Setup Verification: UFX III + 12Mic + Headphone Amp in TotalMix

Thank you, ramses, for your respectful reply and your thorough, detailed explanation! I truly appreciate the insight regarding the ADAT stream and the compatibility of the D/A converters for the headphone amplifier.

To clarify my goals and setup requirements:

Desktop Control & Monitoring: my main requirement is having a physical unit on my desk to act as my monitor controller, where I can easily plug in my studio monitors and studio headphones while having quick access to volume adjustments.

IO & Cue Mix Requirements: I strictly need 12 microphone preamps located in the tracking room, alongside the capability to feed 8 individual headphone outputs that can receive completely independent, customizable cue mixes.

If you have a specific hardware scenario or an alternative routing layout in mind that can perfectly achieve this desktop workflow and cue mix flexibility, I would highly welcome your suggestions.

Thank you once again for your incredible help!

Best regards,

Thanks for your input, ramses! Actually, budget is not an issue for me.

What I truly care about is keeping the setup as clean, simple, and streamlined as possible—meaning minimal units, fewer cables, and no unnecessary patching. I don’t mind having 2 or 3 hardware units in the rack if needed. What really matters to me is having a small controller on my desktop for volume adjustments and monitoring, along with 8 headphone outputs that can receive completely independent, customizable cue mixes. and 12 pres

At the same time, I need it to be future-proof so I can expand or add gear down the road, with all control managed from one single software interface.

During my research, I found that a company like DirectOut offers plenty of options, but their software (globcon) feels far too complicated and clunky. I have always preferred and trusted RME's ecosystem and TotalMix FX for its elegance and stability.

Given that budget is flexible and my priority is a clean setup with central software control, what would be your ideal hardware recommendation to achieve this?

Best regards,

Wow, ramses! Thank you so much for this brilliant, highly detailed scenario and for drawing out the exact layout diagram. You have saved me an incredible amount of time and effort in trying to piece this together on my own.

Your advice and hardware recommendations are highly appreciated. The M-1620 Pro combined with the Lake People G103-P MKII preamps is an absolutely elegant, all-German solution. It gives me exactly what I was dreaming of: total submix control from a single TotalMix FX window, a clean MADI chain with minimal cabling, and the small desktop footprint I needed for my main control room.

I will confidently start executing this plan and gathering the gear based on your blueprint.

Thank you once again for your top-tier expertise and incredible support!

Best regards,

I concentrate on looking at the MADI cabling.
Sorry, the rest is too time consuming. Analog cabling should be easy and straight forward.

From what I see, the MADI cabling is not correct. It's a kind of a "ring structure", devices serially chained (from device to device) and finally back to the UFX III.

UFX III---MA.OUT---->MA.IN---M1620 Pro---MA.OUT---->MA.IN---12Mic---MA.OUT---->MA.IN---UFX III
Plug Type:  SC..............LC                               LC...........LC                     LC.............SC

You need:
2x OM4 Multimode Fiber, duplex, SC-LC (the UFX III has the bigger SC plugs)
1x OM4 Multimode Fiber, duplex, LC-LC (M-1620 and 12Mic use SFPs with the smaller LC plugs)

Use a duplex cable to have one fiber in reserve for each of the links.
You can open the connection of the duplex cable consisting of two fibers.
Get the RME Multimode SFPs, then you can't make a mistake (buying wrong wavelength or wrong firmware).
https://rme-audio.de/de_sfp-module.html

Do not use single mode cables (yellow).
Best is to stick to one multimode fiber type, e.g., OM4.

See this thread where I explained a lot of details about MADI cables and different color standards:
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=43310

Thank you very much; I’m delighted that I was able to help you.

Perhaps a quick note on controlling the monitor mix for individual musicians.

You can do this yourself via TotalMix FX by clicking on the relevant hardware output ‘MADI nn’ and then, in Submix mode, raising the faders required
a) from the hardware inputs (top row) with near-zero latency
b) from the software playbacks (middle row) with the latency for transport via USB, which depends heavily on the set buffer size.

