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Hammerfall® DSP System HDSPe MADI FX

1. Preferences Level Meters 1 Full scale samples For OVR 1 0 Peak Hold Time s M RMS 3dB Mixer Views M FX Send Follows highest submix Center Balance Pan when changing Mono Stereo Disable double click fader actions Dynamic Meters M Compressor Expander M Include Gain setting M Auto Level Snapshots M Do not load Main volume balance Device Handling Always init DSP devices with TotalMix FX settings Graphics M Use D2D Change requires restart Cancel Help Compressor Expander Activates the display of the Compressor Expander s gain reduc tion as thin blue line in the level meters of the corresponding channel Include Gain setting The currently set fixed amplification value by the Gain knob is in cluded in the display This can lead to positive values with the display limited to 6 dB In case the option Compressor Expander is deactivated this option is also not available there fore grayed out Auto Level Activates the display of the variable amplification of the Auto Leveler As Auto Level can both amplify and attenuate the audio signal depending on its configuration the display can show negative typical gain reduction as well as positive above 0 dB amplifi cation values Snapshots Do not load Main volume balance The values stored in the Snapshot are not loaded for the Main Out so the current setting is not changed Device Handling Always init D
2. kasi in aE 67 27 3 Delete a Submix 67 27 4 Doubling the Output Signal 67 27 5 Recording a Submix Loopback 68 27 6 MS Processing 69 28 MIDI Remote Control 28 1 Overview 70 28 2 Mapping ssssssseeememn 71 28 3 Setup 71 28 4 Operation sssssssssssssseene 71 28 5 MIDI Control 72 28 6 Loopback Detection sssssssssss 73 28 7 OSC Open Sound Control 73 gt Technical Reference 29 Technical Specifications 29 1 INPUTS oxen acides eee din racists e acre 76 292 ObtDUts reete ether eer Exe alla eee 76 29 3 Digital i e dnd retos TT 2945 MIDI ici ertt eet ceres TT 30 Technical Background 30 1 MADI Basics 78 30 2 Lock and SyncCheck sess 79 30 3 Latency and Monitoring 80 30 4 DS Double Speed sss 81 30 5 QS Quad Speed 82 30 6 SteadyGClock eeee ertt 83 30 7 Terminology irre RU 84 4 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME User s Guide RTE INTELLIGENT AUDIO SOLUTIONS HDSPe MADI FX p General User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 1 Thank you for choosing the HDSPe MADI FX This unique audio system is capable of transfer ring digital audio data directly into a computer from any device equipped with a MADI interface Installation is simple even for the
3. have zero influence Gain 0 dB Rename The EQ Presets 1 to 16 can be renamed The changes will be shown in both lists Recall and Save to Notes on the EQ Presets Copy between channels The EQ Preset menu of all channels is identical If an EQ setup is stored via Save to on one of the 16 storage places it is then also available in any other channel via Recall Copy between Snapshots The Presets are not saved in Snapshots therefore do not change when a different Snapshot is loaded Presets are saved in Workspaces and also loaded with these Copy between Workspaces is done by the export and import function of the Preset menu Important and useful Presets should always be saved as TM EQ file so that they can not get lost even on accidental overwrite Factory Presets loaded like all Presets the settings of both Low Cut and EQ simultaneously The current state On or Off is neither saved nor activated on load With this a preset can be loaded anytime but will not become active before the user decides to switch the EQ and or LC on except they had been active already before the load process For this reason some Fac tory Presets have special names For example Telephone LC EQ will sound much better when the LC has been activated additionally to the EQ as the LC is set to an unusual high fre quency of 500 Hz here User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 49 25 3 3 Dynamics A click on D opens the Dynamics panel with Compressor
4. Input Status Displays the state of the current input signal e Clock state No Lock Lock Sync e Sample rate coarse e MADI Frame format 48K or 96K e Channel format 64 or 56 channels 30 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME Sync Check RME s exclusive SyncCheck technology provides an easy to use check and display of the cur rent clock status The clock state column indicates whether no signal No Lock a valid signal Lock or a valid and synchronous signal Sync is present at each of the digital clock source inputs 18 2 Clock Modes Synchronisation In the digital world all devices must be either Master clock source or Slave clock receiver Whenever several devices are linked within a system there must always be a single master clock A digital system can only have one master If the card s clock mode is set to Master all other devices must be set to Slave The HDSPe MADI FX utilizes a very user friendly intelligent clock control called AutoSync In AutoSync mode the system constantly scans the digital input for a valid signal If any valid sig nal is found the card switches from the internal quartz Clock Mode Current Internal to a clock extracted from the input signal Clock Mode Current MADI Word AES or Sync In The difference to a usual slave mode is that whenever the clock reference fails the system will automatically use its internal clock and operate in clock mode Master AutoS
5. D of audio and MIDI or pace MME WDM MADI 137 144 RME HDSPe MADI NE MME WDM MADI 145 152 RME HDSPe MADI similar be sure to MME WDM MADI 121 128 RME HDSPe MADI MME WDM MADI 153 160 AME HDSPe MADI activate the checkbox wv 0K MME WDM MADI 25 32 RME HDSPe MADI FX MME WDM MADI 161 168 RME HDSPe MADI Get position from audio driver The HDSPe MADI FX allows sample rates of up to 192 kHz via MADI In this mode only 16 channels are functional per MADI port Note on Windows Vista 7 Since Vista the audio application can no longer control the sample rate under WDM Instead the user has to work himself through numerous settings up to 32 with a MADI card and to set the sample rate to the exact same value per stereo device Therefore the driver of the HDSPe MADI FX includes a workaround the sample rate can be set globally for all WDM devices within the Settings dialog see chapter 11 1 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 19 12 2 DVD Playback AC 3 DTS AC 3 DTS When using popular DVD software players like WinDVD and PowerDVD their audio data stream can be sent to any AC 3 DTS capable receiver via the HDSPe MADI FX For this to work an output wave device has to be selected in Control Panel Sounds and Multimedia Au dio lt or Control Panel Sound Playback Also check use preferred device only The DVD software s audio properties now show the options SPD
6. 48 802 95 wes re DA 6x fs ms os foose DA 5 x 1 fs ms ECCE MEER 0 028 0 026 Buffer Size Latency Windows This option found in the Settings dialog defines the size of the buffers for the audio data used in ASIO and WDM see chapter 11 and 13 Mac OS X The buffer size is defined within the application Only some do not offer any setting For example iTunes is fixed to 512 samples General A setting of 64 samples at 44 1 kHz causes a latency of 1 5 ms for record and play back each But when performing a digital loopback test no latency offset can be detected The reason is that the software naturally knows the size of the buffers therefore is able to position the newly recorded data at a place equalling a latency free system AD DA Offset under ASIO and OS X ASIO Windows and Core Audio Mac OS X allow for the signalling of an offset value to correct buffer independent delays like AD and DA conversion or the Safety Buffer described below An analog loopback test will then show no offset because the application shifts the recorded data accordingly 80 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME Because the HDSPe MADI FX is a completely digital interface and the delays introduced by external AD DA converters or other digital interfaces are unknown to unit and driver the drivers include the digital offset values 3 6 12 samples Therefore the delays caused by external converters have to be taken care off in the reco
7. Control under Mac OS X 70 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 28 3 Setup Open the Preferences dialog menu Options or F3 Select the MIDI Input and MIDI Output port where your controller is connected to When no feedback is needed select NONE as MIDI Output Check Enable MIDI Control in the Options menu 28 4 Operation The channels being under Mackie MIDI control are indicated by a colour change of the name field black turns to brown The 8 fader block can be moved horizontally and vertically in steps of one or eight channels Faders can be selected to gang them In Submix View mode the current routing destination output bus can be selected via REC Ch 1 8 This equals the selection of a different output channel in the lowest row by a mouse click when in Submix View In MIDI operation it is not necessary to jump to the lowest row to perform this selection This way even the routing can be easily changed via MIDI Full LC Display Support This option in Preferences F3 activates complete Mackie Control LCD support with eight channel names and eight volume pan values When Full LC Display Support is turned off only a brief information about the first fader of the block channel and row is sent This brief information is also available on the LED display of the Behringer BCF2000 Disable MIDI in Background menu Options Settings disables the MIDI control as soon as another application is in the focus or in case TotalMix
8. Expander and Auto Level They are available in all input and output channels and affects all routings of the respective channel Mic 1 2 Dynamics Compressor Expander Activated by this button Thres Threshold where Compressor or Expander start to work The Compressor is adjustable from 60 dB to 0 dB the Expander is adjustable from 99 dB to 30 dB Ratio Ratio of input to output signal Defines the intensity of the signal processing Adjustable from 1 to 10 Gain Gain stage to compensate a loss in level caused by the Compressor Adjustable from 30 to 30 dB With inactive Compressor Threshold 0 dB Gain 1 1 this function can also be used as universal digital gain stage Attack Defines the rise time for the control voltage of Compressor Expander Adjustable from 0 ms to 200 ms Release Defines the release time for the control voltage of Compressor and Expander Adjust able from 100 ms to 999 ms The amplitude graphics give a precise overview of the level changes caused by the current settings of Compressor and Expander The white dot shows the level of the input signal and with this whether the signal is within the processing range or not The small light blue lines in the level meter show the currently active gain reduction Settings for these Dynamic Meters are found in the Preferences dialog F2 Auto Level Activated by this button Max Gain Defines the maximum amplification of the input signal Adjustable fr
9. Ideally the word clock signal is a 5 Volt square wave with the frequency of the sample rate of which the harmonics go up to far above 500 kHz To avoid voltage loss and reflections both the cable itself and the terminating resistor at the end of the chain should have an impedance of 75 Ohm If the voltage is too low synchronization will fail High frequency reflection effects can cause both jitter and sync failure Unfortunately there are still many devices on the market even newer digital mixing consoles which are supplied with a word clock output that can only be called unsatisfactory If the output breaks down to 3 Volts when terminating with 75 Ohms you have to take into account that a device of which the input only works from 2 8 Volts and above does not function correctly al ready after 3 meter cable length So it is not astonishing that because of the higher voltage word clock networks are in some cases more stable and reliable if cables are not terminated at all Ideally all outputs of word clock delivering devices are designed with very low impedance but all word clock inputs as high impedance types in order to not weaken the signal on the chain But there are also negative examples when the 75 Ohms are built into the device and cannot be switched off In this case the network load is often 2 x 75 Ohms and the user is forced to buy a special word clock distributor Note that such a device is generally recommended for big ger stu
10. It is very easy to indentify the current crosspoint because the outer labels light up in orange according to the mouse position gt If input 1 is to be routed to output 1 use the mouse and click one time on crosspoint In 1 Out 1 with held down Ctrl key Two green 0 0 dB field pop in another click removes them To change the gain equals the use of a different fader position see simultaneous display of the mixer view drag the mouse up or down starting from the gain field The value within the field changes accordingly The corresponding fader in the mixer view is moving simultane ously in case the currently modified routing is visible gt On the right side is the Control Strip from the mixer window adapted to the Matrix The but ton for the temporary fader group is missing as well as all View options as they don t make sense here Instead the button Mono Mode lets you decide whether all the actions per formed in the Matrix are valid for two channels or just one 66 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME The Matrix not always replaces the mixer view but it significantly enhances the routing capabili ties and more important is a brilliant way to get a fast overview of all active routings It shows you in a glance what s going on And since the Matrix operates monaural it is very easy to set up specific routings with specific gains 27 Tips and Tricks 27 1 ASIO Direct Monitoring Windows Programs that support ADM ASIO D
11. MIDI channel 13 xx any value Trim Gains Off BC 66 xx or select a submix Select submix fader in third row channel 1 2 BC 68 69 xx channel 3 4 BC 6A 6B xx etc 28 6 Loopback Detection The Mackie Control protocol requires feedback of the received commands back to the hard ware controller So usually TotalMix will be set up with both a MIDI input and MIDI output Un fortunately any small error in wiring and setup will cause a MIDI feedback loop here which then completely blocks the computer the CPU To prevent the computer from freezing TotalMix sends a special MIDI note every 0 5 seconds to its MIDI output As soon as it detects this special note at the input the MIDI functionality is disabled After fixing the loopback check Enable MIDI Control under Options to reactivate the TotalMix MIDI 28 7 OSC Open Sound Control Besides simple MIDI notes the Mackie Protocol and Control Change commands TotalMix FX can also be controlled by the Open Sound Control OSC For details on setup and usage see chapter 25 8 3 An OSC implementation chart can be downloaded from the RME website http www rme audio de download osc table totalmix zip RME offers a free iPad template for the iOS app TouchOSC by Hexler available in the Apple App Store http www rme audio de download tosc tm ipad template zip The RME forum hosts further information more templates iPhone and lots of useful user feedback User s Guide
12. Mirror MADI1 Output to MADI2 and 3 M TMS Input Status No Lock No Lock Sync 441kHz 48K Frame 64 channels Sync 441kHz 48K Frame 64 channels Sync 441kHz 48K Frame 64 channels Abbrechen RME s exclusive SyncCheck technology provides an easy to use check and display of the cur rent clock status The clock state column indicates whether no signal No Lock a valid signal Lock or a valid and synchronous signal Sync is present at each of the digital clock source inputs About This tab includes information about the driver and the card s firmware version and has two more options Lock registry Default off Checking this option brings up a dialog to enter a password Changes in the Set tings dialog are no longer written to the registry As the settings are always loaded from the registry when starting the computer this method provides an easy way to define an initial state of the HDSPe MADI FX Optimize Multi client Mixing Default off Checking this option removes short noise bursts when multi client playback starts but will also introduce some additional CPU load 16 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 11 2 Settings Dialog Pitch Usually soundcards and audio interfaces generate their internal clock master mode by a quartz Therefore the internal clock can be set to 44 1 kHz or 48 kHz but not to a value in be tween SteadyClock RME s sensational Low Jitter Clock System is based
13. The Settings dialog allows to activate internal termination 75 Ohms Activate the option Word Clock Input Termina tion Output The word clock output of the HDSPe MADI FX is constantly active providing the current sample frequency as word clock signal As a result in master mode the provided word clock is defined by the currently used software or the pitch setting In slave mode the provided frequency is identical to the one present at the currently chosen clock input When the current clock signal fails the HDSPe MADI FX switches to master mode and adjusts itself to the next best matching frequency 44 1 kHz 48 kHz etc Selecting Single Speed in the Settings dialog causes the output signal to always stay within the range of 32 kHz to 48 kHz So at 96 kHz sample rate the output word clock is 48 kHz The received word clock signal can be distributed to other devices by using the word clock out put With this the usual T adapter can be avoided and the HDSPe MADI FX operates as Signal Refresher This kind of operation is highly recommended because e input and output are phase locked and in phase 0 to each other e SteadyClock removes nearly all jitter from the input signal e the exceptional input 1 Vpp sensitivity instead of the usual 2 5 Vpp dc cut Signal Adapta tion Circuit plus SteadyClock guarantee a secure function even with highly critical word clock signals Thanks to a low impedance but short circuit proof output t
14. 20 kHz While in peak mode the center frequency is adjusted in shelf mode the cut off point 3 dB will be changed Q The Quality factor of the filter is adjustable from 0 7 wide to 5 0 narrow The frequency graphics give a precise overview of the filter results Overlapping filters influence each other This can be used to achieve more than 20 dB amplitude or to generate difficult frequency response optimizations Note TotalMix has internal headroom of 24 dB Extreme boosts with overlapping filters can therefore cause an internal overload In any case such an overload is displayed by the Over LED of the channel s level meter 48 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME Preset Settings of the EQ and the Low Cut can be stored loaded and copied between Recall gt channels at any time A click on Preset opens Save to gt a menu with several entries Import Export gt Recall Presets stored before by the user Factory p ES can be selected and loaded E ic n Save to There are 16 storage places SS ie pen puc available EQ Preset 1 to 16 Deep Bass Boost gt Import Loads a previously stored TM EQ Telephone CHER file tmeq Low Frequency Effects Bass Drum Export Stores the current state as TM Cymbals LC EQ EQ file tmeq Wah Live Vocal Mic LC EQ Factory Includes 14 examples for the Peak creative use of Low Cut and Equalizer Notch High Frequency Cut Reset Resets the Low Cut and EQ to
15. HDSPe MADI FX RME 73 74 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME User s Guide RM INTELLIGENT AUDIO SOLUTIONS HDSPe MADI FX Technical Reference User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 75 29 Technical Specifications 29 1 Inputs MADI Coaxial via BNC 75 Ohm according to AES10 1991 High sensitivity input stage 0 2 Vpp Optical via FDDI duplex SC connector 62 5 125 and 50 125 compatible Accepts 56 channel and 64 channel mode plus 96k Frame Standard up to 64 channels 24 bit 48 kHz S MUX up to 32 channels 24 bit 96 kHz S MUXA up to 16 channels 24 bit 192 kHz Lock range 25 kHz 54 kHz Jitter when synced to input signal 1 ns AES EBU 1 x XLR transformer balanced galvanically isolated according to AES3 1992 High sensitivity input stage 0 3 Vpp SPDIF compatible IEC 60958 Accepts Consumer and Professional format Lock range 27 kHz 200 kHz Jitter when synced to input signal 1 ns Jitter suppression 30 dB 2 4 kHz Word Clock BNC not terminated 10 kOhm Switchable internal termination 75 Ohm Automatic Double Quad Speed detection and conversion to Single Speed SteadyClock guarantees super low jitter synchronization even in varispeed operation Not effected by DC offsets within the network Signal Adaptation Circuit signal refresh through auto center and hysteresis Overvoltage protection Level range 1 0 Vss 5 6 Vpp Lock range 28 kHz 200 kHz Jitter when synced to in
