Thanks for the reply.

I am not sure if that cable works. It appears to be the correct one; the end has the identical contour and profile as the other RME cables. Recently, we had this:

https://www.forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=23250

I am still not understanding if I am doing something wrong, or if the cable is in fact wired wrong.

Let's start with XLR. I have: XLR out > cable, and cable > XLR in. Basically, a loopback. When I play system audio, should I be seeing anything in the TMFX other than what is normally there?

http://www.jeffreyhayat.com/tmfx.jpg

Do I need to do anything in the TMFX? Anything in the DSP settings window?

Thanks.

Or even analog on XLR, which will not work with that cable?

So any old XLR cable will not do? If not, that is probably why it is not working. I was not aware that there is  a difference with 3-pin XLR cables.

I am talking about SPDIF (RCA)

Going back to the other thread:

Connect red with white to check that a signal is coming out and back in.

That seems not to work - unless I am doing something wrong.

Play system audio, set DSP settings to internal clock, plug SPDIF (RCA) cable to SPDIF (RCA) in/out on the RME breakout cable

I see audio in the TMFX as above. Should I be seeing something else? How do I see whether or not the loopback test is working properly? I checked the manual, to no avai.

Thank you.

Every proper XLR cable will work, but XLR here is digital (AES/EBU), not analog, so what are you using this for when all you want to do is SPDIF? I still fear you get this conector wrong.

Ummm....????  I was testing with XLR just to see if the breakout cable is working. That's all.

So, I don't see anything in the DSP settings called "input status". I see:

1. AES/SPDIF in with TMS as an option
2. SPDIF in with Op, Co and Int as options

So, "input status" does not compute for me here.

I plugged a SPDIF (RCA) cable to SPDIF (RCA) in/out on the RME breakout cable, and I have tried all of the above options.

The one thing I simply do not understand is this:

what should I be looking for? Something in the TMFX? What and where?

Please post a screenshot of your Settings dialog.

Makes me wonder why you claim to have no Input Status when it is clearly visible and also clearly shows your loopback works perfectly.

Does the Avocet have some kind of SPDIF In status LED? Are you sending an audio signal over the SPDIF hardware output in TotalMix FX?

> The pic of the TMFX

shows you did not route the audio from playback channels 1/2 to the SPDIF hardware output - or play audio from whatever software directly on those channels. Please study the manual or watch our online videos on how to use TotalMix FX.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P … nSXF_f8UB6

Usage in mode Submix View (Default): simply click on the hardware output channel where you want to have an audio signal. This channel turns brighter, means it is selected as current submix. Now move the faders up from all sources - input and playback channels - that you want to hear at the submix output.

Riff, the sync 48k for spdif says the spdif is working. So don't worry about that. Now you really need to understand the mixer 100%. So try...without understanding it you will always struggle and doubt the hardware and cables. Trust me when I say,once you get it its easy!!!! One tip. in submix view, you click on an output pair and al input and software faders are only for that submix/output pair. So click on the spdif output pair,then you can route audio to it. With the loopback in place,that will show upon the spdif input, but only if you first see it on the spdif output. Once you get that you can connect the spdif to your external gear.
Hope this helps!
Vincent
Amsterdam

Thanks guys. This is really, really getting to me.

in submix view

How do I get there? There is nothing in any menu that has the word "submix" (save for submix linked to MIDI or OS), and the manual says the following:

Such a wide range of possibilities make it difficult to maintain the overview. Because practically all hardware outputs can be used for different submixes, as shown (up to 10 completely independent stereo submixes, 4 4-channel submixes etc.). And when opening the routing windows  you might see an army of checkmarks, but you don't get an overwiev, i.e., how the signals come
together and where. This problem is solved by Submix Viewmode. In this mode, all routing fileds jump to the routing pair just being selected. You can then see immediately, which channels, which fader and pan settings make a submix (for example 'AN 1+2'). At the same time the Submix View simplifies setting up the mixer, as all channels can be set simultaneously to the same routing destination with just one click.

Ok, so it says, "This problem is solved by Submix Viewmode." Nowhere in the manual do I see how to get to submix mode. The only two modes I see are Mixer view and Matrix.