RME Hammerfall HDSP 9652

RME HDSP9652 Details ^top

HDSP 9652 is the long-awaited successor of the well-known PCI card Project Hammerfall (DIGI9652). Like the original Hammerfall, HDSP 9652 offers 3 x ADAT optical I/O, ADAT-Sync In, SPDIF I/O and word clock I/O. On top, there are 2 MIDI I/Os and TotalMix, a DSP-based real-time mixer/router.

The HDSP 9652's Secure BIOS Technology allows to perform hardware updates via software/driver without any risk. And thanks to its unique 'Zero CPU Load' technology Hammerfall DSP guarantees highest performance and lowest latency on both notebooks and desktops!
Hammerfall also supports Expansion Boards (EXB). Two internal ADAT inputs and two internal ADAT outputs allow you to realize up to 16 analog inputs, 16 analog outputs, or up to two TDIF ports directly inside the computer.

3 x ADAT digital I/O, based on RME's reliable Bitclock PLL
1 x SPDIF digital I/O, based on RME's reliable DIGI96 technology
1 x Breakout cable for coaxial SPDIF operation
1 x Word clock I/O (BNC) on included expansion board
1 x ADAT Sync In (9-pin D-type) for sample accurate transfers
2 x MIDI I/O, 32 channels high-speed MIDI via breakout cable
HDSP Meter Bridge: freely scalable level meters, peak- and RMS calculation directly in hardware
TotalMix: 1352 channel mixer with 40 bit internal resolution
S/MUX poured in hardware: 12 channels 96 kHz/24 bit for record and playback on ADAT optical

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Just click on the hammer symbol in the systray of the taskbar and the settings dialog of the HDSP 9652 comes up. The clear structured, easy to understand window plus the unique informative status windows for input signal, clock mode, sample rate and time code make your work with Hammerfall DSP to a real pleasure. With a simple mouse click you gain access to the full power of your card.

When working with several digital sources it is not only necessary to know if these are properly locked, but also if they are totally synchronized. RME's exclusive SyncCheck checks all input signals and displays their actual state, and thanks to our new Intelligent Clock Control concept you have all clocks and states under control - with ease.

A display of the time code at the ADAT Sync-In port offers a quick check of the communication between external device and Hammerfall.

AutoSelect (Win 98 only)
When using only one input AutoSelect will find the used input automatically. As long as no valid input signal appears (No Lock) the card switches every 0.5 s to the next input and looks for an input signal. AutoSelect stops when it finds a valid signal and starts again when losing it.

AutoSync
With AutoSync activated Hammerfall DSP continuously searches for a valid input signal to lock on to. So starting a recording on-the-fly is possible (as well as anytime during playback, thanks to Full Duplex) without first having to synchronize the card to the input signal. When using more than one card synchronizing is easy, just spread an input signal to all inputs. Vari-speed is operational over the whole supported sample rate range.

Bitclock PLL
The HDSP series always uses RME's bitclock PLL (already in its second generation, with improved HF noise suppression), whether it is synchronized via Optical In or via word clock. Thanks to the high resolution, this remarkable circuit is capable of following the entire range of an ADAT recorder's Varipitch without losing a single sample. Compare this with the much coarser wordclock PLL, where any rapid changes in sample frequency can cause several false reads, before the next impulse finally arrives, letting the PLL track the current sample frequency. This behavior leads to dropouts and clicks.

DIGICheck® DSP
Hammerfall DSP implements RME's DIGICheck in hardware. This means: level metering of all inputs, all playback channels and all outputs at the same time with a minimum of CPU load, because the display data is already calculated in the hardware. The hardware catches both peak and RMS values. With these features, you have a unique multi-channel level meter in broadcast quality worth several thousands of Dollars virtually at no cost. In addition, the level meter is integrated into the mixer surface, thus making setting and control easier.

Enhanced ZLM®
The direct pass through of digital data requires the input and output to carry the same AND synchronous sample frequency. In most cases a monitoring is only possible in clock mode slave (AutoSync.) Enhanced ZLM® removes those restrictions and allows a monitoring of the input signal completely independent from the clock mode.

Hi-Performance
Normally the designer of hardware does not have any influence in the functions of his product, because all features are the result of the chips used. This is not only true for several features, but also for the data format between the hardware, the PC and the software. Usually a large driver is needed to correct, map or translate all these things. But all actions of the driver are also actions of the CPU, ending in a high system load. Project Hammerfall is different. Using ASIO the card does not use ANY CPU commands, the complete data transfer is done by the card and the PCI bus. Hammerfall DSP is made out of two FPGAs, programmed especially for this task.