16. Out use Copy Sub mix to copy the final mix to the other output then activate Cue on this other output The output signal and with this the complete mixdown will then be played back from two stereo outputs simultaneously the Main Out and the other Hardware Output Even better the faders of both outputs are still active so the signal level can be adjusted individually User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 67 27 5 Recording a Submix Loopback TotalMix includes an internal loopback function from the Hardware Outputs to the recording software Instead of the signal at the hardware input the signal at the hardware output is sent to the record software This way submixes can be recorded without an external loopback cable Also the playback from a software can be recorded by another software The function is activated by the Loopback button in the Settings panel of the Hardware Out puts In loopback mode the signal at the hardware input of the corresponding channel is no longer sent to the recording software but still passed through to TotalMix Therefore TotalMix can be used to route this input signal to any hardware output Using the subgroup recording the input can still be recorded on a different channel As each of the 97 stereo hardware outputs can be routed to the record software and none of these hardware inputs get lost TotalMix offers an overall flexibility and performance not rivalled by any other solution The risk of feed
17. affect how the card operates it can be configured to suit many different requirements The following is available in the Settings dialog Configuration of digital I Os eo HDSPe Settings e Hardware Options Properties For e Synchronization behaviour e Current sample rate HDSPe MADI FX Slot 2 Firmware v67 Driver v1 00 e State of inputs and outputs Output Format 96 kHz Any changes performed in the AES Professional Word Single Speed Settings dialog are applied immediately confirmation e g by exiting the dialog is not required However settings should not be changed during playback or record if it can be avoided as this can cause unwanted noises The status display at the bottom of the dialog box gives the user precise information about the current status of the system MADI1 64 32 ch MADI2 64 32 ch MADI3 64 32 ch Options _ EQ D for Record C4 Word Clock In Term _ Mirror MADII Out to 2 amp 3 M Redundancy Mode Current MADI Input 1 Input Status MADI 1 96K Frame MADI 2 96K Frame MADI 3 96K Frame Clock Mode Sample Rate 44100 Hz Clock Source Internal Current Clock Internal and the status of all digital signals Word Sync 44 1 kHz AES Sync 44 1 kHz ee IO MON LL MADI 1 Sync 44 1kHz 48K frame 64 channels Pr i th P PR MADI 2 Sync 44 1kHz 48K frame 64 channels card to be configured To the right the current firmware and MADI3 Sync 44 1
18. client operation A MIDI input signal can be received from several programs at the same time Even the MIDI outputs can be used by multiple programs simulta neously However due to the limited bandwidth of MIDI this kind of application will often show various problems User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 37 24 Word Clock 24 1 Word Clock Input and Output SteadyClock guarantees an excellent performance in all clock modes Based on the highly effi cient jitter suppression the HDSPe MADI FX refreshes and cleans up any clock signal and provides it as reference clock at the BNC output see chapter 30 6 Input The HDSPe MADI FX word clock input is active when Clock Source in the Settings dialog has been switched to Word Clock and a valid word clock signal is present The signal at the BNC input can be Single Double or Quad Speed the HDSPe MADI FX automatically adapts to it As Soon as a valid signal is detected the Settings dialog shows either Lock or Sync see chapter 30 2 Thanks to RME s Signal Adaptation Circuit the word clock input still works correctly even with heavily mis shaped dc prone too small or overshoot prone signals Thanks to automatic signal centering 300 mV 0 3V input level is sufficient in principle An additional hysteresis reduces sensitivity to 1 0 V so that over and undershoots and high frequency disturbances don t cause a wrong trigger The word clock input is shipped as high impedance type not terminated
19. excellent performance in all clock modes Its highly efficient jitter suppression refreshes and cleans up any clock signal and provides it as reference clock at the word clock output Usually a clock section consists of an analog PLL for external synchronization and several quartz oscillators for internal synchronisation SteadyClock requires only one quartz using a frequency not equalling digital audio Latest circuit designs like hi speed digital synthesizer digital PLL 100 MHz sample rate and analog filtering allow RME to realize a completely newly developed clock technology right within the FPGA at lowest costs The clock s performance exceeds even professional expectations Despite its remarkable features SteadyClock reacts quite fast compared to other techniques It locks in fractions of a second to the input signal follows even extreme varipitch changes with phase accuracy and locks directly within a range of 25 kHz up to 200 kHz SteadyClock has originally been de veloped to gain a stable and clean clock from the heavily jittery MADI data signal The embedded MADI clock suffers from about 80 ns jitter caused by the time resolution of 125 MHz within the format Common jitter values for other devices are 5 ns while a very good clock will have less than 2 ns The picture to the right shows the MADI input signal with 80 ns of jitter top graph yellow Thanks to Steady Clock this signal turns into a clock with less than 2 ns ji
20. has been minimized This way the hard ware controller will control the main DAW application only except when TotalMix is in the fore ground Often the DAW application can be set to become inactive in background too so that MIDI control is switched between TotalMix and the application automatically when switching between both applications TotalMix also supports the 9th fader of the Mackie Control This fader labelled Master will con trol the stereo output faders lowest row which are set up as Main Out in the Control Room section User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 71 28 5 MIDI Control The hardware output which is set up as Main Out can be controlled by the standard Control Change Volume via MIDI channel 1 With this the main volume of the Fireface is controllable from nearly any MIDI equipped hardware device Even if you don t want to control all faders and pans some buttons are highly desired to be available in hardware These are mainly the Talkback and the Dim button and the monitoring option Cue listen to Phones submixes Fortunately a Mackie Control compatible controller is not required to control these buttons as they are steered by simple Note On Off commands on MIDI channel 1 The notes are hex decimal keys Dim 5D 93 A6 Mono 2A 42 F 2 Talkback 5E 94 A 6 Recall 5F 95 H 6 Speaker B 32 50 D3 Cue Main Out 3E 62 D 4 Cue Phones 1 3F 63 D 4 Cue Phones 2 40 64 E 4 Cue Phones 3
21. hidden for MIDI remote CC and Mackie Protocol Hide Channel in OSC Remote 1 The selected channels are hidden for OSC remote con trol 54 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME Hidden channels in Mixer Matrix are still fully functional An existing routing mixing FX process ing stays active But as the channel is no longer visible it can not be edited anymore At the same time the hidden channels are removed from the list of remote controllable channels to prevent them from being edited unnoticed Hidden channels in MIDI Remote 1 are removed from the list of remote controllable channels Within an 8 channel block of a Mackie compatible control they are skipped The control there fore is no longer bound to consecutive orders For example it will control channels 1 2 and 6 to 11 when channels 3 to 5 are hidden The same can be done for OSC With unnecessary channels made invisible for the OSC re mote the more important channels are available as one block on the remote Cover NN Inputs Playbacks Outputs The dialog can be called directly from TotalMix by a right mouse click on any channel The cor responding channel will then be preselected in the dialog Hide Channel in Active InUse Remote Hide x x M1 01 M Mixer Matrix Channel Name User r r Rows Inputs Playbacks and Outputs are set up individually by the tabs at the top Active indicates currentl
22. input sends its data only to TotalMix no longer to the recording F software X Return gt oR Another difference to the input and playback channels is the Cue button instead of Solo A click on Cue sends the respective Hardware Output s audio to the Main Out or any of the Phones outputs With this any hardware output can be controlled and listened to through the monitoring output very conveniently Using the option Assign Cue to in Loopback the Control Room section Cue can also be used with any of the Phones outputs Hardware Outputs User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 47 25 3 2 Equalizer A click on EQ opens the Equalizer panel It is available in all input and output channels and affects all routings of the respective channel pre fader The panel includes a low cut and a 3 band parametric equalizer which can be activated separately Lo Cut Activated by the button Lo Cut The slope of the high pass filter is adjustable between 6 12 18 and 24 dB per octave The cut off point 3 dB is adjustable between 20 Hz and 500 Hz EQ Activated by the EQ button Type Band 1 and 3 can operate in peak bell or shelf shelving mode The middle band is fixed to peak mode Band 3 can also operate as Hi Cut low pass filter especially useful for LFE and subwoofer purposes Gain All three bands can change their amplification between 20 dB to 20 dB Freq The center frequency of the filters is adjustable between 20 Hz and
23. loading a new workspace in case they have not been saved before in a different Workspace Note The Undo function will help in case of an accidental overwrite or deletion of the groups Edit Clear TotalMix uses flashing signals to guide you through the group setup After a click on Edit and click on the desired storage place all desired functions for this group have to be activated or selected The storage process is finished by another click on Edit When setting up a fader group make sure to not add faders that are at the top or low position except all faders of that group have this position The Mute groups operate other than the global mute exclusively for the current routing This way you can not mute signals on all outputs unintentionally Instead signals can be muted on specific submixes by the push of a button A solo group operates exactly like the global solo signals outside the current routing are not affected 25 5 3 Channel Layout Layout Presets To maintain overview within TotalMix FX channels can be hidden Channels can also be ex cluded from being remoted Under Options Channel Layout a dialog lists all I Os with their current state Selecting one or several channels enables the options to the right Hide Channel in Mixer Matrix The selected channels are no longer shown in TotalMix FX nor are they available via MIDI or OSC remote control Hide Channel in MIDI Remote 1 The selected channels are
24. meters An other click maximizes it again A mouse click with held Ctrl key causes all channels to the right to enlarge and minimize at once User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 45 The lowest field shows the current routing target A mouse click opens the routing window to select a routing target The list shows all activated routings of the current channel by arrows in front of the listed entries The current one is shown in bold letters gt AN1 2 AN 3 4 AN 5 6 AN 7 8 PH9 10 N PH 11 12 AES ADAT 1 2 An arrow is only shown with an activated routing A routing is seen as activated when audio data is sent As long as the fader is set to the current routing will be shown in bold letters but not have an arrow in the front Trim Gain After a click on the double arrow one channel s faders are all synchronized Instead of changing only a single routing the fader affects all the channel s active routings For a better overview the faders currently not visible are indicated by orange triangles beside the fader path When moving the fader the triangles also move to a new position equalling the faders new settings Note that the fader button is set to the highest routing gain of all routings so that best control is offered The gain fader knob position of the currently active routing the submix selected in the third row is shown as white triangle Background TotalMix has no fixed channel fader In case of the HDS
25. on a Direct Digital Synthesizer DDS This superior circuitry can generate nearly any frequency with highest pre cision DDS has been implemented into the HDSPe MADI FX with regard to the needs of professional video applications as well as to maximum flexibility The section Pitch includes both a list of typical video frequencies so called pull up pull down at 0 196 and 496 and a fader to freely change the basic sample rate in steps of 1 Hz over a range of 5 quency setting will only be applied to this one specific card Changing the sample rate during record playback often results in a loss of audio or brings up warning messages of the audio software Therefore the desired sample rate should be di The Pitch function requires the HDSPe MADI FX to be in clock mode Master The fre d set at least coarsely before starting the software Coarse Coarse modification in steps of 50 Hz Clock Mode is done by clicking with the mouse to Sample Rate 47952 Hz z the left and right of the fader knob Clock Source Internal v Current Internal Fine Fine modification in steps of 1 Hz is Pitch M done by using the left right cursor i keys 5 5 Reset Ctrl key plus left mouse click Application examples Pitch allows for a simultaneous change of speed and tune during record and playback From alignment to other sources up to creative effects everything is possible Pitch enables you to intentionally de tu
26. play back faders from that routing will be included Paste Submix Writes the previously copied submix to the currently selected output 64 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 25 10 Menu Options Deactivate Screensaver When active checked any activated Windows screensaver will be disabled temporarily Always on Top When active checked the TotalMix window will always be on top of the Win dows desktop Note This function may result in problems with windows containing help text as the TotalMix window will even be on top of those windows so the help text isn t readable Enable MIDI OSC Control Activates external MIDI or OSC control of the TotalMix mixer In Mackie Protocol mode the channels which are currently under MIDI control are indicated by a colour change of the name field This setting also controls the MIDI remote function in stand alone operation The current state is kept when changing from online to offline Additionally the current state is stored in the six Setups the unit s own memory Submix linked to MIDI OSC control The 8 channel group follows the currently selected sub mix means Hardware Output when a different submix is chosen on the remote as well as when doing this in TotalMix When using multiple windows it can be useful to deactivate this feature for specific windows The view will not change then Preferences Opens a dialog box to configure several functions of the level meters and the mixer Se
27. registered trademarks or trade marks of Microsoft Corp Steinberg Cubase and VST are registered trademarks of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH ASIO is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH Copyright Matthias Carstens 08 2012 Version 1 1 Current driver version Windows 1 03 Mac OS X Intel 1 03 Firmware 75 DSP 15 Although the contents of this User s Guide have been thoroughly checked for errors RME can not guarantee that it is correct throughout RME does not accept responsibility for any misleading or incorrect information within this guide Lending or copying any part of the guide or the RME Driver CD or any commercial exploitation of these media without express written permission from RME Intelligent Audio Solutions is prohibited RME reserves the right to change specifi cations at any time without notice User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 9 CE FCC Compliance CE This device has been tested and found to comply with the limits of the European Council Direc tive on the approximation of the laws of the member states relating to electromagnetic compati bility according to RL2004 108 EG FCC This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules These limits are designed to provide reasonable protec tion against harmful interference in a residential installation This equipment generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energ
28. rme audio hdspe FX Launcher plist 17 3 Firmware Update The Flash Update Tool updates the HDSPe MADI FX card to the latest firmware version It re quires an already installed driver Start the program HDSPe FX Flash Update The Flash Update Tool displays the current revi sion of the HDSPe card and whether it needs an update or not If so then simply press the Update button A progress bar will indicate when the flash process is finished The bar moves slowly first program then faster verify If more than one card is installed all cards can be flashed by changing to the next tab and re peating the process After the update the PCI Express card needs to be reset This is done by powering down and shutting off the computer A warm boot is not enough When the update fails status failure the card s second BIOS will be used from the next cold boot on Secure BIOS Technology Therefore the card stays fully functional The flash process should then be tried again on a different computer 28 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 18 Configuring the HDSPe MADI FX 18 1 Settings Dialog Configuring the HDSPe MADI FX is done via its own settings dialog The panel Settings can be opened by clicking on the hammer icon in the dock The mixer of the HDSPe MADI FX To talMix FX can be opened by clicking on the mixer icon in the dock The HDSPe hardware offers a number of helpful well thought of practical functions and options which
29. sync input thus being able to work as slave some professional CD players indeed have a word clock input Then all devices get the same clock and will work in every possible combination with each other d Remember that a digital system can only have one master But word clock is not only the great problem solver it also has some disadvantages The word clock is based on a fraction of the really needed clock For example SPDIF 44 1 kHz word clock a simple square wave signal has to be multiplied by 256 inside the device using a spe cial PLL to about 11 2 MHz This signal then replaces the one from the quartz crystal Big disadvantage because of the high multiplication factor the reconstructed clock will have great deviations called jitter The jitter of a word clock is multiple times higher than the one of a quartz based clock The end of these problems should have been the so called Superclock which uses 256 times the word clock frequency This equals the internal quartz frequency so no PLL for multiplying is needed and the clock can be used directly But reality was different the Superclock proved to be much more critical than word clock A square wave signal of 11 MHz distributed to several devices this simply means to fight with high frequency technology Reflections cable quality capacitive loads at 44 1 kHz these factors may be ignored at 11 MHz they are the end of the clock network Additionally it was found that a PLL no
