Topic: Best Way To Connect Axe-Fx II & X32 Console To RME UFX III Interface

Hi all,

I'm going to be pulling the trigger on the new RME UFX III shortly - this will be my first RME audio interface, so needless to say I'm very excited.

I was hoping for some advice on the best way to hook up various pieces of hardware to the UFX III please. As a side note, I will only be utilizing these items in a home studio setting (I'm only a hobbyist) to record predominately stringed instruments and vocals, with some percussion down the line.   

1. Fractal Audio Axe-Fx II (Mk.2) rackmount unit. I would like to utilize the digital i/o section (specifically the AES/EBU ports on the rear of the unit). I have a pair of Mogami 3080 AES/EBU 110Ω XLR digital cables for this purpose. I assume I would run one of these cables from the Axe-Fx II AES/EBU output into the UFX III AES/EBU input in order to get a pristine digital signal into TotalMix FX then route that signal out to Reaper DAW on a Windows 10 PC. Would this give me the best quality tone wise into the UFX III?

2. Behringer X32 Console. I would like to be able to utilize the i/o options of this console if possible.  How would I go about connecting this console to the UFX III? Is it just a case of assigning the main L/R outputs (default XLR outputs on channel 15/16) into a consecutive pair of XLR inputs on the UFX III or does it make more sense to purchase an X32 MADI expansion card so I could utilize the MADI i/o option on the rear of the UFX III?

3. With the UFX III set as the audio interface in Reaper, how would I go about recording a DI signal at the same time as recording a processed signal? For example, when I used to use the Axe-Fx II as my interface via USB, I could just tap into inputs 3/4 carrying the DI signal and record that on a separate channel in my DAW whilst subsequently recording the processed signal coming in on inputs 1/2. I should mention I have a few Radial units (J48, JDI, PZ-DI, JPC, USB-Pro, Pro AV2, BT-Pro v.2, Reamp JCR) which I currently have routed into the X32 console, which might make recording a DI signal through the UFX III easier. 

4. I'll be monitoring through a pair of Adam A77X monitors via the UFX III XLR outputs. I also have a pair of Behringer Truth 3031A monitors which I'd like to utilize in this setup. How do I go about running a second pair of reference monitors into the UFX III interface? Would I simply just run a pair of balanced 1/4 inch to XLR cables from the balanced outputs of the UFX III into the XLR inputs of the 3031A monitors and then balance the volume levels of both the A77X's and 3031A's?

Many thanks

2 (edited by ramses 2023-05-07 10:30:19)

Re: Best Way To Connect Axe-Fx II & X32 Console To RME UFX III Interface

Hi MickMetal.

Welcome to the RME forum.

To 1)

If you connect the Axe FX digitally, then you have - besides the Behringer - one more device where you have to take care of clock synchronization.

Usually, the easiest from an operational perspective is to configure the central recording interfaces to be the clock master.
Then the application (DAW, ...) sets the sample rate of the UFX III through the ASIO driver.
All digital connected devices (clock slaves) follow the sample rate of the clock master.
They can learn the clock either from a digital input like ADAT, MADI, AES, SPDIF or from WC (Word Clock) if they have.

This has a few limitations, though:
a) Only AES or SPDIF (2ch @44.1 - 192 kHz) allows the clock slave to determine any sample rate reliably. With ADAT/MADI and also Word Clock this is not possible. The reason: the higher bandwidth demand is being achieved by multiplexing audio through 2 or 4 channels at double/quad speed, which work still at 44.1/48 kHz. Nearby, which is the reason that you only have 50/25% of ADAT or MADI channels at double/quad speed.
b) some devices cannot act as clock slave and need to be clock master. Reason: they do not have digital inputs to learn the clock through ADAT/SPDIF, or they even have no support for Word Clock.

If your Axe FX should be a device which needs to be the clock master of your environment:
A) then this would be no issue in terms of clock quality. RME devices have SteadyClock technology and are designed to remove any clock jitter from incoming clock signals. Then the connected Behringer would get a refreshed clock signal where the jitter has been eliminated.
B) Another alternative would be to add the ADI-2 Pro to your environment, which has a Sample Rate Converter built-in.
Then connect the AXE FX to the ADI-2 Pro to completely decouple the clock of the Axe FX from the rest of the environment.
Then you can run sample rates in your projects as you like, fully independent of the sample rate of the AXE FX.

If this seems too complicated at first sight or to gain time to get familiar with the UFX III and TotalMix FX, I would connect the AXE FX analog first. The UFX III has excellent A/D converters with only 5 samples delay, which is close to what is physically possible. The same excellent value as the reference converter ADI-2 Pro FS R BE.

to 2)

I'm not very knowledgeable about the routing capabilities of the Behringer M32. All that I remember is that the amount of channels that you can route through AVB or MADI is a little limited. If I were you, then I would get the MADI card for the Behringer as long as it is still available and experiment with it. You have already MADI in your UFX III … so better use it.
What would be the alternative? Do you want to spend money on an additional AD/DA converter for 16 or 32 more analog ports? Such a Behringer MADI card will definitively be less expensive.

to 3)

The Instr inputs of the UFX III are of high quality and the converters have a very low latency. So you can plug the guitar straight into the UFX III like I do and:
- record it for any re-amping purpose
- route it to the Axe FX (analog output -> Axe FX input)
- record the processed signal from Axe FX (either analog or digital connected, depends on the clock sych thingie)

to 4)

All possible. Connect the monitors to analog or digital outputs as needed/wanted. Then create individual submixes for the two HW outputs leading to your monitors. Save the routings to snapshots. If you require control room features like Mute, Dim, etc., then use the "assign" button in TM FX to assign the two pairs to act as "Main Out" and "Main Out B". While you are at it, also assign the phones ports in use to "Phones1", "Phones2" …

I would also invest in the ARC USB, which you can either connect to your PC or to the back of your UFX III, it has a dedicated USB port for this purpose.

Then you can very smoothly select snapshots, control room functions, have a dial to control the volume and Speaker B to switch between the two monitor pairs and many more features. Connection of foot switch, control of DURec recording, ..

As you can see, you can make good use of the UFX features, there is a lot possible. I even use it as a parallel effect loop for my two Marshall combos (stereo setup) and with external FX for it plus a connection to the HiFi:
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.ph … 87#p201687

The UFX series of interfaces is the best that you can get with TM FX and all the other useful tools and features. Congrats, an excellent choice!

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

Re: Best Way To Connect Axe-Fx II & X32 Console To RME UFX III Interface

Thanks so much for the detailed response Ramses. Much appreciated.

It's likely I'll end up grabbing a Klark Teknik's DN32 MADI expansion module so I can tap into the X32, as the Behringer X-MADI card seems to be discontinued, or at least difficult to come by here in Australia.

I'll also definitely pick up an ARC USB unit also. Thankyou for the recommendation.