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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

I got my Sonnet Echo Express Pro

Kaku Ito

Kaku Ito

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I got my Sonnet Echo Express Pro. Also got back my replacement for the second RED RCOKET today.

They worked without any problem even with the Caldigit USB3/eSATA card installed in the second slot (older generation eSATA cards with Silicon Image's driver don't seem to work).

What a wonderful world.
 
Kaku Ito said:
I got my Sonnet Echo Express Pro. Also got back my replacement for the second RED RCOKET today.

They worked without any problem even with the Caldigit USB3/eSATA card installed in the second slot (older generation eSATA cards with Silicon Image's driver don't seem to work).

What a wonderful world.
Click to expand...

Kaku,

We are very interested in your Sonnet / Red Rocket set up and computers as we too have these tools, but are unable to get it to work?
Even with Red support, we have firmware not upgraded when in fact it has been? All dip switches are off and RR is brand new. Sonnet Express Pro is recognized in Thunderbolt system info as well as Pci Red Rocket recognized in About this Mac/ system info. RCX pro 14 pulls error menue about upgrading firmware, yet firmware is upgraded as well as RCX14. No new upgrades are available.

We have tried it on a iMac 27 and a MacBookPro 17 with no success. Disappointing, Sonnet support has been missing from early Thursday as well?

Thank you for any configurations that might help! Even basic setup would be appreciated.

Best, Kennan Ward
 
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Kennan Ward said:
Kaku,

We are very interested in your Sonnet / Red Rocket set up and computers as we too have these tools, but are unable to get it to work?
Even with Red support, we have firmware not upgraded when in fact it has been? All dip switches are off and RR is brand new. Sonnet Express Pro is recognized in Thunderbolt system info as well as Pci Red Rocket recognized in About this Mac/ system info. RCX pro 14 pulls error menue about upgrading firmware, yet firmware is upgraded as well as RCX14. No new upgrades are available.

We have tried it on a iMac 27 and a MacBookPro 17 with no success. Disappointing, Sonnet support has been missing from early Thursday as well?

Thank you for any configurations that might help! Even basic setup would be appreciated.

Best, Kennan Ward
Click to expand...

Did you get the sonnet / RR to work yet? I'm about to order one right now.
 
Mine is up and running perfectly. Just make sure you have the latest Red Rocket driver: https://www.red.com/downloads/4f56854d6261f95a57000669

1.4.27 is the latest Thunderbolt aware driver for the Rocket. Also, make sure you have the Echo Express Pro plugged in to your computer when you start up. It won't recognize it if you plug it in after booting. Let me know how it goes.

But as for compatibility and quality, it's working great, giving me real time 1080 pro res renders with no problems.
 
I just received my Sonnet Express Pro...BUT, I'm sending it back this week. I didn't catch that it was only a (4X) card....Going to go with the Magma 3t that is an (8X) card. Seems none of the Magmas are floating around for sale to public at moment, but 8x speeds in RR card sure seem essential.
 
Alexander Alexandrov said:
is the Express Pro the only sonnet version that fits the rocket?
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It will fit in the xMac Mini Server, but you only get a half height second slot for additional PCI cards. The Echo Express Pro would give you room for two full length, full height cards. The Echo Express only handels half length cards.
 
Johnny Friday said:
I just received my Sonnet Express Pro...BUT, I'm sending it back this week. I didn't catch that it was only a (4X) card....Going to go with the Magma 3t that is an (8X) card. Seems none of the Magmas are floating around for sale to public at moment, but 8x speeds in RR card sure seem essential.
Click to expand...

I would definitely like to see a side by side transcode comparison. I can play back at 1/2 res with no issues, and my transcodes are realtime, so that's all I need. I know some people with a heavier 3D workflow might need something faster, but these are truly for the portability. For now, I need something that is actually available so I can work. :-)
 
Johnny Friday said:
I just received my Sonnet Express Pro...BUT, I'm sending it back this week. I didn't catch that it was only a (4X) card....Going to go with the Magma 3t that is an (8X) card. Seems none of the Magmas are floating around for sale to public at moment, but 8x speeds in RR card sure seem essential.
Click to expand...

Without going into all the details, the Thunderbolt port isn't fast enough to satisfy a PCIe 2.0 X4 slot, or a PCIe 1.x X8 slot... What you do gain with the X8 slot in the Magma is better distribution of bandwidth since the Rocket card is a v1.x 8 lane card. Theoretically, you stand to gain up to 250MB/s of throughput by moving the Rocket card from the Sonnet enclosure to the Magma 3T. In terms of real-world gains, I'm not so sure... I think it's one of those cases where you would have to compare benchmarks and see if the transition was really worth it.

I wouldn't stress over the little extra bandwidth afforded to the Rocket by going to the Magma box, unless you are primarily concerned only with the Rocket itself. I would go with whatever expander fits your overall needs the best. The Magma 3T looks like a compelling solution.

Personally, I think both of these companies dropped the ball on their slot capabilities. Sonnet did well by making their slots X16 in a mechanical sense and able to take a larger, beefier card. However, the support for PCIe v1.x cards is crippled by restricting the slots to 4 lanes. For PCIe v2.x cards it's just fine... Although, when I look through the arsenal of cards out there that I might install in one of these, the only v1.x card that enters the equation is the RED Rocket. So maybe these guys really aren't off their rockers. The Sonnet is a great solution so far, but for Rocket-oriented use, it seems the Magma 3T and the upcoming mLink enclosure are better suited.
 
Ryland Jones said:
It will fit in the xMac Mini Server, but you only get a half height second slot for additional PCI cards. The Echo Express Pro would give you room for two full length, full height cards. The Echo Express only handels half length cards.
Click to expand...

thank u. so to confirm - Echo Express (not the pro) will not fit the Red Rocket?
 
Robino_J said:
Did you get the sonnet / RR to work yet? I'm about to order one right now.
Click to expand...

Thanks but it is not working! Sent to Red Team for help last week!
 
I guess there are three options:

1) ExpressBox 3T - $979
2) Sonnet Echo Express Pro: $799
3) mLink R - $799

What are peoples preferences? The Magma seems the most robust but also the largest. mLink is small but only one slot. Sonnet looks like a nice balance of both.
 
just posted on the other thread but I'll post here as well, got rocket to show up at 8x, just had to swap slot position.

magma is best bang for the buck IMHO. you get the extra slot for a smaller price increase, and can have your cards work at full 8x, or at least show up as that so the software knows it's working at its best. plus magma has had much more of a history with pci expansion while sonnet has only experience with interface cards, and sonnet can be 50/50 with driver support. some products run great, some products have a lot of issues. QIO took a very long time before it got stable. but the echo express pro seems like it's working very well from other user reviews. and the echo is shipping production models now, magma isn't because they are still fine tuning a lot of hardware and drivers.

as for the mlink... all i have to say is, it's made out of plastic and it's really not THAT much cheaper than the competition. just my 2 cents.
 
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