• Registered: 2026-07-04
  • Posts: 3

Topic: Snapshots: Seamless A/B switching using Mute instead of Fader levels

Hello everyone,

I'm a new and very happy Fireface UFX III owner.

First of all, I'd like to say hello to everyone. I'm really excited to join the RME community. I've been using RME products for years, but the UFX III has completely changed my workflow, and I'm very impressed with both the hardware and TotalMix FX.

While setting up my mastering monitoring system, I came across something that might be useful to other users.

I wanted to switch instantly between my analog mastering chain and a digital reference source using TotalMix Snapshots and ARC USB. At first, I noticed a very short interruption during snapshot recall, which made A/B comparisons more difficult.

After a lot of testing, I found that the behavior depends on what the Snapshot is changing.

If the Snapshots change channel fader levels, I get a short interruption during recall.

However, if both sources remain permanently routed at 0 dB, and the Snapshots change only the channel Mute states, the switching becomes completely seamless.

This completely solved my workflow.

Now I can instantly switch between my mastering chain and my reference source on both studio monitors and headphones, with no audible interruption at all.

Maybe this is already well known to experienced TotalMix users, but it took me quite a while to figure it out, so I thought I'd share it in case it helps someone else.

One question for the RME team:

Is this the expected behavior of TotalMix FX?
Does Snapshot recall use a different processing method for fader changes compared to mute state changes?

I'd be very interested to learn the technical reason behind this behavior.

Thank you, and I'm looking forward to learning more from this great community!

Best regards,

Rossko

2 Reply by waedi (edited by waedi 2026-07-12 18:21:52)

  • waedi
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Offline
  • From: Swiss Zürich
  • Registered: 2020-12-08
  • Posts: 7,584

Re: Snapshots: Seamless A/B switching using Mute instead of Fader levels

The Assign button in Totalmix offers Main-out and Main-out B, Speaker A / B assigning to any output.
The ARC USB has a button Speaker B

You may try out and let us know.

M1-Tahoe, Madiface Pro, Digiface USB, Babyface silver and blue
  • Registered: 2026-07-04
  • Posts: 3

Re: Snapshots: Seamless A/B switching using Mute instead of Fader levels

Thank you for your suggestion.

I actually use the same Main Out all the time.

My goal is not to switch between Speaker A and Speaker B outputs, but to compare two different input sources feeding the same monitoring chain.

One source is my analog mastering chain (AES), and the other is a digital reference (ADAT).

I also wanted the same A/B workflow to work on both my studio monitors and my headphones without creating separate Speaker A/B configurations.

I found that keeping both sources at 0 dB and switching only their Mute states with Snapshots gives me completely seamless A/B switching.

So far this has been the best solution for my workflow.

  • ramses
  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
  • Offline
  • From: UTC+1
  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 15,800

Re: Snapshots: Seamless A/B switching using Mute instead of Fader levels

Workspace Quick Select
For the first 9 of 30 Workspace slots you can use a key combination ALT-1..9 (Mac: Option key) to change quickly a workspace.
Save your workspace to WQS Slot #1 and #2.
Use different input channel on #2.
Switch between them with ALT-1 and ALT-2.

BR Ramses - HDSPe MADI FX, M-1620 Pro D, 12Mic, UFX III, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, Nuendo 15, Win10 IoT Ent
  • From: Germany, Tuvalu, Poland, Chile
  • Registered: 2021-07-27
  • Posts: 1,118

Re: Snapshots: Seamless A/B switching using Mute instead of Fader levels

Assuming you“re on TM 2.0.x or 2.10.x…

Preferences - (Device Handling) Reduce volume peaks on snapshot load.

Additinally, if you loaded a workspace before switching snaps, it might be worth to preload all snapshots first.
See https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.ph … 34#p253234 and https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.ph … 60#p253260

“Do It For Her”
My Gear: Bontempi Magic light Keyboard