The HDSP System, from RME consists of a PCI card or a CardBus interface, plus an external I/O-box which, depending on the chosen interface, allows the system to operate either on a desktop or a laptop computer.
The Multiface II I/O Box and HDSPe ExpressCard Bundle is designed for use with both Mac and Windows laptop computers.
The HDSPe ExpressCard interface is a 34mm standard ExpressCard. With up to 250MB/s transfer rate in both directions, the same basic performance is provided on a notebook as a PCI card would offer on a desktop computer.
Additionally the card is fully "plug and play" and compatible under Windows and Mac OS. The ExpressCard card and I/O box are connected using ordinary 6-pin FireWire cable. Since the card does not provide power to the attached I/O box, a compact and light-weight hi-tech switch-mode power supply is included.
The Multiface is a 36 Channel 24-Bit/96kHz analog/digital input/output box housed in a small, compact enclosure. It provides 8 channels of audio I/O on balanced connectors, ADAT optical and S/PDIF I/O, Word clock I/O, along with MIDI and a separate stereo analog line out.