• Registered: 2026-04-12
  • Posts: 5

Topic: 12 Mic headphones problem

Hi all - my first post here… I hope it’s in the right section!

I’ve just invested in a 12mic for location recording and have set everything up for a session over MADI - all working great, except… I can’t get any sound out of the headphone output - either for monitoring any of the internal mic pre channels or for my talkback over MADI.

The level meter on the 12mic display is showing a level, but is greyed-out, which the manual says is showing the input level to headphones relative to 0db. But there is no coloured level  (green/yellow etc) and so no headphone output. I’m sure I’m missing something simple, but I cannot even monitor a single mic pre, let alone my talkback (which is definitely routed right and showing the same grey level meter).

Does anyone know what I’m missing?
Thanks for any help!

2 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2026-04-12 09:32:29)

  • ramses
  • ramses
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  • Registered: 2012-10-14
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Re: 12 Mic headphones problem

Hi and welcome to the RME user forum.

Did you think about the proper routing on the MADI device itself?

12 Mic input channels to free MADI outputs on the MADI bus and from an MADI bus, two channels to the phones output.

My setup: HDSPe MADI FX
- MADI Bus 1 (ch 1-64): M-1620 Pro
- MADI Bus 2 (ch 65-127): 12Mic

So you can see in the screenshot below, that I am routing

a) the 12 Mic inputs to 1-12 which is actually ch 64-75 on my HDSPe MADI FX (**)
b) MADI channels 1+2, which is actually ch 64+65 on my HDSPe MADI FX (**)
                                                                                **) as the 12Mic is connected to MADI bus 2 (ch 65-127)

In the 2nd screenshot of TotalMix FX you see the submix for the 12Mics phones output (ch 65+66).
To this channel I route the SW playback channels ("audio from PC") that I need, in this case e.g. for MusicBee playback.

For a larger view, click this link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/rfg4e2ph … n&dl=1
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/rfg4e2phjjobt3s5v3hi4/2026-04-12-12Mic-routing-to-phones.jpg?rlkey=6y6ct9q747ccd3g4edcfgjnem&st=q5bhla3n&dl=1

For a larger view, click this link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/bdbgh1dm … n&dl=1
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/bdbgh1dmpnuqi2q6dnpc1/2026-04-12-12Mic-TM-FX-routing-to-phones-ch-65-66-of-HDSPe-MADI-FX-2nd-MADI-bus.jpg?rlkey=jplrra4k3bz0914tzwfucu6gm&st=5nrpbo2n&dl=1

Here my blog article about my setup with latest changes (HDSPe MADI FX, M-1620 Pro)
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ent … tup-en-de/
The Excel file attached to this article shows the channel assignment of all connected MADI devices to MADI Bus 1-3.
Direct link to this Excel file: https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/file-download/2078/

BR Ramses - HDSPe MADI FX, M-1620 Pro D, 12Mic, UFX III, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, Nuendo 15, Win10 IoT Ent
  • Registered: 2026-04-12
  • Posts: 5

Re: 12 Mic headphones problem

Hi ramses - thanks for taking the time to reply. I see that you're monitoring everything via MADI... but it's my understanding that I should be able to press the headphone monitor button for any  12mic channel to just hear that channel via the headphones output, whether I am using MADI or not.

So I think I'm missing something more fundamental - I can't even monitor a single 12mic channel via the headphone output - I just get a greyed out meter showing the level, but hear nothing. Am I supposed to set up routing just to check a mic channel through the headphones output? The manual says nothing about this and just shows how to select the channel and then press the h/p monitor button.

Any ideas why I can't do this?

4 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2026-04-12 17:43:07)

  • ramses
  • ramses
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  • Registered: 2012-10-14
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Re: 12 Mic headphones problem

As I mentioned, on every MADI interface you have to configure the routing of channels
- from/to the "outside" (the MADI bus)
- inside of the unit

Instead of routing audio through MADI to the phone's output, simply route the Mic inputs to the phone's output.

