RME Fireface UC vs SSL 12

[AlbySu]

Hi all, I own a RME FFUC but I now feel I require some other features from an audio interface. I work in my studio and mainly record Foley (so sometimes very quiet sounds, other times very loud ones) as a sound designer for video games or SFX libraries, more rarely some musical instruments.

I was thinking about replacing it with the SSL 12. Do you think it would be a downgrade?

The main reason is I need at least 3 microphone preamp, 2 headphones out, direct monitoring (with no computer on), 32bit, and I miss having physical knobs.

I know RME have a great reputation so I am afraid I'm actually being silly getting rid of it. But on the other hand I know it doesn't have all the features I need, it's a quite old model, TotalMix confuses the life out of me.

(In case you have other suggestions in the 400€ range feel free to mention them)

Many Thanks

 

[AnalogSteph]

You could alternatively augment the RME by adding an external mic preamp and a headphone amp (seeing that you've got lots of line-level I/O to spare as-is), though whether going that route would be any cheaper is dubious.

Whether that's worth it when you struggle with operation of the thing to begin with is up for debate. For better or worse, RME is RTFMware, coming from traditional pro audio where a certain level of education was expected. That's not everyone's cup of tea.

I wouldn't really be worried about the sound aspect, given that the UC is hardly setting any records in measured performance to begin with (it's more of a midrange workhorse) and SSL's stuff tends to be plenty solid in that regard; the big question mark for me would be build quality. You have to know for yourself how much wear and tear you're generally putting on the interface; if you leave the same cables plugged in for months if not years at a time you're not likely to have much to worry about.

BTW, the applications that need 32 bit I/O are few and far between, and regular studio sound recording at the performance level in question definitely is not one of them. It's somewhat handy for digital signal generation, while on the recording side there is no ADC that would have noise low enough to challenge the limits of 24 bits and you'd need to go composite (at which point you need a DSP anyway so you don't get to see raw ADC data to begin with). Mind you, the discussion is increasingly moot as any recent chip designs tend to support 32-bit samples regardless of whether this is actually needed. (The most absurd case I've seen was a built-in ADC of a codec or something that barely managed a 90 dB dynamic range, i.e. 16-bit level. Basically, half the bits are just noise.)

 

[5150]

I wouldn't build around a UC anymore, the converters are downright bad by modern standards. Thd+n is so bad you can easily hear a difference going to a truly transparent converter. They have a pleasing, somewhat warm sound due to the distortion but cleaner is better.

Not sure if I would go to SSL though. They're very new in the interface game.. but legendary in recording as a whole. They know what it takes to make a pro product. Maybe lug the RME around as a backup to an SSL for a while?

 

[Blumlein 88]

Welcome to ASR as that looks like your first post.

Might take a look at the Motu M6. Is in your budget. I'd likely prefer the physical layout of the SSL 12.

M6 | MOTU.com

The M6 is a 6-in/4-out USB-C audio interface for Mac, Windows and iOS that offers best-in-class audio quality, best-in-class speed (ultra-low latency) and best-in-class metering with a full-color LCD.

motu.com

I agree about TotalMix. Even being for someone with experience I think the UI is one of the worst examples of poor UI design. A shame as some things it does are very neat, but I regularly get close to selling my Babyface because I dislike Totalmix so much. If I had another equally good USB powered interface it would be gone in a minute.

 

[AnalogSteph]

I wouldn't build around a UC anymore, the converters are downright bad by modern standards. Thd+n is so bad you can easily hear a difference going to a truly transparent converter. They have a pleasing, somewhat warm sound due to the distortion but cleaner is better.

That's one I'd want to see proven with actual measurements. The output side for one looks decent enough and about in line with official specs, far from state of the art but nothing I would consider audible let alone obvious:

Measured of RME Fireface UC - Does my RME work properly?

Hi, here is my very first review, of the audio interface. The device under test was interface RME Fireface UC and measures were conducted on Audio Precision APx525 analyzer. Based on the results I started to worry that something may be wrong with the measured interface. Other RME product...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Assuming the story continues like that on the input side - and I mean it's an RME, they tend to stick to their official specs - there is no reason for me to suspect any problems there either. According to the manual, mic preamps seem to be the digitally-controlled PGA2500s, a common choice with no obvious warts per the datasheet and still in use e.g. in the MOTU Ultralite Mk5 to this day, and the 2 kOhm input impedance is on the lower side but still in a normal range.

