I have an RME UFX Fireface. It has worked flawlessly for me. I believe it can go either Firewire or USB (I'm using USB).
 
At 96 samples I get a reported round trip latency of 5.93 seconds. I have various mic preamps before it one of which feeds it ADAT (UA 4-710d). The pres in the UFX are excellent also although some find them a little too 'clean'.
 
Highly recommend if cost is not the issue.
 
Regards

Razorwit
Hi ModBod,
Yeah, I feel you on the ADAT thing....I have some ADAT stuff round these parts that I'm trying to hold on to as well (that's part of the reason I got the Orion). I was nervous about the USB thing too...I got the unit expecting to send it back but damned if it doesn't really do 32 channels at up to 192khz in Sonar.
 
Anyway, I haven't used the RME stuff but I hear nothing but good things. In fact, (Mike: speaking of MADI) if I keep my Lynx gear I may just get an RME HDSPe MADI fx and a MADI interface for my Aurora 16 and run 48 channels of Lynx and Antelope conversion.
 
Good luck with the search ModBod,
Dean

Thanks for the response.  I am slowly but surely eliminating the weak links in my gear and having excellent AD/DA conversion has a lot of value.

It's cool that virtual channels are available to us now, but I have discovered that if you have a great mic (U87) going into a very good preamp or channel strip, you don't really need to add a lot of virtual anything to the track.

Lynx gear is in consideration as well.  (I'm even looking at the Apollo gear from UA, as well.)

MADI is the thing now. Fiber. It's scalable far beyond FireWire-ish copper capabilities, and offers a better, more accurate duplex TX/RX capability with less jitter. I bought the MOTU 24/Core i/o recently. Like mike_mccue, I too found it to be what I needed for the price. With that said, I also bought the BLA clock, and replaced all the inbound OP-AMPs in the MOTU to an improvement. Comparing it to the Lynx Aurora, it holds up quite well.

Mod Bod
 

Thanks for the response.  I am slowly but surely eliminating the weak links in my gear and having excellent AD/DA conversion has a lot of value.

It's cool that virtual channels are available to us now, but I have discovered that if you have a great mic (U87) going into a very good preamp or channel strip, you don't really need to add a lot of virtual anything to the track.

Lynx gear is in consideration as well.  (I'm even looking at the Apollo gear from UA, as well.)




Hi Mod Bod,
 
Hm...not sure what you mean by virtual channels...just for my own edification what is a virtual channel? I can tell you that both the Antelope and the Lynx gear are solely converters. Don't mean to get off topic but you have me curious...
 
Dean

mike_mccue
The RME stuff seems ideal for Dave's ADAT interest.
 
Everytime I look at RME I end up realizing a 24 in analog solution is priced at a much higher level than I am considering.
 
I wish I could enjoy the quality of RME. Maybe someday.
 
:-)

EDITED:
 
Ooops, commented on the wrong post.

Razorwit

Mod Bod
 

Thanks for the response.  I am slowly but surely eliminating the weak links in my gear and having excellent AD/DA conversion has a lot of value.

It's cool that virtual channels are available to us now, but I have discovered that if you have a great mic (U87) going into a very good preamp or channel strip, you don't really need to add a lot of virtual anything to the track.

Lynx gear is in consideration as well.  (I'm even looking at the Apollo gear from UA, as well.)

Hi Mod Bod,
 
Hm...not sure what you mean by virtual channels...just for my own edification what is a virtual channel? I can tell you that both the Antelope and the Lynx gear are solely converters. Don't mean to get off topic but you have me curious...
 
Dean


I meant like the Virtual Channels for the Prochannel as well as the Slate, UAD and other offerings.  I've caught myself adding these plugs to each channel when I've recorded them one track at a time.  I figure, why not buy the real things (hardware) and not load down your DAW?

I've used the RME Fireface 400 for years and now I have the UFX and I've never had any problems with them once I got my head round totalmix. 
 
 
 
 

Mod Bod
 
I meant like the Virtual Channels for the Prochannel as well as the Slate, UAD and other offerings.  I've caught myself adding these plugs to each channel when I've recorded them one track at a time.  I figure, why not buy the real things (hardware) and not load down your DAW?

Oh...that makes sense, thanks for explaining. Yeah, I'm in the same camp (hence my rationale for wanting to go MADI and getting 48 channels of conversion ).
 
Good luck
Dean

Razorwit
Hey ModBod,
You may want to think about an Orion32. It's USB instead of PCI, but it is 32 i/o (16 of which can be ADAT via 4 ports). It'd get you your ADAT i/o and still leave you with 16 channels on the Orion itself. I was skeptical about the USB but it plays nice here...I'm thinking about ditching my Lynx gear in favor of it.
 
Dean

Good.  Ditch your Lynx gear and sell it to me and you buy the Orion.  

Mod Bod
I'm thinking RME because they've been around and seem to be moving along with the times.  If you are using RME, tell me how it's working with SONAR.

 
Fireface UFX user here.
 
Rock solid.
 
I use the usb cable (no slot required).