In the WEB GUI of the 12Mic select routing mode and then connect inputs and outputs with "wires".

Then route mic inputs to headphone outputs, and that's it (without MADI).

BR Ramses - HDSPe MADI FX, M-1620 Pro D, 12Mic, UFX III, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, Nuendo 15, Win10 IoT Ent

5 Reply by waedi (edited by waedi 2026-04-12 17:51:05)

  • waedi
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  • Registered: 2020-12-08
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Re: 12 Mic headphones problem

ramses wrote:

As I mentioned, on every MADI interface you have to configure the routing of channels
- from/to the "outside" (the MADI bus)
- inside of the unit

Instead of routing audio through MADI to the phone's output, simply route the Mic inputs to the phone's output.

In the WEB GUI of the 12Mic select routing mode and then connect inputs and outputs with "wires".

Then route mic inputs to headphone outputs, and that's it (without MADI).

He wants to use temporary phones routing, page 59/60 user manual.
This should work.

@Bobbaw

Did you really follow exactly step by step the instructions in the user manual for this ?

The headphone volume is not fully down ?

check headphone volume first before sending audio there.

M1-Tahoe, Madiface Pro, Digiface USB, Babyface silver and blue
  • Registered: 2026-04-12
  • Posts: 5

Re: 12 Mic headphones problem

Hi @waedi
Yes, I followed the manual exactly…
The headphone level is definitely up - I see a level on the meter, but it is greyed out, not in colour, and there is no sound. Baffled! Maybe there’s a problem with my 12mic…

  • waedi
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  • Registered: 2020-12-08
  • Posts: 7,339

Re: 12 Mic headphones problem

I would try flash the latest firmware

M1-Tahoe, Madiface Pro, Digiface USB, Babyface silver and blue
  • Registered: 2026-04-12
  • Posts: 5

Re: 12 Mic headphones problem

Good call @waedi - I’ll give that a go…

9 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2026-04-13 08:21:02)

  • ramses
  • ramses
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Re: 12 Mic headphones problem

waedi wrote:

I would try flash the latest firmware

Not so fast...

1. First of all, I would check what the current firmware is before upgrading.

Otherwise it is not possible later to identify whether it was actually a firmware change that might have cured an issue
and it is also not possible to come back to this particular version, for whatever reason.

2. The major goal here is to find out whether the monitoring through the headphone output works at all, not how to use special features of the unit for a "temporary routing of mic inputs", which needs to be configured at the device, which has a small display.

More comfortable is to use the Web GUI for troubleshooting purposes.
Then it is also much easier to post a screenshot of the current settings, if needed.

Using the Web GUI, it is straightforward to configure a routing for
a) monitoring of, e.g., a stereo sum through the 12Mic's headphone output, or
b) monitoring of one or more Mic Inputs

This he can store in different user presets through the WebGUI, which are easy to recall.

BR Ramses - HDSPe MADI FX, M-1620 Pro D, 12Mic, UFX III, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, Nuendo 15, Win10 IoT Ent
  • Marc S
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  • Registered: 2019-06-11
  • Posts: 155

Re: 12 Mic headphones problem

The grey level is "pre-fader" (before the volume is applied), which means you probably didn't turn the volume up high enough. If you set it all the way to 0.0 dB, the pre-fader level will match post-fader, thus the levelmeter will be shown in color. Please check that first. Can you post a picture (or screenshot from the web interface) of the headphone control/control page?

Best regards
Marc

  • Registered: 2026-04-12
  • Posts: 5

Re: 12 Mic headphones problem

Thanks for all the replies…
I read in the manual about the grey pre-fader thing. I don’t get a coloured level (or sound) no matter how high I turn up the level.

I’m on my session now for the next 3 days and everything essential is working, so I’m not going to change any settings right now! But when I’m home later in the week I will have another look.

Thanks again!