Topic: RME UFX Test results.
Hello all,
I run a company which tests high end audio products from the biggest & best and most known brands. I own a UFX which serves very well for my acoustical analyses setup and for playback via USB for larger gigs where I need the best quality playback. The UFX is very good for this purpose and helps me to understand the quality of the system I might be setting up.
It was raining today, so I decided to do some measurements on the UFX. The results are shown in the attached files. What these graphs show is the difference between MIC and Line inputs as a comparison between the UFX and a Presonus device. The Main left and right outputs were used to feed the analyser.
Lets take the Presonus first. The trace at the bottom of the graph shows THD+N against level, as does the trace just above that. The difference is the bottom trace is the Line input and the one above is the MIC input. All looking very good so far. The flat trace at the top at around +10dBu is frequency against level, nothing wrong here. The Red trace in the middle is an FFT capture which details the fundamental (test) frequency followed by all the harmonics which are the small peaks to the right of the fundamental.
If you then compare this to the RME graph you will some some significant differences. The two tests were performed as closely as possible to the same gain structure and the UFX graph shows exactly the same results. The Line in THD trace on the UFX graph are the traces near the 0.01906% point on the right hand side. The MIC in THD traces on the UFX start at around 0.05%. The flat trace again is the frequency response verses level. And again the FFT trace shows the fundamental, followed to the right by the harmonics of the UFX - somewhat not as good as the Presonus.
I should also add that I did the same tests going via the USB to the Main analogue outputs, this test showed up spectacularly good results, so the problems noted here are nothing to do with outputs, only inputs. As an aside I should also mention the choice of line level input gain control is very poor. There are occasions where it has been impossible to get a good gain structure due to the fact the these gain controls are fixed - not a good idea at all.
I wonder if the good folks at RME have any comments to make?
Hello all,
I run a company which tests high end audio products from the biggest & best and most known brands. I own a UFX which serves very well for my acoustical analyses setup and for playback via USB for larger gigs where I need the best quality playback. The UFX is very good for this purpose and helps me to understand the quality of the system I might be setting up.
It was raining today, so I decided to do some measurements on the UFX. The results are shown in the attached files. What these graphs show is the difference between MIC and Line inputs as a comparison between the UFX and a Presonus device. The Main left and right outputs were used to feed the analyser.
Lets take the Presonus first. The trace at the bottom of the graph shows THD+N against level, as does the trace just above that. The difference is the bottom trace is the Line input and the one above is the MIC input. All looking very good so far. The flat trace at the top at around +10dBu is frequency against level, nothing wrong here. The Red trace in the middle is an FFT capture which details the fundamental (test) frequency followed by all the harmonics which are the small peaks to the right of the fundamental.
If you then compare this to the RME graph you will some some significant differences. The two tests were performed as closely as possible to the same gain structure and the UFX graph shows exactly the same results. The Line in THD trace on the UFX graph are the traces near the 0.01906% point on the right hand side. The MIC in THD traces on the UFX start at around 0.05%. The flat trace again is the frequency response verses level. And again the FFT trace shows the fundamental, followed to the right by the harmonics of the UFX - somewhat not as good as the Presonus.
I should also add that I did the same tests going via the USB to the Main analogue outputs, this test showed up spectacularly good results, so the problems noted here are nothing to do with outputs, only inputs. As an aside I should also mention the choice of line level input gain control is very poor. There are occasions where it has been impossible to get a good gain structure due to the fact the these gain controls are fixed - not a good idea at all.
I wonder if the good folks at RME have any comments to make?