30. the main board has two optical MADI interfaces input and output each and the analog stereo output via TRS jack The expansion board s bracket has one coaxial MADI I O and word clock input and output all via BNC sockets The included breakout cable is connected to the 15 pin D sub connector and provides one MIDI input and output via 2 5 pin DIN connectors and one AES input and output with XLR connectors Analog MADI Optical 7 O O0 H00 ue AY AY Out Optical 2 Optical 1 o c A SOTWNY Word Clock MADI BNC 00 0 0 ER A y A vy A In Out In Out MIDI AES In Out NI OM 1no 2M 1n0 Note If none of the connections of the expansion board are used or required it is not necessary to install the board An expansion board with optical MADI I O instead of coaxial is available separately Opto X Connections and functions are all identical to the standard expansion board BNC X Word Clock MADI Optical Je Av v M Out Optical 3 MIDI AES In Out NI OM 1n0 e e 1no 2M User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 7 6 2 Internal Connectors X1100 Sync In Internal word clock input for synchronization of multiple cards via SYNC OUT X1101 Sync Out This 3 pin connector carries an internal word clock signal It can be used to synchronize multi ple cards with sample accuracy and without the need for an external connection The card where SYNC OUT is used is master the one wit
31. to reduce the level of an overloaded submix Usage in mode Submix View Default simply click on the hardware output channel where you want to have an audio signal This channel turns brighter means it is selected as current submix Now move the faders up from all sources input and playback channels that you want to hear at the submix output The following chapters explain step by step all functions of the user interface 44 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 25 3 The Channels A single channel can be switched between mono and stereo mode The mode is set in the channel settings Channel name The name field is the preferred place to select a channel by a mouse click A double click opens a dialog to assign a different name The original name will be shown when activating the option O Names in the View Options Panorama Routes the input signal freely to the left and right routing destination lower label see below The level reduction in center position is 3 dB Mute and Solo Input channels and playback channels each have a mute and solo button Numerical level display Shows the current RMS or Peak level updated twice per second OVR means overload The setting Peak RMS is changed in the View Options Level meter The meter shows both peak values zero attack 1 sample is enough for a full scale display by means of a yellow line and mathematically correct RMS values by means of a green bar The RMS display has a relativ
32. using a special technique to access playback channels directly Therefore DIGICheck is able to analyse and display playback data from any software no matter which format it uses User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 21 12 5 Digital Recording Unlike analog soundcards which produce empty wave files or noise when no input signal is present digital interfaces always need a valid input signal to start recording Taking this into account RME added a comprehensive l O signal status display to the HDSPe MADI FX showing sample frequency lock and sync status for every input The sample frequency shown in the fields Clock Mode and Input Status is useful as a quick display of the current configuration of the unit and the connected external equipment If no sample frequency is recognized it will read No Lock This way configuring any suitable audio application for digital recording is simple HDSPe MADI FX displays the current sample frequency of the currently used input This parameter can then be changed in the applications audio properties or similar dialog It often makes sense to monitor the input signal or send it directly to the output This can be done at zero latency using TotalMix see chapter 25 An automated control of real time monitoring can be achieved by Steinberg s ASIO protocol with RME s ASIO drivers and all ASIO 2 compatible programs When ASIO Direct Monitoring has been switched on the input s
33. where the audio signal s sample rate is equal to the rate of the digital signal Used from 32 to 192 kHz Sometimes called Single Wide Double Wire Before 1998 there were no receiver transmitter circuits available that could receive or transmit more than 48 kHz Higher sample rates were transferred by splitting odd and even bits across the L R channels of a single AES connection This provides for twice the data rate and hence twice the sample rate A stereo signal subsequently requires two AES EBU ports The Double Wire method is an industry standard today with different names like Dual AES Double Wide Dual Line and Wide Wire The AES3 specification uses the uncommon term Single channel double sampling frequency mode When used with the ADAT format the term S MUX is commonly used Double Wire not only works with Single Speed signals but also with Double Speed As an ex ample Pro Tools HD whose AES receiver transmitter only worked up to 96 kHz used Double Wire to transmit 192 kHz Four channels of 96 kHz turn into two channels of 192 kHz Quad Wire Similar to Double Wire with samples of one channel spread across four channels This way single speed devices can transmit up to 192 kHz but need two AES EBU ports to transmit one channel Also called Quad AES S MUX Since the ADAT hardware interface is limited to Single Speed the Double Wire method is used for sample rates up to 96 kHz but usually referred to as S MUX Sample Multipl
34. will start the OS X installer The actual audio driver appears as a kernel extension file The installer copies it to System Library Extensions Its name is HDSPe FX kext It is visible in the Finder allowing you to verify date and driver version Yet in fact this again is a folder containing subdirectories and files Nonetheless this driver file can be removed by simply dragging it to the trash bin This can be helpful in case a driver installation fails 19 2 MIDI doesn t work In some cases the applications do not show the MIDI port The reason for this is usually visible within the Audio MIDI Setup It displays no RME MIDI device or the device is greyed out and therefore inactive Mostly removing the greyed out device and searching for MIDI devices again will solve the problem The HDSPe MIDI driver is a plugin During installation it will be copied to gt Library Audio MIDI Drivers Its name is HDSPe FX MIDI plugin The file can be displayed in the Finder and also be removed by simply dragging it to the trash bin 19 3 Supported Sample Rates RME s Mac OS X driver supports all sampling frequencies provided by the hardware This in cludes 32 kHz and 64 kHz and even 128 kHz 176 4 kHz and 192 kHz But not any software will support all the hardware s sample rates The hardware s capabilities can easily be verified in the Audio MIDI Setup Select Audio devices under Properties of and choose the Hammerfall A click on F
35. 2 DVD Playback AC 3 DTS sss 20 12 3 Notes on WDM sssseseemmI e 21 12 4 Multi client Operation sessssssss 21 12 5 Digital Recording 22 13 Operation under ASIO 13 1 General 23 13 2 Known Problems 23 14 Using multiple HDSPe MADI FX 24 15 DIGICheck Windows sss 24 16 Hotline Troubleshooting 25 2 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME gt Driver Installation and Operation Mac OS X 17 Driver and Flash Update 17 1 Driver Installation 28 17 2 Driver Update 28 17 3 Firmware Update essssssesseses 28 18 Configuring the HDSPe MADI FX 18 1 Settings Dialog 29 18 2 Clock Modes Synchronization 31 19 Mac OS X FAQ 19 1 Round about Driver Installation 32 19 2 MIDI doesn t work ssssssssee 32 19 3 Supported Sample Rates 32 19 4 Repairing Disk Permissions 32 19 5 Various Information 33 20 Using multiple HDSPe MADI FX 33 21 DIGICheck Mac 34 22 Hotline Troubleshooting 34 gt Inputs and Outputs 23 Connections 23 1 MA
36. 41 65 F 4 Cue Phones 4 42 66 F 4 Snapshot 1 36 54 F 3 Snapshot 2 37 55 G3 Snapshot 3 38 56 G 3 Snapshot 4 39 57 A3 Snapshot 5 3A 58 A 3 Snapshot 6 3B 59 B 3 Snapshot 7 3C 60 C 4 Snapshot 8 3D 61 C 4 Trim Gains 2D 45 A2 Master Mute 2C 44 G 2 Master Solo 2B 43 G2 Note Switching off Mackie Protocol support in Settings Mackie Control Options will also dis able the above simple MIDI note commands as they are part of the Mackie protocol Furthermore all faders of all three rows can be controlled via simple Control Change com mands The format for the Control Change commands is Bx yy zz x MIDI channel yy control number zz value The first row in TotalMix is addressed by MIDI channels 1 up to 4 the middle row by channels 5 up to 8 and the bottom row by channels 9 up to 12 16 Controller numbers are used 102 up to 117 hex 66 to 75 With these 16 Controllers faders and 4 MIDI channels each per row up to 64 faders can be controlled per row 72 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME Examples for sending MIDI strings Set input 1 to 0 dB BO 66 68 Set input 17 to maximum attenuation B1 66 0 Set playback 1 to maximum B4 66 7F Set Output 16 to 0 dB B8 75 68 Note Sending MIDI strings requires to use programmer s logic for the MIDI channel starting with 0 for channel 1 and ending with 15 for channel 16 Further functions Trim Gains On BC 66 xx BC
37. D iis itti Rit iet red 36 23 2 JAES EBU orienter peer rc 36 23 3 Line Headphones sss 37 239 4 MIDI ri irt mt aes 37 24 Word Clock 24 1 Word Clock Input and Output 38 24 2 Technical Description and Background 39 24 3 Cables and Termination 40 gt TotalMix FX 25 Routing and Monitoring 25 1 Overview 42 25 2 The User Interface 44 25 3 The Channel 45 25 3 1 Settlhgs iioi tee ER 47 25 3 2 Equallzer ette rena Rennen 48 25 33 DYNAMICS iiie etse eee eed ended 50 25 4 Section Control Room 51 25 5 The Control Strip 52 25 5 1 View Options 53 25 5 2 Snapshots Groups 54 25 5 3 Channel Layout Layout Presets 54 25 5 4 Scroll Location Markers 56 25 6 Reverb and Echo 57 25 7 Preferences 60 25 8 Settings eH EAR 61 25 8 1 Mixer Page 61 25 8 2 MIDI Page resistin nia 62 25 8 8 OSC Page 63 25 9 Hotkeys and Usage eese 64 25 10 Menu Options 65 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 26 The Matrix 20 1 OVerviQW ia eere eere tete ner nacen Ee eren ee 66 26 2 Elements of the Matrix View ssssss 66 20 3 Usage iet e E ne i uude 66 27 Tips and Tricks 27 1 ASIO Direct Monitoring Windows 67 27 2 Copy a Submix
38. Frequency Effects 5 SL Surround Left 6 SR Surround Right Note 1 Setting the card to be used as system playback device is against common sense as professional cards are not specialized to play back system sounds and shouldn t be disturbed by system events To prevent this be sure to re assign this setting after usage or disable any system sounds tab Sounds scheme No audio Note 2 The DVD player will be synced backwards from the HDSPe card So when using Auto Sync and or word clock the playback speed and pitch follows the incoming clock signal 20 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 12 3 Notes on WDM The driver offers a WDM streaming device per stereo pair like AES 142 and 8 channel de vices for MADI like MADI 1 8 WDM streaming is Microsoft s current driver and audio system WDM streaming is hardly usable for professional music purposes as all data is processed by the Kernel Mixer causing a latency of at least 30 ms Additionally WDM can perform sample rate conversions unnoticed cause offsets between record and playback data block channels unintentionally and much more Several programs do not offer any direct device selection Instead they use the playback device selected in Windows under XP Control Panel Sounds and Multimedia Audio Vista 7 Control Panel Sound Playback The HDSPe MADI FX uses 8 channel interleaved devices for all three MADI I Os When re cording with WDM or WDM KS based pro
39. IF Out or similar When select ing these the software will transfer the non decoded digital multichannel data stream to the HDSPe Naturally a successful decoding also requires a MADI to AES converter like the RME ADI 642 converting the playback signals to stereo AES3 or SPDIF Note This SPDIF signal sounds like chopped noise at highest level The first 2 MADI channels Loudspeaker do not support digital AC 3 DTS playback Multichannel PowerDVD and WinDVD can also operate as software decoder sending a DVD s multichannel data stream directly to the outputs of the HDSPe MADI FX For this to work select the WDM playback device Loudspeaker of the HDSPe MADI FX in XP Control Panel Sounds and Multimedia Audio and Use only default devices has to be checked Additionally the loudspeaker setup found under gt Volume Speaker Settings Ad vanced has to be changed from Stereo to 5 1 Surround Vista 7 Control Panel Sound Playback lt as Standard Additionally the loudspeaker setup found under Configuration has to be changed from Stereo to 5 1 Surround PowerDVD s and WinDVD s audio properties now list several multichannel modes If one of these is selected the software sends the decoded analog multichannel data to the HDSPe MADI FX TotalMix can then be used to play back via any desired output channels The typical channel assignment for surround playback is 1 Left 2 Right 3 Center 4 LFE Low
40. K Frame The outputs are reduced to i 2 2 64 channels one MADI Options Clock Mode port All the data routed and _ EQ D for Record Sample Rate 44100 Hz mixed to MADI port 1 is sent to MADI port 2 and 3 as well V Word Clock In Term Clock Source Internal _ Mirror MADI1 Out to 2 amp 3 Current Clock Internal Redundancy Mode With redundancy mode active the amp Redundancy Mode number of input channels is CARTONS mA Tnt 3 reduced to 66 AES plus one rss MADI The two other MADI ports P are used as fail safe inputs and Word Sync 44 1 kHz are used as soon as the signal AES Sync 44 1 kHz on the Current MADI Input fails MADI 1 Sync 44 1 kHz 48K frame 64 channels This setting is also a perfect choice if the card is used as MADI 2 Sync 44 1 kHz 48K frame 64 channels single MADI I O saving MADI 3 Sync 44 1 kHz 48K frame 64 channels resources and providing simpler channel selection dialogs Clock Mode Sample Rate Used to set the current sample rate This is the same setting as in the Audio MIDI Setup just added here for your convenience Clock Source The unit can be configured to use its own clock Internal Master or one of the input signals Word MADI AES Sync In If the selected source isn t available No Lock the unit will change to the next available one this behaviour is called AutoSync If none is available then the internal clock is used The current clock source is displayed as Current Clock
41. Locked Loop As soon as the receiver meets the exact fre quency of the incoming signal it is locked This Lock state remains even with small changes of the frequency because the PLL tracks the receiver s frequency If a MADI signal is applied to the HDSPe MADI FX the unit indicates LOCK i e a valid input signal This information is presented in the HDSPe MADI FX Settings dialog In the status dis play SyncCheck the state of all clocks is decoded and shown as simple text No Lock Lock Sync Unfortunately LOCK does not necessarily mean that the received signal is correct with respect to the clock which processes the read out of the embedded data Example The HDSPe MADI FX is set to 44 1 kHz internally clock mode Master and a mixing desk with MADI output is connected to the card s MADI input The status display will show LOCK immediately but usually the mixing desk s sample rate is generated internally it is Master too and thus slightly higher or lower than the HDSPe MADI FX internal sample rate Result When reading out the data there will frequently be read errors that cause clicks and drop outs Also when using multiple clock signals a simple LOCK is not sufficient The above described problem can be solved elegantly by setting the HDSPe MADI FX from Master to AutoSync its internal clock will then be the clock delivered by the mixing desk But in case the card is clocked to word clock this signal can also be un synchronous an
42. OSC 1 Talkback Input v Dim IL 20 0 dB Listenback Input None v Dim Main Out Recall Dim External ES Input Gain Abbrechen User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 61 25 8 2 MIDI Page The MIDI page has settings for MIDI remote control via CC commands or Mackie Control proto col MIDI Remote Control gt MIDI In Input where TotalMix receives 55585 m MIDI Remote data M MIDI 1 0SC 1 MIDI Out Output where TotalMix gt A e k na MIDI Remote Control isable in ackgro E MIDI Deactivates MIDI Remote Control as MI DS Pe FX MIDI soon as another application is in the MIDI Out HDSPeFXMIDI focus or when TotalMix has been minimized Disable MIDI in background Mackie Control Options Mackie Control Options gt Enable Protocol Support When FN Enable Protocol Support disabled TM FX will only react on the L DERES A De Change commands of chapter Submis Selection in Input Playback Row Map Stereo to 2 Mono Channels Nico P ui One fader controls one mono Send User defined Names channel Should be disabled when SendLevelMessages D stereo channels are used gt Submix Selection in Input Playback Row Enables a selection of the submix when in first row without having to change to the third row first OK AER However when using both mono and RER stereo channels first and third row usually do not match anymore so the selection often becomes un
43. Pe MADI FX there are 98 stereo Aux sends shown alternately as single fader within the channel strip The high number of Aux sends enables multiple and fully independent routings In some cases it is necessary to synchronize the gain changes of these routings An example is the Post fader function where a change of the singer s volume shall be performed identical to the volume change of the signal sent to the reverb device so that the reverb level keeps its relation to the original signal Another example is the signal of a guitar that is routed to different submixes means hardware outputs which gets much too loud during the solo part and therefore needs to be reduced in volume on all outputs simultaneously After a click on the Trim button this can be done easily and with a perfect overview As all channel s routings change simultaneously when Trim is active this mode basically causes the same behaviour as a trim pot within the input channel affecting the signal already before the mixer That s how this function got its name In the View Options Routing the function Trim Gains can be globally switched on and off for all channels The global Trim mode is recommended when using TotalMix FX as live mixing desk 46 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 25 3 1 Settings A click on the tool symbol opens the channel s Settings panel It includes these elements Stereo Switches the channel to mono or stereo mode Width Defines the stereo wi
44. Play detects a multimedia device Right click on the device and select Update Driver Software from the context menu The dialog Update Driver Software appears Now follow the instructions given below 10 2 Driver Update When facing problems with the automatic driver update the user driven way of driver installa tion will work Under gt Control Panel System Device Manager Sound Video and Game Controllers RME HDSPe MADI FX Properties Driver lt you ll find the Update Driver button XP Select Install from a list or specific location advanced click Next select Don t search will choose the driver to install click Next then Have Disk Now point to the driver update s directory Vista 7 Select Browse my computer for driver software then Let me pick from a list of device drivers from my computer then Have Disk Now point to the driver update s direc tory This method also allows for the installation of older drivers than the currently installed ones 10 3 De Installing the Drivers A de installation of the HDSPe driver files is not necessary and not supported by Windows anyway Thanks to full Plug amp Play support the driver files will not be loaded after the hardware has been removed If desired these files can then be deleted manually Unfortunately Windows Plug amp Play methods do not cover the additional autorun entries of To talMix the Settings dialog and the registration of the A
45. SIO driver Those entries can be re moved from the registry through a software de installation request This request can be found like all de installation entries in Control Panel Software Click on the entry RME HDSPe FX WDM 12 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 10 4 Firmware Update The Flash Update Tool updates the HDSPe MADI FX to the latest firmware version It requires an already installed driver Start the program hdspe fx fut exe The Flash Update Tool displays the current revision of the HDSPe MADI FX and whether it needs an update or not If so then please press the Update button A progress bar will indicate when the flash process is finished The bar moves slowly first program then faster verify If more than one interface card is installed all cards can be flashed by changing to the next tab and repeating the process After the update the PCI Express card needs to be reset This is done by powering down and shutting off the PC A warm boot is not enough When the update fails status failure the card s second BIOS will be used from the next cold boot on Secure BIOS Technology Therefore the card stays fully functional The flash process should then be tried again on a different computer User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 13 11 Configuring the HDSPe MADI FX 11 1 Settings Dialog Configuration of the HDSPe MADI FX is done via its own settings dialog The panel Settings can be opened e by cli
