RME Audio Fireface UFX User Manual
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RME Audio Fireface UFX User Manual

Usb 2.0 / firewire 400 digital i/o system 12 + 16 + 2 channels analog / adat / aes interface 24 bit / 192 khz digital audio 60 x 30 matrix router 2 x midi i/o full stand-alone operation midi remote control
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User's Guide
Fireface UFX
®
The most powerful FireWire
and USB audio interface ever!
™
TotalMix
24 Bit / 192 kHz
™
™
™
SyncAlign
ZLM
SyncCheck
™
SteadyClock
USB 2.0 / FireWire 400 Digital I/O System
12 + 16 + 2 Channels Analog / ADAT / AES Interface
24 Bit / 192 kHz Digital Audio
60 x 30 Matrix Router
2 x MIDI I/O
Full Stand-Alone Operation
MIDI Remote Control

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Summary of Contents for RME Audio Fireface UFX

  • Page 1 User's Guide Fireface UFX ® The most powerful FireWire and USB audio interface ever! ™ TotalMix 24 Bit / 192 kHz ™ ™ ™ SyncAlign SyncCheck ™ SteadyClock USB 2.0 / FireWire 400 Digital I/O System 12 + 16 + 2 Channels Analog / ADAT / AES Interface 24 Bit / 192 kHz Digital Audio 60 x 30 Matrix Router 2 x MIDI I/O...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    Clock Modes - Synchronization ......24 Operation under ASIO 10.1 General ..............25 10.2 Channel Count under ASIO .........25 10.3 Known Problems ..........26 Using more than one Fireface UFX .......26 DIGICheck Windows ..........27 Hotline – Troubleshooting........28 User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...
  • Page 3 25.4 Storing Setups from the Computer ...... 48 Examples 26.1 12-Channel AD/DA-Converter ......49 26.2 4-Channel Mic Preamp ........49 26.3 Monitor Mixer ............49 26.4 Digital Format Converter........49 26.5 Analog/Digital Routing Matrix ......49 26.6 Stand-Alone Recorder/Player ......49 User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...
  • Page 4 MIDI Remote Control 30.1 Overview ..............80 30.2 Mapping ...............80 30.3 Setup ..............81 30.4 Operation .............81 30.5 Simple MIDI Control ..........82 30.6 Stand-Alone MIDI Control ........83 30.7 Loopback Detection ..........84 30.8 OSC (Open Sound Control) .........85 User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...
  • Page 5 33.7 Noise Level in DS / QS Mode ......103 33.8 SteadyClock............103 Diagrams 34.1 Block Diagram Fireface UFX ......104 34.2 Connector Pinouts ..........105 Miscellaneous Accessories............108 Warranty..............108 Appendix..............109 Declaration of Conformity........110 User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 6: Important Safety Instructions

    When mounting in a rack, leave some space between this device and others for ventilation. Unauthorized servicing/repair voids warranty. Only use accessories specified by the manufacturer. Read the manual completely. It includes all information necessary to use and operate this device. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 7: General

    User's Guide Fireface UFX General User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 8: Introduction

    • TotalMix FX: 3-band EQ, Low Cut, Reverb, Echo, Compressor, Expander, Auto Level • 2 x MIDI I/O, 32 channels high-speed Low-Jitter MIDI • 2 x Hi-power headphone output • DIGICheck DSP: Level meter in hardware, peak- and RMS calculation User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 9: First Usage - Quick Start

    State LEDs. WC, AES, ADAT1, ADAT2. Indicate a valid input signal separately for each digital input. Additionally, RME's exclusive SyncCheck indicates if one of these inputs is locked, but not synchronous to the others, in which case the LED will flash. See also chapter 9.8 / 16.2, Clock Modes - Synchronization.
  • Page 10 Fireface operate in the range of 100V to 240V AC. It is short-circuit-proof, has an integrated line filter, is fully regulated against voltage fluctuations, and suppresses mains interference. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 11: Quick Start

    In online mode some settings are greyed out, as these should be changed only at the computer in the Settings dialog or in TotalMix. These include the choice of sample rate and the Mix set- tings. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...
  • Page 12 User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 13: Installation And Operation - Windows

    User's Guide Fireface UFX Installation and Operation – Windows User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 14: Hardware Installation

    After the Fireface UFX has been switched on (see 6. Hardware Installation), the hardware as- sistant finds a Fireface UFX. Insert the RME Driver CD into your CD-ROM drive, and follow further instructions which appear on your computer screen. The driver files are located in the directory \Fireface_USB and \Fireface_FW on the RME Driver CD.

