WARM!! 
by ALI MOLAEE from IRAN, January 2008
Music Background:  recording engineer,pro musician

I have worked (mixing and recording) with m-audio firwire 410 and then buy fireface800 for my job.WOW! this harware has warm and amazing sound ..my recordings are so clear and warm and thick enough with almost all sonic characters of acoustic instruments. .i don`t work with apogee!! but i think the converters of RME FIREFACE800 is very good. I think that recording the midi channles via totalmix outputs in my DAW (NUENDO) is better than exporting them with NUENDO. the preamps is good , not the best. but in this price FF800 is a amazing device for professional musicians and sound editors.

  Fireface 800 
by Ike Bennett from Kingston. Jamaica., November 2007
Music Background:  Pro Musician

I bought the fireface 800 and use it with the Presonus Central Station.It is hard to imagine it becoming obsolete.This combination is simply.VERY HEAVY.

  Best Audio Interface in its Class 
by J. Lagos from Miami, June 2007
Music Background:  Urban Music producer (reggaeton, hip hop), Commercial Jingle Production

I've used several M-Audio interfaces, the Digi 002 rack and the Mackie Onyx w/firewire option and to be honest the Fireface 800 beats them all.

First of all it sounds great. Even the pres sound smooth and silky. Obviously not as good as a external dedicated Pre but get the job done for most applications.

I bought it because of the converters and all the I/O options.

Windows compatibility is excellent. Drivers rock solid and RME is always updating the firware and drivers. A plus for me.

Firewire 800 and 400 options are great but check if your firewire 800 controller PCI card is compatible.

Totalmix takes a bit of a learning curve but once you have it it gives you tons of routing options for EFX, submixes, headphone mixes, or just as a preamp or converter.

I spent 4 months researching audio interfaces and for the price/quality/value the fireface was the right choice.

  This is HOT!!! 
by P.L. Middleton from PA, June 2007
Music Background:  Gospel, Acid Jazz, Hip Hop, R&B & Pop

I read all of this jargon; its so transparent, so warm, so musical, bla bla bla! People want plain english. The sound on this baby is amazing. What goes in comes out! I have heard other converters, I have experienced the best of the best. I must say The sound from these outputs are exactly what the digital world needs. It doesnt make your sound too electronic. It maintains the full sound. The mic pres are so amazintg they capture every nuance of complicated vocals (vibrato, creschendo, riffs you name it) I do not even use a compressor or limiter with this. My drums are "BANGIN".

I have friends who use Pro Tools and thats great (big name great sound etc). I use FirFace and I appreciate the sound from it more than their pro tools rigs. yes i used lower case for pro tools. I use the UAD-1 with the FF in Cubase 4. WHOA Daddy! So my opinionation is that the FireFace is equal to all the big boys. worth every penny. PL

  Great Sound! 
by Carlo Rashee from Hayward,CA, May 2007
Music Background:  Hip Hop/ R&B

The RME 800 sounds great when it's working. I just pick one up and the sound is amazing! But the sound cuts out and i have to keep restarting nuendo. I downloaded the newest drivers and it still has promblems if they can fix the bugs in the 800 it will be the best sound card in the biz.

  Great! 
by Tyler Burns from burns46824@yahoo.com, April 2007
Music Background:  Everything

This converter is about as good as it gets below $3000 or so. My recordings sound pristine like they never have before. CAUTION: If you're running windows on an Intel Mac, make sure to disable your wireless internet connection. If you don't, the Fireface will behave erratically and create LARGE amounts of extra noise. Otherwise, it's fantastic!

  Recommend It 
by Lukester from Los Angeles, October 2006
Music Background:  Musician/Engineer

As far as converters and the clock goes, this one blows away devices I've owned from MOTU, Presonus and Echo. No question. Highs are all crispier. Could have used a physical Main Outs control, but that's why we own our Central Stations...

Just buy one...

Magical Sound 
by Chris from Austria, May 2006

I bought this after reading all the rage reviews on the net. I asked so many users on the forums, and they all said its a must but interface, for it sound alone. I can confirm that all the reviews were not wrong. This interface sounds so musical and warm, my ears still find it hard to beleive. It was quite easy to setup on my DAW. I was looking at the Apogee Esemble, but its not available yet. I figured this had to be better, especially for the price, and at least with the fireface you get what you pay for. To me Apogee seems to work like Apple (going off the 'name'). The fireface has to be the best studio purchase i have made. I have already completed a serious Pop album which is set for worlwide release in a few weeks. The sound quality is awsome...period.