46. SP devices with TotalMix FX settings Used to suppress the mismatch message after using the unit stand alone Settings in the unit are lost Graphics 60 Use D2D Change requires restart Default on Can be deactivated to use a compatible but CPU taxing graphics mode in case graphics problems show up User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 25 8 Settings The dialog Settings can be opened via the Options menu or directly via F3 25 8 1 Mixer Page On the mixer page some typical settings for the mixer operation are set like Talkback source Dim amount when Talkback is active the stored main volume or the input used for the External Input function Talkback gt Input Selects the input channel of the Talkback signal microphone in control room Default None gt Dim Amount of attenuation of the signals routed to the Phones in dB Listenback gt Input Selects the input channel of the Listenback signal microphone in recording room Default None gt Dim Amount of attenuation of the signals routed to the Main Out in dB Main Out gt Recall User defined listening volume activated by the Recall button at the unit or in TotalMix gt Dim Amount of attenuation for the Main Out in dB gt External Input Selects the stereo input that replaces the mix signal on the Main Out when activated The volume of the stereo signal is adjusted by the slider Gain Settings lll mem Mixer MIDI 1
47. User s Guide NE INTELLIGENT AUDIO SOLUTIONS Hammerfall DSP System HDSPe MADI FX DVD p toram 24 Bit 192 kHz V TM SyncAlign ZLM SyncCheck SteadyClock PCI Express Digital I O Card 192 Channels MADI Interface 24 Bit 192 kHz Digital Audio AES EBU 1 0 Stereo Analog Monitoring 194 x 196 Matrix Router MIDI I O MIDI embedded in MADI gt General 1 Introduction ssseemmRRRRRRRHnn 6 2 Package Contents ene 6 3 System Requirements 6 4 Brief Description and Characteristics 6 5 Hardware Installation s 7 6 Hardware Connectors 6 1 External Connectors 7 6 2 Internal Connectors 8 7 ACC6eSSOLI6GS ouis i da dca tea dad 8 8 Warranty cea leis 8 9 APPENA core etai 9 Driver Installation and Operation Windows 10 Driver and Firmware 10 1 Driver Installation sssssssesesese 12 102 Driver Update rtt trees 12 10 3 De Installing the Drivers 12 10 4 Firmware Update 13 11 Configuring the HDSPe MADI FX 11 1 Settings Dialog eee 14 11 2 Settings Dialog Pitch 17 11 3 Clock Modes Synchronization 18 12 Operation and Usage 12 1 PlayDack ertet ette 19 12
48. ample rate can still even vary by 12 5 The limit which cannot be exceeded is a data rate of 100Mbit s Because an exact sampling frequency is used in most cases the 64 channel mode was intro duced officially in 2001 It allows for a maximum sample rate of 48 kHz ca 1 corresponding to 32 channels at 96 kHz without exceeding the maximum data rate of 100 Mbit s The effective data rate of the port is 125 Mbit s due to additional coding Older devices understand and generate only the 56 channel format Newer devices often work in the 64 channel format but offer still no more than 56 audio channels The rest is being eaten up by control commands for mixer settings etc RME s devices of the MADI series show that this can be done in a much better way with an invisible transmission of 16 MIDI channels and the MADI signal still being 10096 compatible For the transmission of the MADI signal proved methods known from network technology were applied Most people know unbalanced coaxial cables with 75 Ohms BNC plugs they are not expensive and easy to get The optical interface is much more interesting due to its complete galvanic separation but for many users it is a mystery because very few have ever dealt with huge cabinets full of professional network technology Therefore here are some explanations regarding MADI optical e The cables used are standard in computer network technology They are thus not at all expensive but unfortunatel
49. backs a basic problem of loopback methods is low because the feedback can not happen within the mixer only when the audio software is switched into monitoring mode AN 3 to 196 RME TotalMix Hardware Input D HDSPe Mixer Channel 1 OA L x Loopback Mode P A 9 PAN Block Diagram 06 2012 1 of 194 Solo VOL j T O r3 Mute M x ma 3 to 196 Loopback S R h 1 acord C Hardware Output y s Channel 1 Audio Software D lt iu Y e Mix gt a Playback Ch 1 VOL Opis 1 of 196 gt zuo X L cba i e K T PAN Solo i VOL T o E Mute 7 M xma 3 to 196 The block diagram shows how the software s input signal is played back and fed back from the Hardware Output to the software input The block diagram also shows why with activated Loopback the EQ of the Hardware Output is now within the record path With Loopback active the EQ of the input is not in the record path only in the monitoring path even when the Option DSP EQ D for Record is activated Note The phones output has no matching input therefore does not support Loopback 68 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME Recording a Software s playback In real world application recording a software s output with another software will show the fol lowing problem The record software tries to open the same playback channel as the playback software already active or th
50. box give the user precise Redundancy Mode Current MADI Input information about the current status of Mirror MADIT Output to MADI2 and 3 the system and the status of all digital signals Input Status No Lock The tab About includes information No Lock about the current driver and firmware Sync 441kHz 48K Frame 64 channels version of the HDSPe MADI FX Sync 44 1 kHz 48K Frame 64 channels Sync 441kHz 48K Frame 64 channels Abbrechen 14 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME Buffer Size The setting Buffer Size determines the latency between incoming and outgoing ASIO and WDM data as well as affecting system stability see chapter 13 1 WDM Devices Not before Vista the OS had been capable to handle more than 32 WDM stereo devices There fore under W2k XP it often makes sense to intentionally limit their number Under Windows 7 a setting of 3 enables AES Phones and the first eight MADI channels as WDM devices which saves a lot resources compared to the default setting of 26 Clock Mode Sample Rate Sets the currently used sample rate Offers a central and comfortable way of configuring the sample rate of all WDM devices to the same value as since Vista the audio software is no longer allowed to set the sample rate However an ASIO program can still set the sample rate by itself During record playback the selection is greyed out so no change is possible Clock Source The unit can be configured to use its own clock Int
51. ce B Fie i2 Environment be Wave edit wave editor After selecti ng a playback Playback device Recording device device audio data is MME WDM Lautsprecher RME HDSPe MADI FX v MME crosoft Soundmappe e 5 MME WDM Microsoft Soundmapper sent to the according Buffer Number 3 rA MME WDM Mikrofon 2 High Definition Au are MME WDM MADI 9 16 RME HDSPe MADI Fx channels Butter Size M8 304 GAAN MME WDM MADI 89 96 RME HDSPe MADI FX Latency 16bit 44 1kHz stereo 278 ms MME WDM AES 1 2 RME HDSPe MADI FX Increasing the number Convert mono to stereo MME WDM MADI 105 112 MME WDM MADI 113 120 RME HDSPe MADLS AME HDSPe MADI andior size of audio a A TMT e e MME WDM MADI 185 192 RME HDSPe MADI buffers may prevent the MME WDM MADI 1 8 RME HDSPe MADI FX audio signal from Start streaming at application startup EM Mira ee Ue Hoses ADIP breaking up but also 7 Perform short fade in out when starting stopping MME DM MADI 27 64 FIME HDSPe MADI FX increases latency i e py MME VDM MAD 1724 ME HDSPe MADI E W Transport settings are global to all windows MME WDM MADI 97 104 RME HDSPe MADI F MME WDM MADI 73 80 RME HDSPe MADI FX MME WDM MADI 49 56 RME HDSPe MADI FX MME WDM MADI 65 72 RME HDSPe MADI Fx output is delayed For synchronized playback Release audio hardware when switching to another application while playback and recording are not taking
52. cking on the hammer symbol in the Task Bar s notification area The mixer of the HDSPe MADI FX TotalMix can be opened e by clicking on the mixer icon in the Task Bar s notification area The HDSPe hardware offers a number of helpful well thought of practical functions and options which affect how the card operates it can be configured to suit many different requirements The following is available in the Settings dialog e Latency HDSPe FX Settings Sa N EN e Current sample rate z e Synchronization behaviour por About e Configuration of digital I Os Buffer Size WDM Devices e Input selection 512 M 26 e State of input and output Clock Mode Any changes made in the Settings SampleRate 44100Hz o d E a 7 Clock Source Internal v Curent Internal confirmation e g by clicking on or exiting the dialog iu o ud prs EUR E However settings should not be changed during playback or record if it can be avoided as this can cause Duiput Format SENI unwanted noises AES Professional v Word Single Speed MADI1 64 32 16 ch v MADI1 48K Frame v Also please note that even in Stop mode several programs keep the MADI 2 64 32 16 ch x MADI 2 48KFram x recording and playback devices open MADI3 amp 4 32 16 ch v MADI3 48K Frame v which means that any new settings might not be applied immediately Options M EG D forRecord J Word Clock In Tem M TMS The status displays at the bottom of the dialog
53. clear this way gt Enable full LCD support Activates full Mackie Control LCD support with eight channel names and eight volume pan values Send User defined Names Channel names defined by the user will be sent to the remote device via MIDI and if supported shown in its display Send Level Messages Activates the transmission of the level meter data Peak Hold acti vates the peak hold function as set up for the TotalMix level meters in the preferences Note When MIDI Out is set to NONE then TotalMix FX can still be controlled by Mackie Control MIDI commands but the 8 channel block is not marked as remote target 62 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 25 8 3 OSC Page The OSC page has settings for MIDI remote control via Open Sound Control OSC This is a network based remote protocol that can be used for example by Apple s iPad with the app TouchOSC to wirelessly remote control TotalMix FX running on a Mac or Windows computer TotalMix FX OSC Service gt IP Shows the network address of the computer running TotalMix FX local host This address must be entered on the remote side Host Name Local computer name Port incoming Must match the remote entry Port outgoing Typical values are 7001 or 8000 Portoutgoing Must match the remote entry Port incoming Typical values are 9001 or 9000 Remote Control gt IP or Host name Enter the IP or host name of the remote control Please note tha
54. d DVD Player can be set up this way 20 Using multiple HDSPe MADI FX OS X supports the usage of more than one audio device by the same audio software This is done via the Core Audio function Aggregate Devices which allows to combine several devices into one The current driver supports up to three HDSPe in any combination All units have to be in sync i e have to receive valid sync information either via word clock or by feeding synchronized sig nals e f one of the units is set to clock mode Master all others have to be set to clock mode Slave and have to be synced from the master for example by feeding word clock The clock modes of all units have to be set up correctly in the Settings dialog e Ifall units are fed with a synchronous clock i e all units show Sync in their Settings dialog all channels can be used at once Note TotalMix is part of the hardware of each HDSPe card Up to three mixers are available but these are separated and can t interchange data Therefore a global mixer for all units is not possible User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 33 21 DIGICheck Mac The DIGICheck software is a unique utility developed for testing measuring and analysing digi tal audio streams Although this Windows software is fairly self explanatory it still includes a comprehensive online help DIGICheck 0 66 operates in parallel to any software showing all input data The following is a short summary of the currently availab
55. d Playback row independent from the current Layout Preset That makes it very easy to see and to verify which channels are mixed routed to the current output Sub makes checking and verifying of mixes but also the mix editing itself a lot easier and maintains perfect overview even with lots of channels User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 55 25 5 4 Scroll Location Markers Another feature to improve overview and working with TotalMix FX are scroll location markers TotalMix view only These are displayed automatically when the horizontal size of the TotalMix FX window is smaller than the channel display requires Shown on the right side of the scrollbar of each row they have four elements Arrow to the left A left mouse click let the channels scroll to the very first one or most left gt 1 Marker number 1 Scroll to the desired position and perform a right mouse click on 1 A dialog comes up with precise information Once stored a left mouse click will scroll the channels to the stored position 2 Marker number 2 See 1 for Do you want to set Locator 1 to Mic 2 details Arrow to the right A left mouse click let the channels scroll the last Nein one or most right 14 Scroll location markers are stored in the PH 7 8 PH 7 8 Workspace Hardware Inputs Application Examples e When the TotalMix FX window is intentionally made small in width so only a few channels are shown e When the available sc
56. d there will again be a slight difference in the sample rate and therefore clicks and drop outs In order to display those problems the HDSPe MADI FX includes SyncCheck It checks all clocks used for synchronicity If they are not synchronous to each other the status display will show LOCK If they are synchronous to each other i e absolutely identical the status display will change to SYNC In the example above it would have been obvious immediately that the entry LOCK is shown in SyncCheck instead of SYNC right after connecting the mixing desk With external synchronisation via word clock both entries Word Clock and MADI must display SYNC In practice SyncCheck allows for a quick overview of the correct configuration of all digital de vices So one of the most difficult and error prone topics of the digital studio world finally be comes easy to handle User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 79 30 3 Latency and Monitoring The term Zero Latency Monitoring has been introduced by RME in 1998 for the DIGI96 series of audio cards It stands for the ability to pass through the computer s input signal at the inter face directly to the output Since then the idea behind has become one of the most important features of modern hard disk recording In the year 2000 RME published two ground breaking Tech Infos on the topics Low Latency Background which are still up to date Monitoring ZLM and ASIO and Buffer and Latency Jitter both found on t
57. der to transmit a stereo signal two AES EBU ports are necessary then This transmission mode is called Double Wire in the professional studio world and is also known as S MUX abbreviation for Sample Multiplexing in connection with the multichannel ADAT format The AES3 specification uses the uncommon term Single channel double sam pling frequency mode Not before February 1998 Crystal shipped the first single wire receiver transmitters that could also work with double sample rate It was then possible to transmit two channels of 96 kHz data via one AES EBU port But Double Wire is still far from being dead On one hand there are still many devices which can t handle more than 48 kHz e g digital tape recorders But also other common interfaces like ADAT or TDIF are still using this technique With MADI sample multiplexing is often used as well to offer sample rates higher than 48 kHz The HDSPe MADI FX supports all formats 96 kHz can be received and transmitted both as 48K Frame using S MUX and as native 96K Frame In 48K Frame Double Speed mode the HDSPe MADI FX distributes the data of one channel to two consecutive MADI channels This reduces the available channel count from 64 to 32 As the transmission of double rate signals with 48K Frame is done at standard sample rate Single Speed the MADI ports still operate at 44 1 kHz or 48 kHz User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 81 30 5 QS Quad Speed Due to the small number
58. dios The HDSPe MADI FX word clock input can be high impedance or terminated internally ensur ing maximum flexibility If termination is necessary e g because the card is the last device in the chain activate the option Word Clock In Term in the Settings dialog In case the HDSPe MADI FX resides within a chain of devices receiving word clock plug a T adapter into its BNC input jack and the cable supplying the word clock signal to one end of the adapter Connect the free end to the next device in the chain via a further BNC cable The last device in the chain should be terminated using another T adapter and a 75 Ohm resistor avail able as short BNC plug Of course devices with internal termination do not need T adaptor and terminator plug Due to the outstanding SteadyClock technology of the HDSPe MADI FX we recommend d not to pass the input signal via T adapter but to use the card s word clock output instead Thanks to SteadyClock the input signal will both be freed from jitter and in case of loss or drop out be reset to a valid frequency 40 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME User s Guide RME INTELLIGENT AUDIO SOLUTIONS HDSPe MADI FX 5 TotalMix FX User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 41 25 TotalMix Routing and Monitoring 25 1 Overview The HDSPe MADI FX includes a powerful digital real time mixer the Hammerfall DSP mixer based on RME s unique sample rate independent TotalMix technology It allows fo
59. dth 1 00 equals full stereo 0 00 mono 1 00 swapped channels FX Send Setting the level of the signal sent to the FX bus which feeds Echo and Reverb The current setting is also visible with closed channel settings because knob and small fader are always synchronized To make this function as useful as possible FX Send is locked to the high est submix thus imitating the Aux Post Fader function of a standard mixing desk When moving the big fader both knob and small fader will also move This way the reverb signal will always have the same relation to the dry signal MS Proc The level of the signal sent to the effects can be controlled by the FX In level meters of the FX window It becomes visible after a click on FX in the View Options L R PH MS Proc Activates M S processing within the stereo channel Monaural ER RS information is sent to the left channel stereo information to the right Phase L Inverts the phase of the left channel by 180 Phase R Inverts the phase of the right channel by 180 Note the functions Width MS Proc Phase L and Phase R affect all routings of the respective channel The Hardware Outputs have no width option but two other options FX Return The effect signal Echo and Reverb is mixed to the respective hardware output by the duo knob small fader Loopback Sends the output data to the driver as record data The corresponding submix can be recorded then This channel s hardware
60. e chapter 25 7 Settings Opens a dialog box to configure several functions like Talkback Listenback Main Out and the MIDI Remote Control See chapter 25 8 Channel Layout Opens a dialog to hide channels visually and from remote See chapter 25 5 3 Key Commands Opens a dialog box to configure the computer s keyboard keys F4 to F8 Reset Mix Offers several options to reset the mixer state Straight playback with all to Main Out All Playback channels are routed 1 1 to the Hard ware Outputs Simultaneously all playbacks are mixed down to the Main Out The faders in the third row are not changed gt Straight Playback All Playback channels are routed 1 1 to the Hardware outputs The faders in the third row are not changed gt Clear all submixes Deletes all submixes gt Clear channel effects Switches off all EQs Low Cuts Reverb Echo Dynamics and Ste reo Width and sets their knobs to default position gt Reset output volumes All faders of the third row will be set to 0 dB Main and Speaker B to 10 dB Reset channel names Removes all names assigned by the user gt Total Reset Playback routing 1 1 with mixdown to Main Out Switches off all other func tions User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 65 26 The Matrix 26 1 Overview The mixer window of TotalMix looks and operates similar to mixing desks as it is based on a conventional stereo design The matrix display presents a different method of assignin