  • Page 15: Driver Update

    When facing problems with the automatic driver update, the user-driven way of driver installa- tion will work. Under >Control Panel /System /Device Manager /Sound, Video and Game Controllers /RME Fireface UFX /Properties /Driver< you'll find the 'Update Driver' button. XP: Select 'Install from a list or specific location (advanced)', click 'Next', select 'Don't search I will choose the driver to install', click 'Next', then 'Have Disk'.

  • Page 16: Configuring The Fireface

    Errors does not refer to buffer errors, but USB and FireWire transmission errors. The display will be reset on any start of a playback/record. More information can be found in chapter 33.3 / 33.4. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...
  • Page 17 All channels (default) activates all 30 input and output channels. Analog + AES + ADAT1 disables channels 23–30 (ADAT2). Analog + AES activates all 12 analog channels plus AES. Analog 1-8 activates only the first eight analog channels. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 18: Settings Dialog - Pitch

    Therefore the internal clock can be set to 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz, but not to a value in be- tween. SteadyClock, RME's sensational Low Jitter Clock System, is based on a Direct Digital Synthesizer (DDS). This superior circuitry can generate nearly any frequency with highest pre- cision.

  • Page 19: Operation And Usage Playback

    Therefore the driver of the Fireface UFX includes a workaround: the sample rate can be set globally for all WDM devices within the Settings dialog, see chapter 8.1. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 20: Dvd-Playback (Ac-3/Dts)

    (tab Sounds, scheme 'No audio'). Note 2: The DVD player will be synced backwards from the Fireface. This means when using AutoSync and/or word clock, the playback speed and pitch follows the incoming clock signal. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 21: Notes On Wdm

    (the basic and the interleaved device). Multi-Channel using WDM The WDM Streaming device Loudspeaker (Analog 1+2) of the RME driver can operate as usual stereo device, or as up to 8-channel device. An 8-channel playback using the Windows Media Player requires the speaker setup 7.1 Sur- round.

  • Page 22: Channel Count Under Wdm

    RME's sophisticated tool DIGICheck is an exception to this rule. It operates like an ASIO host, using a special technique to access playback channels directly. Therefore DIGICheck is able to analyse and display playback data from any software, no matter which format it uses.

  • Page 23: Analog Recording

    An automated control of real-time monitoring can be achieved by Steinberg’s ASIO protocol with RME’s ASIO drivers and all ASIO 2.0 compatible programs. When 'ASIO Direct Monitoring' has been switched on, the input signal is routed in real-time to the output whenever a recording is started (punch-in).

  • Page 24: Clock Modes - Synchronization

    CD player is read with the clock from the ADAT. In this case the Clock Source should be temporarily set to AES. RME’s exclusive SyncCheck technology (first implemented in the Hammerfall) offers an easy to use check and display of the current clock status. SyncCheck indicates whether there is a valid signal (Lock, No Lock) for each input (Word Clock, ADAT, AES), or if there is a valid and syn- chronous signal (Sync).

  • Page 25: Operation Under Asio

    Fireface Analog 1 to 12 Fireface AES L / R Fireface AES L / R Fireface AES L / R Fireface ADAT 1 to 16 Fireface ADAT 1 to 8 Fireface ADAT 1 to 4 User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 26: Known Problems

    In real-world an operation of more than one Fireface UFX makes no sense and is therefore not actively supported by RME. Each further unit would lead to problems on the USB and FireWire bus, caused by the high number of channels. The UFX has been developed as monitor control- ler and –...

  • Page 27: Digicheck Windows

    • Completely multi-client. Open as many measurement windows as you like, on any chan- nels and inputs or outputs! To install DIGICheck, go to the \DIGICheck directory on the RME Driver CD and run setup.exe. Follow the instructions prompted on the screen.

  • Page 28: Hotline - Troubleshooting

    13. Hotline – Troubleshooting The newest information can always be found on our website www.rme-audio.com, section FAQ, Latest Additions. The 8 ADAT channels don’t seem to work • The optical output ADAT2 has been switched to AES/SPDIF. As can be seen in the block diagram, all channels and their assignments still exist, but the optical transmitter has been disconnected from ADAT2 and is now fed from the AES output (channels 13/14).

