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RME User Forum → FireWire & USB series → Fireface UFX 3 with 2 x Ferrofish A32 Pro?
Hi
I currently have 1 Ferrofish A32 Pro that I connected to my Fireface UFX 3 via MADI and love it. I would like to add a 2nd Ferrofish A32 Pro but am unsure how to go about adding it to the UFX3 since the optical MADI port is taken. I usually record at 48k but would like to do 96k sometimes -- does anyone have any idea how to get a 2nd A32 Pro attached to the UFX 3?
thanks!!
You can add a 2nd one in a serial fashion, from UFX III to 1st, from 1st to 2nd and back to UFX III.
But MADI has only 64 channels in/out, so you were "limited" to single speed (44.1/48 kHz).
If you need that port capacity (2x32 @double speed), then you have two choices
a) 2nd UFX III
b) HDSPe MADI FX
c) MADiface XT II
The choice depends a little what your other preferences, requirements or surrounting conditions are.
As soon as you use a 2nd or 3rd recording interface, then the channel routing through the 2 or 3 recording interfaces has to be performed via DAW with the typical RTL. As there is no backplane between those cards. A few channels you can cross-connect using ADAT, but this is depending on sample rate not a lot .. at double speed only 4ch per ADAT I/O.
To the three options:
a) channels between the two UFX III would have to be routed through the DAW
b) PCIe based, even three MADI channels, 3rd can be optical with optional daughter board, FX and RoomEQ with latest releases of that card, resource optimizing driver, all channels can be routed on the card, not everything has to go through the DAW, no DURec, no mic inputs. But phones output and AES to e.g. connect a reference converter.
c) USB3 based, three MADI channels (fix: two optical, one coax), supports RoomEQ, no instr inputs, no DURec.
If you need double speed only sometimes, then I would organize it this way, that the most needed devices are connected to the first Ferrofish converter. Then you can use everything connected to the 1st converter at double speed.
If you need only single speed, you can access the channels for all device at once.
The single speed serially connected a32 option sounds appealing but I'm confused as to how it'll work. Would my DAW be able to see all 64 channels of both a32's even though they're serially connected to each other? Does the UFX just register the 2 serially connected a32's as if it were a single 64 channel device?
I also thought that because MADI is limited to 64 channels total for both i/o, wouldn't having 2 x a32 pro's go beyond that count to 128 (64 in and 64 out)?
Also for the cable, would I just get one like this to connect between the a32's? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NF … 8&th=1
thanks so much for your help @ramses
See MADI simply as a highway for audio data with usually 64 channels.
For completeness only (not applicable in this case for UFX III): there is also a 56 channel format if pitch is supported by the driver. But this is not applicable for the MADIface USB driver.
You can connect one or chain multiple devices in a serial fashion as I told you already.
Each connected MADI device has access to all 64 channels.
If you intend to use double speed, then configure the 96k frame format in the driver settings and on each of the MADI devices. Then you can make the UFX III to act as clock master. All slaves can then use MADI for clock synchronization and can by this switch automatically between single and double speed based on the project settings in the DAW.
As the DAW loads the driver then the driver will instruct the UFX III which sample rate to choose and the UFX III as clock master will send the clock out on each of its digital output channels. The slaves will follow the master / the application/DAW.
If you use double (or quad) speed, then two (four) channels are being used for channel multiplexing to achieve the higher bandwidth that is needed for double and quad speed.
Therefore, you have in double speed only 32 and in quad speed only 16 of those 64 channels.
The forwarding of audio packets from MADI input to MADI output on each of the connected MADI devices takes only 3 samples at single, 6 at double speed, this is very low, so you can simply ignore that.
On each of the devices that you connect on a MADI bus you need to configure the routing:
- from which MADI input channels they take data for their inputs
- to which MADI output channels you send data of the devices outputs
Depending on the device it might be, that you need to configure also a routing to pass-through all the remaining channels.
Older RME devices following an 8-port schema had an automatism for that (RME MADI extensions, "Auto-CA").
For the more modern and 3rd party devices you need to configure the three mentioned routing items for each MADI device manually.
You can even chain one or more PCs to this MADI chain of devices, then you can use both devices for even making use of the recorded audio or to use them for backup recording. If you use Windows you can for example use Global Record (from the older version of DIGIcheck) which is a very reliable and "light-weight" recording application.
So, a PC in combination with a MADIface USB card plus Global Record can be used for getting similar functionality as with DURec to get a backup recording. Also here you would get for the internal MADI routing a little latency of 3 samples per additional device at single speed.
I hope this explains the possibilities a little bit more in detail.
RME User Forum → FireWire & USB series → Fireface UFX 3 with 2 x Ferrofish A32 Pro?
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