Hello,

We are planning to expand/refresh our research lab hardware and would like to use RME devices as we always have. The current installation consists of:

- FF800 connected to a Linux computer where processing is done.
- 2xUFX+, connected through ADAT in/out to the FF800. The UFX+ are used primarily to give us more mic inputs and as passthrough to the DA.
- M-16 DA connected via MADI to one of the UFX+.
- FF800 is the clock master.

In our new setup we would like:
- More mic inputs
- The possibility to add one or more Dante devices to the setup (first one would be an Eigenmike em64 which outputs 64 channels over Dante) without making the whole setup Dante-based.
- Ability to have at least 64 input channels under Linux (CC mode).
- Use the existing M-16 DA, which is enough for our purposes.

The plan I came up with (see drawing):
- Get a 12Mic-D as the centerpiece of the new setup, giving us more inputs and Dante connectivity. The web-based interface will also be very useful in our setup.
- UFX III as the main interface connected to the computer in USB3 CC mode, giving us 96 in/out channels. Actually I thought about reusing the existing UFX+, but as I understand this limits us to 24 exposed I/O channels in CC mode. Another option would be MADIFace XT II, but I'd rather have more preamps and more control room outputs than all these MADI ports
- Optical MADI connection between UFX III and 12Mic-D
- 2xADAT from 12Mic-D to M-16 DA (using the 12Mic-D as passthrough, the output signals will generally come from the UFX III)

The questions:
- Is it technically possible to use the 12Mic-D as a pure Dante->MADI converter (64 Dante inputs routed to 64 MADI outputs), or am I missing something here? (note I have very little experience with Dante).
- Similar question for ADAT: Can I simply route MADI inputs into ADAT outputs on the 12Mic-D?
- Clock propagation: For practical reasons I would like the UFX III to be the master clock. Propagating this over MADI/ADAT to the 12Mic-D and M-16 should work I guess. Would this clock signal also be propagated to the Dante device(s)? I assume this needs to be set using the Dante controller.
- Is it possible to access the web-based interface on the 12Mic-D from a device connected to the same Dante switch? Or should the computer be connected to the secondary ethernet port in this case?
- Are there any (better) alternatives to achieve our goals?

Cheers