• Registered: 2022-01-26
  • Posts: 2

Topic: ADI-2 DAC fs - Direct Monitoring

Hello to everyone.
I need to monitor from my ADI-2 DAC fs two adio source at the same time
1. What comes from my PC (via USB)
2. What comes from my Mic Preamp (via Optical Cable).
*it's an ART voice channel equipped with internal AD converter and a digital  Optical OUT

my signal chain is as follow:
Microphone into Preamp in > Preamp Optical OUT into ADI-2 DAC fs Optical IN > ADI-2 DAC fs USB into my PC

As you may already guess i can easly monitor one of the two sources by selecting in the i/o session Optical, OR USB source.
But i cant monitor  Usb AND Optical at the same time.

In order to hear at the same time my voice thru the mic preamp AND the sound of my PC, i need to be able to monitor USB AND Optical, both AT THE SAME TIME.
I could do this with a cheap Focusrite interface with a simple "direct monitoring" button so I'm quite sure there is a way to do this with such expensive product!

I already tried to do two thing but none could solve my problem completely:

1) Into the i/o section i selected the source "USB (Rec.opt.)" This option activates  the full duplex operation with USB.

In this case i solve my problem at Half, Infact i can finally hear optical and usb audio source both at the same time, but only if i open a DAW and create an audio track and press the monitor button.
I want to have this option without opening a DAW

2) i tried to dowload latest Drivers and Firmwares from the website in order to acces to the TotalMix plug in but even if i can see the TotalMix plug in icon at the bottom of my pc windows (applications bar) nothing happends. The plug in doesent open, even if i right click on the icon by clicking the two options avaiable "workspace quick select" and "New total mix window"

Can you help me to solve this issue?
sorry for my bad english. I hope i was clear in my message.

Waiting for your answer. Thanks in advance for your kindness,

2 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2022-01-26 11:38:42)

  • ramses
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Re: ADI-2 DAC fs - Direct Monitoring

The products ADI-2 DAC/Pro are converters and not recording interfaces. That's why they are listed on the product page on the web under "converters".

> I could do this with a cheap Focusrite interface with a simple "direct monitoring" button
> so I'm quite sure there is a way to do this with such expensive product!

You can't just compare a converter with a Focusrite recording interface with digital mixer, these are different types of products.

There are RME products available for that purpose which have TotalMix FX.
There you can create such submixes in a very flexible way.
See also information here: https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=34394

You can have a look into this blog article, there I added an Excel which compares different RME USB/FW/TB based recording interfaces (except PCI/PCIe based interfaces) with each other including a lot of information.

https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … B-MADIfac/
Direct link to excel: https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/index.ph … -04b-xlsx/

You can integrate the ADI-2 DAC FS into such a recording solution with TM FX:
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … our-Setup/
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … ort-DE-EN/

> i tried to dowload latest Drivers and Firmwares from the website in order to acces to the TotalMix plug in
> but even if i can see the TotalMix plug in icon at the bottom of my pc windows (applications bar) nothing happends.
> The plug in doesent open, even if i right click on the icon by clicking the two options avaiable "workspace quick select"
> and "New total mix window"

TotalMix FX is no plug-in, it's a digital mixer application which works as an ASIO client and directly accesses RME recording interfaces through the ASIO driver. If there is no supported RME recording interface connected to your PC, then TM FX can't work, I would even guess that it does not even automatically start.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13
  • Registered: 2022-01-26
  • Posts: 2

Re: ADI-2 DAC fs - Direct Monitoring

Thank you for your kind answer ramses!

> I would even guess that it does not even automatically start.
TRUE and now i understand why this application doesent even starts, thanks for the answer.

There'se one other thing i'd like to know.

I don't get why i can monitor only one source at time, even if i select the "USB (REC.opt.)" option...

RME DAC2 its not an audio interface, true you're right.
But only because it doesent havepreamps built in as audio interfaces does.
that's why i connected to the DAC my ART voice channel Preamp AD converter. So that i can have the full audio path goin on.

Microphone> preamp> AD> DA> Monitors (or phones....whatever)

since the two machine are connected the right way i don't get why i cant monitor both audio sources at the same time.
Do i miss some step in the process? or in the Audio path?

4 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2022-01-26 12:39:59)

  • ramses
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Re: ADI-2 DAC fs - Direct Monitoring

See blockdiagram in your products manual:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/15nsnn42dsx8ajq/2022-01-26%2012_12_02-Audio-Flow.jpg?dl=1

Again, you need a recording interface with a digital mixer (TotalMix FX).
TotalMix FX gives you the possibility to route audio from either PC or any input to any output.
Each HW output can have an individual submix of it's own.

See here to get a 1st quick impression:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcWClPViBm0
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkxzYlBiScA

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub13
  • Registered: 2021-12-11
  • Posts: 47

Re: ADI-2 DAC fs - Direct Monitoring

ramses wrote:

TotalMix FX is no plug-in, it's a digital mixer application which works as an ASIO client and directly accesses RME recording interfaces through the ASIO driver.

Interesting, is there more information about that somewhere? Not that it matters for the OP, but I once reverse-engineered parts of TM to be able to control its mixer levels automatically instead of relying on the user to load the correct preset for our particular application, and I seem to recall it used windows DeviceIoControl calls for that and nothing ASIO related. Though it's possible it still acted as a client to get the actual signal levels (not the mix levels).

  • vinark
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Re: ADI-2 DAC fs - Direct Monitoring

I was also under the impression the TMFX is remote control software that does not have access to any audio, but controls the onboard mixer software, a front end so to speak.

Vincent, Amsterdam
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  • ramses
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Re: ADI-2 DAC fs - Direct Monitoring

Maybe my wording was wrong. I wanted to underpin, that TM FX is an application and no plug-in.
And I remembered that either TM or DIGIcheck (or maybe even both) was implemented in a way that requires ASIO Multi-Client capabilities and communicates with the recording interface through the ASIO driver.
You are right the communication between TM FX and the device is much likely only control data / exchange of state information.

But finally also audio data will be transferred over USB, but then the other point of communication is not TM FX itself, its the DAW who transfers audio data through the ASIO driver from/to the interface.

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