  • Page 29: Installation And Operation - Mac Os X

    User's Guide Fireface UFX Installation and Operation – Mac OS X User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 30: Hardware Installation

    After the Fireface has been switched on (see 14. Hardware Installation) install the drivers from the RME Driver CD. The driver files are located in the folder \Fireface_USB and \Fireface_FW on the RME Driver CD. Installation works automatically by a double-click on the file Fireface USB.pkg or Fireface.pkg.

  • Page 31: Driver Update

    When the update fails (status: failure), the unit's second BIOS will be used from the next cold boot on (Secure BIOS Technology). Therefore the unit stays fully functional. The flash process should then be tried again on a different computer. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 32: Configuring The Fireface

    Properties For to select the unit to be configured. On the right of it the current firmware and driver version is shown. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...
  • Page 33 All channels (default) activates all 30 input and output channels. Analog + AES + ADAT1 disables channels 23–30 (ADAT2). Analog + AES activates all 12 analog channels plus AES. Analog 1-8 activates only the first eight analog channels. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 34: Clock Modes - Synchronization

    In this case the Clock Source should be temporarily set to AES. RME’s exclusive SyncCheck technology (first implemented in the Hammerfall) enables an easy to use check and display of the current clock status. SyncCheck indicates whether there is a valid signal (Lock, No Lock) for each input (Word Clock, ADAT, AES), or if there is a valid and synchronous signal (Sync).

  • Page 35: Mac Os X Faq

    17. Mac OS X FAQ 17.1 Round about Driver Installation The driver with the file suffix zip provided by RME is a compressed archive. Zip is directly sup- ported by OS X, a double click on the file is all one needs to do.

  • Page 36: Channel Count Under Core Audio

    1/2, without further delay/latency. Use Speaker Setup to freely configure the playback to all available channels. Even multichan- nel playback (Surround, DVD Player) can be set up this way. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 37: Using More Than One Fireface

    In real-world an operation of more than one Fireface UFX makes no sense and is therefore not actively supported by RME. Each further unit would lead to problems on the USB and FireWire bus, caused by the high number of channels. The UFX has been developed as monitor control- ler and –...

  • Page 38: Hotline - Troubleshooting

    20. Hotline – Troubleshooting The newest information can always be found on our website www.rme-audio.com, section FAQ, latest Additions. The unit and drivers have been installed correctly, but playback does not work: • Is Fireface UFX listed in the System Profiler? (Vendor ID 2613).

  • Page 39: Inputs And Outputs

    User's Guide Fireface UFX Inputs and Outputs User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 40: Analog Inputs

    -10 dBV +2 dBV 12 dB The above levels are also found in all other RME devices. Therefore they are fully compatible to each other. 21.2 Microphone / Line / Inst Front The four balanced microphone inputs of the Fireface UFX offer a digitally controlled gain of 0 to 65 dB via XLR/TRS combo jacks.

  • Page 41: Analog Outputs

    +2 dBV 12 dB The above levels are also found in all other RME devices. Therefore they are fully compatible to each other. The outputs 1 and 2 use XLR sockets. They additionally offer an output level of +24 dBu, mak-...

  • Page 42: Digital Connections

    The ADAT optical inputs of the Fireface UFX are fully compatible with all ADAT optical outputs. RME's unsurpassed Bitclock PLL prevents clicks and drop outs even in extreme varipitch op- eration, and guarantees a fast and low jitter lock to the digital input signal. A usual TOSLINK cable is sufficient for connection.

  • Page 43: Midi

    However, due to the limited bandwidth of MIDI, this kind of application will often show various problems. Note: The MIDI input LEDs display any kind of MIDI activity, including MIDI Clock, MTC and Active Sensing. The latter is sent by most keyboards every 0.3 seconds. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 44: Word Clock

    UFX automatically adapts to it. As soon as a valid signal is detected, the WC LED is lit, and the Settings dialog shows either Lock or Sync (see chapter 33.1). Thanks to RME's Signal Adaptation Circuit, the word clock input still works correctly even with heavily mis-shaped, dc-prone, too small or overshoot-prone signals. Thanks to automatic signal centering, 300 mV (0.3V) input level is sufficient in principle.