61. e door to IMM Elektronik GmbH pem Leipziger Stra e 32 D 09648 Mittweida Germany Shipments not prepaid will be rejected and returned on the original sender s costs 10 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME User s Guide RTE INTELLIGENT AUDIO SOLUTIONS HDSPe MADI FX r Driver Installation and Operation Windows User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 10 Driver and Firmware 10 1 Driver Installation After the HDSPe MADI FX has been installed correctly see 5 Hardware Installation and the computer has been switched on Windows will recognize the new hardware component and start its Hardware Wizard Insert the RME Driver CD into your CD ROM drive and follow fur ther instructions which appear on your computer screen The driver files are located in the di rectory HDSPe FX on the RME Driver CD Windows now installs the driver of the HDSPe card and registers it T as audio device After a reboot the symbols of TotalMix FX and the IMS 12 27 card s Settings dialog will appear in the task bar In Windows 7 Microsoft removed the automatic start of the Driver Software Update dialog The refore this dialog has to be started manually after the failed driver installation Hit the Win key type Device Manager start the Device Manager by selecting it from the list and hit Enter The FX card is shown with a yellow warning symbol Usually it is already found in the correct category Sound Video and Game Controller Plug amp
62. e playback one has already opened the input channel which should be used by the record software This problem can easily be solved First make sure that all rules for proper multi client operation are met not using the same record playback channels in both programs Then route the play back signal via TotalMix to a hardware output in the range of the record software and activate Loopback for recording Mixing several input signals into one record channel In some cases it is useful to record several sources into only one track For example when us ing two microphones recording instruments and loudspeakers TotalMix Loopback mode saves an external mixing desk Simply route mix the input signals to the same output third row then redefine this output into a record channel via Loopback This way any number of input channels from different sources can be recorded into one single track 27 6 MS Processing The mid side principle is a special positioning technique for RME TotalMix FX Fireface UC microphones which results in a mid signal on one channel anda fie side signal on the other channel This information can be trans formed back into a stereo signal quite easily The process sends the monaural mid channel to left and right the side channel too but phase inverted 180 to the right channel For a better understanding the mid channel represents the function L R while the side channel represents L R Function Option
63. ed interface on computers to handle this information Input Thanks to a highly sensitive input stage SPDIF coaxial can be fed too by using a sim t ple cable adapter phono XLR To achieve n Ap this pins 2 and 3 of a male XLR plug are connected individually to the two pins of a i phono plug The cable shielding is only con n c nected to pin 1 of the XLR not to the phono Shield plug Output Using the cable adapter XLR phono described above devices with coaxial SPDIF interface can be connected to the AES output of the HDSPe MADI FX as well Note that most consumer equipment with phono SPDIF inputs will only accept signals having a Channel Status Con sumer format The Consumer status is activated in the Settings dialog In Consumer mode the output voltage is reduced as well as SPDIF calls for a lower voltage than AES EBU The output signal coding of the HDSPe MADI FX has been implemented according to AES3 1992 Amendment 4 32 44 1 48 kHz 64 88 2 96 kHz 176 4 192 kHz depending on the current sample rate Audio use No Copyright Copy permitted Format Professional or Consumer Category General Generation not indicated 2 Channel No Emphasis Aux Bits Audio use 24 Bit Origin RME User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME oO O 23 3 Line Headphones HDSPe MADI FX offers a hi quality analog monitor output The short circuit protected stereo line output provides high output level low impedance and is ava
64. ely slow time con stant so that it shows the average loudness quite well Overs are shown in red at the top of the bar In the Preferences dialog F2 the Peak Hold time the over detection and the RMS reference can be set Fader Determines the gain level of the signal routed to the current routing destination lower label Please note that this fader is not the fader of the channel but only the fader of the cur rent routing Compared to a standard mixing desk TotalMix does not have a channel fader but only Aux Sends as many as there are hardware outputs Therefore TotalMix can create as many different Submixes as there are hardware outputs This concept is understood best in the Submix View but more on that later Below the fader the Gain is shown in a numerical display field according to the current fader position The fader can be dragged with the left mouse button pressed moved by the mouse wheel gt set to 0 dB and by a double click The same happens with a single click plus held down Ctrl key adjusted in fine mode by mouse drag and mouse wheel when holding the Shift key down A Shift click on a fader adds the fader to the temporary fader group All faders now marked yellow are ganged and move simultaneously in a relative way The temporary fader group is deleted by a click on the F symbol in the upper right of the win dow The arrow symbol at the bottom minimizes the channel width to that of the level
65. ernal Master or one of the input signals Word MADI AES Sync In If the selected source isn t available No Lock the unit will change to the next available one this behaviour is called AutoSync If none is available then the internal clock is used The current clock source is displayed as Current Pitch More information on Pitch is available in chapter 11 2 Output Format AES The channel status of the AES output signal can be set to Consumer or Professional For fur ther details please refer to chapter 23 2 MADI 1 2 3 Defines the format of the MADI output signal MADI can be a 56 or 64 channel signal 96 kHz Word The word clock output signal usually equals the current sample rate Selecting Single Speed causes the output signal to always stay within the range of 32 kHz to 48 kHz So at 96 kHz and 192 kHz sample rate the output word clock is 48 kHz MADI 1 2 3 Sample rates higher than 48 kHz can be transmitted using the normal 48K Frame or using a native 96K Frame at the card s output Options EQ D for Record Switches EQ and Dynamics of all input channels into the recording path In case Loopback has been activated the EQ and Dynamics of the Output channel are within the recording path See also chapter 27 5 Word Clock In Term Checking this option terminates the word clock input internally with 75 Ohms User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 15 TMS TMS activates the transmission of Channel Status data and Trac
66. ets the Reverb or Echo Recall gt Save to gt Import Export Factory gt Reset Rename gt N Vocal Heaven R E N Gated Snare Smooth Echo Slap Back Smooth Reflection Sizzle Drums Big Hall Bass Crunch Stereo Enhancer Rename The Presets 1 to 16 can be renamed The changes will be shown in both lists Recall and Save to User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 59 25 7 Preferences The dialog Preferences can be opened via the Options menu or directly via F2 Level Meters Full scale samples for OVR Number of consecutive samples to trigger an over detection 1 to 10 Peak Hold Time Hold time of the peak value Adjustable from 0 1 up to 9 9 s RMS 3 dB Shifts the RMS value by 3 dB so that full scale level is identical for Peak and RMS at 0 dBFS Mixer Views FX Send follows highest Submix Locks the FX Send knob to the channel fader As TotalMix supports multiple routings per channel a definition is needed which fader only one is visible is the one that FX Send will follow This is always the one with the highest fader position means the highest gain Center Balance Pan when changing Mono Stereo When switching a stereo channel into two mono channels the pan pots are set fully left and right This option will set them to center instead Disable double click fader action Prevents unintentional gain settings for example when using sensitive touchpads Dynamic Meters
67. exing An ADAT port supports four channels this way With MADI S MUX is used as well to transmit up to 96kHz although the 48K Frame format is used S MUX4 The Quad Wire method allows to transmit two channels at up to 192 kHz via ADAT The method is referred to as S MUX4 With MADI S MUXA is used as well to transmit up to 192 kHz although the 48K Frame format is used Note All conversions of the described methods are lossless The existing samples are just spread or re united between the channels 48K Frame Most often used MADI format Supports up to 64 channels at up to 48 kHz 96K Frame Frame format for up to 32 channels at up to 96 kHz The advantage of this format against 48K Frame using S MUX the receiver can detect the real double sample rate on its own and im mediately With 48K Frame and S MUX the user has to set up the correct sample rate in all involved devices manually 84 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME
68. feedback in the digital carrier so synchronization breaks down To remedy this switch the HDSP clock mode to Internal RME s exclusive SyncCheck technology enables an easy to use check and display of the cur rent clock status nput Status indicates whether there is a valid signal Lock No Lock for each input Word MADI AES Sync In or if there is a valid and synchronous signal Sync See chapter 30 2 Via Clock Source a preferred input can be defined As long as the card sees a valid signal there this input will be designated as the sync source otherwise the other inputs will be scanned in turn If none of the inputs are receiving a valid signal the card automatically switches clock mode to Master Under WDM the card will has to set Clock Mode the sample rate Therefore the error shown to the right can occur A stable Fe idis signal with a sample rate of 32 kHz is Clock Source Optical In v Current MADI detected at the Word Clock input Sync but Windows audio had been Pitch 0 000 Y set to 44100 Hz before The red colour of the text label signals the BY 452 error condition and prompts the user to set 32000 Hz manually as sample rate Current 32000 Hz Under ASIO the audio software sets the sample rate so that such an error will usually not hap pen but it can too In slave mode the external sample rate has priority Feeding 44 1 kHz will prevent the ASIO software to set 48 kHz ob
69. g all channels can be used at once This is especially easy to handle under ASIO as the ASIO driver presents all cards as one Note TotalMix is part of the hardware of each HDSPe card Up to three mixers are available but these are separated and can t interchange data Therefore a global mixer for all units is not possible 15 DIGICheck Windows The DIGICheck software is a unique utility developed for testing measuring and analysing digi tal audio streams Although this software is fairly self explanatory it still includes a comprehen sive online help DIGICheck 5 5 operates as multi client ASIO host therefore can be used in parallel to any software with both inputs and outputs The following is a short summary of the currently available functions e Level Meter High precision 24 bit resolution 2 8 196 channels Application examples Peak level measurement RMS level measurement over detection phase correlation measure ment dynamic range and signal to noise ratios RMS to peak difference loudness long term peak measurement input check Oversampling mode for levels higher than 0 dBFS Vertical and horizontal mode Slow RMS and RLB weighting filter Supports visualization ac cording to the K system e Hardware Level Meter for Input Playback and Output As above receive pre calculated directly from the HDSPe hardware with near zero CPU load e Spectral Analyser World wide unique 10 20 or 30 band display in analog bandpa
70. g and routing channels based on a single channel or monaural design The matrix view of the HDSPe MADI FX has the look and works like a conventional patchbay adding functionality way beyond comparable hardware and software solutions While most patchbays will allow you to connect inputs to outputs with just the original level 1 1 or 0 dB as known from mechanical patchbays TotalMix allows you to use a freely definable gain value per crosspoint Matrix and TotalMix are different ways of displaying the same processes Because of this both views are always fully synchronized Each change in one view is immediately reflected in the other view as well 26 2 Elements of the Matrix View The visual design of the TotalMix Matrix is mainly determined by the architecture of the HDSPe MADI FX system Horizontal labels All hardware outputs gt Vertical labels All hardware inputs Below are all DIS OL fii TotalMix FX Fireface UCK 1 48 0k4 File Function Options Help gt Green 0 0 dB field Standard 1 1 routing Out 1 Out 2 Out 3 Out 4 Out 5 Mic 1 2 Black field with number Shows the current gain AN 3 value as dB AN 4 gt Blue field This routing is muted ELI gt Brown field Phase 180 inverted Dark grey field No routing To maintain overview when the window size has been reduced the labels are floating They won t leave the visible area when scrolling 26 3 Operation Using the Matrix is a breeze
71. grams the input choice might be limited to stereo or left right so channels 3 to 8 of each block are not available This problem does usually not exist on the playback side and never under ASIO Multi Channel using WDM The WDM Streaming device Loudspeaker MADI 1 8 of the RME driver can operate as usual Stereo device or as up to 8 channel device An 8 channel playback using the Windows Media Player requires the speaker setup 7 1 Sur round Configure as follows XP Control Panel Sounds and Multimedia Audio Volume Speaker Settings Advanced lt Vista 7 Control Panel Sound Playback Loudspeaker Configure 12 4 Multi client Operation RME audio interfaces support multi client operation Several programs can be used at the same time The formats ASIO and WDM can even be used on the same playback channels simulta neously As WDM uses a real time sample rate conversion ASIO does not all active ASIO software has to use the same sample rate However a better overview is maintained by using the channels exclusively This is no limitation at all because TotalMix allows for any output routing and therefore a playback of multiple soft ware on the same hardware outputs Inputs can be used from an unlimited number of WDM and ASIO software at the same time as the driver simply sends the data to all applications simultaneously RME s sophisticated tool DIGICheck is an exception to this rule It operates like an ASIO host
72. h SYNC IN is slave In the Settings dialog the slave has to be set to Sync In under Clock Mode Clock Source X1102 Expansion Board 20 pin connector for the included HDSPe MADI FX expansion board X200 No function Used to program the card in the factory X606 2 pin connector fitted with a blue jumper Warning without this jumper the card will not work 7 Accessories RME offers several optional components Additionally parts of the HDSPe MADI FX like the special breakout cable are available separately Part Number Description BOAESMIDI AES MIDI breakout cable VKMADIFX 20 conductor flat ribbon cable ONKO100 MADI Optical Network Cable 3 3 ft 1 m ONKD0300 MADI Optical Network Cable 10 ft 3 m ONKDO600 MADI Optical Network Cable 20 ft 6 m ONKD1000 MADI Optical Network Cable 33 ft 10 m ONKD2000 MADI Optical Network Cable 66 ft 20 m ONKD5000 MADI Optical Network Cable 165 ft 50 m 8 Warranty Each individual HDSPe undergoes comprehensive quality control and a complete test at IMM before shipping The usage of high grade components should guarantee a long and trouble free operation of the unit If you suspect that your product is faulty please contact your local retailer Audio AG grants a limited manufacturer warranty of 6 months from the day of invoice showing the date of sale The length of the warranty period is different per country Please contact your local distributor for extended warranty information a
73. he HDSPe MADI FX delivers 4 Vpp to 75 Ohms For wrong termination with 2 x 75 Ohms 37 5 Ohms there are still 3 3 Vpp fed into the network per output 38 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 24 2 Technical Description and Usage In the analog domain one can connect any device to another device a synchronisation is not necessary Digital audio is different It uses a clock the sample frequency The signal can only be processed and transmitted when all participating devices share the same clock If not the signal will suffer from wrong samples distortion crackle sounds and drop outs AES EBU SPDIF ADAT and MADI are self clocking an additional word clock connection in principle isn t necessary But when using more than one device simultaneously problems are likely to happen For example any self clocking will not work in a loop cabling when there is no master main clock inside the loop Additionally the clock of all participating devices has to be synchronous This is often impossible with devices limited to playback for example CD players as these have no SPDIF input thus can t use the self clocking technique as clock reference In a digital studio synchronisation is maintained by connecting all devices to a central sync source For example the mixing desk works as master and sends a reference signal the word clock to all other devices Of course this will only work as long as all other devices are equipped with a word clock or
74. he RME website How much Zero is Zero From a technical view there is no zero Even the analog pass through is subject to phase er rors equalling a delay between input and output However delays below certain values can subjectively be claimed to be a zero latency This applies to analog routing and mixing and in our opinion also to RME s Zero Latency Monitoring The term describes the digital path of the audio data from the input of the interface to its output RME s digital receivers operate buffered and together with TotalMix and the output via the transmitter cause a typical delay of 3 samples At 44 1 kHz this equals about 68 us 0 000068 s and about 15us at 192 kHz Oversampling While the delays of digital interfaces can be disregarded altogether the analog inputs and out puts do cause a significant delay Modern converter chips operate with 64 or 128 times over sampling plus digital filtering in order to move the error prone analog filters away from the au dible frequency range as far as possible This typically generates a delay of one millisecond A playback and re record of the same signal via DA and AD loopback then causes an offset of the newly recorded track of about 2 ms Low Latency The HDSPe MADI FX uses a hi class DA converter from Cirrus Logic offering exceptional Sig nal to Noise and distortion figures and an innovative digital filter The exact delays caused by the DA conversion are Sample frequency khz 441
75. he stereo output faders lowest row which are set up as Main Out in the Control Room section can also be controlled by the standard Control Change Volume via MIDI chan nel 1 With this the main volume of the Fireface is controllable from nearly any MIDI equipped hardware device MIDI remote control always operates in View Submix mode even when the View Option Free is currently selected in TotalMix FX 28 2 Mapping TotalMix supports the following Mackie Control surface elements Element Channel faders 1 8 Master fader SEL 1 8 DYNAMICS V Pots 1 8 pressing V Pot knobs CHANNEL LEFT or REWIND CHANNEL RIGHT or FAST FORWARD BANK LEFT or ARROW LEFT BANK RIGHT or ARROW RIGHT ARROW UP or Assignable1 PAGE ARROW DOWN or Assignable2 PAGE EQ PLUGINS INSERT STOP PLAY PAN FLIP DYN MUTE Ch 1 8 SOLO Ch 1 8 SELECT Ch 1 8 REC Ch 1 8 RECORD F1 F8 F9 F10 F12 Meaning in TotalMix volume Main Out channel fader Activate Trim mode pan pan center move one channel left move one channel right move eight channels left move eight channels right move one row up move one row down Master Mute Master Solo Dim Main Out Talkback Mono Main Out Speaker B TrimGains Mute Solo Select select output bus Submix Recall load Snapshot 1 8 select Main Out select Cue Phones 1 3 Tested with Behringer BCF2000 Firmware v1 07 in Mackie Control emulation for Steinberg mode and with Mackie
