Brand new from RME, the FireFace 800 FireWire Audio Interface.
		
		After more than 2 years of development, RME announced the Fireface 800,
		a 56-channel 24-bit / 192 kHz Wire audio interface.
		
		RME's Multiface was the basis for the development of the Fireface 800.
		The unit offers 8 balanced line I/Os with software controlled switching
		of the reference levels (-10 dBV, +4 dBu, HiGain), realized discretely
		in the analog domain. Apart from the levels of the microphone pre-amps
		and the headphone outputs, all device settings are software controlled.
		Equipped with the latest A/D and D/A converter chips, all I/Os operate
		up to 192 kHz and reach even 119 dBA dynamic range on playback.
		
		On the front side, the Fireface 800 has 4 discrete balanced microphone
		inputs with class-A stage, 48 V phantom powering and separate jack and
		XLR inputs, which can also be used as additional line inputs. Two of the
		four mic inputs are permanently available as channels 9 and 10, the
		other two can be used together with or alternatively to the inputs 7 / 8
		on the back.
		
		The FireFace 800's Hi-Z instrument input for guitar and bass includes a
		soft-limiter, which has been tuned especially for musical instruments,
		providing overload protection of the A/D-converter. The limiter
		deliberately creates harmonic distortion and can be used as a distortion
		with tube-like sound according to RME. A 'fuzz' circuit, which can be
		activated in addition, delivers guitar distortion. A filter with several
		stages, which can also be switched on separately to remove low- and
		high-frequency noises.
		
		Two ADAT I/Os allow connecting and inserting effect devices, mixing
		consoles or external converters. The SPDIF-I/O works up to 192 kHz, so
		that there are still 10 analog in- and outputs at the highest sample
		rate, plus two digital ones.
		
		All inputs and outputs can be used at the same time. For example, the
		instrument input can be used either instead of the line input on the
		back, or together with it. Even the jack and the XLR sockets of the
		microphone inputs can be used simultaneously. In this way, up to 35
		signal sources can be connected to the Fireface 800 and recorded onto 28
		separate tracks.
		
		Thanks to the DSP-based TotalMix mixer taken from the Hammerfall DSP
		series, all inputs and outputs can be freely mixed, distributed and
		routed. Up to 14 completely independent stereo submixes are possible.
		Thanks to an internal flash memory, all settings including TotalMix are
		recalled during bootup. After making all desired settings, the device
		works stand-alone even without computer as a submixer, A/D and D/A
		converter, headphone mixer, format converter, instrument or microphone
		pre-amplifier, monitoring mixer and more.
		
		The FireFace 800 is equipped with SteadyClock, RME's latest sync and
		clock technology. With this, the device can be a sync reference for the
		whole studio. SteadyClock refreshes clock signals and removes jitter.
		Via an insert slot on the back, a time code option (TCO) for
		synchronizing to LTC, video and VITC can be added.
		
		The latest FPGAs in the FireFace 800 use 90 nanometer technology designs
		in order to offer the FireWire 800 ports in addition to SteadyClock,
		ADAT and SPDIF digital PLL, TotalMix and stand-alone mode. The Fireface
		800 has a second port for hub functionality, bi-lingual mode for full
		FireWire 400 compatibility, and an additional FW 400 port. Thanks to the
		multi-ports, several Fireface 800 can be used in parallel and at the
		same time on one FireWire port without any problem.