  • Page 45: Technical Description And Background

    22 MHz from a slow word clock of 44.1 kHz is no problem anymore. Additionally, jitter on the input signal is highly rejected, so that even in real world usage the re-gained clock signal is of highest quality. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 46: Cables And Termination

    BNC jack. This message has the same meaning as the green state LED, but appears on the monitor, i.e. the user can check immediately whether a valid word clock signal is present and is currently being used. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 47: Stand-Alone Operation

    User's Guide Fireface UFX Stand-Alone Operation User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 48: Operation And Usage

    Setups can also be loaded into the unit from the computer. As the Setups are usually generated at the computer the final step of transmission offers a convenient workflow. In TotalMix FX use Options / Store current state into device to select the desired storage place (Setup) within the unit. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 49: Examples

    Music copied that was copied to a USB stick before can be played back anytime. Of course both in combination to any of the other examples above! User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...
  • Page 50 User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 51: Totalmix Fx

    User's Guide Fireface UFX TotalMix FX User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 52: Routing And Monitoring

    TotalMix provides the means to mix and monitor these on a single stereo output. • Mixing of the input signal to the playback signal (complete ASIO Direct Monitoring). RME is not only the pioneer of ADM, but also offers the most complete implementation of the ADM functions.
  • Page 53 User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 54: The User Interface

    Now move the faders up from all sources - input and playback channels - that you want to hear at the submix output. The following chapters explain step by step all functions of the user interface. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 55: The Channel

    The arrow symbol at the bottom minimizes the channel width to that of the level meters. An- other click maximizes it again. A mouse click with held Ctrl key causes all channels to the right to enlarge and minimize at once. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...
  • Page 56 In the View Options / Routing the function Trim Gains can be globally switched on and off for all channels. The global Trim mode is recommended when using TotalMix FX as live mixing desk. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 57: Settings

    Phase L. Inverts the phase of the left channel by 180°. Phase R. Inverts the phase of the right channel by 180°. Note: the functions Width, MS Proc, Phase L and Phase R affect all routings of the respective channel. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 58: Equalizer

    Note: TotalMix has an internal headroom of 24 dB. Extreme boosts with overlapping filters can therefore cause an internal overload. In any case such an overload is displayed by the Over LED of the channel’s level meter. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...
  • Page 59 Presets have special names. For example Telephone (LC+EQ) will sound much better when the LC has been activated additionally to the EQ, as the LC is set to an unusual high fre- quency of 500 Hz here. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 60: Dynamics

    9.9 s. Includes same functions Preset. described on the previous page for the Equalizer. The names of the Factory Presets make clear whether Compressor, Auto Level or both (C+A) have to be switched on. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 61: Section Control Room

    The choice is limited to ADAT 3/4, as at 192 kHz the other ADAT channels are not available anymore. The output for the Cue signal, which is usually Main, can also be set to one of the Phones outputs. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 62: The Control Strip

    Fader. A Shift-click on a fader adds the fader to the temporary fader group. All faders now marked yellow are ganged, and move simultaneously in a relative way. The temporary fader group is deleted by a click on the F symbol. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 63: View Options

    This view saves a lot of space, especially in height. O-Names. Display of the original names of channels when they had been renamed by the user. FX. Opens the window to set up the effects Reverb and Echo. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 64: Snapshots - Groups

    Hide Channel in MIDI Remote 1. The selected channels are hidden for MIDI remote (CC and Mackie Protocol). Hide Channel in OSC Remote 1. The selected channels are hidden for OSC remote con- trol. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...
  • Page 65 Layout Preset. That makes it very easy to see and to verify which channels are mixed/routed to the current output. Sub makes checking and verifying of mixes, but also the mix editing itself, a lot easier, and maintains perfect overview even with lots of channels. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 66: Scroll Location Markers

    When the TotalMix FX window is intentionally made small in width, so only a few channels are shown. • When some or all EQ or Dynamics panels are open. Then all relevant settings are always visible, but require a lot of space horizontally. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 67: Reverb And Echo

    Adjustable from 5 kHz up to 20 kHz. Room Scale. Determines the size of the room, thus changing density and length of the reverb effect. Adjustable from 0.5 up to 2.0. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...
  • Page 68 Feedback. Feedback to produce further echoes. Width. Adjusts the stereo width of the echo signal from 100 (stereo) to 0 (mono). Volume. Adjusts the level of the echo effects signal sent to the FX return bus. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...
  • Page 69 Factory: Includes 10 examples for the configuration of the Reverb Reset: Resets the Reverb or Echo Rename: The Presets 1 to 16 can be renamed. The changes will be shown in both lists Recall and Save to. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 70: Preferences

    Settings in the unit are lost. Graphics Use D2D (Change requires restart). Default on. Can be deactivated to use a compatible but CPU-taxing graphics mode, in case graphics problems show up. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 71: Settings