76. he synchronization status of input signals 1 x MIDI I O 16 channels high speed MIDI DIGICheck DSP Level meter in hardware peak and RMS calculation TotalMix 4096 channel mixer with 46 bit internal resolution SteadyClock Jitter immune super stable digital clock Quick Boot technology for immediate loading of the hardware settings User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME Hardware Installation Before installing the PCI Express card please make sure the computer is switched off and the power cable is disconnected from mains supply Inserting or removing the card while the computer is in operation can cause irreparable damage to both motherboard and card Disconnect the power cord and all other cables from the computer 2 Remove the computer s housing Further information on how to do this can be obtained from your computer s instruction manual 3 Important Before removing the HDSPe MADI FX from its protective bag discharge any static in your body by touching the metal chassis of the PC A Prior to installation Connect the HDSPe MADI FX card to the Expansion Board using the supplied 20 conductor flat ribbon cable Insert the HDSPe MAD CONDO FX firmly into a free PCI Express slot press and fasten the screw Insert the Expansion Board and fasten the screw Replace the computer s housing Reconnect all cables including the power cord 6 Hardware Connectors 6 1 External Connectors The bracket of
77. heck whether the PCI Express interface is correctly inserted in the PCI Express slot The card and drivers have been installed correctly but playback does not work e Check whether the HDSPe MADI FX appears in the Device Manager When the device has a yellow exclamation mark then there is a conflict The input signal cannot be monitored in real time e ASIO Direct Monitoring has not been enabled and or monitoring has been disabled globally wrong mix setup in TotalMix Playback works but record doesn t e Check that there is a valid signal at the input If so the current sample frequency is dis played in the Settings dialog e Check whether the HDSPe system has been selected as recording device in the audio ap plication e Check whether the sample frequency set in the audio application Recording properties or similar matches the input signal Crackle during record or playback e Increase the number and size of buffers in the Settings dialog or in the application e Try different cables coaxial or optical to rule out any defects here e Check that cables devices have not been connected in a closed loop If so set the system s clock mode to Internal User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 25 26 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME User s Guide me INTELLIGENT AUDIO SOLUTIONS HDSPe MADI FX r Driver Installation and Operation Mac OS X User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 27 17 Driver and Flash Upda
78. hen adjust the fader and pans of first and second row finished Free The Free view is for advanced users It is used to edit several submixes simultaneously without the need to change between them Here one works with the routings fields of the input and playback channels only which then show different routing destinations Trim Gains Activates all Trim buttons on all channels TotalMix thus behaves like a conventional simple mixing desk Each fader affects all active routings of the channel simultaneously as if the fader were a trim pot in the hardware input Level Meter MADI FX F View Options Pre FX Post FX Switches all level meters before pre or after post the effects Level changes by these can be easily checked using this feature Additionally the input signal can be checked for overloads It is recommended to use Post FX as default setting as the ex treme reduction of a signal by LC EQ is very seldom Also all over displays of all level me ters operate both pre and post efficiently preventing overloads going unnoticed RMS Level The numerical level display in the channels displays peak or RMS Mixer Setup gt 2 Rows Switches the mixer view to 2 rows Hardware Inputs and Software Playbacks are placed side by side This view saves a lot of space especially in height O Names Display of the original names of channels when they had been renamed by the user FX Opens the window to set
79. hones 4 b Cue to gt User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 51 25 5 The Control Strip The Control Strip on the right side is a fixed element It combines different functions that are either required globally or constantly used and therefore should not be hidden in a menu Device selection Select the unit to be controlled in case more than one is installed on the computer MADI FX DSP Meter Shows the DSP load caused by activated EQ Low Cut Compressor Auto Level Echo and Reverb The DSP of the HDSPe MADI FX has an automatic load limiter If no DSP resources are left further effects can not be activated When switching to DS and QS modes effects will be deactivated automatically until the DSP is not overloaded anymore Undo Redo With the unlimited Undo and Redo changes of the mix can be undone and redone at any time Undo Redo does not cover graphical changes window size position channels wide narrow etc and also no changes to the Presets The accidental overwrite of an EQ Preset can not be made undone Undo Redo also operates across Workspaces Therefore a completely differently set up mixer view can be loaded via Workspace and with a single click on Undo the previous internal mixer state is returned but the new mixer view stays Global Mute Solo Fader Mute Global Mute operates in a pre fader style muting all currently activated routings of the channel As soon as any Mute button is pressed the Mute Ma
80. ignal is routed in real time to the output whenever a recording is started punch in ns a MADI F 1 About Buffer Size m WDM Devices 512 Y IM 26 Clock Mode Sample Rate 44100 Hz Clock Source Internal Current Internal Pitch 0 000 LI 5 5 Output Format r96kHz AES Professional word Single Speed MADI1 64 32 15 ch v MADI 1 48K Frame v MADI 2 64 32 15 ch v MADI 2 48K Frame X MADI 3 64 32 16 ch v MADI 3 48K Frame x Options M EQ D forRecord Word Clock In Term M TMS Redundancy Mode Current MADI Input Mirror MADIT Output to MADI2 and 3 Input Status Word No Lock AES No Lock MADI1 X Sync 441kHz 48K Frame 64 channels MADI2 Sync 441kHz 48K Frame 64 channels MADIS Sync 441kHz 48K Frame 64 channels Abbrechen 22 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 13 Operation under ASIO 13 1 General Start the ASIO software and Perses CHEN select ASIO HDSPe FX as VST Audiosystem the audio I O device The HDSPe supports AS O Direct Monitoring ADM The HDSPe MADI FX s MIDI I O can be used with both MME MIDI and DirectMusic MIDI At a sample rate of 88 2 or 96 Ger te d Fembedienungsger te Quick Controls MIDI MIDI Anschluss Einstellungen d Transport SyncStation Time Base Zeitanzeige d Video n Video Player c VST cooper ASIO HDSPe FX VST System Link ASIO Treiber Wl AS10 Treiber deakt
81. ilable via a 6 3 mm 1 4 TRS jack Therefore it is also suitable for a direct use with headphones The analog output is directly driven from the channels 3 4 Its output volume is controlled by the hardware output faders of channel 3 4 in TotalMix Additionally the analog output can play back any input or playback signal using TotalMix The analog output does not include speaker protection When switching T the computer on and off noise may 4 occur at the analog outputs Right In case the output should operate as a Up line out an adapter TRS plug to RCA Shield phono plugs or TRS plug to TS plugs is required The pin assignment follows inter national standards The left channel is connected to the tip the right channel to the ring of the TRS jack plug Shield 23 4 MIDI The HDSPe MADI FX offers one MIDI I O via 5 pin DIN connectors The MIDI port is added to the system by the driver Using MIDI capable software the port can be accessed under the name MADI MIDI Using more than one HDSPe MADI FX a consecutive number is added to the port name like MAD MIDI In 1 2 etc The three software only MIDI ports receive and transmit MIDI data via MADI This allows for a direct communication between systems with HDSPe MADI FX cards Additionally MIDI data can be transmitted from to other RME devices with MADI ports without any additional line or cabling between computer MADI card and units The MIDI ports support multi
82. inexperienced user thanks to the latest Plug and Play tech nology The numerous unique features and well thought out configuration dialogs put the Ham merfall DSPe MADI FX at the very top of the range of digital audio interface cards The package contains drivers for Windows XP Vista 7 8 and Mac OS X x86 Intel Our high performance philosophy guarantees maximum system performance by executing as many functions as possible not in the driver i e the CPU but directly within the audio hard Introduction ware 2 Please check that your HDSPe MADI FX package contains each of the following A Package Contents HDSPe MADI FX PCI Express card HDSPe MADI FX BNC X expansion board Quick Info guide RME Driver CD AES MIDI breakout cable Expansion Board ribbon cable 20 conductor Internal Sync cable 3 conductor System Requirements Windows XP or up Mac OS X Intel 10 6 or up PCI Express Interface a free PCI Express slot 1 lane version 1 1 Brief Description and Characteristics All settings can be changed in real time 8 available buffer sizes latencies 0 7 1 5 3 6 12 23 46 93 ms 100 channels 96 kHz 24 bit record playback 52 channels 192 kHz 24 bit record playback Automatic and intelligent master slave clock control Word clock input and output TotalMix for latency free submixes and perfect ASIO Direct Monitoring SyncAlign guarantees sample aligned and never swapping channels SyncCheck tests and reports t
83. irect Monitoring Samplitude Sequoia Cubase Nuendo etc send control commands to TotalMix This is directly shown by TotalMix When a fader is moved in the ASIO host the corresponding fader in TotalMix will move too TotalMix reflects all ADM gain and pan changes in real time But the faders only move when the currently activated routing the selected submix corre sponds to the routing in the ASIO host The Matrix on the other hand will show any change as it shows all possible routings in one view 27 2 Copy a Submix TotalMix allows you to copy complete submixes to other outputs In case a complex submix is need with only a few changes on a different output the whole submix can be copied to that output Right click with the mouse on the original submix output means Hardware Output In the context menu select Copy Submix Then right click on the new submix output choose Paste Submix in the context menu Now fine tune the submix 27 3 Delete a Submix The easiest and quickest way to delete complex routings is by selection of the according output channel in the mixer view by a right mouse click and selection of the menu entry Clear Submix As TotalMix FX includes an unlimited undo the delete process can be undone without any prob lem 27 4 Doubling the Output Signal If a mix should be sent out via two different hardware outputs the most elegant way is to use a permanently activated Cue Set up the mixdown on the routing to the Main
84. ivieren wenn Programm im Hintergrund l uft Eingangslatenz 5 850 ms Ausganaslatenz 5 589 ms Samplerate 44100 0 Hz Erweiterte Optionen if Sti i n Multi Prozessor Modus Vorab laden Aufnahmelatenz ber cksichtigen Aufnahmeversatz kHz Double Speed mode the number of channels avail able at the MADI input and output is halved At a sample rate of 176 4 or 192 kHz Quad Speed mode the number of channels is re duced to 16 Hilfe Zur cksetzen Abbrechen Note When changing the sample rate range between Single Double and Quad Speed the number of channels presented from the ASIO driver will change too This may require a reset of the I O list in the audio software 13 2 Known Problems If a computer does not provide sufficient CPU power and or sufficient PCle bus transfer rates then drop outs crackling and noise will appear Raising the buffer size in the Settings dialog of the HDSPe system helps in most cases We recommend to deactivate all Plugins to verify that these are not the reason for such effects Another common source of trouble is incorrect synchronization ASIO does not support asyn chronous operation which means that the input and output signals not only have to use the same sample frequency but also have to be in sync Devices connected to the HDSPe MADI FX must be properly configured for Full Duplex operation As long as SyncCheck in the Set ti
85. k Marker information from the AES and MADI input signal Redundancy Mode With redundancy mode active the number of input channels is reduced to 66 AES plus 1x MADI The two other MADI ports serve as fail safe inputs and are used as soon as the signal on the Current MADI Input fails This setting is also a perfect choice if the card is used as single MADI I O saving resources and providing simpler channel selection dialogs Mirror MADI1 Output to MADI2 3 This option provides a quick and simple solution to mirror the first MADI output to outputs 2 and 3 The outputs are reduced to 2 2 64 channels AES Phones and one MADI port All the data routed and mixed to MADI port 1 is sent to MADI port 2 3 as well Input Status Displays the state of the current input signal Clock state No Lock Lock Sync Sample rate coarse MADI Frame format 48K or 96K Channel format 64 or 56 channels Sync Check HDSPe FX Settings Emm MADI FX 1 About Buffer Size WDM Devices 512 26 Clock Mode Sample Rate 44100 Hz v Clock Source Internal v Current Internal Pitch 0 000 v Output Format 96 kHz AES Professional Word MADI1 64 32 16 ch MADI 1 Single Speed 48K Frame MADI 2 MADI 2 64 32 16 ch v 48K Frame z MADI 3 64 32 16 ch v MADI 3 48K Frame 2 Options M EQ D forRecord D Word Clock In Term Redundancy Mode Current MADI Input
86. kHz 48Kframe 64 channels driver version is shown Output Format AES The channel status of the AES output signal can be set to Consumer or Professional For fur ther details please refer to chapter 23 2 MADI 1 2 3 Defines the format of the MADI output signal MADI can be a 56 or 64 channel signal 96 kHz Word The word clock output signal usually equals the current sample rate Selecting Single Speed causes the output signal to always stay within the range of 32 kHz to 48 kHz So at 96 kHz and 192 kHz sample rate the output word clock is 48 kHz MADI 1 2 38 Sample rates higher than 48 kHz can be transmitted using the normal 48K Frame or using a native 96K Frame at the card s output User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 29 Options EQ D for Record Switches EQ and Dynamics of all input channels into the recording path In case Loopback has been activated the EQ and Dynamics of the Output channel are within the recording path See also chapter 27 5 eoc HDSPe Settings Word Clock In Term Checking this option terminates Properties For the word clock input internally HDSPe MADI FX Slot 2 Firmware v67 Driver v1 00 with 75 Ohms Output Format 96 kHz pal MADI1 Output to MADI2 AES pecorum Mod Single Speed This option provides a quick and MADI1 64 32 ch MADI1 96KFrame_ simple solution to mirror the first MADI2 64 32 ch MADI2 96K Frame MADI output to outputs 2 and 3 MADI3 64 32 ch MADI3 96
87. l Clocks Internal MADI In Word Clock In AES In Low jitter design 1 ns in PLL mode all inputs Internal clock 800 ps jitter random spread spectrum Jitter suppression of external clocks about 30 dB 2 4 kHz Effective clock jitter influence on DA conversion near zero Provides nearly jitter free word clock directly from the MADI input signal Input PLL ensures zero dropout even at more than 100 ns jitter Supported sample rates 28 kHz up to 200 kHz Compliant with PCI Express Base Specification v1 1 1 Lane PCI Express Endpoint device no PCI Express to PCI Bridge 2 5 Gbps line speed Packet based full duplex communication up to 500 MB s transfer rate 29 4 MIDI 1 x MIDI I O via breakout cable 3 x MIDI I O via MADI PCle bus based hi speed operation Separate 128 byte FIFO for input and output MIDI state machine in hardware for reduced interrupt request load Invisible transmission via User bit of channel 56 up to 48 kHz Invisible transmission via User bit of channel 28 up to 96 kHz User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 77 30 Technical Background 30 1 MADI Basics MADI the serial Multichannel Audio Digital Interface has been defined already in 1989 as an extension of the existing AES3 standard following several manufacturers wish The format also known as AES EBU a balanced bi phase signal is limited to two channels Simply put MADI contains 28 of those AES EBU signals in serial i e after one another and the s
88. le functions e Level Meter High precision 24 bit resolution 2 8 196 channels Application examples Peak level measurement RMS level measurement over detection phase correlation measure ment dynamic range and signal to noise ratios RMS to peak difference loudness long term peak measurement input check Oversampling mode for levels higher than 0 dBFS Vertical and horizontal mode Slow RMS and RLB weighting filter Supports visualization ac cording to the K System e Hardware Level Meter for Input Playback and Output As above receive pre calculated directly from the HDSPe hardware with near zero CPU load e Spectral Analyser World wide unique 10 20 or 30 band display in analog bandpass filter technology 192 kHz capable e Vector Audio Scope World wide unique Goniometer showing the typical afterglow of a oscilloscope tube Includes Correlation meter and level meter e Totalyser Spectral Analyser Level Meter and Vector Audio Scope in a single window e Surround Audio Scope Professional Surround Level Meter with extended correlation analysis ITU weighting and ITU summing meter e 1TU1770 EBU R128 Meter For standardized loudness measurements e Bit Statistics amp Noise Shows the true resolution of audio signals as well as errors and DC offset Includes Signal to Noise measurement in dB and dBA plus DC measurement e Completely multi client Open as many measurement windows as you like on any chan nels and inputs or ou
89. lso putting them beside the Main Out increases the overview within the output sec tion greatly Dim The volume will be reduced by the amount set in the Phones 1 Main Settings dialog F3 Recall Sets the gain value defined in the Settings dialog Speak B Switches playback from Main Out to Main Out B The faders of the channels Main and Speaker B can be ganged via Link Mono Talkback Mono Mixes left and right channel Useful to check for mono compatibility and phase problems Mute FX Talkback A click on this button will dim all signals on the Phones outputs by an amount set up in the Preferences dialog At the same time the control room s microphone signal source defined in Preferences is sent to the Phones The microphone level is adjusted with the channel s input fader Assign External Input Switches Main monitoring from the mix bus to the stereo input defined in the Settings dialog F3 The relative volume of the stereo signal is adjusted there as well Mute FX Mutes Reverb and Echo on the Main Out to hear the mix without those effects Assign Allows to define the Main Out Main Out B Speaker B and up to four Phones None outs The choice is limited to AES Phones AN 1 2 and MADI 1 to 8 AN 3 4 The output for the Cue signal which is AN 5 6 usually Main can also be set to one of the Main Out 7 PH 7 8 four Phones outputs Main Out B gt SPDIF Phones 1 gt 45 1 2 Phones 2 rd Phones 3 gt P