Intelligent Clock Control™
Our unique SyncCheck and AutoSync technology has evolved into the new Intelligent Clock Control of the Hammerfall DSP system. HDSP is the only digital I/O-system worldwide capable of measuring and displaying the frequency of all clock sources. Even word clock! Based on validity and current sample rate the system then decides which clock source should be used - fully automated and performed in hardware! With this the HDSP system offers the most easiest handling of the present clocks, although having a lot digital inputs, plus the most advanced support when configuring the clock setup.

Latency Fast Change™
RME's ASIO drivers have become reference. They were the first and only (beginning with the Hammerfall, followed by the DIGI96 series) to allow a change of the latency while under operation (on the fly.) No manual reset, no re-boot - simply continue when using Cubase.

SuperFast
As a PCI busmaster card Hammerfall DSP not only works in 32 bit mode. The hardware uses the memory of the PC or Mac as transfer buffer for the audio data. Nothing else can be faster! Instead of being snagged with slow DMA transfer, slow multiple 16 bit transfers using I/O addresses or non-linear memory transfer the HDSP transfers the data on its own between hardware and application software using the fastest PCI-bursts. The effective CPU load when using ASIO is zero.

SyncAlign®
SyncAlign includes several methods and techniques to guarantee absolute data alignment with regard to time and channels. No RME digital audio card will ever swap channels, not in stereo nor in multi channel mode, regardless what you do with the card and the signals it gets. SyncAlign also controls the timing among the channels, no matter how much are used, they will always start sample-aligned. When the record while play mode is activated, the corresponding software first starts record and then playback (or playback then record.) SyncAlign can compensate the time difference so that an exact simultaneous start of record and playback in the record while play mode is guaranteed. In asynchronous mode (different programs use different stereo devices of one card) this part of SyncAlign is automatically deactivated.

SyncCheck®
When working with several digital sources it is not only necessary that these are all properly locked, they also have to be totally synchronized. Else drop outs and crackling occurs. RME's exclusive SyncCheck checks all input signals. In clock mode Master the synchronous operation to the internal clock is checked. This outstanding and unique technology helps to find errors immediately. The actual state of each input is displayed in the settings dialog.

TotalMix™
All I/O boxes of the Hammerfall DSP System contain a hardware mixer in TotalMix technology. Any input and output can be routed and mixed to any output. Limited only by the available outputs of the I/O-box, up to 14 independent submixes are available. Internally, the mixer works with 40 bit wordlength. For level alterations there are 65536 steps that allow for a virtually continuous change between 6 dB gain and maximum attenuation. In unity gain setting, the mixer is even bit-transparent and can pass the input signal unaltered. The Digiface processes 1456 channels in real-time, which corresponds to the computing power of a Motorola DSP at 100 MHz.

TotalMix not only leads to perfect and complete ASIO direct monitoring, but is also useful without ASIO. Thanks to a proprietary mixer surface, submix and Zero Latency Monitoring can be used with all audio applications. An external mixer thus becomes unnecessary in many cases.

Zero Latency Monitoring - ZLM®
ZLM brings real tape machine feeling to the PC. Each cassette recorder and tape machine passes the input signal of the track in record to the output when record starts. On the PC such a kind of track dependent pass through wasn't available. Often all channels are put in monitoring or pass through mode all together. Or the monitoring is handled by the software, resulting in a big delay (latency) between the signal at the input and the output. After all the pass through mode is activated at record, not at Punch-in. ZLM now solves all these problems with a simple technique. At Punch-in the corresponding track is switched into bypass directly in the hardware, at Punch-out it switches back to playback. Thus the PC behaves exactly like a 'normal' tape machine. ZLM is already available with SEKD's Samplitude and Sequoia, and SAWStudio. It is included as ASIO Direct Monitoring in ASIO 2.0.

RME HDSP9652 Specs ^top

Supported sample rates: 32 kHz, 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz, variable
8 buffer sizes/latencies available: 1.5 ms, 3 ms, 6 ms, 12 ms, 23 ms, 46 ms, 93 ms, 186 ms
ASIO zero CPU load technology: 0 (zero!)% CPU load when using ALL 52 channels!
All settings changeable in realtime
Clock modes slave and master
Automatic and intelligent master/slave clock control
Enhanced Mixed mode: All inputs and outputs simultaneously operational
Unsurpassed Bitclock PLL (audio synchronization) in ADAT® mode
Enhanced Zero Latency Monitoring for latency-free submixes and perfect ASIO Direct Monitoring
Comes with DIGICheck: the ultimate measurement, analysis and test tool
Input 3 x optical (TOSLINK), 1 x coaxial (Cinch), 2 x MIDI, word clock (BNC)
Input format SPDIF, AES/EBU (Consumer, Professional), ADAT® optical
Output 3 x optical (TOSLINK), coaxial (Cinch), 2 x MIDI, word clock (BNC)
Format output SPDIF, AES/EBU (Consumer/Professional), ADAT® optical