Interface killed by power surge - how to get protected?

Sorry about your surge.

You’ll need to get an expensive regulator. Probably upwards of $750 depending on your power requirements.

Most Surge protection is one and done and won't let you know it's already done it's job so now your screwed!
Firman says they have solved this problem but I have seen no real world proof either way!

That's a very important point.  The surge protection is sacrificial.

I used to use one of those UPS backups, but it had a buzz and I couldn't have it in the same room as my studio. Do they have new silent ones now?

Well, I've got good news and I've got bad news..

The bad news is that nothing really "protects" against surges and lightning, even though they say they do. The problem is that the standards that these protection devices are tested to, are nothing more than.. standards. Mother nature and the chaotic nature of surges don't play by the rules.

The way "surge protectors" are supposed to work is two-fold. First line of defense is the MOV or Metal Oxide Varistor.. Which is sort of like a backwards fuse in that it remains open during normal voltage ranges. It shorts when over-voltaged and then is supposed to return to open once the surge has passed.

HOWEVER.. MOVs have a primary weakness, and that is multiple strikes in a row. When they first start to conduct, all that surge current is being shorted, and turned into heat. Subsequent fast strikes overheat the part and it burns/explodes and otherwise becomes damaged and unable to work properly after that. It may/may not show external signs of being dead.

Once the MOV starts to short, it's supposed to draw excessive current across the breaker and the breaker should pop.

This leads us to the secondary weakness.. Time. MOVs have a relatively slow reaction time, when compared to fast strikes like lightning and ESD. MOVs are assumed to be used for very slow voltage surges, which I've found to be more rare than anything. Most surges come quickly and multiple strikes happen in a row, even though we only see one flicker in the lights.

Matching transformers can blunt the surge transient to a degree so that MOVs and TVS devices can react, but if the surge is sustained or the strikes come faster than the reaction time of the devices, then they'll still overheat and die a quick death..

UPS and "power cleaners" still have to have protection on their AC inputs.. And can you guess what those protection devices might be?

Anyway, I said I have good news..

The good news is that these things happen relatively rarely unless you live in lightning prone areas like Florida.

I'd replace the surge protector with something a little higher quality, but I've seen too many power cleaners and UPS devices die similar deaths under surges, while causing more noise issues than anything else.

No, afraid not.  The smaller UPS that I use for computer monitors is quiet, but the larger ones go in the machine room.

surge protection just shows you where it went. I have worked with super expensive surge protection and nothing really works I have picked up camera control modules from across a room after it blew of the wall behind surge protection. The only way to really protect is to unplug from the power point when not using and don't use your gear during thunder storms.

Thanks everyone for the useful responses. I'm still a bit puzzled as to why nothing tripped, and nothing but the RME got damaged. I had a lot of equipment plugged in: preamps, outboard (tube and solid state), monitors, computer, USB hub with harddrives, control surface, etc.

That's exactly what I do. I've had multiple lightning strikes damage stuff over the years, but after the breaker flip, nothing has been damaged.

Flipping the breakers will reduce your risk but it depends how close the strike is. The lightning has just traveled up to a mile thru the air the last inch thru a breaker is not going to make much difference. I have replaced toasted switch boards it just depends how close the lightening strike was. The breakers only switch the active in a close strike the earth voltage jumps. This is why you can get zapped using a landline phone, cabled internet etc.

Sorry this hear about your loss.

APC does have an equipment replacement warranty that you may wish to explore.

Take it easy!