# of ports / budget ?

If you bought an UFX+ (and not an UFX II) then it looks, as if you wanted to have the possibility to expand by using MADI.

Therefore I would suggest to expand by MADI, so an ADI-8 QS would have been a perfect choice:
- Quality
- cable length up to 2km with fiber optic (OM4) cable between each of the devices connected to a MADI bus
- no loss of channels when recording with higher sample rates (MADI: 64 channels @44.1/48, 32 channels @88.2/96, ..)
- RME devices are fully remote controllable
- you can use MIDI over MADI for remote control (no additional cables)

http://www.rme-audio.de/products/adi_8_qs.php

But as this seems to be out of budget:

1) you can also look 3rd party, but then its not RME ...

2) Regarding the FF400, Stand-alone capabilities are explained in the Handbook chapter 20.
- You need to configure it one time (what channel you want to route through ADAT).
- Then it will come up with proper routing automatically.
- This is of course the cheapest solution for you

http://www.rme-audio.de/products/fireface_400.php
Left hand: handbook link
https://archiv.rme-audio.de/download/fface400_e.pdf

Its all explained in the handbook chapter ...

20. 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 20.2 up to 20.6. Furthermore TotalMix (and with this all examples) can be MIDI controlled even in stand-alone operation, see chapter 28.8, Stand-Alone MIDI Control.

In stand-alone mode, the encoder knob can operate like a MIDI controller, sending Mackie control 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 deactivated.

Hello Ramses,

I now have the UFX+ up and running.  The FireFace400 is connected via ADAT.  (FF ADAT IN & UFX+ ADAT OUT). 

I have looked through CH 20 in the manual and see a lot of great info but I don't understand how to make the settings/connection of the UFX+ ADAT 1-8 Hardware Outputs to work with the 8 TRS Outputs of the FF400.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Coming full circle on this thread, as of today I expanded my set up with the AQI-8 QS.  It is connected to the UFX+ via MADI.  The AQI-8 QS also has an Octamic II via adat(and a WC/BNC cable).  The UFX+ is also connected to 2 OctaMic II's via ADAT/WC.

I am able to get the Octamic on the ADI side to send it's signals fine.

However, what I can't figure out is how to do I route my various sends via Total Mix to the 8 TRS outs on the ADI-8? 

So again the chain is

UFX+ 
- via ADAT/WC  OctaMic II (x2)
- via MADI ADI-8 QS <---- OctaMic II (via ADAT/WC)

How do I gain control the MADI side of the chain in Total Mix (Esp. the 8 TRS Sends)?

I want to do all of my routing in Total Mix and not use the remote that comes with the ADI-8.  Is this possible?

thank you,
Rich

Thank you for the quick reply.  I believe we are very close. 

How can I ensure the ADI-8-QS outputs are set to MADI 1...8?

Its configurable in the device, whether channels 1..8 are
MADI 1..8, 9..16,...

You should consult the handbook regarding this.

Chapter 9.5 of ADi-8 QS handbook

9.5 ID (Id)
Default: 1
Available settings: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
To remote control more than one ADI-8 QS each device can have its own ID, providing a separated
remote control of multiple devices via a single MIDI channel.
I64 MADI Card: The ID defines the 8-channel group within the MADI signal that is used to insert
the device's audio data:
ID 1: channels 1-8 ID 4: channels 25-32 ID 7: channels 49-56
ID 2: channels 9-16 ID 5: channels 33-40 ID 8: channels 57-64
ID 3: channels 17-24 ID 6: channels 41-48

Rich, I replied to you at Sun 1am  .. it was late here.
Friendly reminder .. this is a customer forum and I am customer like you.
So please be so polite to NOT have the expectation that you will get responses in realtime and to every question.
Alternatively you can write a mail to RME customer support at any time or wait until other forum colleagues respond.

In terms of routing please see my post #9. Its a generic concept. Routing for one submix (HW output channel)
is the same like for any other and it makes no sense for me to repeat writing it again and again. Therefore
I wrote this blog tutorial and am pointing to RME videos that exists and where I expect that ppl have a look at 1st.

Your setup is already quite complex - with cascaded devices it seems - and from your description its not so easy
for me to get the point, what your routing problem exactly is.

Therefore I propose that you provide a diagram, how the devices are connected to each other
and then to explain / highlight in an easier understandable way, what HW Inputs / SW playback channels
you want to have routed to which particular HW output and what the exact problem is.

Maybe then problems become more evident, or somebody else has an idea or you even find the solution on your own, when having a clear diagram in front of you.

Thank you Ramses & Matthias,

Great news, we have found the solution!

That's the answer!  I will make a video of this soon as I am sure others might have the same question...to expand the UFX+ this way is very powerful but very confusing (at least for me).  The goal is complete, I now have the UFX+, 3 Octamic's via ADAT & 16 TRS outputs (along with the 2 UFX phones)!   Fantastic! 

Thank you both for your efforts and help!