Another option would be to allow fine-tuning from the recording room as well, via TotalMix Remote over LAN or wireless.
Perhaps from a dedicated PC workplace for this purpose. But this needs that at least one person is well trained.

Proposal - Configuring TotalMix FX from scratch with only required routings

One more suggestion regarding routing configuration in TotalMix FX. Personally, after several years, I have come to the conclusion that it is best to set up only the routings you actually need and leave everything else out.
This leads to more clarity, and then it is even easier to check routings in the matrix view if you see only the needed ones and if the not-needed channels are hidden.

To set up everything from scratch is not as hard as it sounds if you break down your routing demands into pieces.

And it is not that much, if you take a look at the main audio flows:
a) When recording, the audio from the inputs is directly passed unmodified to the application/DAW. So, for recording, you do not have to take care about routing at all.
b) Basically, you only need routing for these use cases
    - monitoring mixes to active monitors (Main Out, Main Out B) and Headphones
    - to route audio to any potential externally connected gear (compressor, eq, ...)

Prerequisites: TM FX Full Mode, Submix Mode

For the following ensure as a prerequisite that

1) TotalMix FX is in Full mode (options -> Operational mode),
   If you see HW Inputs, SW Playbacks and HW Outputs (3 rows) everything is fine.
   In the limited DAW mode you would see only 2 rows, inputs and outputs, not Sw playback channels.

2) TM FX is set to "submix mode", the default mode, not "free mode". See right side, blue field, options, routing.

I recommend using TotalMix FX 2.x, which is the new highly scalable version with vector graphics.
If this new version of TotalMix FX 2.x is not yet bundled / installed together with the MADIface driver.
Then download this version from the website and install it using the TotalMix FX installer.

Website -> Downloads -> Select Software -> TotalMix FX 2.x Mac, Installer, latest version
                                                             or  TotalMix FX 2.x Windows Installer, latest version

If you need "Global OSC", you might even consider using the latest alpha version 2.10 alpha 5.
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=43075
If you do not know what Global OSC is, then this is much likely not a requirement for you.
Then please stick to the release version.

Total Reset of TM FX

The process to get a clean TM FX config without routing is
- Options -> Reset Mix -> Total Reset
- Options -> Reset Mix -> Clear All Submixes

Validate in matrix view (X), that all routings are gone.

What remains is that all output channels have a fader at the 0 dB position.
If there are collapsed channels (if you "played" a little with TM FX), uncollapse them manually.
There is no standard function to automate this.

Output levels for monitoring outputs should be set to -30 or, even better, -40 dB for safety reasons/for a first start.
Later you can carefully define other start volumes that are best for you.

TotalMix FX preferences (F2)

I like volume settings to be restored with a snapshot to get a "safe" volume at the start of each session.
For this (and other purposes) I am using these settings in Preferences (for TotalMix FX 2.x).
- Do not load "-----"   <----- volume will be restored with a snapshot (!!!)
- [x] Load RoomEQ with Snapshot                         <---- useful
- [x] Always init DSP devices with TotalMix FX settings <---- useful, uses always the TM FX settings
- [x] Reduce volume Peaks on Snapshot load.             <---- safety belt
Also ensure that you are using the reference level for an output with the lowest output volume.
UFX III - AN 1-8: "+4 dBu", Phones 9-12: "Low"

Save the work (Workspace, Quick Workspace Select)

Store this to Snapshots 1 - 8 so that every snapshot has a low output volume for your monitoring.
Save the Workspace to a folder on your computer where you store all your TM FX configs.
Save this to Workspace Quick Select (WQS) slot 1 of 30.
Then you can come back to this setting quickly by using key combination ALT-1 (Apple: Option-1)
If I say save the workspace, then its best to also update QWS.

