RME Babyface Pro FS - Review (ESS version and TotalMix)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ค. 2024
- In this video I test the Babyface Pro FS from RME and have a closer look at the TotalMix software.
Sweetwater US | RME Babyface Pro FS: sweetwater.sjv.io/JzogDE *
Amazon US | RME Babyface Pro FS: amzn.to/3qt8n9s *
Thomann EU | RME Babyface Pro FS: www.thomann.de/intl/rme_babyf... *
Support the channel on Patreon: / juliankrause **
Follow me on Twitter: / thejuliankrause
00:00 Intro
00:35 Hardware Overview
03:57 Design
04:15 Internals
05:07 Mic Input Performance
06:03 Mic Preamp Performance
07:19 Line Input Performance
08:31 Main Output Performance
09:52 HP Output Performance
11:46 TotalMix Overview
13:58 DIGICheck Overview
14:19 Round Trip Latency
14:44 Verdict
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** Patreon is a platform where you can choose to support the channel by purchasing a monthly subscription. - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
Correction correction: I have triple-checked and my Babyface really does deliver 125 dB(A) dynamic range with the XLR output. I might have gotten lucky here and I wouldn't expect every Babyface to reach this exact dynamic range but they will be close and that's an excellent performance.
Thanks for the videos man. Now you know that the Babyface Pro was upgraded to the Pro FS, which they say is a big improvement in terms of the "steadyclock" but nobody know what that is. I don't have the FS only the old Pro version.
@@ZPaulLucenti The clock defines the stability of the audio signal. The FS is a steadier clock for cleaner audio.
But they actually changed more things in the Babyface Pro FS than the clock. You can search that info on your own.
when are you getting to the apogee? get an ensemble and a symphony I want to know how these compare to all the others
@@andesneko like what?
can you tell me/us which interface you measured has the lowest RTL ?
thanks Julian, I've been waiting for this !
Couple of days ago, I was searching your channel for a Babyface Pro FS review. Excellent review as always. Thanks Julian!
i've been waiting for you to get one of these. great review!
The video I have been waiting for since I've subscribed. An RME review...thank you so much! Nuff respect from NY
Was looking forward to this video. It’s been well worth the wait. Thanks Julian
I have been waiting for this video!
Excellent review!!! Detailed and well explained! Thank you for this!
Great Review as always. Love RME!!
Finally :-) Every morning when I startup my Computer, I'm in love with my Babyface!!!
Wonderful review! Good points in your final verdict. Thanks a lot, Julian
Much awaited review. Eagerly awaiting for the teardown and performance results of Apogee (Duet 3) and Apollo Twin MK II (Quad core). Thank you and very best wishes for future videos 💫😊
Intricate review. Thanks, Julian. Subscribed.
Thank you for this amazing review! I wanted to purchase it but I wasn't sure between babyface vs apollo twin! but now I wanna use this as my main interface so I can add some more in and out channels through ADAT, thank you again Julian and good luck!
Great job Julian Thank you. I’m a huge RME fan. Their support for older devices (FireWire 800in my case) is still awesome. I recommend them to everyone without any reason apart from being awesome!
Vielen Dank! Thanks for doing this one Julian.
A bomb review. I gotta have it. Great go Krause
I love to see the Tascam HR2x2 on second place in noise mic input. :) I switched from two old Firestudio Project interfaces to a HR2x2 + a 16x08. I cannot be happier with them, such clean audio and the units don't produce any heat whatsoever.
Damn. Your timing couldn't be more perfect! I am comparing multiple AIs and I am eyeing that baby
Best review of the product. Reviews should be like this :)
This is the best channel ever.
The review we’ve been waiting for 😉 it’s been a long time coming!
Great review and it totally confirms my experience with this interface. I have this interface around a year now only using for home recording. At the time I was interested in the usb based appollo and the zen go as they seemed to have lots of extra stuff that comes with them which looks pretty cool. I went with the babyface cause I wanted a simple great performing solid interface and it was exactly that. I set total mix to daw mode as I dont use the built in fx and its basically plug and play. And as a home recording guitarist the low latency is fantastic.
I have the very first Babyface and it still works well with the updated drivers and firmware. RME delivers in every regard.
Glad to see you reviewing another interface above the $400 range. It’s great to see how all these specs compare.
