1 Topic by mort_subite (edited by mort_subite 2017-04-17 21:55:38)

  • Registered: 2011-03-31
  • Posts: 14

Topic: Connecting both a Steinberg UR824 and an Audient ASP800 to a UFX

I finally got my UFX (after a disastrous demo with a MOTU 1248, but that's another story), and Im super excited to get started with it. However, I also possess a Steinberg UR2824 and an Audient ASP800, and I plan to continue using both of them (I'm now in possession of 20 total pres!). I'm curious to know if anyone here has any prior experience connecting these two particular pieces of gear to the UFX, and what route you went, or if anyone has any advice having had similar experience connecting other pieces of gear.

Basically I'm curious to know if I should connect each device individually to the UFX's ADAT and wordclock I/O, or if I should connect them in serial as UFX>Steinberg>Audient and let the Steinberg handle the connection to the Audient and pass that whole package on to the UFX. No matter what, if Im not mistaken, I'm going to have to clock everything to the UFX somehow, so I guess basically at this point I'm essentially trying to figure out what specific method I want to use and the pro's and con's of each method.

Anyway, thanks for being an awesome community and thanks in advance for any help you guys might be able to provide!
Cheers!

2 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2017-04-17 12:06:02)

  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
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  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 12,886

Re: Connecting both a Steinberg UR824 and an Audient ASP800 to a UFX

RMEs internal clock (Steadyclock) is optimized for precision and least clock jitter.
It has been mentioned several times here in the forum from RME that it has advantages
to get the clock for external devices (like Preamps, etc) directly via digital channels (ADAT, AES, ..).

Here a design paper: https://www.rme-audio.de/english/techin … yclock.htm

By this it would be better to clock both devices via UFX via i.e. ADAT. But to get the clock via ADAT you need an ADAT IN channel on your other devices, only the Steinberg UR824 has also ADAT IN channels, the Audient has no ADAT INs.

We need also to consider in this case, that the Audient (which has no ADAT IN) has a switch where its easy to select word clock termination on/off. On the Steinberg device it looks, that you would have to terminate WC on your own with a 75 Ohm resistor.

In this situation I would use Word Clock only for the Audient and Clocking via ADAT (Steadyclock) for the Steinberg.

On the RME UFX Driver settings Dialog set clock souce to "internal".
On the back of the UFX enable the WC Termination button besides the BNC plugs.

On the back of the Audient also enable WC Termination.
Get a 75 Ohm cable and plug it in the UFX to WC OUT and on the Audient to WC connector.
In this case you do not need a T-plug.

Then you need 3 ADAT Cables:

A) The Steinberg you need to connect with 2 ADAT cables:
Steinberg OUT to UFX ADAT1 IN
Steinberg IN to UFX ADAT1 OUT.
Note: take ADAT1 for the Steinberg, then your ADAT2 OUT on UFX can stay unused, and this is the only ADAT port on the UFX that can be used as optical SPDIF, which can be very handy in some situations (i.e. to connect a D/A converter in front of a HiFi or to connect to a HiFi with an optical SPDIF connector as "Monitor B" or alike ...

B) the Audient you connect with only 1 ADAT cable to the UFX ADAT2 IN.

Be sure on Steinberg to use ADAT A IN OUT and on Audient the 1st of the 2 ADAT channels, the one that holds channels 1-4 in SMUX operation, its printed under the connector, if you look to the back its the left one.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13

3 Reply by mort_subite (edited by mort_subite 2017-04-18 01:59:39)

  • Registered: 2011-03-31
  • Posts: 14

Re: Connecting both a Steinberg UR824 and an Audient ASP800 to a UFX

ramses wrote:

RMEs internal clock (Steadyclock) is optimized for precision and least clock jitter.
It has been mentioned several times here in the forum from RME that it has advantages
to get the clock for external devices (like Preamps, etc) directly via digital channels (ADAT, AES, ..).

Here a design paper: https://www.rme-audio.de/english/techin … yclock.htm

By this it would be better to clock both devices via UFX via i.e. ADAT. But to get the clock via ADAT you need an ADAT IN channel on your other devices, only the Steinberg UR824 has also ADAT IN channels, the Audient has no ADAT INs.

We need also to consider in this case, that the Audient (which has no ADAT IN) has a switch where its easy to select word clock termination on/off. On the Steinberg device it looks, that you would have to terminate WC on your own with a 75 Ohm resistor.

