RME Audio Fireface 400, User Manual, Page: 31 / 100

User's Guide Fireface 400
© RME
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15. Using more than one Fireface
The current driver supports up to three Fireface 400 and 800. All units 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).
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If one of the Firefaces is set to clock mode Master, all others have to be set to clock mode
AutoSync, 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 Fireface Settings dialog.
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If all units are fed with a synchronous clock, i.e. all units show Sync in their Settings dialog,
all channels can be used at once. This is especially easy to handle under ASIO, as the ASIO
driver presents all units as one.
When using more than one Fireface 400 it might be necessary to deactivate some channels.
Using more than one Fireface 4000 together with a FireWire hard drive (hub functionality) can
cause audio problems.
More information about numbers of channels and bus load can be found in chapter 37.4.
The driver takes care of the numbering of all Firefaces, so that it doesn't change. The unit with
the lowest serial number is always 'Fireface (1)'. Please note:
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If the Fireface (1) is switched off, Fireface (2) logically turns to the first and only Fireface. If
Fireface (1) is switched on later, the numbering changes and the unit becomes Fireface (2)
immediately.
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The driver has no control on the numbering of the WDM devices. Therefore it might happen
that the WDM devices (2) are mapped to unit (1), especially when switching on more Fire-
faces during a Windows session. A reboot with all Firefaces already operational should solve
this problem.
Note: TotalMix is part of the hardware of each Fireface. 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.