Brand new professional USB audio interface with ‘Femtosecond’ clocking technology
Four years ago RME released their compact USB audio interface, the RME Babyface Pro, to widespread critical acclaim. An updated redesign of the original blue ‘Babyface’, the Babyface Pro provided professional users with a reliable and highly accurate mobile recording solution, all of which was bus-powerable via USB 2.0.
And now in 2019, RME once again shows its commitment to the mobile recording community with the new RME Babyface Pro FS, a high-performance successor with improvements across the board, and worthy heir to its namesake!
SteadyClock FS – FemtoSecond Clocking Technology
The new RME Babyface Pro FS is sculpted from a single block of aluminium, with specially designed analogue and digital circuits that guarantee pristine, transparent audio recording and playback. Technical specifications have been taken even further this time around with the addition of SteadyClock FS, which uses the same digital clock technology found on RME’s award-winning ADI-2 Series of AD/DA converters.
Accurate clocking is an essential element in digital audio, with digital audio signals reliant on the clocking frequency for the correct representation of audio bits and sample time reference. Unfortunately, the clock frequency of many audio devices can be unstable, which in turn can have a negative effect on sound quality.
SteadyClock FS allows for astonishingly high-quality AD and DA conversion, optimising both recording and playback quality, and replicating the soundstage to the fullest depth and clarity. With RME’s highly efficient jitter-suppression and filtering technology, self-jitter has been reduced all the way down to the range of femtoseconds, hence the name SteadyClock ‘FS’.
Features and I/O
The Babyface Pro FS offers everything a recording engineer needs for recording and mixing with a laptop or mobile setup. The two parallel headphone outputs (3.5 mm and 6.3 mm) feature the same output op-amps found on the RME ADI-2 Pro FS, and two digitally-controlled microphone preamps provide an incredibly clean signal even for very low-level microphones.
Extensive front panel controls allow for quick access to features such as selecting inputs and outputs, Dim and 48v phantom power, and the large encoder wheel provides smooth and accurate control over levels and gains.
Like its predecessor, both mic pres can be used simultaneously with 48v even when powered solely via USB bus-power. And in true RME style, all of these improvements have been achieved without raising the overall power consumption!
Further connectivity includes 2 x Instrument/Line inputs for instrument recording; 1 x MIDI I/O via an included breakout cable; and optical ADAT I/O for expanding the channel count with up to 8 x additional I/O, when connected to an external AD/DA converter or microphone preamp.
To round off the new additions, the Babyface Pro FS features a +19 / +4 dBu switch on the underside of the interface for reducing the output level (and improving SNR values) when using sensitive active monitors, and a Kensington lock port provides a level of security against theft.
TotalMix FX & TotalMix Remote
Like all RME audio interfaces, the new Babyface Pro FS features the powerful FPGA-based digital mixer TotalMix FX. Controllable via a dedicated software interface, TotalMix FX provides all of the same functionality usually reserved for digital mixing consoles, complete with a 3-Band parametric EQ on every channel, and Reverb and Delay effects sends for providing musicians with enhanced monitor mixers.
TotalMix Remote is a free companion app for TotalMix FX, and enables remote control of RME audio interfaces over any standard IP based network. With TotalMix Remote installed on a Mac, PC or iOS device, the RME Babyface Pro FS can be controlled directly from another computer on the same network, including over Wi-Fi.
Wireless touch-screen control is therefore possible when using the Babyface Pro FS with an Apple iPad, allowing engineers to control their interface from anywhere in a studio or live venue.
The RME Babyface Pro FS is expected to ship towards the end of this month, and is available to pre-order now.
Find out more about the RME Babyface Pro FS
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.