Thanks for the video Julian! I'm so glad you finally got around to this one as I've had friends recommend it to me in the past as the gold standard. This RME unit is really one step ahead in the latency departmen! Seeing the difference in performance with the Motu M2 which I use daily, I'm glad I picked it over this one when deciding, as putting in 3 times the price of the M2 to get only marginally better performance (hello, diminishing returns) really wouldn't have made much sense for me (and still wouldn't!).
Seeing more comparisons and reviews on your channel, I think the Motu M2 might even be slightly more expensive than I could have gotten away with for my requirements - but then again, the M2 is built excellently, and has all around excellent specs for its price category.
for both RME/Apollo,
you’d have to get their higher end interfaces to really see a difference
($1500-$4,000)
seeing Motu as a top performer in his chart is amazing esp for its price. I am considering either the m2 or ssl2. I have the id4 atm and I love it but need 2 inputs and the id14mkii which would have been an obvious choice presents itself with some bummers like no physical control for the line input and many things are software controlled which will definitely not work on my system ( Linux ).
Oho!!!! Julian reviewing the top stuff neow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D
great review
damn i forgot to click on the bell icon. so that's why im missing your vids. all sorted though. thanks for this.
Thank you so much for this review I just got a BF after months of waiting and this review confirms my choice. One thing I think you didn't stress enough is the fact that the BF is USB powered, with those specs no other USB powered interface achieves this, no matter the money. I think this is also the reason for not including the DSP dynamics, they had to cut some corners...maybe who knows, an option for future firmwares, dynamics included if you externally power the unit?
Also for the same reason (USB powered) I think they had to cut corners with the instrument input gain, vintage single coils pickups struggle a bit even at maximum settings, not a big problems because the noise is low, but more gain for single coil pickups would have been nice, humbuckers and active pickups of course have no problems.
Another thing I really hope will be available in the future firmware is the possibility to go from mono input to stereo output in standalone mode and allow to use the BF as a practising tool to be used with headphones. A simple workaround for guitars is a Y split cable mono to dual mono, but still it would be nice to have this simple function in standalone mode, obviously this is easy to do when connected to a PC.
Also as last point, people should remember not to connect unbalanced monitors to the balanced output connectors of the unit without proper unbalanced XLR connector /adaptors (with only pin 2 and 1 connected and 3 disconnected), the output is not servobalanced. Meaning the BF doesn't recogonise unbalanced connectors at the output. This is another corner cut for USB powering the unit.
Overall a great unit with the super bonus of TotalMix, which is a valuable, quick, flexible and efficient mixing tool.
You are the bomb when it comes to Audio interface reviews. Pls accept my online hug. You are simply the best.
I love to see a revew of the new beacn mic. love your videos
I’m still using the original Babyface which I bought from new and it’s rock solid and still supported, can’t go wrong with RME!
If I were buying an interface today, this would definitely be on the short list as the specs and features are pretty well everything I'd want in a desktop interface. I've been using my RME PCIe interface for just over a decade and haven't felt the need to upgrade. I'll admit, though, I still haven't fully learned all the features of Total Mix. Thanks!
Thanks Julian, been waiting to see you put the Babyface through its paces. Would be great if you could put the Apogee Duet on the list soon :)
Hi julian, your analysis are impeccable. Wondering if you are avoiding Apollo Twin review or we just need to wait a little bit more. Can't wait.
Thank you for such a nice job in all your videos.
Thank you very much 👍
TotalMix has long been in a class of its own. Great, consistent interface and excellent view choices. It’s not immediately apparent what justifies the high cost, but the deeper I look, the better the deal looks.
I’ve had mine for a year now and I’m finally understanding totalmix… When I got my Babyface all I had to refer was the manual! All these videos are new but much needed!!!
My input has been low with too much noise and I finally figured out how to increase output without introducing more noise. I DIDN’T even know it had a built in pre amp until recently too!
Thanks for another great video. Just a quick note, RME clock and jitter control is another reason people buy these units.
I like your channel 👍🏻
You sir are a professional
very useful thanks
Just discovered your channel, love your videos!
Noticed you have no reviews on Universal Audio Apollo Twin, not that but not even any mention in the graph for value references. Planning to do a review on it at any time soon? That would be amazing.