Probably the best sounding recording interface...period 
by Kevin from UK, March 2006

This sound interface is just beautiful. It has a beautiful lush sound and a stunning dynamic range on playback. I was using an audiphile 192 before the rme, and noticed a huge difference in audio quality. The RME Fireface 800 has one of the decent AKM chips used for the A-D stage, and the best AKM chip for the D-A stage. The sound recrodings i have made from my romplers, etc has to be the best to date. Very clean, clear, and like for like quality is captured. The output of the card just shows off its high specs on the D-A, and all i can say is 'detail'. This soundcard is nothing short of capturing every detail and presence of the original source. The stereo imaging was also improved via my monitors as soon i started using this beast.

Even my Sen HD600 cans sound pristine through the headphone amp on the RME (which also outputs at 119db on the D-A). What more can you ask for.

At first, i was nervous spending this amount on a sound card, and also not being sure on driver reliabilty, etc. On my Mac, it as all plug and play, and no problems. I had the fireface installed in 5 minutes, and all was set to go in both Itunes and Logic Pro.

The RME drivers perform like a charm, no problems yet, and i plan on keeping it this way. With so many I/O's, you can do so much with this unit. It really impresses ground up, throughout. The fireface was destined to be a winner. Im glad that i didnt buy the motu 828 mk2 that i was all set on prior to hearing about the fireface. For a little more money, you get exactly what you pay for. Suberb drivers, pristine conversion, and professional performance all around.

The best studio purchase i have made to date...probably.

The Mesa Boogie of Soundcards 
by Lonstah from Michigan, February 2006

And yes I have a Mesa Boogie so I can say that LOL.
This soundcard absolutely blows my mind for so many reasons, where to start?

I bought mine about 5 months ago from Sweetwater, where sales ace Mike Picotte did some creative math and finalized a package deal with the Fireface amounst some good stuff.

The fireface has discrete analog inputs on the front face, one of which is a dedicated instrument input. The Fireface takes my guitar signal and I route that to the non-included TS-AudioToMIDI, which is a pitch to midi translator. It's flawless with an old Gibson SG! I'm strumming gothic choirs and the neighbors are freaking! Aside from squeeky-clean A/D conversion, another reason TS-AudioToMIDI tracks so well is the clickable Limiter included in RME's software.

The rest of the inputs are exactly what you'd think perfection is - with the Rode K2 I just bought a month ago (from Sweetwater) it's the best I've ever heard my voice. I all honesty this combo taught me the obvious choice in new music is a tube mic then solid state preamp. Actually I bought an NT2a along with the Fireface in the first place and that sounds awesome too. Not good. Not great. Awesome.
And when you're talking 47 SAMPLES latency, that isn't a concern anymore, you may need 256 samples if you're running lots of plugins lol.

Before you seriously consider a great audiocard, check out RME's site and newsgroup:

http://www.rme-audio.com/

I forgot to mention another selling point for me: the clock on the Fireface is ROCK stable, due to some technology RME developed. You can have the best AD and DA converters in the world and if you have jitter then you're screwed. RME spent a lot of time researching and perfecting this less glamerous aspect in analog/digital conversion and sync.

Get this, you will not be sorry!
Lonstah
D

Fireface 800 Review! 
by Anonymous from Fairfield, Ca, February 2005

I just recently bought the Fireface 800 and I have to say this is an absolutely beatuful and transparent peace of equipment you could ever hope to have at this price point. I've been recording audio for 8 years and I must admit I have never enjoyed hearing my mixes translate over different systems this well with my own studio ever. The converters are the best I've ever purchased, Total mix is easier to use than the Maudio interfaces I've used in the past and the Mic Pre's and other connectivity blasts this baby out of the Universe. Total mix is a key feature that actualy acts like a real world mixer with actual gain rather that the just level indicater's like the Maudio interface had. Not only do you get the +4 reference level you come to expect but you can actualy dial in an aditional 6dbs of gain! Incredible! 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. This is hands down the best sounding interface I have ever purchased. I justed stepped up from the Delta 1010. I don't have anything negative to say about Maudio, it's just older technology, converters, and etc.. It has taken my music to another level sonically. Compared the to Fireface my Maudio cards sounded muddy and lacked that sonic clarity I was shooting for. Hit and miss mixes are now a thing of the past. I absolutely love it. It's perfect for recording Hip Hop and R&B. "The most powerful Firewire interface in the world! You can believe the hype!"

awesome 
by Rick Birmingham from New York, February 2005

The connection options with this unit will keep you busy for years to come! The dynamic range of this unit was unexpectedly amazing and the converters are quite natural and clean. Using an old laptop and some external "8 ch preamp-Litepipe" interfaces you can record 20 XLR lines at once in just a few rack spaces. Add some direct lines and 'other' preamps and your rockin! With the ability to chain multiple units together... wow! My old laptop (p3 800) easily handled the 28 tracks at once recording. Not only is this an unprecedented bang-for-your-buck value but with a Firewire800 interface this unit will last for years. No oblsoletion issues here!

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