Stand-Alone Operation; Front Panel Operation - RME Audio Fireface 400 User Manual

25. Stand-alone Operation

The Fireface 400 has an internal memory to permanently store all configuration data. These
are:
Settings dialog
Sample rate, clock mode Master/Slave, configuration of the channels and the digital I/Os.
TotalMix
The complete mixer state.
The Fireface loads those settings directly after power-on. A simple, yet useful application is to
store the correct clock mode, avoiding wrong clocking and noise disturbances in a complex
setup, caused by wrong synchronization. Usually the unit will be configured by the Windows or
Mac driver, so for the time between power-on of the computer up to the loading of the driver its
state might be wrong.
This total configuration feature in stand-alone operation - without any connected computer -
turns the Fireface into lots of dedicated devices, see examples in chapter 25.2 up to 25.6. Fur-
thermore TotalMix (and with this all examples) can be MIDI controlled even in stand-alone op-
eration, see chapter 33.7, Stand-Alone MIDI Control.
In stand-alone mode, the encoder knob can operate like a MIDI controller, sending Mackie con-
trol compatible MIDI notes to the Fireface's MIDI output. To activate this mode first activate
MIDI control in TotalMix (Enable MIDI control), then transfer this state via Flash current mixer
state into the unit. Turning this mode off is done in the same way, but with MIDI control deacti-
vated.

25.1 Front Panel Operation

The knob on the front, a so called rotary encoder, serves to set the input gains and output vol-
umes directly at the unit. The encoder operates either in CHANNEL or in LEVEL mode. Pushing
the knob changes between these modes. The currently active mode is indicated by a green
LED.
In CHANNEL mode, selection of the desired channel is done by turning
the knob. The following strings will be shown in the display:
i.1 bis i.4 Mic input 1 up to instrument/line input 4
L.1 bis L.6 Line output 1 up to line output 6
PH Phones (line output 7/8)
SP SPDIF output
A.1 bis A.8 ADAT output 1 up to 8
i.1 / i.2
The gain of the two microphone inputs 1/2 can be defined in the range of 10 dB up to 65 dB in
steps of 1 dB. Additionally the setting 0 dB is available. The gain change is performed in analog
domain in hardware.
i.3 / i.4
The gain of the two instrument/line inputs 3/4 can be defined in the range of 0 dB up to 18 dB in
steps of 0.5 dB. The x.5 dB values are signalled by a dot to the right. The gain change is per-
formed in analog domain in hardware.
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User's Guide Fireface 400 © RME