Hey Julian, thanks so much for your overall approach, for both very technical information and soft - user info. I'm curious why you don't have the Apollo in your comparison mix? I'm sure there is a reason and I have not watched enough of your videos to know this. I'm trying to compare the Twin X DUO this this RME. You're about the only person I trust on TH-cam. Thanks again for what you do!
Hey Julian, here's another Julian :) Nice review - just one thing I think should be mentioned regarding RME in general: The driver support for their products is second to non. You will most likely never run into the issue of not having proper drivers for your old interface trying to use it with your future system. I think that's is one of the BIG pluses when buying RME stuff and saves you money in the (not so) long run; particularly compared to other brands. For me this was the main reason to get RME interfaces and I will never change that for exactly that reason; besides their state of the art performance as a brand. Best regards Q
Julian is the best.
Simply amazing review. You have definitely impressed me with your ability to focus on important issues, and show the strengths and weaknesses of the product with extreme dignity. It was originally released in 2010. By any standard this is a phenomenal piece of gear that has stood the test of time. That's thanks to its stats and build quality, exceptional business ethics from the entire team at RME, and the fact they have continuously updated the drivers which have been considered some of the best in the recording business. This interface is 12+ years old and they just released a firmware update as well as drivers for the new Apple silicon computers in 2023. Is there any chance we'll get a Neumann MT 48 review soon? They say it has 136 dB of dynamic range. Thanks
Köszönjük!
Finally ! Thanks for outstanding review, Julian! After all i have a couple questions, you said that RME has multiclient ASIO support, i thougt that in 2022 every sound card does that ? no ? ultralite can't handle 2 or more DAWs and sound from WDM bus at the same time ?
If i'll power babyface FS with external power supply, would it affect headphones output ? can it give more amplifiering to them ? results are pretty modest, 60mW wouldn't be anough for headphones like Fostex T50rp or some other power hungry magnet planars
hey julian thank you for doing these videos, really cool to see someone putting out there such good quality reviews. I have a question, or rather I'm looking for advice, I'm currently changing my studio setup for a more travel friendly option. I'm trying to decide what's the best audio interface with 2 preamps and 2 line inputs + adat connectivity and best ad -da conversion. What would you recommend? I currently have dedicated preamps + focusrite clarett 8prex
i'm really looking foward to the review of fireface ucx ii!
Hi Julian thanks for the review!!! Great job as always. Curious how to tell which converters are in my unit withou opening it up!!!✌️❤️
Great review on the Pro FS, Julian. Will you be reviewing the LCT 1040?
Another fantastic video. Thanks for that! Have you considered doing a review of the Apogee Duet 3? I'd love to see how it stacks up against interfaces like this RME and a lot of others around this price point. Preamp noise, frequency response and AD/DA converters etc are all aspects of the Duet 3 that I haven't been able to find much into about. Cheers! R
Really cool review, thanks
Please review the apogee duet 3
Don't think I'm ready for this one yet. It is cool to have a company truly dedicated to longterm support through the years. I'll look at the manual. You can learn a lot about a brand on how their manual's written. Glad they painstakingly break down every button. Having great support is just as necessary as great hardware.
peace
Love the wheel, the interface is great for guitar sims, finally they sound like the demos on YT
I hear RME makes some of the best interfaces around, which this confirms -- thank you! Need to decide between this and the Audiofuse Studio with the extra preamps and reamping ability but maybe lower audio quality.
please be advised,
I have the audiofuse studio
and the latency ranges
from 8ms to 50ms
based on buffer size
and sample rate.
I’ve only used a few times to record vocals,
but I didn’t notice a delay.
at 1024 buffer for playback,
I don’t notice any delays.
I’ve heard/read that the latency comes into play with high plugin counts and when using analog gear.
an option I’m considering for the future is the motu ultralite mk5.
This channel did a review and compared the numbers;
the only real rivals are all from the audient interfaces,
which are pretty much neck and neck.
Just purchased one based upon your review, and also as my Audient id44 lacks XLR outputs (dislike TRS to xlr cables). Will follow up when it arrives, it is backordered!
Wow, fantastic latency specs. RME drivers are incredible. I'm still using my Multiface to this day. They still support it. Nice to see a company support its products for years and years to come as you advance through OS's.
