• From: Flensburg - Germany
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 43

Topic: Updating Fireface 800, where to go? UFX+, UCX2 or ADI Pro -2 DAC?

Hi RME Forum

First of all i'd Like to thank RME for their amazing Products i bought the Fireface 800 in 2007 oder 2008 for about 1300€. Now 10+ years later its still working like a charm and has a used value of about 500€+600€, so IF im going to sell it i payed about 65€ a year for an amazing product big_smile

But i wonder if i should upgrade. I Would really like to use the effects side of totalfx for my monitoring paths. But i feel like i also could upgrade my Preamp, AD / DA Quality.

As i do a lot of mixing and vocal and single instrument recording i probably wont use more then 4 Mic Pres most of the time. But id like to still connect my 2*8 AD Mic pres for a full drums session. So i wonder what i should do?

1) Keep the fireface until it dies as it's maybe still on par?
2) Keep the fireface and get an ADI-2 DAC or Pro FS to get the maximum DAC Quality
3) Replace the Fireface with an UFX+ or 2
4) Keep The Fireface and get the new UCX+ for most work and have the fireface 800 for drum or live recordings.

How much are the current converters better than my Fireface 800? How big is the difference between the UCX and UFX in terms of conversion? Is there a noticable difference between the fireface (new & old) and the ADIs?

Thank you so much in advance.

Dragekonge's Website

2 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2021-07-02 18:38:40)

  • ramses
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Re: Updating Fireface 800, where to go? UFX+, UCX2 or ADI Pro -2 DAC?

I would get an UFX+ to also have USB3/2, Thunderbolt and MADI.
By this you make most efficient use of two rack units full of devices.
An ADI-2 Pro FS R BE you can get at any time later you get also special features of a phones preamp and other advantages.
There are plenty of threads discussing the advantages of all these devices and also in my blog:
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … Cbersicht/

As you want to keep your preamps 2x ADAT makes more sense compared to UCX II.

And once you have more money and want to make a technology swap, then you get a 12Mic additionally and connect it through MADI.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13

3 Reply by Dragekonge (edited by Dragekonge 2021-07-02 19:07:21)

  • From: Flensburg - Germany
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 43

Re: Updating Fireface 800, where to go? UFX+, UCX2 or ADI Pro -2 DAC?

Hi Ramses

An honor to get an answer from you as i pretty much read all your blog post on the Tonstudio-Forum.

A thing i forgot to mention i wonder if there is a new Fireface coming soon? Would hate to buy a ufx+ now to see a ufx +2 coming soon. (late 21 or in 22) and it's getting to the 4-5 year mark of age now. and its been about 6 year per update on the 800 ufx line what i found so far big_smile (I Loved your interface and release overview. Thank you Thank you Thank you)

So you would say the UFX+ would be a decent step up from the fireface 800?:)

Dragekonge's Website

  • ramses
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Re: Updating Fireface 800, where to go? UFX+, UCX2 or ADI Pro -2 DAC?

Thanks for the flowers, you're welcome ;-)

> A thing i forgot to mention i wonder if there is a new Fireface coming soon?

Only RME can tell and as you can read from similar questions in this forum they can't/won't tell - like any other company - for product strategical reasons.

> So you would say the UFX+ would be a decent step up from the fireface 800?:)

Yes definitively.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13

5 Reply by CrispyChips (edited by CrispyChips 2021-07-03 14:36:44)

  • Registered: 2020-07-20
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Re: Updating Fireface 800, where to go? UFX+, UCX2 or ADI Pro -2 DAC?

Quote: “An honor to get an answer from you”


Ramses is worth his weight in gold and an incalculable asset to the forum, along with the other regular contributors I am always eager to learn from.

I saw your post earlier and was going to reply, but believed a far better answer for you could be got from Ramses, so like you patiently awaited his knowledgeable response.

In point of fact, I believed in your position a UFX+ would clearly be the best option and certainly what I would purchase from RME’s current range. I would hold onto the older unit which has served you so superbly, simply as a safety backup myself, but hesitate to advise other people, when I know little about their particular circumstances and requirements.

Personally, I find RME preamps superbly transparent, with good amounts of clean gain, performing excellently with a wide range of many different mics of varying types and design. Unless you had a particularly essential need for blindingly vivid, copious amounts of equalisation and colour whilst tracking; I honestly believe its better to purchase a UFX +, rather than an outboard unit whose actual genuine utility, may ultimately prove severely limited by comparison against a truly useful UFX+.

I find the fascinating novelty of many seemingly necessary outboard units speedily wears off and in truth have some units, I have never even used and far too many that have been used very little indeed. Invest your hard earnt money wisely!

Whereas, wonderfully transparent mic pre’s are good for all occasions and every possible situation, and the manifold features of the UFX +, comprehensively useful, when recording.

The wide-ranging functionality, connectivity and utility of the unit Ramses recommended, makes it an obvious choice and the best currently available, to my mind.

What’s not to like?

  • ramses
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Re: Updating Fireface 800, where to go? UFX+, UCX2 or ADI Pro -2 DAC?

