible! Built like a tank. Some don't like the front handles but I think it adds character. Makes the unit uniquely RME! It stands out in my rack. The best purchase I have ever made for my studio! Period!

Rating:

[5 of 5 Stars]

-- Caleb Gunst

04/01/2010 - Nothing to say in this department. Its built like a damn tank. All the knobs on the front are very tight and smooth. The jacks are solid. I was impressed again. The top plate has all that writing, which did put me off at first, but once its racked, its gone.If you can afford it, the Fireface is a step above all other firewire interfaces. Its definitely high end and a very professional product. I was looking at a Motu 828 mk2, but bought the RME instead. All the reviews and good things i heard turned out to be true. I dont normally believe the hype.

Rating:

[5 of 5 Stars]

-- Franklin Marshall

03/07/2010 - This is hands down the best sounding interface I have ever purchased. The Mic pre on this unit are excellent. I absolutely love it. It's perfect for recording Hip Hop and R&B. But it's not really sexy looking.

Rating:

[4 of 5 Stars]

-- Cliff Putnam

02/13/2010 - I have never heard a better sound interface than this. If Apogee gets any better, than i dont want to know, i dont have time for subtle differences. This thing sounds awsome. Woudnt buy another firewire based interface again. This thing has it all and more.

Rating:

[5 of 5 Stars]

-- Ida Hart

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