Topic: Fireface UFX II - adat - Neve 88M
I have the Neve (adat in, adat out) and would like to buy a UFX II to link to it via adat.
Will they be compatible and a good match?
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RME User Forum → Miscellaneous → Fireface UFX II - adat - Neve 88M
I have the Neve (adat in, adat out) and would like to buy a UFX II to link to it via adat.
Will they be compatible and a good match?
Here is the user manual of the Neve 88M :
https://www.ams-neve.com/wp-content/upl … French.pdf
It is a audio interface, USB Bus powered, but USB-2 is not powerful enough, it needs a USB-3 hub.
(This alone would make me not to buy this)
On top of that is has no power socket for external power supply.
And it is a class compliant system interface.
If you connect this together with another interface to a computer it will be a pain.
You have to buy a power supply with USB-C connector to power up the 88M.
But if you want to configure settings for clock sync to external Adat then you have to use the driver-software ! Ouch !
Yes you can use it together with an UFXll, it is complicated to set up but it will work.
But why. Better buy the UFX ll or an UFX lll and use this only.
Hi Vicshere,
welcome to the RME user forum.
I have the Neve (adat in, adat out) and would like to buy a UFX II to link to it via adat.
Will they be compatible and a good match?
I never heard of any incompatibilities regarding ADAT in general, so it will work.
The UFX II is an excellent and feature rich recording interface, a solid basement for your setup, good choice.
I do not know how to answer your second question in terms of "whether its a good match".
To be able to judge this from different angles I would need to know more about your current and future demands regarding:
- number of I/O ports that you actually need, its always good to have reserves for future demands
- whether you might need to add additional devices like additional preamps or AD/DA converter in the future
- whether you intend to record at double speed (88.2/96 kHz) which reduces the number of ADAT channels by 50%
Regarding the UFX II (vs UFX III)
For the UFX II, I can definitive tell you that you did a good choice. The only question that you should always raise from the perspective of a long-term investment is, whether it would be better to buy the UFX III with MADI (64 additional channels) instead, this is only around €550 more (+26%), but you have more options for the future. Selling UFX II and having to buy UFX III at a later point would mean more loss of money and things are not becoming cheaper these days.
Don't worry quality wise, both interfaces UFX II and III are basically the same, the only difference is MADI and USB3 because of higher channel count.
But as I mentioned above. Always think about the future. One of the most important questions is, whether you might want to record in double speed (88.2/96 kHz) or not. I am currently satisfied with 44.1 for the things that I currently do.
But I do not know your demand.
If you can't exclude that you want to record at double speed in the future, then an UFX II might become too small quickly.
Lets assume that you want to record in double speed and you have the Neve connected to ADAT1.
Then you have only ADAT2 free for connecting another device like e.g. an 8 port preamp.
At double speed you have only 4 instead of 8 channels due to channel multiplexing.
This means at double speed you can only use 50% of the ports of the 8-port preamp connected to ADAT2.
In such a case it would be better to have MADI to be able to add more external 8- or 12- port devices. MADI has at single speed 64ch, at double speed still 32 channels to definitively support adding more devices, where you can also chain multiple in a serial fashion. Then you could use those two ADAT ports for connecting such smaller devices like the Neve preamp.
Regarding the Neve
The Neve I don't know. Also not your expectations, I assume something like "Neve Sound".
Whether this device really has the Neve Console or Preamp sound .. I don't know.
I see that the Neve only supports USB3 bus power and that it doesn't seem to support stand-alone operation mode.
The manual says that the driver setting dialog shows a selection for clock synch via ADAT, if ADAT is connected.
So you might need to install the Neve driver for operation of the device even if you do not need it for the application.
Clock synchronization
I would use the UFX II as clock master in this setup (set clock source = internal in MADIface driver settings)
and the Neve will be slaved to the clock of the UFX II, clock source ADAT IN.
More information about clock synchronization you find in my blog article here:
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ent … ios-en-de/
Other sources of information
This summary of improvements in UFX III and UFX II might also be of interest to you, what improvements have been made in the past years for this line of RME flagship devices:
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ent … x-and-ufx/
I am not sure whether of interest for you, but as it is fresh. If you want to document your setup, maybe you have interest reading my latest blog article, which gives you an Excel template file for documenting a setup:
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ent … tup-en-de/
Thanks, this is very helpful information. Much appreciated.
Here is the user manual of the Neve 88M :
https://www.ams-neve.com/wp-content/upl … French.pdf
It is a audio interface, USB Bus powered, but USB-2 is not powerful enough, it needs a USB-3 hub.
(This alone would make me not to buy this)
On top of that is has no power socket for external power supply.
And it is a class compliant system interface.
If you connect this together with another interface to a computer it will be a pain.
You have to buy a power supply with USB-C connector to power up the 88M.
But if you want to configure settings for clock sync to external Adat then you have to use the driver-software ! Ouch !Yes you can use it together with an UFXll, it is complicated to set up but it will work.
But why. Better buy the UFX ll or an UFX lll and use this only.
Yes, it’s tricky! Thank you.
I think it is not really tricky:
All you need to do is
- connect UFX II and Neve with two TOSLINK cables (e.g. Mutec optical cable)
- one for the transfer of audio to the UFX II
- the 2nd one for clock sync and maybe also using the outputs of the Neve
- install the two drivers (one for UFX II, one for Neve)
- configure UFX II as clock master, the Neve as clock slave
PC----------------USB3---------------------------------------------------+
| |
| USB2 | for Power delivery and device configuration
| |
UFX II---ADAT1 OUT--------TOSLINK cable----------->ADAT IN---Neve
\---ADAT1 IN<--------TOSLINK cable----------ADAT OUT---/
In DAW / application you only load the MADIface driver of your main interface (UFX II).
Thanks, ramses!
Hi Vischere, I own a Neve 88m as well and thought about doing the exactly same thing (on a Mac). Did this setup work for you or did you run into any issues?
Also, I do not get the concerns about the Neve 88m in this thread at all. It provides two incredible preamps from the Neve 88 series which sound awesome! It doesn't need any driver on Mac and runs super smooth and offers a great build quality. USB3 is required since the preamps need some power but I don't see how a modern computer or docking station does not provide usb3 (in usb-c format). If you don't want to use it as an interface, just connect it to a usb plug rather than your computer, works just fine!
The only issue for me is that it comes with only two ins and two outs, that's why I am thinking of some way to extend it. I would prefer using Adat as well, so I am curious about your experiences. However, if thats creating any trouble, there is also the option to use the send outputs on the back of your neve and run them into two inputs of your ufx ii. This way you create a stable analog connection and can use the RME AD converters, but you are sacrificing two of your analog inputs and can basically only use the preamps from your Neve, no Outputs or Headphone amp (unless you are routing something back). If you are on a Mac, you have a third option to create an 'aggregate audio device'. Basically, you just need to do some simple system configurations and can run multiple audio interfaces simultaneously.
RME User Forum → Miscellaneous → Fireface UFX II - adat - Neve 88M
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