Firewire interface support on 7,1 Mac Pro

[snipedog]

Does anyone have experience of using a Firewire interface with a 7,1 Mac Pro? I am using an Allen & Heath GSR24M as my interface, and work mainly Out of the Box with lots of outboard, tape machines etc, so would prefer to keep it as the hub of the setup if possible. I have seen Firewire PCI cards working in 7,1 Mac Pros in Catalina, but I understand Big Sur does not support Firewire at all? Theres a rather clunky chain of adaptors that will convert to Firewire, but I don't know how well they'd support a potential audio stream of 32 in and 32 out?
Any comments or experience of this gratefully received.
Thanks
Steve
www.redtapemusic.net

[Humble Bee]

If you have the FireWire card for the GSR24m with the adat ins and out as well you could just get this RME Digiface USB and should be no worries for the next decade or so.

https://www.thomann.de/intl/rme_digiface_usb.htm

[snipedog]

Thanks Humble Bee, that's an option I had considered, and the Digiface looks a likely candidate. I was also wondering whether the GSR24M Control Panel would install and run under Catalina and Big Sur (and whatever follows that! ) and I guess using the Digiface would bypass that issue as it's drivers would replace the A&H ones? I have no qualms about not running the most recent OS, I usually prefer to stay at least one version behind !

[Humble Bee]

It’s wise to stay one or two behind as most folks here would agree on that.

The last driver for your machine would run on Mac OS 10.12 “Sierra”.

The adat settings looks like they are made with the mini switches on the card itself so no software should be necessary for them. And you would not have to worry about running a cranky old computer with FW cards and the potential headaches this old and soon to be totally dead technology would bring.

I would go for the RME digiface USB and look forward to a bright and trouble free future without FW worries…

[James Perrett]

+1 for the Digiface recommendation. So far I'm happy with mine - and very tempted to buy a second for more input channels at high sample rates.

[snipedog]

It’s wise to stay one or two behind as most folks here would agree on that.

The last driver for your machine would run on Mac OS 10.12 “Sierra”.

Thanks very much Humble Bee. I'm currently running Mojave 10.14.6 on a souped up Mac Pro Cheesegrater, and the A&H control panel runs fine under that, but I'm considering upgrading to a 7,1, and I would guess Catalina is the oldest OS I could run on that.

There are indeed a set of mini DIP switches on the card that set its configuration, so connection of the RME Digiface should be pretty straightforward, it would remove the Firewire 400 bottleneck, and eliminate worries about Big Sur not supporting Firewire, or the A&H desk driver.
Thanks very much for your help. I need to decide on the 7,1 configuration now!
Steve
www.redtapemusic.net

[Humble Bee]

Tell us how it works out when you’ve made the switch.

[snipedog]

+1 for the Digiface recommendation. So far I'm happy with mine - and very tempted to buy a second for more input channels at high sample rates.

Hello James, thanks for the information. Can you tell me how you would configure a second Digiface with the GSR24M ADAT ins/out to get the higher sample rates? At the moment being stuck at 48kHz looks like the only disadvantage of relinquishing Firewire , though not a huge one! Thanks Steve

[James Perrett]

Having just checked the manual, it appears that the ADAT connections run at a maximum of 48kHz. Most recent ADAT based gear that I've used will work at 96kHz with the channel count halved so being stuck on 48kHz is unusual for something of that vintage. However, it is also understandable given that they probably want to avoid user confusion and ensure that all the inputs and outputs are always available.