Rented an RME Babyface for the week...

My local shop had a lightly used one that they were willing to rent out, so out of curiosity (and because I'm in the market for an interface and having a tough time getting a handle on what to get), I grabbed it. I've never used any RME hardware before.
 
I am quite impressed with everything about it. Drivers installed effortlessly, and (after a day and evening of pretty intense use) it is completely stable. And jeez, it sounds good - clean, clear and open. Really like the sound.  I am also impressed at the latency: 5.3 ms of latency, effortlessly. Not a pop, click or hiccup.
 
Mic pres are just fine and extremely useable. TotalMix FX is great.
 
This is a really fine unit. I hear the new Pro version is even better, although I could see myself being extremely happy with this original version. I know there are other Babyface users on this forum, and I'd be curious to hear about your experiences....I'm going to guess they are pretty positive, though.
 
Right now, I'm considering turning this rental into a more permanent arrangement, especially as the price is discounted both for being an older unit, and for being very lightly used (emphasis on lightly: it has exactly 4 days of previous use, as it was rented out as a new unit for a 4 day stint, and has not been out of the store since).
 

Yeah, this Babyface is fantastic. I'm working on an orchestral sketch this evening, and I currently have 14 separate instances of EastWest Play going at the same time, loaded with Hollywood Strings, Woodwinds, Percussion and Brass (various articulations of each), plus 3 reverbs, a bunch of compressors, and whatnot...and the RME just keeps on trucking. Normally, I'd be freezing and unfreezing tracks, etc, but I'm in a stress-test sort of mood, and want to see how the RME reacts to the pressure. Apparently, it's a stroll in the park. 
 
Added bonus: I can hear what I'm doing far better than with my ESI Juli@. Fourteen tracks, going full bore (including some pretty frantic brass parts), and I can hear every detail across the whole sound field.
 
My Vstudio 700 sounded pretty good, I recall, but I'm thinking the Babyface sounds clearer, with a better stereo image. Hard to say without an A/B test, but I don't recall being able to mix strong orchestral tracks together so easily before. 
 
I am seriously impressed. Gotta buy this thing...

That was the position I found myself in a couple months ago. I really loved my VS700. But I never got it overly stable in Windows 10, and I felt its tight integration with Sonar was slowly dying as Sonar continued to evolve and the control surface didn't. I decided to unload it while it still had some resale value and I could get a bit of money back for it. As awesome as the VS700 is, the hardware is on an irresistible downward slope in terms of value and usability, I think, and the whole fiasco has left me vowing to never buy another Roland product until the end of time.
 
I like the idea of buying into RME's great history of drivers and support.

Don't forget RME DigiCheck comes with it too. Check out that beautiful piece of software!

I bit the big one a couple of years ago and picked up an RME UCX. It was more than I had initially planned to spend on a new interface, but I'm sure glad I did. RME make excellent rock solid low latency interfaces...which is what I needed to compliment the new StudioCat DAW I sprang for at the same time.

I got the UCX and regret not getting the UFX. Don't you Babyface owners lust for a UCX?