• emp
  • New member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2009-04-15
  • Posts: 6

Topic: Madiface XT II Channel Count in CC mode

I'm experiencing issues with channel count with my Madiface XT II, similar to the ones described in https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=40725. I bought it to be used with both a Mac and a Linux laptop because, according to the specs, all channels should be available in CC mode. However, I see only 52 input and 54 outputs on my (Arch) Linux system. Tried to tweak my Pipewire settings, but it doesn't seem to affect anything. And honestly, it's quite difficult to know what to tweak. Using it in CC mode on my Mac, I notice that you can select between different number of channels in the Audio MIDI Setup. Can you do this in Pipewire somewhere?

2 Reply by emp (edited by emp 2025-06-12 00:07:29)

  • emp
  • New member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2009-04-15
  • Posts: 6

Re: Madiface XT II Channel Count in CC mode

It would be awesome if someone from RME could respond here and at least explain why on earth there’s a default option NOT to use all channels in CC mode (even on my Mac that is). The default should be all channels available I think.
As I wrote, an important reason for buying this interface was that it explicitly states that all channels are avallable in CC mode (USB 3). They aren’t. So RME: Is it a bug? Are you investigating? Will there be a fix? Or is it intentional? And if so, why?

3 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
  • Administrator
  • Offline
  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 26,992

Re: Madiface XT II Channel Count in CC mode

Ask in the Linux community how to change Alternate Settings. The list you see on Mac is that - various Alternate Settings that need to be selected by the Class Compliant compatible OS to use different channel counts on different sample rates.

The reason you see a lower channel number as default is as simple as logical: would the full channel count be default the unit would only support 48 kHz max. This 'default' can not be changed on the unit (AFAIK no device ever built supports such a function).

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

4 Reply by emp (edited by emp 2025-06-12 16:44:09)

  • emp
  • New member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2009-04-15
  • Posts: 6

Re: Madiface XT II Channel Count in CC mode

Ok, thanks for responding. The problem with the Linux community is that most users there aren’t audio professionals. And you get questions like ”why would anyone need that many channels?”.
But I will give it a try for sure.

  • Registered: 2016-08-11
  • Posts: 18

Re: Madiface XT II Channel Count in CC mode

emp wrote:

Ok, thanks for responding. The problem with the Linux community is that most users there aren’t audio professionals. And you get questions like ”why would anyone need that many channels?”.
But I will give it a try for sure.

From what I am reading on other threads, it appears that altsets that are higher channel count than the minimum one seem to be not working, and causing some distorted audio. Someone tested this on a Digiface and UFX III and could not get it working beyond the smallest altset (32 channels I believe). Here is that thread: https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=31000

One thing that may be worth trying:

1. Identify the Device and Available AltsetsList audio devices:    aplay -l    or    arecord -l    (look for something like "card X: Madiface" or "Fireface" or etc).
Note the card name (e.g., "Pro70790682" is the name of my Babyface Pro) and hardware device (e.g., "device 4" or etc).
View supported altsets and their parameters:    cat /proc/asound/<cardname>/stream0    (replace <cardname> with e.g., "Pro70790682").This dumps details like: Altset 1: Up to 94 channels at 44.1/48 kHz, 24-bit.
Altset 2: Fewer channels, maybe different sample rates, etc. Find the mode which has the channel count and sample rate you would like to use.

2. Since lots seem to be using Jack through Pipewire nowadays, maybe try using qjackctl to set your sample rate and max input/output channels to the values of your target altset. Then, in your DAW, set the inputs/outputs to the same values, and try recording/playback on the higher channel numbers. Hopefully you do not experience the distorted audio issue. You can monitor what the interface is doing by the command    watch cat /proc/asound/<cardname>/stream0

It may also be possible using wireplumber config files, or the   wpctl   command to set a default altset, although I do not know if you'd run into the same issues. Or, possibly there's something in the pipewire.conf file which can help. I'll do some more digging, but I strongly suspect that if you run into the same distortion issue at higher altsets, it's an issue specific to how RME interfaces interact with Linux.