AudioMedia - March 2009 - (Page 25) It installed, updated, and performed faultlessly in my system, it’s just that there’s so much to RayDAT that I didn’t get round to having much AES fun. staggering in its power and scope. Somewhere in cyberspace that little bar is still spinning. ∫ I N F O R MAT I O N A final word about sound quality, in theory, of course, digital cards have no effect on sound quality – merely transporting digits from over there to over here, and back again. However, life is not that simple, and the question of jitter at the very least has an impact on the ‘sound’ of a digital system. RME makes much of its Steadyclock system, and includes some interesting graphics of the system in operation. I wouldn’t worry about the pictures; I found the sound pretty tidy. To be honest I felt I didn’t have enough time to explore all the features and functions of these cards – the power and depth of what they have to offer means this is really just an introduction to what can be achieved. T h e R a y D AT i n p a r t i c u l a r d e l i v e r s a recording, routing, and mixing system that is quite RME supplies comprehensive mixing and routing software that enables the card to perform the function of a sophisticated router, and although the mixer graphics won’t win any prizes, the power is all under the hood. The matrix allows any input (mono) to be routed to any (and all) output(s). The mixer is laid out in the fashion of an inline console with all inputs and software outputs available to be mixed through to the outputs. I struggled to get everything onto my ” monitor, so maybe a two screen set-up would do real justice to the Totalmix concept. The card will also support a plethora of submixes, and the software allows complex views across the mixer layers to present all the information in understandable terms. That’s code for, ‘pay careful attention otherwise you’ll never work out what is going where and why’. RME offers Asio Dynamic Monitoring, in which if you’re running the right software then its mixer will mimic the fader setting of the DAW mixer. Both Sequoia and Samplitude offer this functionality – I’m running Sequoia but I couldn’t get it to work. Assume it’s my fault; it usually is. Running the RayDAT in double speed mode, you get channels of Khz digital and at - channels. Conclusion £ HDSPe RayDAT GB£454.78 (exc.VAT) HDSPe AES GB£596.52 (exc.VAT) A Audio AG, Am Pfanderling 60, 85778 Haimhausen, Germany W www.rme-audio.de E support@rme-audio.de A UK Distributor: Synthax Audio UK Ltd., Unit 61, The Wenta Business Centre, Colne Way, Watford, Herts, WD24 7ND T +44 (0) 1923 693756 F +44 (0) 1923 693757 W www.synthax.co.uk E support.uk@synthax.eu Having spent so much time with the RayDAT, I have virtually no room left to say anything about the AES version. It’s also a remarkable card, offering eight stereo AES ins, and eight stereo AES outs, and maintains that channel count all the way up to Khz. You need TASCAM format leads to connect it up, and unlike the RayDAT, all you get is the AES. Oh, And Not Forgetting… AUDIO MEDIA MARCH 2009 25 http://www.rme-audio.de http://www.synthax.co.uk http://www.seelectronics.com http://www.sonic-distribution.com http://www.sonic-distribution.com
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