1 Topic by lanstrad (edited by lanstrad 2019-12-15 16:58:40)

  • Registered: 2011-03-04
  • Posts: 80

Topic: RME UCX - good choice if planning USB use, standalone without console?

I'm in process of replacing my Fireface 800, both for moving to more compact (moving to ''smaller'', no more console, and... longer term view (hopefully) with USB.

Yet, I loved that interface. Now among some few choices on market, I look at the Fireface UCX, but do not want to depend on another FW interface, for when I change computers. It seems to give me the best of both worlds : I still can use FW with computer yet for a few months, still can use one ADAT channel with my Yamaha board, and more than anything else, rely on USB... (or should I??)...  My main refraining barrier to move to UA for instance is their ''TB3-only'' which would force me to replace computers immediately...

Two quick questions:

1) How is USB 2 reliability in audio interface ? Is it as reliable (latency, connectivity, and so on) than FW - or even TB could/can be?

2) That may sound obvious to most, but as I come from a console/ADAT connection background for over a decade, I never used an interface's outputs direct to powered monitors (and I'm also new to powered monitors - just replaced my NS10M's for Neumann KH80s) : so, looking at back of this interface, I only see individual outputs, nothing like ''monitors L&R''... How do you connect from the interface to monitoring (whether to subwoofer or direct to powered monitors ??...) (For instance, I see on some UA specific outputs to monitors..)

Thanks,

2 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2019-12-17 13:09:47)

  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
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  • From: UTC+1
  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 13,175

Re: RME UCX - good choice if planning USB use, standalone without console?

To 1: RME drivers are very well, also USB comes close to PCI/PCIE. RME support's up to 64 or 68 channels in and out with USB2.

To 2: RME is not so limited compared to other companies designs and user interfaces. Every analog out port can be used to connect monitors.

1st you use in TotalMix FX the assign button to assign channels to Monitor A and B, for phones 1-4 and then you can additionally use all control room features to those channels like DIM, etc.

RME does not preassign a certain use case like "Monitor" to certain channels. Not required because of flexibility in the hw and software design. You should know that if you had a FF 800 ;-)

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub14
  • Registered: 2018-04-07
  • Posts: 15

Re: RME UCX - good choice if planning USB use, standalone without console?

I own and actively use both the UCX and the FF800. The UCX is an excellent upgrade. To your questions specifically:

1. I find lower latency and better reliability with my UCX than with my FF800. If you give it a dedicated USB port and bus (it has it's own port on my iMac, for instance) it's rock solid with no problems whatsoever. The firewire series of dongles required to make the FF800 work with the latest hardware are just more things to fail in the end. USB 2.0, when it is done right, is a perfectly good interface for multichannel audio, especially as RME have done it.
2. As Ramses said, any outputs can be dedicated to monitors or for any other purpose. There is nothing magical about monitor outputs, and for things like 5.1/7.1 it can easily be arranged to output the sub anywhere you like. The interface gives full quality to each output. This is far better than those interfaces which split the outputs by "purpose" and force you into workflows. You plug the powered monitors using a TRS (balanced) to XLR (balanced) cable, and you're done. The RME will give perfect quality to the monitors using a high fidelity line-level balanced audio connection. TotalMix offers some nice features when you designate the channel set as Main outputs (for instance, ducking during talkback) but you are not forced to do this.

For instance, in my DAW I have control room, main, and two headphone mixes, plus two pairs of Aux sends, from my UCX. Channels 1/2 are the control room, 3/4 are the main, 5/6 are the aux 1, 7/8 headphone 1, and 9/10 (SPDIF) are headphone 2. Each of these can have their own mix - cue can go only to HP2, for the singer/instrumentalist during recording, control room and mix headphones can hear only the soloed channels if I want, etc. It's very flexible, and that's the point.

At this point my FF800 is being used to add a second headphone out and 10 channels of I/O to my UCX as a format converter (to ADAT and SPDIF) and that's it. It's an excellent pairing as I make 100% use of all 36 channels on the UCX (18 in, 18 out) with precision clock sync (I use BNC from the UCX, because I'm a purist, but you can just as easily do it over ADAT alone, the clock recovery on the FF800 is good enough for this). Highly recommended upgrade.

Oh, and as a bonus, the UCX gives you TotalMixFX on your FF800 channels when you hook it up this way!