In this situation I would use Word Clock only for the Audient and Clocking via ADAT (Steadyclock) for the Steinberg.

On the RME UFX Driver settings Dialog set clock souce to "internal".
On the back of the UFX enable the WC Termination button besides the BNC plugs.

On the back of the Audient also enable WC Termination.
Get a 75 Ohm cable and plug it in the UFX to WC OUT and on the Audient to WC connector.
In this case you do not need a T-plug.

Then you need 3 ADAT Cables:

A) The Steinberg you need to connect with 2 ADAT cables:
Steinberg OUT to UFX ADAT1 IN
Steinberg IN to UFX ADAT1 OUT.
Note: take ADAT1 for the Steinberg, then your ADAT2 OUT on UFX can stay unused, and this is the only ADAT port on the UFX that can be used as optical SPDIF, which can be very handy in some situations (i.e. to connect a D/A converter in front of a HiFi or to connect to a HiFi with an optical SPDIF connector as "Monitor B" or alike ...

B) the Audient you connect with only 1 ADAT cable to the UFX ADAT2 IN.

Be sure on Steinberg to use ADAT A IN OUT and on Audient the 1st of the 2 ADAT channels, the one that holds channels 1-4 in SMUX operation, its printed under the connector, if you look to the back its the left one.

This may sound like hyperbole, but this post, and the general helpfulness of this forum is worth the $1500 I paid for my UFX alone.

Thank you so much for such a detailed, timely, easy to understand, non-condescending response. I have a little more testing to do to make sure everything's where it should be, and that I didn't screw up your excellent instructions, but this whole experience is a massive sea change from the experiences I've had with other products and forums. Thank you so much for providing such a wonderful, informed reply, free of snark and condescension towards an overwhelmed new user of a piece of very sophisticated and sometimes complex gear.

Between this forum and the Reaper forum, I truly am happy to have found a few groups of audio manufacturers and enthusiasts not riddled with toxic people only interested in appearing smart and aloof. I look forward to one day helping someone out in the same manner, after I wrap my head around the totality of this particular piece of gear, and any other RME products I might end up purchasing down the way (the Advanced Remote Control is looking pretty tasty right about now, lol!)

Thanks again, you guys rock!

  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
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  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 12,886

Re: Connecting both a Steinberg UR824 and an Audient ASP800 to a UFX

You're welcome :-) And would be nice to get feedback how everything worked out for you.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13
  • Registered: 2011-03-31
  • Posts: 14

Re: Connecting both a Steinberg UR824 and an Audient ASP800 to a UFX

I'll be spending tomorrow in the studio, so I'll have the opportunity then to test all the channels for sure, but from what I saw when I fired up my DAW, it looked like they were all there.

Will definitely report back to you ASAP!

Cheers!

  • Registered: 2011-03-31
  • Posts: 14

Re: Connecting both a Steinberg UR824 and an Audient ASP800 to a UFX

Okay, so after some fiddling and testing, everything is working 100% and I could not be happier with my Fireface and the community here at the forums!

One thing I will add to any intrepid engineers looking to connect similar pieces of gear, specifically with respect to the UR824 and the UFX, you will need to change the following settings in dspMixFx for the UR824; under the "gear" icon, you will have to set the row of "ADAT (A) OUT X" (where "X" is the input number) drop down menus to the corresponding "Analog In X" (where "X" is the input number), in order to tell the UR824 to specifically pass the input signal it's receiving to one of the available ADAT output channels. Obviously, you may set it to whatever numbers you wish, in the event you need to order it differently, but the UR824 MUST be told that an input signal is being routed to its ADAT output signal in order to send that signal out of the unit via ADAT.

That about wraps that up, and I hope this information is useful for future users with a similar setup, because I, for one, am extreeeeemley satisfied with the incredible sound quality and ultra flexible routing possibilities of my humble little 30 channel digital powerhouse.

Off to finish up the record I'm working on, and several more with a big, goofy grin on my face cuz I've got awesome gear and great people to help using it.

Cheers!

  • Registered: 2008-09-21
  • Posts: 17

Re: Connecting both a Steinberg UR824 and an Audient ASP800 to a UFX

I see that on the back of the ASP800 there is the following option:

0 dBFS ADC Calibration
This switch changes the converter reference
level so that 0dBFS = +12dBu or +18dBu.
This feature is provided to match the input
level to that of your audio interface.

My question: Which one should I select for use with the RME UFX?
Thanks.