American YouTuber Glenn Fricker reviews RME’s 24-Channel desktop USB Audio Interface.
The RME Babyface Pro FS is RME’s premium desktop audio interface, and the latest evolution of RME’s portable Babyface line. This latest review comes from the Spectre Sound Studios youtube channel, courtesy of recording engineer (and longtime RME user) Glenn Fricker.
“I’ve been an RME fan for years” says Glenn. “I’ve got the UFX+ back here, I had the Fireface 800 for years – when it comes to drivers and just overall clarity, hardware support, all the rest of that stuff, routing, you just can’t go wrong with RME. They’re just absolutely top of the heap, the converters are outstanding. When you buy an RME product, you know it’s going to be awesome.”
“I’ve been using an RME in my studio since about 2005 or 2006 with my first RME Fireface. Now I’ve got the UFX+, I’ve got the Babyface, and I wouldn’t give them up for anything.”
Watch the Spectre Sound Studios review of the RME Babyface Pro FS below.
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Evolution of the RME Babyface
Now into its third generation, the story of the Babyface starts with the original blue model released back in 2010*. An extremely popular device at the time, the Babyface offered the quality and reliability of RME’s larger 1U interfaces in a design perfectly suited for laptop and mobile recording.
* A silver version and white ‘Snow Edition’ also followed – as well as the pink ‘Ladyface’ version, although probably the less said about the better…
Compact and rugged, the Babyface set a trend for combining professional-level converters and high-quality microphone preamps in a mobile form factor, with the flexibility of a small-format mixing console courtesy of RME’s TotalMix FX software controller. Despite its age, the original remains a much-loved device, and can still be found in many an audio engineer’s recording setup to this day.
Fast forward to 2015 and RME released the Babyface Pro, a re-engineered model with several noteable improvements – a slicker housing with more buttons and improved metering; a second headphone output for additional monitoring; updated AD/DA converters and mic pres; and with the exception of the MIDI I/O, moving all of the connectivity into the body of the unit, thus doing away with the (generally unpopular) breakout cable.
And now we have the current generation RME Babyface Pro FS, updated for 2020 to include RME’s stellar new ‘SteadyClock FS’ clocking technology, originally developed for the award-winning ADI-2 series of high-end 2-channel converters.
Retaining the same form factor as the 2015 model, most of the improvements found on the Babyface Pro FS have been made ‘under the hood’ – namely the femtosecond digital clock, providing the kind of wordclock accuracy usually reserved for dedicated studio master clocks to a mobile recording device.
RME Babyface Pro FS – Product Overview
The RME Babyface Pro FS is a professional 24-Channel, USB bus-powered audio interface with pristine sound quality; fantastic wordclock accuracy courtesy of the new ‘FS’ (femtosecond) clocking circuitry; and ultra-low latency performance on Mac, PC and iPad.
Comprehensive monitoring, mixing and routing controls are offered by the FPGA-based TotalMix FX mixer, all of which is controllable via the dedicated TotalMix FX software controller, including wirelessly with an iPad or second computer via the free TotalMix Remote app (Mac/PC/iPad).
The front panel provides highly accurate metering for both inputs and outputs, along with quick access to gain and level controls, and additional user-definable function keys for tasks such as Mono On/Off, Mute, Dim, Level Recall, Talkback, and loading saved mixer states (Snapshots).
The unit is also expandable via the optical ADAT I/O (also S/PDIF compatible), allowing for the connection of external microphone preamps and AD/DA converters*, adding an additional eight analogue inputs and eight analogue outputs.
* For a cost-effective alternative, check out the 16 and 32-channel converters offered by Ferrofish.
To purchase an RME audio interface and qualify for an extended 5 year warranty, see our list of authorised UK dealers.
5 Year Warranty (UK Only)
Over the past 20 years, the word ‘reliability’ has become synonymous with the RME Audio brand, thanks to both the exceptional build quality and the now industry-renowned, rock-solid drivers.
For this reason, we are happy to offer all of our UK customers a complimentary 5 year warranty on all RME products, when purchased either from ourselves, or from one of our authorised UK dealers, and remain the only interface manufacturer to offer this at no extra cost.
To activate your 5 year warranty, simply register your RME device with us within 30 days of purchase via our warranty page.
To ensure you are buying your device from a UK-based retailer, please check our list of authorised UK dealers before purchase.
If you’d like to know more about any of RME’s audio interfaces, soundcards, AD/DA Converters or microphone preamps, give us a call on 01727 821 870 to speak to one of our team or to arrange a demo.
You can also contact us here.