Ensure a proper volume (Level mismatch solutions - fixed and variable attenuators)

While we are at it. Its also worth to read the forum thread "Level mismatch solutions - fixed and variable attenuators"
how to fix "volume mismatches" best so that it can't become too loud even at 0 dB output volume in TM FX.
See https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=25399
To sum up the topic quickly, 3 possibilities here:
a) use a switchable attenuator
b) use a monitor controller
c) use one of RME's reference converters which stores the volume and has a safety feature (rampup of volume) when plugging phones or switching between monitors <-> phones. You still might require switchable attenuators to be able to set the output volume closer towards 0 dB.

Size the TotalMix FX window as you need it

Size the TotalMix FX window, so that it fits well on your screen.
With TotalMix FX 2.x you now get a version with vector graphics where you can scale the window and the content very nicely.

Using Ctrl-Mousewheel, you can zoom in/out the left fader part and the right control part separately for good readability.
This state I would save as a baseline, to make it easy to come back to it.
- Save this as mixer layout "All Channels"
- Save the workspace to a file (I am using unique names using device and version number in front of it, e.g.
  "UFX III v001 Total Reset, Submixes cleared."
It's good to save the workspace for every major step that you reached !!!
Then you can easily come back to this state without losing too much work by simply restoring the workspace.
This includes not only routing but also Window Settings (Size, Scale).

Channel custom names, Channel Layout

Then I would take the time to give all used channels custom names (Options -> Channel Layout).
I am naming all channels with connected devices or channels that serve a certain function, like loopback recording.
For all ports, I am adding the channel number at the end so you do not have to toggle between standard and custom names
If you want to find out the port number.

Once you are finished, I would save an additional mixer layout, "Avail Chan" and save the Workspace.

Hide unneeded channels (Options -> Channel Layout)

In the next step I would try to reduce the number of visible channels under Options -> Channel Layout.
Hide all the channels, even from devices, that are not needed.
Save this to another mixer layout, "Used Channels" and save the workspace.

Assign monitoring outputs to the TM FX control room

Now use the assign button to bring your main monitoring channels into the control room, with the purpose, that you can use control room functions like mono or DIM with the option to perform this via the optional ARC USB which is very useful for controlling TM FX.
Assign Main Out with the channel where your main monitors are connected to (most likely "AN 1/2")
Assign Main Out B for your second pair of monitors, if present (perhaps on AN 3/4)
Assign Phones 1..4 with up to 4 headphones, but stick only to those that you use in your operators room (most likely only Phones1 -> Ph 9/10)
Save the workspace (and of course QWS Slot 1).

How to organize "audio from PC" (SW Playback Channels, middle row)

Now you should open your mind to how you want to split up audio from the PC.
The middle row software playbacks has only "patchbay" character, it has the same names as hardware outputs.
But in fact this is only audio coming from the PC / DAW / Applications, it needs a 2nd step to route audio to the real HW Outputs (bottom row).
Think about what different audio flows can come from your PC, you can control it for the OS, some Music Player, DAW, which port they use.
This output is the port in TM FX "Middle ROW", software playbacks (not the real outputs in bottom row).

This could be audio coming from Windows/Youtube through the WDM driver.
Or audio from certain applications like a Music Player that supports ASIO.
Or audio for external devices (HW FX, EQ, Compressor).
You can also send audio from DAW not only for the DAW sum, but also single channels if needed
Something like this, I simplify it here
SW Playback AN 1/2 - OS
SW Playback AN 3/4 - MusicBee Player
SW Playback AN 5/6 - Games
SW Playback AN 7/8 - Lexicon PCM 81
SW Playback Ph 9/10 - Lexicon PCM 91
SW Playback Ph 11/12 - DAW Sum
Save the workspace (and WQS).

Windows? Create WDM device and configure Windows default playback device.