90. nd service Note that each country may have regional specific warranty implications In any case warranty does not cover damage caused by improper installation or maltreatment replacement or repair in such cases can only be carried out at the owner s expense 8 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME No warranty service is provided when the product is not returned to the local distributor in the region where the product had been originally shipped Audio AG does not accept claims for damages of any kind especially consequential damage Liability is limited to the value of the Hammerfall DSP The general terms of business drawn up by Audio AG apply at all times 9 Appendix RME news driver updates and further product information are available on our website http www rme audio com Distributor Audio AG Am Pfanderling 60 D 85778 Haimhausen Tel 49 08133 91810 Manufacturer IMM Elektronik GmbH Leipziger Strasse 32 D 09648 Mittweida Trademarks All trademarks registered or otherwise are the property of their respective owners RME DIGICheck and Hammerfall are registered trademarks of RME Intelligent Audio Solutions HDSPe MADI FX HDSPe MADI HDSP AES 32 TMS DIGI96 SyncAlign ZLM SyncCheck and TotalMix are trademarks of RME Intelligent Audio Solutions Alesis and ADAT are regis tered trademarks of Alesis Corp ADAT optical is a trademark of Alesis Corp Microsoft Win dows 2000 Windows XP Windows Vista and Windows 7 are
91. ne the complete DAW This way the DAW can match instruments which have a wrong or unchangeable tuning Pitch allows for the change of the sample rate of all WDM devices at the same time Since Vista this is no longer possible via the audio program thus requires a manual reconfiguration of all WDM devices Changing the sample rate from the Settings dialog solves this problem User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 17 11 3 Clock Modes Synchronisation In the digital world all devices must be either Master clock source or Slave clock receiver Whenever several devices are linked within a system there must always be a single master clock A digital system can only have one master If the card s clock mode is set to Master all other devices must be set to Slave The HDSPe MADI FX utilizes a very user friendly intelligent clock control called AutoSync In AutoSync mode the system constantly scans the digital input for a valid signal If any valid sig nal is found the card switches from the internal quartz Clock Mode Current Internal to a clock extracted from the input signal Clock Mode Current MADI Word AES or Sync In The difference to a usual slave mode is that whenever the clock reference fails the system will automatically use its internal clock and operate in clock mode Master AutoSync guarantees that normal record and record while play will always work correctly In certain cases however AutoSync may cause
92. ngs dialog only displays Lock instead of Sync the devices have not been set up properly The same applies when using more than one card they all have to be in sync Else a periodi cally repeated noise will be heard RME supports ASIO Direct Monitoring ADM Please note that not all programs support ADM completely or error free The most often reported problem is the wrong behaviour of panorama in a stereo channel In case of a drift between audio and MIDI or in case of a fixed deviation MIDI notes placed close before or behind the correct position the settings in Cubase Nuendo have to be changed At the time of print the option Use System Timestamp should be activated The HDSPe system supports both MME MIDI and DirectMusic MIDI It depends on the used appli cation which one will work better User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 23 14 Using multiple HDSPe MADI FX The current driver supports operation of up to three HDSPe MADI FX All cards have to be in sync i e have to receive valid sync information either via word clock or by using AutoSync and feeding synchronized signals e f one of the HDSPe cards is set to clock mode Master all others have to be set to clock mode Slave and have to be synced from the master for example by feeding word clock The clock modes of all units have to be set up correctly in their Settings dialogs e If all units are fed with a synchronous clock i e all units show Sync in their Settings dialo
93. ns 23 1 MADI I O The BNC input is built according to AES10 1991 The input impedance is 75 Ohm It will oper ate error free from about 180 mVpp on The optical input and output uses a FDDI ISO IEC 9413 3 compatible optical module accord ing to AES10 1991 More information can be found in chapter 30 1 MADI Basics HDSPe MADI FX includes automatic input selection Redundancy Mode In case the current input signal fails the unit switches to the other input immediately This mode called redundancy operation offers improved safety against errors on the transmission line Switching the inputs is done in less than a sample and provided the input signal fails abruptly click free The BNC output is built according to AES10 1991 The output s impedance is 75 Ohm The output voltage will be 600 mVpp when terminated with 75 Ohm In MAD I1 output mirror mode output 2 and 3 hold the same signal as MADI port 1 This mode allows for distributing a signal to three destinations or redundant operation at the output of the card 23 2 AES EBU The XLR AES EBU input and output are transformer balanced and ground free The incoming channel status is ignored Connection is accomplished using balanced cables with XLR plugs AES EBU and SPDIF can contain Emphasis information Audio signals with Emphasis have a strong high frequency boost requiring high frequency attenuation on playback An Emphasis indication gets lost as there exists no standardiz
94. o Volume Adjusts the level of the reverb effects signal sent to the FX return bus Special Settings for Room 1 4 Output ra High Cut Low pass filter after the reverb generation A reduction of the treble often lets the reverb sound more natural Adjustable from 5 kHz up to 20 kHz Room Scale Determines the size of the room thus changing density and length of the reverb effect Adjustable from 0 5 up to 2 0 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 57 Special Settings for Envelope and Gated High Cut Low pass filter after the reverb generation A reduction of the treble often lets the reverb sound more natural Adjustable from 5 kHz up to 20 kHz Attack Length of time for the volume increase of the reverb signal Also called rise time Ad justable from 5 ms up to 400 ms Hold Length of time for the fixed volume part of the reverb signal Adjustable from 5 ms up to 400 ms Release Length of time for the volume decrease of the reverb signal Adjustable from 5 ms up to 400 ms Special Settings for Classic Reverb Time Sets the duration of the reverb referenced to a volume drop of 20 dB Adjustable from 0 1 s up to 9 9 s High Damp Sets the treble damping over time for the reverb signal In principle this is a low pass filter Because of the operation principle of the Classic reverb it shows a slightly different behaviour Adjustable from 5 kHz up to 20 kHz Echo Activated by the On button Type Lists differen
95. of available devices that use sample rates up to 192 kHz but even more due to a missing real world application CD Quad Speed has had no broad success so far An implementation of the ADAT format as double S MUX S MUXA results in only two channels per optical output Devices using this method are few In earlier times the transmission of 192 kHz had not been possible via Single Wire so once again sample multiplexing was used instead of two channels one AES line transmits only one half of a channel A transmission of one channel requires two AES EBU lines stereo requires even four This transmission mode is being called Quad Wire in the professional studio world The AES3 specification does not mention Quad Wire With MADI sample multiplexing is used as well to offer sample rates higher than 96 kHz In fact technical reasons require to use this method beyond 96 kHz A 192K or 384K Frame for mat would not be fully compatible to the MADI standard Therefore 192 kHz is supported as S MUXA only So in 48K Frame Quad Speed mode a MADI device distributes the data of one channel to four consecutive MADI channels This reduces the available channel count from 64 to 16 As the transmission of quad rate signals with 48K Frame is done at standard sample rate Sin gle Speed the MADI ports still operate at 44 1 kHz or 48 kHz 82 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 30 6 SteadyClock The SteadyClock technology of the HDSPe MADI FX guarantees an
96. om 0 dB to 18 dB Headroom To minimize short time overloads Recall d and clipping of the signal peaks Auto Level can Save to gt be set to operate at a fixed offset to 0 dBFS Import Adjustable from 3 dB to 12 dB Export Rise Time Defines the speed of a level increase ey N d ea te after a level reduction Adjustable from 0 1 s to iin auo ev M 9 9 s Rename gt Compactor C Compactor II C Hard Noise Gate Preset Includes the same functions as Kick C described on the previous page for the Equalizer Mix Compressor C The names of the Factory Presets make clear Mix Expander C whether Compressor Auto Level or both C A etam have to be switched on Music Compressor C Music Expander C Output Protector A Smooth Noise Gate Snare C Squeeze C A 50 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 25 4 Section Control Room In the section Control Room the menu Assign is used to define the Main Out which is used for listening in the studio For this output the functions Dim Recall Mono Talkback External In and Mute FX are automatically applied Additionally the channel will be shifted from the Hardware Outputs into the Control Room sec tion and renamed Main The same happens when assigning Main Out B or the Phones The original name can be displayed by the function O Names in the View Options at any time Phones 1 to 4 will have Dim set in Settings and a special routing applied when Talkback is activated A
97. ormat will list the supported sample frequencies 19 4 Repairing Disk Permissions Repairing permission can solve problems with the installation process plus many others To do this launch Disk Utility located in Utilities Select your system drive in the drive volume list to the left The First Aid tab to the right now allows you to check and repair disk permissions 32 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 19 5 Various Information The driver requires 10 6 or higher Via System Preferences Audio MIDI Setup the hardware can be configured for the system wide usage Programs that don t support card or channel selection will use the device selected as Standard Input and Standard Output Soundstudio Mplayer Amplitube etc In the lower part of the window the audio hardware s capabilities are shown and can be changed in some cases On the record side no changes are possible Programs that don t sup port channel selection will always use channels 1 2 the first stereo pair To access other inputs use the following workaround with TotalMix route the desired input signal to output channels 1 2 Hold the Ctrl key down and click on the labels AN1 and AN2 in the third row Their labels turn red the internal loop mode is active Result the desired input signal is now available at input channel 1 2 without further delay latency Use Speaker Setup to freely configure the playback to all available channels Even multichan nel playback Surroun
98. put signal 1 ns Jitter suppression 30 dB 2 4 kHz 29 2 Outputs MADI Coaxial via BNC 75 Ohm according to AES10 1991 Output voltage 600 mVpp Cable length up to 100 m Optical via FDDI duplex SC connector 62 5 125 and 50 125 compatible Cable length up to 2000 m Generates 56 channel and 64 channel mode plus 96k Frame Standard up to 64 channels 24 bit 48 kHz S MUX 96k Frame up to 32 channels 24 bit 96 kHz S MUXA up to 16 channels 24 bit 192 kHz 76 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME AES EBU XLR transformer balanced galvanically isolated according to AES3 1992 e Output level Professional 4 5 Vpp Consumer 2 6 Vpp e Format Professional according to AES3 1992 Amendment 4 e Format Consumer SPDIF according to IEC 60958 e Single Wire mode sample rate 28 kHz up to 200 kHz Word Clock e BNC e Max output voltage 5 Vpp e Output voltage 75 Ohm termination 4 0 Vpp e Output impedance 10 Ohm e Frequency range 28 kHz 200 kHz Stereo Monitor Output Phones Signal to Noise ratio SNR 115 dB RMS unweighted 118 dBA 44 1 kHz unmuted THD lt 104 dB lt 0 00063 THD N lt 102 dB lt 0 0008 Crosstalk gt 100 dB Frequency response 44 1 kHz 0 5 dB 5 Hz 22 kHz Frequency response 96 kHz 0 5 dB 5 Hz 45 9 kHz Frequency response 192 kHz 1 dB 5 Hz 66 5 kHz Output 6 3 mm 1 4 TRS jack Output impedance 75 Ohm Output level 0 dBFS 13 dBu 29 3 Digita
99. r practically unlimited mixing and routing operations with all inputs and playback channels simultaneously to any hardware outputs Here are some typical applications for TotalMix Setting up delay free submixes headphone mixes The HDSPe MADI FX allows for up to 98 fully independent stereo submixes On an analog mixing desk this would equal 196 Aux sends Unlimited routing of inputs and outputs free utilisation patchbay functionality Distributing signals to several outputs at a time TotalMix offers state of the art splitter and distributor functions Simultaneous playback of different programs using only one stereo output The ASIO multi client driver handles several programs at the same time even identical playback channels TotalMix provides the means to mix and monitor these on a single stereo output even when originating on different playback channels Mixing of the input signal to the playback signal complete ASIO Direct Monitoring RME not only is the pioneer of ADM but also offers the most complete implementation of the ADM functions Integration of external devices Use TotalMix to insert external effects devices be it in the playback or in the record path Depending on the current application the functionality equals insert or effects send and effects return for example as used during real time monitoring when adding some reverb to the vocals Every single input channel playback channel and hardware ou
100. rd software which usually means that the user has to enter specific offset values manually Note Cubase and Nuendo display the latency values signalled from the driver separately for record and playback The current driver includes a safety offset of 32 samples for the playback side only which will be included in the shown value Core Audios Safety Offset Under OS X every audio interface has to use a so called safety offset otherwise Core Audio won t operate click free The HDSPe MADI FX uses a safety offset of 32 samples This offset is signalled to the system and the software can calculate and display the total latency of buffer size plus offset plus safety offset for the current sample rate 30 4 DS Double Speed When activating the Double Speed mode the HDSPe MADI FX operates at double sample rate The internal clock 44 1 kHz turns to 88 2 kHz 48 kHz to 96 kHz The internal resolution is still 24 bit Sample rates above 48 kHz were not always taken for granted and are still not widely used because of the CD format 44 1 kHz dominating everything Before 1998 there were no re ceiver transmitter circuits available that could receive or transmit more than 48 kHz Therefore a work around was used instead of two channels one AES line only carries one channel whose odd and even samples are being distributed to the former left and right channels By this you get the double amount of data i e also double sample rate Of course in or
101. reenspace is not sufficient to show all channels e When some or all EQ or Dynamics panels are open Then all relevant settings are always visible but require a lot of space horizontally 56 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 25 6 Reverb and Echo A click on FX in the View Options Mixer Setup brings up the Output FX panel Here all pa rameters for the effects Reverb and Echo are adjusted Reverb Activated by the On button Type Lists different reverb algorithms for selection Available are Rooms 1 4 Algorithm for room simulation with different tonal colours Room 1 and 2 sound dry and small Room 3 and 4 brilliant and a bit bigger Envelope Reverb effect in multitap technology where the volume course envelope is freely adjustable gt Gated Simpler version of the Envelope reverb for cut reverb effects gt Classic Classic feedback based reverb with comb filter generating both the typical sound and the very long reverb times General Settings PreDelay Delay of the reverb signal Adjustable from the current buffer size some milliseconds up to 999 ms Low Cut High pass filter before the reverb generation removes low frequency signals which should not cause a reverb sound Adjustable from 20 Hz up to 500 Hz Smooth Softens the reverb effect affects stereo width density and sound colour Adjustable from 0 up to 100 Width Adjusts the stereo width of the reverb signal from 100 stereo to 0 mon
102. s Help Out 1 Out 2 Out 3 Mic 1 2 AN 3 4 During record the monitoring needs to be done in conventional stereo Therefore TotalMix also offers the functionality of a M S decoder Activation is done in the Settings panel of the Hard ware Input and Software Playback channels via the MS Proc button The M S Processing automatically operates as M S encoder or decoder depending on the source signal format When processing a usual stereo signal all monaural information will be shifted into the left channel all stereo information into the right channel Thus the stereo signal is M S encoded This yields some interesting insights into the mono stereo contents of modern music productions Additionally some very interesting methods of manipulating the stereo base and generating stereo effects come up as it is then very easy to process the side channel with Low Cut Expander Compressor or Delay The most basic application is the manipulation of the stereo width a change of the level of the side channel allows to manipulate the stereo width from mono to stereo up to extended User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 69 28 MIDI Remote Control 28 1 Overview TotalMix can be remote controlled via MIDI It is compatible to the widely spread Mackie Control protocol so TotalMix can be controlled with all hardware controllers supporting this standard Examples are the Mackie Control Tascam US 2400 or Behringer BCF 2000 Additionally t
103. s to the right change their state For example all panels can be opened closed simultaneously A double click of the mouse on a knob or its numerical field opens the according nput Value dialog The desired value can then be set by keyboard Dragging the mouse from a parameter field increases move up or decreases move down the value in the field Ctrl N opens the dialog Function Select to open a new TotalMix window Ctrl W opens the dialog File Open of the operating system to load a TotalMix Workspace file The key W starts the dialog Workspace Quick Select for a direct selection or storage of up to 30 Workspaces The key M switches the active window to Mixer view The key X switches the active window to Matrix view Ctrl M opens a new Mixer window Ctrl X opens a new Matrix window Another Ctrl M or Ctrl X closes the new window again F1 opens the online help The Level Meter setup dialog can be opened with F2 same as in DIGICheck The dialog Preferences is opened with F3 Alt F4 closes the current window Alt and number 1 to 8 not on the numeric keypad will load the corresponding Snapshot The right mouse button selects a Hardware Output At the same time a context menu is dis played having these options Clear Submix Deletes the whole submix of the currently selected output All inputs and play backs of this routing will be set to Copy Submix Copies the whole submix of the selected output into memory All input and
104. ss filter technology 192 kHz capable e Vector Audio Scope World wide unique Goniometer showing the typical afterglow of an oscilloscope tube Includes Correlation meter and level meter e Totalyser Spectral Analyser Level Meter and Vector Audio Scope in a single window e Surround Audio Scope Professional Surround Level Meter with extended correlation analysis ITU weighting and ITU summing meter e TU1770 EBU R128 Meter For standardized loudness measurements e Bit Statistics amp Noise Shows the true resolution of audio signals as well as errors and DC offset Includes Signal to Noise measurement in dB and dBA plus DC measurement e Channel Status Display Detailed analysis and display of SPDIF and AES EBU Channel Status data e Global Record Long term recording of all channels at lowest system load e Completely multi client Open as many measurement windows as you like on any chan nels and inputs or outputs To install DIGICheck go to the DIGICheck directory on the RME Driver CD and run setup exe Follow the instructions prompted on the screen DIGICheck is constantly updated The latest version is always found on our website www rme audio com section Downloads DIGICheck 24 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 16 Hotline Troubleshooting The newest information can always be found on our website www rme audio com section FAQ Latest Additions The dialog New hardware component found does not appear e C