    Dim. Amount of attenuation for the Main Out in dB. External Input. Selects the stereo input that replaces the mix signal on the Main Out when activated. The volume of the stereo signal is adjusted by the slider Gain. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 72: Midi Page

    TotalMix level meters in the preferences. Note: When MIDI Out is set to NONE then TotalMix FX can still be controlled by Mackie Control MIDI commands, but the 8-channel block is not marked as remote target. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 73: Osc Page

    Options Activates Send Peak Level. transmission of the peak level meter data. Peak Hold activates the peak hold function as set up for the TotalMix level meters in the preferences. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 74: Hotkeys And Usage

    Copy Submix. Copies the whole submix of the selected output into memory. All input and play- back faders from that routing will be included. Paste Submix. Writes the previously copied submix to the currently selected output. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 75: Menu Options

    Total Reset. Playback routing 1:1 with mixdown to Main Out. Switches off all other func- tions. Store current state into device. The unit can store up to 6 setups (the current state) in its own memory. This function is especially useful when working in stand-alone mode. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 76: The Matrix

    View options, as they don’t make sense here. Instead the button Mono Mode lets you decide whether all the actions per- formed in the Matrix are valid for two channels or just one. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 77: Tips And Tricks

    – the Main Out and the other Hardware Output. Even better: the faders of both outputs are still active, so the signal level can be adjusted individually. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 78: Recording A Submix - Loopback

    With Loopback active the EQ of the input is not in the record path, only in the monitoring path, even when the Option DSP – EQ+D for Record is activated. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 79: Ms Processing

    Low Cut, Expander, Compressor or Delay. The most basic application is the manipulation of the stereo width: a change of the level of the side channel allows to manipulate the stereo width from mono to stereo up to extended. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 80: Midi Remote Control

    Snapshot 1 - 8 select Main Out F10 - F12 select Cue Phones 1 - 3 *Tested with Behringer BCF2000 Firmware v1.07 in Mackie Control emulation for Steinberg mode and with Mackie Control under Mac OS X. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 81: Setup

    TotalMix also supports the 9th fader of the Mackie Control. This fader (labelled Master) will con- trol the stereo output faders (lowest row) which are set up as Main Out in the Control Room section. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 82: Simple Midi Control

    16 Controller numbers are used: 102 up to 117 (= hex 66 to 75). With these 16 Controllers (= faders) and 4 MIDI channels each per row, up to 64 faders can be controlled per row (as re- quired by the HDSPe MADI). User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 83: Stand-Alone Midi Control

    If the current TotalMix setup is transferred into the Fireface via 'Flash current mixer state', the currently selected submix output is also pre-configured in the hardware for stand-alone MIDI remote operation. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 84: Loopback Detection

    MIDI output. As soon as it detects this special note at the input, the MIDI functionality is disabled. After fixing the loopback, check Enable MIDI Control under Options to reactivate the TotalMix MIDI. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 85: Osc (Open Sound Control)

    27.8.3. An OSC implementation chart can be downloaded from the RME website: http://www.rme-audio.de/download/osc_table_totalmix.zip RME offers a free iPad template for the iOS app TouchOSC (by Hexler, available in the Apple App-Store): http://www.rme-audio.de/download/tosc_tm_ipad_template.zip The RME forum hosts further information, more templates (iPhone…) and lots of useful user feedback.
  • Page 86 User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 87: Durec - Direct Usb Recording

    User’s Guide Fireface UFX ™ DURec - Direct USB Recording User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 88: Direct Usb Recording

    This way, signals can also be processed with Echo/Reverb and mixed with any other signal to any output. Note: The Level Meters show the playback signal only when in Post FX mode. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 89: Limitations And Important Notes

    After reaching the 2 GB limit a new file is automatically written, with an incremental file number (UFX01_01.wav). The UFX will write up to 100 files consecutively (UFX_01_99.wav). After that, a new recording has to be started (UFX02_00.wav). User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...
  • Page 90 • A playback via USB can not be processed and immediately recorded again via DURec. Whi- le the block diagram seems to present such functionality please remember that DURec can do only one thing at a time – record or playback. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 91: Multichannel Wav File Batch Processor

    Also there already exist some free tools to split those multi-channel files into standard stereo or single channel files. The need for the special RME tool arises from the fact that fully compatible wave files can not be bigger than 2 GByte. With higher track counts and longer re- cording times this limit is quickly exceeded.