If you have Windows, it's about time to define the default playback device for Windows Sound and Youtube.
All applications that have no ASIO support and need the Windows Sound system.
You have to create a WDM device in driver settings and mark it as "speaker device".
If you connect your main monitors to HW Output AN 1/2, then this is the device to use.

You will see the speaker device immediately in Windows Sound settings, as WDM devices are created dynamically without having to reboot (immediately).
Do not create WDM devices for all I/O ports, this is a waste !!!
As they are created dynamically on each reboot its better to configure only needed ones, usually only one for the "Main Out".
In Windows Sound settings make this "Speaker Device" to your default sound device for Windows sound.
Deactivate system sounds / alerts otherwise you will have it in your monitoring.

Routing for your monitoring

Now I would concentrate on creating a standard routing for your monitoring outputs.
Suitable volume levels you created already at the beginning.

For that purpose, start, e.g. a player or DAW to see at least a little metering action.
Select your mixer layout "Used" to see only the used channels, which makes it easier to configure the routing in submix mode.

Select the hardware output "Main Out" in the control room.
Then move the faders slowly up towards 0 dB, careful at 0 dB it what you want to listen to in your monitorig.
I think certainly the SW Playbacks (middle row) for OS, MusicBee, Games, DAW Sum.
But not audio destined for external FX

Save this routing to Snapshot 1 and name it "Main Out" which means routing to Main Out, your main monitors.
Repeat the same for Phones and save it to Snapshot 2 and name it e.g. "Phones".
Now you can use two snapshots to monitor either through "Main Out" (active monitors) or "Phones1" (your main headphones).
I already talked about possibilities to adjust the volume and to keep it at safe levels.
Now you could fine tune the volume to your demands and update the settings in Snapshot 1 and 2.
Once done, save workspace and QWS slot 1.

Tip: comfortably checking routing/submixes in submix mode

There is this little button "submix" (in TM FX 1.x "sub") on the right side under "Mixer Layout".
Select any HW output (bottom row), use this button to toggle between normal view and this "submix view"
to view only those channels from top/middle row, that send audio to the selected HW output (bottom row).
As you might know already, TM FX works Hardware Output ("submix") oriented.
Every HW Output has an individual routing.
This you can see in submix mode by selectng a HW output of your choice, the routing you see
according to the fader position of top/middle row.

etc. etc.

This way you can incrementally update your TM FX configuration.

I hope I didn't leave out an important step. This was all from memory. Implementing this is quite easy for me, having done it several times (also from scratch). But when typing all this, I see that there is a lot of detail, especially if you want to bring the steps into a good functional and logical order.

But I hope this little primer gave it a shape for you and others.
And .. Take your time, Rome has not been built in a few days...

In this sticky I gave an overview about TotalMix FX and in what way it differs (and has to differ) from standard analog mixers
to deliver this flexibility for a digital environment.
There you also find information about very useful RME TotalMix FX tutorials.
Also from Synthax, which bring TM FX functionality structured and quickly to the point.
All chapters only take a few minutes.

https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=34394

Additionally useful for your setup could be

A) ARC USB

for controlling TM FX, control room functions.
I placed the ARC USB beside my mouse for a good functionality.
You can connect it either to the back of your UFX III, there is a special USB port for that purpose.
But the easiest way from cabling perspective is, to connect it to the PC.
TM FX does then the multiplexing between ARC USB and the UFX III.
By this you can use much likely shorter cables.

B) RME Reference converter

Stores the volume safely.
Safe ramp-up of volume when plugging phones or switching between monitors and phones.
Auto ref level automatically choosing the optimum reference level (out of 4-5, model dependend) for optimum SNR/dynamic.
And many more features.
Inspecting status of digital links in state overview.
Bit test to check for lossles signal path for monitoring end-to-end from PC/application (Player)
up to the DSP in the reference converter shortly before D/A conversion.
For listening and enjoying music, dynamic loudness retains the punch of the signal at lower volumes.
E.g. If you listen to music parallel to working on the PC.
Remappable front keys deliver rxcellent handling for switching between monitors and phones.
I have the devices left from me, so I can use my left hand blind to
- mute all outputs
- switch between monitoring channels
- Activate/deactivate all EQing, including dynamic loudness
The configuration of the ADI-2 Pro FS R BE you can see in this blog article
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/Ent … our-Setup/

FYI: Currently all reference converter seem to be sold out. It was a very successful series and according to some rumour on RME forum, the devices will come back. Details are not known, sorry.