105. ster button lights up in the Control Strip area With this button all selected mutes can be switched off and on again One can com fortably set up a mute group or activate and deactivate several mute buttons simultaneously Solo As soon as any Solo button is pressed the Solo Master button lights up in the Control Strip area With this button all selected Solos are switched off and on again Solo operates as Solo in Place post fader style as known from common mixing desks A typical limitation for mixing desks Solo working only globally and only for the Main Out does not exist in TotalMix Solo is always activated for the current submix only Fader A Shift click on a fader adds the fader to the temporary fader group All faders now marked yellow are ganged and move simultaneously in a relative way The temporary fader group is deleted by a click on the F symbol 52 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 25 5 1 View Options View Options This area combines different functions of routing the level meters and the mi xer view Routing Submix The Submix view default is the preferred view and delivers the quickest overview operation and understanding of TotalMix The click on one of the Hardware Output channels selects the respective submix all other outputs are darkened At the same time all routing fields are set to this channel With Submix view it is very easy to generate a submix for any output select the output channel t
106. t echo algorithms for selection Available are Stereo Echo Separated echo generators on left and right channel As a result the echo follows the sound source within the stereo field Stereo Cross Echo generator on left and right channel with cross coupled feedback which is only working for the stereo parts of the input signal In case the input signal is only left or right the Stereo Cross acts exactly like the Pong Echo Pong Echo Generates an echo that jumps between left and right channel independent from the source signal s stereo position Settings Delay Time Sets the delay time for the first echo Feedback Feedback to produce further echoes Width Adjusts the stereo width of the echo signal from 100 stereo to 0 mono Volume Adjusts the level of the echo effects signal sent to the FX return bus 58 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME Preset Settings of the Reverb and the Echo can be stored loaded and copied between chan nels at any time A click on Preset opens a menu with several entries Recall Presets stored before by the user can be selected and loaded Save to There are 16 storage places available Reverb Echo Preset 1 to 16 Import Loads a previously stored TM FX Reverb file tmrv or a TM FX Echo file tmeo Export Stores the current state as TM FX Reverb file tmrv or as TM FX Echo file tmeo Factory Includes 10 examples for the configuration of the Reverb Reset Res
107. t only generates jitter but also rejects disturbances The slow PLL works like a filter for induced and modulated frequencies above several kHz As the Superclock is used without any filtering such a kind of jitter and noise sup pression is missing The actual end of these problems is offered by the SteadyClock technology of the HDSPe MADI FX Combining the advantages of modern and fastest digital technology with analog filter techniques re gaining a low jitter clock signal of 22 MHz from a slow word clock of 44 1 kHz is no problem anymore Additionally jitter on the input signal is highly rejected so that even in real world usage the re gained clock signal is of highest quality This is especially true when extracting the word clock out of a MADI signal Caused by the MADI format itself such a signal will have around 80 ns of jitter which is reduced to about 1 ns by SteadyClock User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 39 24 3 Cabling and Termination Word clock signals are usually distributed in the form of a network split with BNC T adapters and terminated with resistors We recommend using off the shelf BNC cables to connect all devices as this type of cable is used for most computer networks You will find all the neces sary components T adapters terminators cables in most electronics and or computer stores The latter usually carries 50 Ohms components The 75 Ohms components used for word clock are part of video technology RG59
108. t the IP number usually works better than the host name Options gt Send Peak Level Activates the transmission of the peak level meter data Peak Hold activates the peak hold function as set up for the TotalMix level meters in the preferences User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME Settings mem P Mixer MIDI1 OSC1 Totalmi FX OSC Service IP 192 168 178 22 Host Name Studio1537 Port incoming 8000 Port outgoing 3000 Remote Control IP or Host Name 192 168 178 25 Options M Send Peak Level Data Peak Hold Abbrechen 63 25 9 Hotkeys and Usage TotalMix FX has many hotkeys and mouse hotkey combinations to speed up and simplify the usage The Shift key enables a fine tuning of the gain with all faders and in the Matrix On all knobs it will speed up the setting A click on a fader with held down Shift key adds the fader to the temporary fader group A click in the fader path with held down Ctrl key will let the fader jump to O dB at the next click to Same function Double click of the mouse Clicking on one of the Panorama or Gain knobs with held down Ctrl key lets the knob jump to center position Same function Double click of the mouse Clicking on the Panorama knob with held down Shift key lets the knob jump to fully left with Shift Ctrl to fully right Clicking on one of the channel settings buttons slim normal Settings EQ Dynamics with held down Ctrl key lets all channel
109. te 17 1 Driver Installation First fit the card see 5 Hardware Installation then switch on the computer and install the driv ers from the RME Driver CD The driver file is located in the folder HDSPe FX Installation works automatically by a double click on the file hdspe fx pkg RME recommends to download the latest driver version from the RME website If done the procedure is as follows Double click onto hdspe fx mac xxx zip to expand the archive file to the folder hdspe xxx mac which includes the driver file hdspe fx pkg Installation works automatically by a double click on this file During driver installation the programs HDSPe FX Settings and TotalMix are copied to the Applications folder It is recommended to link these two programs to the Dock so that they are always available Reboot the computer when installation is done 17 2 Driver Update In case of a driver update it s not necessary to remove the old driver first it will be overwritten during the installation In case of problems the driver files can be deleted manually by dragging them to the trash bin Applications Totalmix Applications HDSPe FX Settings Library Audio MIDI Drivers HDSPe FX MIDI plugin System Library Extensions HDSPe_FX kext Users username Library Preferences RME TotalMix FX folder Users username Library Preferences de rme audio TotalmixF X plist Users username Library Preferences com rme HDSPe FX Settings plist Library LaunchAgents de
110. tput features a Peak and RMS level meter calculated in hardware hardware output is Peak only These level displays are very useful to determine the presence and routing destinations of the audio signals For a better understanding of the TotalMix mixer you should know the following 42 As shown in the block diagram next page the record signal usually stays un altered To talMix does not reside within the record path and does not change the record level or the audio data to be recorded exception loopback mode The hardware input signal can be passed on as often as desired even with different levels This is a big difference to conventional mixing desks where the channel fader always con trols the level for all routing destinations simultaneously The level meter of inputs and playback channels are connected pre fader to be able to visu ally monitor where a signal is currently present The level meters of the hardware s outputs are connected post fader thus displaying the actual output level User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 10 i 3e gjeuueu EE jndino a1empieH TU D Lj TOA z euueu jndino aempsey D dn TOA breuueyo 7 NANO a1empieH ZLOZ 90 weeg xoorg JOXIIN X4 IQVN 9HSOH XIINIE3OL IWH 961 01 S Bon Nvd NWd E 96L 01 S yE an Fea JOA jojos T 961 JO L by xoeq ejq aJEMYOS oipny 964 01 S L U9 piosey 10A v ZA o any FE s 10A ojos p61 JO L 7 p jouue
111. tputs To install DIGICheck go to the DIGICheck directory on the RME Driver CD and run setup exe Follow the instructions prompted on the screen DIGICheck is constantly updated The latest version is always available on our website www rme audio com section Downloads DIGICheck 22 Hotline Troubleshooting The newest information can always be found on our website www rme audio com section Sup port Macintosh OS Playback works but record doesn t e Check that there is a valid signal at the input e Check whether the HDSPe MADI FX has been selected as recording device in the audio application e Check whether the sample frequency set in the audio application Recording properties or similar matches the input signal e Check that cables devices have not been connected in a closed loop If so set the card s clock mode to Internal Crackle during record or playback e Increase the number and size of buffers in the application e Try different cables to rule out any defects here The card and drivers have been installed correctly but playback does not work e Is HDSPe MADI FX listed in the System Profiler PCI Vendor 10EE Device ID 3FC7 e Has HDSP MADI FX been selected as current playback device in the audio application 34 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME User s Guide NE INTELLIGENT AUDIO SOLUTIONS HDSPe MADI FX gt Inputs and Outputs User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 35 23 Connectio
112. tter lower graph blue M 25 0ns W Pos TENTE The other input sources of the HDSPe MADI FX word clock and AES gain a lot from SteadyClock as well In fact extracting a low jitter clock from LTC is not possible without a SteadyClock similar technique at all The screenshot to the right shows an extremely jittery word clock signal of about 50 ns jitter top graph yellow Again SteadyClock provides an ex treme clean up The filtered clock shows less than 2 ns jitter lower graph blue WY 10 0ns The cleaned and jitter freed signal can be used as reference clock for any application without any problem The signal processed by SteadyClock is of course not only used internally but also available at all outputs User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 83 30 7 Terminology Single Speed Sample rate range originally used in Digital Audio Typical applications are 32 kHz digital radio broadcast 44 1 kHz CD and 48 kHz DAT Double Speed Doubles the original sample rate range in order to achieve higher audio quality and improved audio processing 64 kHz is practically never used 88 2 kHz is quite rare in spite of certain ad vantages 96 kHz is a common format Sometimes called Double Fast Quad Speed Doubles the double sample rate for ensuring hi end audio quality and processing 128 kHz is non existent 176 4 kHz is rare if at all then 192 kHz is used e g for DVD Audio Single Wire Standard audio data transfer
113. up the effects Reverb and Echo User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 53 25 5 2 Snapshots Groups Snapshots Snapshots include all mixer settings but no graphical elements like window posi tions window size number of windows visible EQs or Settings scroll states Presets etc Only the state wide narrow of the channels is registered Moreover the Snapshot is only temporarily stored Loading a Workspace causes the loss of all stored Snapshots when these all had not been saved before in a Workspace or separately via File Save Snapshot as Via File Load Snapshot the mixer states can be loaded individually 8 different mixes can be stored under individual names in the Snapshot section A click on any of the 8 buttons loads the corresponding Snapshot A double click on the name field opens the dialog nput Name to edit the name As soon as the mixer state is changed the button starts flashing A click on Store lets all buttons flash whereby the last loaded one the base of the current state flashes inversely The storage finishes by clicking the desired button means storage place The storage process is exited by another click on the flashing Store button The area Snapshots can be minimized by a click on the arrow in the title bar Groups The area Groups provides 4 storage places each for fader mute and solo groups The groups are valid per Workspace being active and usable in all 8 Snapshots But with this they are also lost when
114. viously as the only way to do so would be to enter a different clock mode Master Internal In practice SyncCheck provides the user with an easy way of checking whether all digital de vices connected to the system are properly configured With SyncCheck finally anyone can master this common source of error previously one of the most complex issues in the digital studio world 18 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 12 Operation and Usage 12 1 Playback The HDSPe system can play back audio data in supported formats only sample rate bit resolu tion Otherwise an error message appears for example at 22 kHz and 8 bit In the audio application being used HDSPe must be selected as output device This can often be found in the Options Preferences or Settings menus under Playback Device Audio Devices Audio etc We strongly recommend switching off all system sounds via Control Panel Sounds Also HDSPe should not be the Preferred Device for playback as this could cause loss of synchroni zation and unwanted noises If you feel you cannot do without system sounds you should use on board sound or any cheap sound card and select this one as Preferred Device in Control Panel Multimedia Audio or Control Panel Sound Playback The screenshot to the right shows a typical configuration dialog as displayed by a stereo Preferences Te Te Audio Database e CD Burning Fk Sync M General f vsT d Audio devi
115. y jndu wempuey 43 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 25 2 The User Interface The visual design of the TotalMix mixer is a result of its capability to route hardware inputs and software playback channels to any hardware output The HDSPe MADI FX provides 194 input channels 196 software playback channels and 196 hardware output channels HARDWARE INPUTS ARETE ATT AAA HARDWARE OUTPUTS TotalMix can be used in the above view View Options 2 Rows However the default is a verti cal alignment in three rows as known from an Inline desk so that the row Software Playback equals the Tape Return of a real mixing desk HARDWARE INPUTS HARDWARE OUTPUTS e Top row Hardware inputs The level shown is that of the input signal i e fader independ ent Via fader and routing field any input channel can be routed and mixed to any hardware output bottom row e Middle row Playback channels playback tracks of the audio software Via fader and routing menu any playback channel can be routed and mixed to any hardware output third row e Bottom row third row Hardware outputs Here the total level of the output can be adjusted This may be the level of connected loudspeakers or the necessity
116. y available channels At higher sample rates many MADI channels are no longer active In Use shows which channels are currently used in the mixing process Abbrechen In the above example the Phones playback channel has been made invisible When the Phones output is not used this is an easy way to remove it from the mixer completely A more complex setup would be to only show all channels of the drum section the horn section or the violins After finishing those settings the whole state can be stored as Layout Preset SRE A click on Store and the desired memory slot makes the current channel layout recallable anytime The button A makes all channels temporarily visible again Analog Digital Drums With a simple click on a button it will then be possible to easily switch views of only the channels involved with the mixing of the drum section the horn section the violins or any other useful view An optimized remote layout can be activated here as well with or without visible changes Double click the default slot name to enter any other name Layout Presets are stored within the Workspace so make sure to save the current state before loading a different Workspace The button Sub activates another useful special view When in Submix view Sub will cause all channels to disappear that are not part of the currently selected Submix Hardware Output Sub temporarily shows the mix based on all channels from Inputs an
117. y and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions may cause harmful interference to radio communications However there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected Consult the dealer or an experienced radio TV technician for help RoHS This product has been soldered lead free and fulfils the requirements of the RoHS directive ISO 9001 This product has been manufactured under ISO 9001 quality management The manufacturer IMM Elektronik GmbH is also certified for ISO 14001 Environment and ISO 13485 medical devices Note on Disposal According to the guide line RL2002 96 EG WEEE Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment valid for all european countries this product has to be recycled at the end of its lifetime In case a disposal of electronic waste is not possible the recycling can also be done by IMM Elektronik GmbH the manufacturer of the HDSPe MADI FX For this the device has to be sent free to th
118. y not available in every computer store e The cables have an internal fibre of only 50 or 62 5 um diameter and a coating of 125 um They are called network cables 62 5 125 or 50 125 the former mostly being blue and the latter mostly being orange Although in many cases not clearly labelled these are always glass fibre cables Plastic fibre cables POF plastic optical fibre can not be manufactured in such small diameters e The plugs used are also an industry standard and called SC Please don t mix them up with ST connectors which look similar to BNC connectors and are being screwed Plugs used in the past MIC R were unnecessarily big and are not being used any longer e The cables are available as a duplex variant 2 cables being glued together or as a simplex variant 1 cable The HDSPe optical module supports both variants e The transmission uses the multimode technique which supports cable lengths of up to al most 2 km Single mode allows for much longer distances but it uses a completely different fibre 8 um By the way due to the wave length of the light being used 1300 nm the opti cal signal is invisible to the human eye 78 User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 30 2 Lock and SyncCheck Digital signals consist of a carrier and the data If a digital signal is applied to an input the re ceiver has to synchronize to the carrier clock in order to read the data correctly To achieve this the receiver uses a PLL Phase
119. ync guarantees that normal record and record while play will always work correctly In certain cases however AutoSync may cause feedback in the digital carrier so synchronization breaks down To remedy this switch the HDSPe clock mode to Internal RME s exclusive SyncCheck technology enables an easy to use check and display of the cur rent clock status nput Status indicates whether there is a valid signal Lock No Lock for each input Word MADI AES Sync In or if there is a valid and synchronous signal Sync See chapter 30 2 Via Clock Source a preferred input can be defined As long as the card sees a valid signal there this input will be designated as the sync source otherwise the other inputs will be scanned in turn If none of the inputs are receiving a valid signal the card automatically switches clock mode to Master In practice SyncCheck provides the user with an easy way of checking whether all digital de vices connected to the system are properly configured With SyncCheck finally anyone can master this common source of error previously one of the most complex issues in the digital studio world User s Guide HDSPe MADI FX RME 31 19 Mac OS X FAQ 19 1 Round about Driver Installation The driver with the file suffix zip provided by RME is a compressed archive Zip is directly sup ported by OS X a double click on the file is all one needs to do The driver consists of a package file pkg A double click

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Hammerfall® DSP System HDSPe MADI FX