MADI

[ArmorAlley]

There is a Mac Pro going cheaply near me and it has two cards (which I assume are sound processing cards of some kind).
And while I don't need another Mac Pro, it might be worth getting for the cards alone.

What cards are these and what do they do?
Thanks.

 

[eharmon]

128-Channel MADI PCI Express Card Audio Interface - rme-usa.com

RME Audio Professional Live, Studio, Recording and Broadcast Solutions. Unrivalled Quality, Performance & Stability MADI Interfaces, Converters & Preamps.

www.rme-usa.com

I'm gonna guess you're probably getting a good deal, no matter the price.

I'm pretty sure this would typically be for running something like an audio studio console or stage production.

 

[demik]

For the top one : 99% this is an early run of a RME HDSPe MADI Card (not the FX, the ones without the DSP in them). First runs came with black bezels, the modern ones are polished. They cost about $1000 each new, don't know about the resale value

MADI is a pro digital interface, think SPDIF/Toslink but 64 of them on the same fiber pair

The bottom card is a daughter card to the MADI card used to keep digital audio equipment in check. It will gives you MIDI I/O with the right cable (easy to find online, look for reference BO-9652)

I've been using them in pro studios and broadcast facilities for years
They come with awesome onboard mixing and MacOS drivers. You can use this one on a modern Mac in a Thunderbolt enclosure as well

Without external MADI gear or Analog converter, it will gives you hardware internal sound mixing on a 64x64 matrix, a better analog sound output and MIDI IO