Too right. I had a very nice interface/monitor controller from a rival company. A recent Windows update caused some latency issues. The company hasn't updated the drivers for over five years and won't be doing so despite me reporting issues. I bought a Digiface just before Christmas and RME have issued two driver revisions since then. There is no better company for drivers in audio in my book.
@@soundbelch1600 Yes, they are by far the most solid drivers I have ever worked with. Super easy to install and never, I mean never have had an issue with them from Windows XP, WIn7 and Win10. It just works.
Why not just list which interface hasn't updated its drivers in 5 years?
@@soundbelch1600 Please reveal the missing info... Apart from sound quality, the thing of importance for purchase is software support.
This, 100%. RME drivers are so solid that it's the only interface I really trust for mission critical stuff. Back a few years ago, I was responsible for broadcasting a multi-venue music festival thousands of miles from home, and we'd always plug the interface in last, because that was the thing that never failed to do exactly what it was supposed to. Compared with other brands (even ones that I also own), RME is reliable like the sun
Great review!
Please consider making a table with RTL times for future videos.
Julian, your videos have been MAD useful. I'd love to see you tackle some of the major mixer/interface combo units out there, things like the Tascam Model 12, the Allen & Heath ZEDi, and PreSonus Studio Live ARc consoles. I think they're pretty overlooked/underconsidered by a lot of people trying to buy something that gives them a lot of bang for buck.
...And the Soundcraft Signature series, please.
Yep I wanna see that video as well ☹️ I hope he sees this comment and make a video about them 😢
Thanks for confirming that this is what I should upgrade too from my 2i2. Better microphone first though
Hey Julian, great content as usual. On the very low end, could you review the Behringer UCA202/222? :D Always interesting to see how the cheapest cra...stuff performs.
Hi Julian, any chance of covering any of the other RME interfaces? I would love to see you do one of your deep dives on UCXii or even UFXiii. Regardless of if this is even possible, I really appreciate everything you do on this channel. It is just so helpful. Thank you.
Not planning to buy this one but really fun to watch your super in-depth review!
So, many, connectors.
One of the great thing about the RME products is the clocking accuracy over adat.
Thank you
Hi Julian, thanks for this really good review (as usual :))! I have a question about the line inputs. Your review shows that the TS line input has slightly higher dynamic range than the XLR TRS input. I expected different results as the maximum input level is higher with the 1/2 inputs (+19 dBu @0dB gain with PAD) than with the 3/4 inputs (+13 dBu @0dB gain). Does it means there is no correlation between these audio performances and the maximum input gain?
Or perhaps you haven't used the PAD for testing the XLR input line (do you think it would change the result with/without PAD activation?).
Thanks in advance if you have the opportunity to answer :)
Thorough review as usual. I do have a question as you show the BabyFace didn't have 65 db of gain on the mic inputs as claimed, but maybe about 58 db. I have the AKM version (which may or may not matter), but it has dead on 65 db of gain. So my question is what method you use to measure the gain perhaps that explains the difference?
made algorithm happy, as suggested... 🙂
Just commenting for the algorithm. Super video even if I made an audible gasp when I saw the price.
Wait until you start getting into the prices for AD/DA converters...
@@soundbelch1600 Initially watching it I just didn't realise who exactly this product was being marketed towards, the price clearly indicates the professional with maybe limited desk space :P
Very nice review as always..In your opinion until now which is the best overall interface in 2023 under 1000?
Good to see some big brands interfaces on this channel,
but when Steinberg AXR4, UAD Apollo and Avid Carbon?
Cool 💙
Have you any plans on reviewing the RME UCX ii? These vids are great. Cheers
Built to last - yes; if they maintain drivers and software through changes in computer operating systems and hardware. Thanks for your videos they are invaluable.
RME is known to support their devices for a very long time. They are still releasing updated drivers for interfaces that they released over 20 years ago. They are also one of the first ones to release updated drivers when new versions of MacOS are released as well as validating their Windows drivers when new versions or updates come out.