There is one potential snag with the Line 3/4 front inputs, switching to instrument mode increases sensitivity by 10 dB and limits max input level to + 2 dBV so they recommend using the 12 dB pad if need be in order to avoid clipping. Besides, at only 470 kOhms of input impedance, it's not exactly world's best-suited instrument input for passive pickups to begin with (1 Megohm or higher is generally preferred). The best-performing line inputs are those at the back, though they are not as flexible by far with only 3 level settings to choose from.

The ADC digital filter is a pretty good one, too (100 dB stopband rejection, aliasing-proof to 19.8 kHz at 44.1, passband ripple within ±0.005 dB), even if that means a group delay of 43.2 samples or almost a full millisecond at 44.1 kHz. It is equivalent to the AK5385's. At low sample rates I'd much rather have this than the crappy latency-reduced one that modern AKM ADCs (AK555x/557x) ship with. (It is baffling to me that even their high-end chips do not have a high-quality filter option as they used to up to the AK5397.)

 

[so.music]

TotalMix confuses the life out of me.

I used to be in the same spot, but then I started to use the matrix view and everything just fell into place - no more confusion, everything was just straight up simple.

I would not give up my RME for any other brand, since I had my share of frustration with many of them. It was only after I switched to RME, I had the peace of mind I needed. I don't know what the other guy said about the converters being bad, I have friends still using the FF800 in big studios, where they work on big movies and such, and they just don't want to get rid if them. They even got fireware adapters to their M3 macs, just to keep using their FF800 interfaces - which were made in 2004, and they are still updated today.

 

[5150]

That's one I'd want to see proven with actual measurements. The output side for one looks decent enough and about in line with official specs, far from state of the art but nothing I would consider audible let alone obvious:

Measured of RME Fireface UC - Does my RME work properly?

Hi, here is my very first review, of the audio interface. The device under test was interface RME Fireface UC and measures were conducted on Audio Precision APx525 analyzer. Based on the results I started to worry that something may be wrong with the measured interface. Other RME product...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Are you sure you are reading those charts properly... Those are mediocre measurements in 2024 and exactly in line with the spec sheet. DA THD+N below 100dB is not fine and easily audible. Look at where the IMD curves start.. that is even easier to hear and dongles do better. 2nd harmonic is obvious when you shoot it out with a modern converter, the UC sounds pleasing but you will immediately notice an obscuring warmth when you go to a current converter. The guy even says it has high distortion so I'm not sure why you are attempting to argue here.

Absolutely rock solid unit but I would only use ADAT to another converter with superior performance but inferior software (Motu ultra lite) these days, the built in IO would be for convenience only.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Are you sure you are reading those charts properly... Those are mediocre measurements in 2024 and exactly in line with the spec sheet. DA THD+N below 100dB is not fine and easily audible. Look at where the IMD curves start.. that is even easier to hear and dongles do better. 2nd harmonic is obvious when you shoot it out with a modern converter, the UC sounds pleasing but you will immediately notice an obscuring warmth when you go to a current converter. The guy even says it has high distortion so I'm not sure why you are attempting to argue here.

Absolutely rock solid unit but I would only use ADAT to another converter with superior performance but inferior software (Motu ultra lite) these days, the built in IO would be for convenience only.

Uh huh sure it is. -90 db THD+N easily audible. Uh huh.

I hope you know that where IMD+N curves start is mostly N.

 

[5150]

Uh huh sure it is. -90 db THD+N easily audible. Uh huh.

I hope you know that where IMD+N curves start is mostly N.

Of course it is, fact remains its DAC performance is on par with par with low end cell phone dongle amps

If this is not audible... Perhaps you are literally deaf. Or maybe you just want to argue. If you haven't actually owned a UC and can't read charts properly, I guess it's the latter - good thing the ignore function on here works so well

 

[Blumlein 88]

Of course it is, fact remains its DAC performance is on par with par with low end cell phone dongle amps

If this is not audible... Perhaps you are literally deaf. Or maybe you just want to argue. If you haven't actually owned a UC and can't read charts properly, I guess it's the latter - good thing the ignore function on here works so well

We are both deaf to -90 db distortion. The difference is one of us knows it.