Hermann -Mr. Herms- Schepetkov

Music composer and producer. My work features in major projects like League of Legends, Call of Duty, Apex Legends, Assasins Creed, Dragon Age, Warhammer 40K and Google. Blending tradition and innovation, I deliver reliably high-quality music for advertising and trailers.

RME Fireface 802 – Pure Reliability

Started with the technical side: you can simply always rely on the AD/DA converters. Every signal passes through as if it were analog. No noise, no distortion—just the best you can get on the market. It continues the same way with the software.

TotalMix is not only extremely resource-efficient, it’s also completely reliable. In seven years of using RME, it hasn’t crashed a single time, and in every session and every recording I can depend on it without hesitation. Speaking of reliability: RME is probably the only interface that allows you to use direct monitoring and still not be off by a single sample, even at 2048 samples buffer size in the DAW. For a multi-instrumentalist like me — who still wants to record something even in the middle of a heavy EDM track while the mastering chain is already active in the project — that’s pure gold.

But why the Fireface 802, if I’d already been happy with the Babyface for years?

I wanted a setup where my microphones are permanently connected, where I have dedicated headphone channels (by the way, two independently assignable ones!) and can run two monitor pairs. With the help of the eight snapshots, I can store eight completely independent routing configurations of any kind. So on snapshot 1, I have my normal workflow at 65 dB SPL in my room. On snapshot 2, the monitors are muted and I’m ready to record on both headphone channels. On snapshot 3, the same setup but with room ambience on the microphones for string recordings, and so on.

And the real highlight comes with the ARC: all snapshots are instantly accessible with a single tap. Click-free, hardware-friendly, and exactly the way I want it. Speaking of the ARC USB: phase-coherent, effortless, and perfectly level-matched switching between my two monitor pairs. An incredible RME feature—just like the equally flawless mono switch.

In short: an interface without unnecessary DSP features, without compromises, with unmatched performance and technically the best hardware money can buy. 11/10