I can only emphasize again and again that it is an advantage if a recording interface offers several connection possibilities to the computer. If one option should cause problems, for whatever reason, you still have a "Plan B".
And with the UFX+ you even have three: TB, USB3 and USB2 (30 channels as with the UFX II, without MADI).
Thunderbolt offers besides the lowest RTL even the pitch function as a feature in the ASIO driver, which the MADIface USB driver apparently cannot support technically due to the new USB transfer modes, otherwise RME would have implemented it that way.

Then it is always good to have a few channels in reserve.
Be it to have more SW playback channels, to be able to set the routing for each individual HW output even more filigree in a larger setup or to have enough channels free for loopback tricks that you sometimes simply need.
The other digital channels could most likely already be in use for other things (ADAT, AES, ...).
And in the end you can scale the setup much better, don't have tight limitations in cable length like ADAT and higher sample rates become easier possible without dropping some channels too fast (by channel bundling).

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13

7 Reply by ning (edited by ning 2021-07-03 18:47:01)

  • ning
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Re: Updating Fireface 800, where to go? UFX+, UCX2 or ADI Pro -2 DAC?

I ran into the same question a month ago.
i think the question is mainly how many IOs you need.
if you dont need madi/thunderbolt/usb3 the ufx2 is good enough,
and that's how i made our purchase decision for my employer.

but if you want a more future proof device with much more potential connection and extensibility,
ufx+ is right solution for you.

The ADI-2 series is another category of devices for mastering and music appreciation and has very different user interface and use case compared to the fireface series. though.

  • From: Flensburg - Germany
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 43

Re: Updating Fireface 800, where to go? UFX+, UCX2 or ADI Pro -2 DAC?

@ning and Ramses
could you elaborta on the ADIs qualities?
I Really love high end audio too. Got the trio 11 and now i start to wonder if the fireface800 ist holding me back in that regard.

Your absoletely right i just wonder if i should go.

UFX and then the adi if i have the funds or the other way around. Or if the difference to and ADI is negligible

I also really appreciate the fought of the 800 as an backup device smile

Dragekonge's Website

9 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2021-07-04 11:34:19)

  • ramses
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Re: Updating Fireface 800, where to go? UFX+, UCX2 or ADI Pro -2 DAC?

You better check on your own because: https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.ph … 18#p172118

Another aspect: sell Firewire interfaces as long as you can get a good price for them. Surrounding conditions might change with Windows 11. Support end for Windows 10 is October 2025. Ok, still three years, but nonody knows whether new PC hardware will get drivers for Win10 or not for .. lets say political reasons to push Win11 to the market. We had such a situation already with Windows 7 vs 10 if memory serves me right.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13
  • ning
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Re: Updating Fireface 800, where to go? UFX+, UCX2 or ADI Pro -2 DAC?

> UFX and then the adi if i have the funds or the other way around. Or if the difference to and ADI is negligible

UFX and ADI are different devices. UFX allows you to use TotalMix, and in ADI you have to do everything in menu.
ADI has much more features for music appreciation, such as crossfeed, 5band eq, loudness, etc.
The experience is just better. But it has no mixing capabilities the UFX have.

In short, they are different product categories, and are very different. I hope this can help you make a decision.

  • ramses
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Re: Updating Fireface 800, where to go? UFX+, UCX2 or ADI Pro -2 DAC?

Good point ning, maybe he was not aware of this, that the ADI-2 Pro / DAC productline has no TotalMix and enough ADAT ports to connect preamps etc .. in fact ADI-2 DAC/Pro support only 2 channel out of an ADAT stream.

If he needs something for recording then he needs a recording interface ... UFX II would be nice, UFX+ would offer more options to connect to PC or Apple or other features like MADI.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13
  • ning
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Re: Updating Fireface 800, where to go? UFX+, UCX2 or ADI Pro -2 DAC?

right. He needs a device with a lot of connectivity so only ufx 2 and ufx+ make sense for him.
maybe he only need to decide if he needs madi/thunderbolt/usb3 for future extensibility.

  • From: Flensburg - Germany
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 43

Re: Updating Fireface 800, where to go? UFX+, UCX2 or ADI Pro -2 DAC?

In terms of my question for the ADI its mainly about DA Performance. So to state my question.

How is the DA (maybe AD) Performance compared to ufx.
Else im pretty clear about their Features i think. And that they dont compare.


Good point with the firewire support on win 11. Ill take that into my considerations.

Dragekonge's Website

14 Reply by ning (edited by ning 2021-07-05 19:35:58)

  • ning
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Re: Updating Fireface 800, where to go? UFX+, UCX2 or ADI Pro -2 DAC?

You won't hear the difference regarding the DA performance. even the 800 performance is transparent enough that you won't be able to tell it apart from the adi-2.

  • From: Flensburg - Germany
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 43

Re: Updating Fireface 800, where to go? UFX+, UCX2 or ADI Pro -2 DAC?

Hi Ning

Thank you. I still wondered about this DA converter talk and what is better, but i havent heard themselves.

Dragekonge's Website