RME fireface 800 vs M-AUDIO profire 2626

[Karno B]

I had the chance lately do get both the interfaces. here is a short comparison between them


-concerning hardware, the profire looks more professional for me at least than the fireface, that is because of the plastic material and the colors used on the RME, which are absent on the M-AUDIO.
another thing concerning the mechanism is that, and im my opinion very important, the profire 2626 has a master volume control knob on the front face, while the RME lacks it, which makes the volume control digital in the totalmix software. this was going to cause my speakers to boooooooooooooom because theinital setup on the totalmix is set to very high output.

another thing is that the RME has only 4 pre amps while the m audio has 8. im just talking about the quantity here not the quality.
the digital inputs are similar. as well as the outputs.

another thing also is that the m audio's inputs are a combination of XLR and 1/4" at the same time, while the RME has only 4 XLRs. but this is not a problem since u need a pre amp for the remaining 4 inputs,there u can plug the XLR to the pre amp and from the preamp u can plug a jack to the RME.

about the softwares, the total mix is verrrrrrrrrrrrry flexible and very nice and not very difficult. m audio's software is also easy but less flexible

talking about the quality, there u can feel the difference. i recorded guitar tracks using both. u can feel the RME sounds more real, clearer and better, veryyyy nice quality. M-audio also offers a good quality by the way. but not as good as RME. that is obvious because of the difference in the price, the converters, the pre amps.

one good thing about the RME is that, when i plugged the m audio to it via ADAT, directly and automatically it recognized and turned the 8 channels that are specialzed to the ADAT on.

the RME software also has several options such as soft limiter drive on the first input.

as conclusion, it is a must to have the RME fireface 800 if u are ever to produce or record albums that will be on the market, but if u are low on budget, the m-audio profire 2626 will to the job tough RME offers a better quality.

[Tony Ramone]

Originally Posted by Karno B

M-audio also offers a good quality by the way. but not as good as RME. that is obvious because of the difference in the price, the converters, the pre amps.

as conclusion, it is a must to have the RME fireface 800 if u are ever to produce or record albums that will be on the market, but if u are low on budget, the m-audio profire 2626 will to the job tough RME offers a better quality.

Are you saying that because the RME costs more, that makes you think it sounds better? Or that it sounds better because it costs more?
If you listened to tracks recorded on both in a blind test, would you really be able to tell the difference between them?

[Karno B]

well the truth is that, i got first the M- audio. i was really satisfied.
then i got the RME.
only when i recorded with the RME i could hear the difference.
i mean that m audio was fine, iwas satisfied, after i got the RME is only when i could hear the difference.

[Karno B]

i want to add that its not because of the price difference, but it is the fact

[Tony Ramone]

That's cool. Just checking is all
BTW, how come this thread is in the shootout contest forum? I think I just got lost...

[Audio~Geek]

shootouts need clips.

At this price(under $1000) there is no better interface than the Profire 2626.
(admittedly, this is a bit biased, I own a 2626 and haven't tried the Focusrite interfaces, but those don't work with PT and that makes them useless to me.)