  • Page 92: Technical Background

    The display of USB Load, Max Write Time and errors quickly reveals where the limit of the particular stick lies. Note: Playback is usually not affected by the mentioned performance problems. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 93: Technical Reference

    User's Guide Fireface UFX Technical Reference User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 94: Technical Specifications

    • Signal to Noise ratio (SNR): 112 dB RMS unweighted, 115 dBA • Gain range: 55 dB • Maximum input level, Gain 10 dB: +21 dBu • Maximum input level, Gain 65 dB: -34 dBu User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 95: Midi

    • Effective clock jitter influence on AD and DA conversion: near zero • PLL ensures zero dropout, even at more than 100 ns jitter • Digital Bitclock PLL for trouble-free varispeed ADAT operation • Supported sample rates: 28 kHz up to 200 kHz User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 96: Digital Inputs

    • Level range: 1.0 Vpp – 5.6 Vpp • Lock Range: 27 kHz – 200 kHz • Jitter when synced to input signal: < 1 ns • Jitter suppression: > 30 dB (2.4 kHz) User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 97: Digital Outputs

    • Dimensions without rack ears/handles (WxHxD): 436 x 44 x 235 mm (17.2" x 1.73" x 9.3") • Weight: 3 kg ( 6.6 lbs) • Temperature range: +5° up to +50° Celsius (41° F up to 122°F) • Relative humidity: < 75%, non condensing User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 98: Technical Background

    The same information is presented in the Fireface's Settings dialog. In the status display Sync- Check the state of all clocks is decoded and shown as simple text (No Lock, Lock, Sync). User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 99: Latency And Monitoring

    33.2 Latency and Monitoring The term Zero Latency Monitoring has been introduced by RME in 1998 for the DIGI96 series of audio cards. It stands for the ability to pass-through the computer's input signal at the inter- face directly to the output. Since then, the idea behind has become one of the most important features of modern hard disk recording.

  • Page 100: Usb Audio

    An additional small safety buffer on the playback side has proven to be very efficient and useful. It is therefore implemented in all RME interfaces. Under Windows the Fireface UFX uses a fixed additional buffer of 32 samples with USB and 64 samples with FireWire, under Mac 32 samples, which is added to the current buffer size.

  • Page 101: Firewire Audio

    Additionally the Fireface provides a special mechanism which allows to continue record and playback in spite of drop-outs, and to correct the sample position in real-time. Detailed informa- tion on this topic can be found in the Tech Info FireWire Audio by RME – Technical Background on the RME website: http://www.rme-audio.com/english/techinfo/fwaudio_rme.htm...

  • Page 102: Ds - Double Speed

    1/2/3/4 5/6/7/8 QS Signal ADAT1 ADAT1 ADAT2 ADAT2 Port As the transmission of quad rate signals is done at standard sample rate (Single Speed), the ADAT output still delivers 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 103: Noise Level In Ds / Qs Mode

    When limiting the measurement range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz (so called audio bandpass) the value would be -109 dB again. This can be verified with RME's DIGICheck. The function Bit Statistic & Noise measures the noise floor by Limited Bandwidth, ignoring DC and ultrasound.

  • Page 104: Diagrams

    34. Diagrams 34.1 Block Diagram Fireface UFX User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 105: Connector Pinouts

    RCA phono plugs, or TRS plug to TS plugs is required. The pin assignment follows international standards. The left channel is connected to the tip, the right channel to the ring of the TRS jack/plug. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...
  • Page 106 User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...
  • Page 107 User's Guide Fireface UFX Miscellaneous User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

  • Page 108: Accessories

    35. Accessories RME offers several optional components for the Fireface UFX: Part Number Description Standard FireWire 400 cable, both sides 6-pin male: FWK660100BL FireWire cable IEEE1394a 6M/6M, 1 m (3.3 ft) FWK660300BL FireWire cable IEEE1394a 6M/6M, 3 m (9.9 ft)

  • Page 109: Appendix

    FireWire: Windows 3.067, Mac OS X: 3.08, Firmware 341 DSP: Firmware 151. TotalMix FX: 0.983 Although the contents of this User’s Guide have been thoroughly checked for errors, RME can not guarantee that it is correct throughout. RME does not accept responsibility for any mislead- ing or incorrect information within this guide.

  • Page 110: Declaration Of Conformity

    For this the device has to be sent free to the door to: IMM Elektronik GmbH Leipziger Straße 32 D-09648 Mittweida Germany Shipments not prepaid will be rejected and returned on the original sender's costs. User's Guide Fireface UFX © RME...

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