1 Topic by farbeyondmetal (edited by farbeyondmetal 2022-04-02 05:37:04)

  • Registered: 2019-04-19
  • Posts: 3

Topic: Curious about switching from RayDAT to UFX+

So, it is just curiosity at the moment because I am happy with my setup and can't afford the UFX+. But I was wondering a couple things about the UFX+ because I want to expand my studio space at some point.

1. I currently run a RayDAT on a PC with two Clarett Octopres hooked up VIA ADAT, a small Headphone amp and a set of monitors. It is a very basic set up but it still has room for me to expand which I like. I sync via ADAT with the first OctoPre being the master.

On smaller projects, I am able to run 32 samples buffer rate while playing guitar through some fairly CPU hungry amp sims - would I be able to get similar performance through the UFX+ considering that it is USB instead of PCIe? The RTL is what scares me the most about switching because my performance currently is so good, but I have heard that the performance with the USB interfaces from RME is extremely close if not just as good as PCIe.

2. Could I hook up the 2 OctoPres via ADAT into the UFX+ and send all the onboard ins/outs + the ADAT ins/outs all through one cable via MADI?

Also, could the above be done while in standalone mode?

3. When using as a standalone unit are you able to change the clock source on the device directly without having to access the software on the PC?

  • Registered: 2014-07-17
  • Posts: 105

Re: Curious about switching from RayDAT to UFX+

I went from the RayDAT to UFX+ and couldn't be happier. I was worried about USB3, but rest assured, it works like a bomb! I have a ADI-2 Pro FS R connected via AES/EBU and an M-1610 Pro connected via MADI. It's seamless. The RME USB drivers are amazing!
I do have the UFX+ connected via a Sonnet PCIe USB3 card to bypass the MOBO USB hub because I have SSL controllers, etc connected.

'Ramses' was such a great help in getting this setup together. I wouldn't have managed without his invaluable advice!

Windows 11 / Nuendo 12 / UFX+ / M-1610 Pro / ADI-2 Pro FS R / Sonnet USB 3.0 PCIe

3 Reply by ramses (edited by ramses 2022-04-02 10:45:31)

  • ramses
  • DAW Mastermind
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  • Registered: 2012-10-14
  • Posts: 12,863

Re: Curious about switching from RayDAT to UFX+

Good morning Robin, thanks for letting me/us know how well everything went for you. We already had a very nice conversation about this via email a few weeks ago and I'm very happy to hear how happy you are with your new RME-based setup. Also thanks to Joost/RME who was also involved into your planning as you wrote.
Kudos especially to RME for developing such fantastic gear and the reliability and flexibility of operation through TotalMix FX.

[ Robin refers to this thread: https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=30250 ]

@farbeyondmetal: all is possible.

to 1) I can confirm that USB has the same stability / performance as PCIe.

See my blog articles for gettings some numbers / details:

  • In this article you can find some numbers about the RTL (round trip latency) of different RME products
    https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … 8-RME-UFX/

  • This article shows an artifical Cubase project as kind of a personal benchmark and it show that this "synthetik" Cubase project with 400 tracks with 2 VSTs each (~800 VSTs in total) can be played back at lowest ASIO buffersizes 32/64 samples at single/double speed (44.1/96 kHz) without audio loss no matter whether you have an UFX+ through USB3 or a RayDAT through PCIe: https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … cks-de-en/

to 2) yes, you can connect
- external devices like your existing focusrite preamps through ADAT and
- at any time later additional devices through MADI

MADI
Supports 64ch @single speed and you can chain several devices one behind the other and finally back to the UFX+.
Finally you connect either one MADI device or you have a ring of multiple devices in a "serial fashion".

I recommend building such a MADI ring using fiber optic cables (e.g. OM4) to also get galvanic isolation.

The MADI standard allows cable length up to 2km (between each of the devices!!!), which gives you a great flexibility to place e.g. UFX+ in the control or machine room and to place Mic preamps in one or more recording rooms. Then you can keep the XLR cables in the room short.

You can get preconfigured multimode cables from ~50cm up to around 50m in many shops.
Lately I noticed that the more modern OM4 cables can have a price advantage because more and more people use OM4, because this is also being used for computer networks / data centers.

In terms of routing: all audio signals can be routed with the known flexibility of TM FX / the routing matrix of RME devices, that you know already from your RayDAT. So e.g. a mic signal coming from a mic preamp connected though ADAT to an analog output of an AD/DA converter connected through MADI to put an example.

to 3) Stand-alone mode

You can store settings to 6 user profiles on the device and later adjust channels settings and routing in standalone mode.
See manual chapter 23 about standalone operation and in particular 23.2 regarding operation at the device.
You can also use the ARC USB in stand-alone mode and connect it to a dedicated USB port on the back of the UFX+.
And yes you can also change the clock source in stand-alone mode.

I would use the UFX+ as clock master, the Focusrite Clarett Octopre have an ADAT in port to send audio to analog outputs on the device. So the preamps can learn the clock from the UFX+ through either it's ADAT input or alternatively Word clock.

Later you can connect further MADI based devices as you like.

At any time later ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, if budget allows again

You can also connect an ADI-2 Pro FS R BE to your monitoring section as Robin does at any time later to be able to make use of the advanced feature of this device, see these two blog articles to get an overview:

It's no necessity to get the ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, but it is very nice indeed to have it in the setup wink

What could also be of interest to you

DURec: You will also like the DURec feature, which you can use for stand-alone and backup recordings, if your PC should have an issue, then you have still a backup recording of the recording session in "safe harbour".

Information about MADI based setups
3 examples:
UFX+ and 12Mic: https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … TC-DE-EN/, see the PDF there containing the complete review.
UFX+ and two Octamic XTC: https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … Cber-MADI/
HDSPe MADI FX based: https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … ro-FS-BE/, see the PDF for the full review.

Evolution of my recording setup

This is BTW the evolution of my recording setup and I am heavily making use of DURec:
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … -DURec-DE/

If there is any further question, do not hesitate to ask.

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