Some pictures for illustrating my setup with ARC USB and RME Reference converter

Here two screenshots which show the placement of ARC USB and the devices left of my workplace
which is IMHO very ergonomic this way.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ezlkqe24 … 6&dl=1

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ub9tfwd2 … e&dl=1

Safety in the studio (in terms of volume)

When it comes to safety, I have four five options

a) Power off at the first power strip
b) Mute all links on the Reference Converter, accessible by touch
c) DIM or Volume knob on the ARC USB. As an option: Snapshot 8 with ‘all outputs muted’
d) Keyboard shortcut using TotalKeyMix (only for Windows), see below **)
    Volume Mute: Control - ALT - 0(number pad)
    Volume DIM: Control - ALT - D
e) Also, the ramp-up of volume of the RME reference converter (ADI-2 Pro FS R BE)
   for the two monitoring outputs (active monitors and phones)

Keyboard macros for Windows:

A) **) TotalKeyMix, see my blog article:
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ent … otkey-osc/

B) With a 2nd AutoHotKey script, I control the opening and closing of
- TotalMix FX using ALT-F1
- Driver settings windows (MADIface driver) using ALT-F2
This is also very useful and saves some mousclicks.

The two scripts need to be compiled with AutoHotKey version 1.x (free software).
You need version 1.x because 2.x has a different syntax and is not compatible.
Then you put the binary or a link to the binary to your users autostart folder.

It's not too complicated; the steps are explained in the blog article.

The resulting functionality is excellent.

My TotalKey Mix setup / key mappings

As a quick example what you can control.
Even DURec start stop of UFX III.

In my setup I am controlling with TotalKeyMix
- HDSPe MADI FX as the main interface
- UFX III DURec function
  I am using the UFX III as
  a) DUREC controller
  b) to provide optical SPDIF connection to HiFi corner
  c) interface for mobile applications
  d) backup interface

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/7l42o7v4 … 5&dl=1

I forgot to mention something important regarding the routing and forwarding of MADI channels in a multi device setup.

I recommend you to deploy in this order for the cabling and organization of channels.
For your setup with M-1620 Pro for monitoring and 12Mic for recording this is IMHO the ideal order for the devices.

Note: although it takes only 3 samples time to forward samples to the next device you have now the optimum order.
Only "1 hop" for monitoring from UFX III to M-1620 Pro and only "1 hop" for recording from 12Mic to UFX III.

Assumed is now the following order of devices:
UFX III -------------- M-1620 Pro ----------------- 12Mic----------------------UFX III

I would use MADI ch 1..16 for the M-1620 Pro. 12Mic can start with channel 17 and fits nicely into Auxdevice 8-/4-port scheme.

Here is the channel assignment for your MADI bus with channels 1..64 (at single speed 44.1/48 kHz).
Note: double and quad speed reduces the number of ports due to the needed channel multiplexing, similar to ADAT.
single speed: 64ch, double: 32, quad: 16.

1         8         16       24        32        40       48        56        64
+------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| M-1620 Pro   | 12Mic        |                               use the last channels
1................16 17..........29                                for loopback purposes

Now there is one important point that you may not forget.
Besides TM FX routing, you also have to configure the channel mapping / routing on each of the MADI devices.
Which channels you need to receive from the MADI bus and to which output channels to write.
Critical: do not forget to forward needed channels to the next device in the serial chain of MADI devices.