@Daniel Gaudet That is pleasing to here. I, along with many others, had to swamp TC Electronic Forum with requests and complaints to supply an audio interface driver for Windows 10. The responses by customers grew to over a thousand comments on their forum. TC Electronics' employee became aggressive and called customers all sorts of names in replies and comments. They finally buckled and supplied the firewire driver. We found out they didn't code the driver, and perhaps they didn't want to pay for a third party to update the firewire code. As best as I can recall, this is before Uli and Music Tribe acquired TC Electronic.
thank you so much for doing this!, could you see if you could also get your hands on the twice as expensive UCX 2 audio interface?, also the warranty sticker was hilarious, but it is a serious problems of companies putting that sticker on, its just a lie and a bad thing to do.
Great review. Maybe you can get Merging Technologies to load you an Anubis?
Great review. Any chance of you doing one on the Steinberg AXR4? It’s supposed to be quite different from their cheaper offerings.
Great as usual... but now I’m wondering what the older converters deliver. Sigh.
Looking forward to your review on the Merging Anubis - AUDIO INTERFACE
This.
Hola Julian. Sería posible que puedas hacer una revisión de la interfaz donner livejack color morado.
Muy bueno tu canal
Hi Julian...another question: Which interface would you suggest to use for a LOT of virtual instrument use...such as composing with minimal latency. I was using the iD22 and had no issues except it went sounth...thanks.
Nice review! Do you have plans to test Midas digital mixers like m32c with dl32 or you know someone who already did? Couldn’t find much about this system in terms of practical use and quality. Thank you!
They're not cheap but they are absolutely worth it (had one over lockdown that I moved on). Now have a Digiface USB and ADI-2 FS setup which sounds amazing. Really must get the ARC controller for it at some point.
I love my Arc but returned it twice - parameters names erased because of hands
amazing video no kidding!! 👍👍👍👍
great review as always! I treated this as a stand-in review for my UCX so I was happy to see the strong specs across the board. Personally one of the only critiques I have for the UCX is that the XLR input is mic level only, and the same input's TRS combo jack is line level only. Seems like a simple feature to make the whole combo input switchable?
I was confused about Rme Babyface pro fs and Audient id14 mkii which one to buy a month ago and bought Audient id14mkii. After watching this video today I am convinced that I have made a good decision. :)
Julian Krause is one of the very few TH-camrs who uses 'sponsor' (and 'advertisement') correctly!
Many TH-camrs abuse the word 'sponsor'. They belief is :
- company pays = sponsor
- company does not pay = not sponsored
They never even say that they are advertising even when they clearly are advertising whether they buy with their own money or not!
Are you on the RME preamp? And what mic are you on? The narration sounds great.
Hi, what's the best interface? For recording condenser mics - vocal and guitar, rest all sounds we use samples only for music production
It will be very interesting to see how good are Apogee element 24/46/88 and/or symphony interfaces.
Thanks for the vid !
Is it possible to connect a 32ohms headphones to the 10kOhms HP output ? No risk a part from having artefacts in the sound ?
Hello Julian, thank you so much for your interesting videos as i would like to ask you since i am a voice over artist which portable sound card is the best from your point of view? RME Babyface Pro FS or MOTU UltraLite mk5 or focusrite clarett 2pre or Universal Audio Apollo Solo? thank you and i wish you all the best.
Julian, would you use the babyface pro fs or the RME FireFace UCX II?
I will be using it with a SOyuz 017 Tube
Do I understand correct, that if I had both babyface and solid state logic 2, so for using with shure sm7b ssl2 will be better cause of almost the same gain but with lower noise?
Julian, I’m having a tough time deciding between the Audient i44 mk2 and an rme babyface fs or the ucx. Your thoughts?
Thank you for all your videos. A question if I may: are the preamps cleaner/quieter on an audio interface than on a field recorder? (I’m currently recording a sennheiser MKH 416 via a Tascam dr60 ii and I’m getting a little bit of background noise and hiss) Any insights would be so helpful. Thank you so much.
Hey, th preamps of interface can be better but not always. The DR60MKII has decent preamps and switching to an interface will most likely only make a small difference. The noise is also affected by the distance from the mic, you can also try to get closer.
Great Video! Any body knows if the differences between this one and the previous version worth buying this new FS?
Hey, do you know how to setup multi client operation? When I'm performing a liveset it would be cool to have a loop playing as backup for when Ableton would crash, do you think this is possible? Love your reviews btw :D