See this diagram of channel assignment / routing configuration and forwarding on each of the devices.
In this diagram
- "Port" means a local input or output on that particular MADI device
- MADI ch. means the MADI input or output channel to be used for local ports

UFX III---M-1620 Pro-------------------------------------------12Mic-----------------------------------------------UFX III
              MADI ch.   1-16 IN -> Port 1-16 OUT                                 
              MADI ch. 17-20 IN -> Port Phones 1+2 OUT        MADI ch 21-22 IN -> Phones OUT
              Port 1-16 IN -> MADI ch.1-16 OUT.....................MADI ch   1-16 IN -> MADI ch 1-16 OUT (PASSTHROUGH)
                                                                                      Port 1-12 IN -> MADI ch. 17-28 OUT
TM FX perspective of input and output channels

HW Inputs:
  MA   1..16 - M-1620  - Analog Inputs
  MA 17..28 - 12Mic     - Mic/Instr Inputs

HW Outputs:
  MA   1..16 - M-1620  - Analog Outputs
  MA 17..20 - M-1620  - Phones 1+2
  MA 21-22  - 12Mic    - Phones 1

BTW .. just note that the 12Mic also has a phones output, so you need one more phones preamp less
as you have now three in the recording room: 2 from M-1620, 1 from 12Mic, so only 5 more are needed.

The final setup

[ click this link if the formatting of this ASCII drawing is not rendered well in your Browser Window ]
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/vrz8rxtw … y&dl=1
             
Computer+---USB---ARC USB
|             +---USB---optional-------------------------------------+USB connection to remote control
| USB3                                                                                | reference converter using ADI-2 Remote Software
|                                                                                         | or optional for DSD playback (if this should be needed)
|                                                                                         |
UFX III [cm]----------optional----AES or ADAT1 OUT--------->ADI-2 Pro FS R BE [cs]---1/2---active monitors
|            |   \                                                                                                     \---3/4---headphones
|            |    +---AN1/2------------active monitors in the control room
|            |    +---PH9/10+11/12---headphones in the control room
|            |
|            | Control Room
.......................................
|            | Recording Room
|            |
|            + M-1620 Pro [cs]---Phones1
|            |                        \---Phones2
|            |                         \---ch1..10 (Phones3-7): for connecting 5 additonal Lake phones preamp, 6 ch reserve
|            + 12Mic [cs]----------Phones8
|            |
+---<---+
  (MADI)

cm = clock master, cs = clock slave

One additional remark to the setup with the Lake People headphone preamps.

As the those headphone preamps support balanced connections, you can use longer analog cables to lead the cable close to the musicians place. By this you can keep the headphone cables shorter.
And if the preamp is near to the musician, he can adjust the listening volume to his personal or daily preference.
I think with this solution you get the best quality / funcationality.

And please keep in mind, you could even place a laptop or PC in the tracking room so that one person who knows TM FX could
Fine-adjust the submixes for different musicians by using TotalMix Remote. But be careful with this; it's only possible,
if the musician knows TotalMix FX routing and if he is familiar with the setup.

Or, as an alternative .. you could use this workplace to make adjustments while you are in the tracking room.
Or .. Another alternative ... use a Laptop for this purpose, that only you are able to make such adjustments while being close to the musicians in the tracking room.

To easily create several submixes use the copy submix feature, then you save enormous work, not having to do all the routing for each of the outputs / submixes. Create one working submix and copy it over to other outputs.

Prices

Required components:
UFX III:                                             € 2326
M-1620 Pro:                                       € 2869
12Mic:                                               € 2309
2x RME MADI SFP Module Multi Mode   € 178
Lake People G103-P MKII: € 329 * 5 = € 1645
TOTAL                                                € 9327

Optional components:
ARC USB:                                           € 144
ADI-2 Pro FS R BE or ADI-2/4 Pro SE ~€ 1700 - 2400

Plus a few bucks for two SFP's, multimode cables, other cables, 2x breakout cables DB25->8x XLR