RME Audio Fireface 802 User Manual Download Page 1

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User's Guide

Fireface 802

A legend reborn!

USB 2.0 / FireWire 400 Digital I/O System

12 + 16 + 2 Channels Analog / ADAT / AES Interface

24 Bit / 192 kHz Digital Audio

60 x 30 Matrix Router

MIDI I/O

Stand-Alone Operation

Class Compliant Operation

MIDI Remote Control

TotalMix

™

24 Bit / 192 kHz

SyncAlign

™

ZLM

™

SyncCheck

™

SteadyClock

™

Summary of Contents for Fireface 802

Page 1: ...e 400 Digital I O System 12 16 2 Channels Analog ADAT AES Interface 24 Bit 192 kHz Digital Audio 60 x 30 Matrix Router MIDI I O Stand Alone Operation Class Compliant Operation MIDI Remote Control Tota...

Page 2: ...ion 14 6 2 De installing the Drivers 14 6 3 Firmware Update 14 7 Configuring the Fireface 7 1 Settings Dialog General 15 7 2 Settings Dialog Pitch 17 8 Operation and Usage 8 1 Playback 18 8 2 DVD Play...

Page 3: ...5 17 DIGICheck Mac 36 18 Hotline Troubleshooting 37 Inputs and Outputs 19 Analog Inputs 19 1 Line Rear 40 19 2 Microphone Line Inst Front 40 20 Analog Outputs 20 1 Line 41 20 2 Phones Line Out 41 21 D...

Page 4: ...sers Windows 71 25 8 Settings 72 25 8 1 Mixer Page 72 25 8 2 MIDI Page 73 25 8 3 OSC Page 74 25 8 4 Aux Devices 75 25 9 Hotkeys and Usage 76 25 10 Menu Options 77 26 The Matrix 26 1 Overview 79 26 2 E...

Page 5: ...96 34 2 MIDI 97 34 3 Digital 97 34 4 Digital Inputs 98 34 5 Digital Outputs 99 34 6 General 99 35 Technical Background 35 1 Lock and SyncCheck 100 35 2 Latency and Monitoring 101 35 3 USB Audio 102 3...

Page 6: ...sture and water from entering the device Never leave a pot with liquid on top of the device Do not use this product near water i e swimming pool bathtub or wet basement Danger of condensation inside d...

Page 7: ...User s Guide Fireface 802 RME 7 User s Guide Fireface 802 General...

Page 8: ...S X 10 6 or up 1 x OHCI compatible FireWire Port 400 1394a FireWire 800 1394b via cable adapter or 1 x USB 2 0 port For USB Computer with at least Pentium Core 2 Duo CPU 4 Brief Description and Charac...

Page 9: ...dphones outputs Phones 1 and Phones 2 These low impedance outputs of highest quality are able to drive headphones at higher levels undistorted no matter if low or high impedance headphones are used St...

Page 10: ...accordingly in the Settings dialog Word Clock I O BNC A push switch activates internal termination 75 Ohms With termination activated the yellow LED besides the switch will light up Remote Mini DIN C...

Page 11: ...can also be optimized directly at the Fireface A two colour LED beside the sockets signals overload by a colour change from green to red The digital outputs of the Fireface 802 provide AES EBU SPDIF...

Page 12: ...12 User s Guide Fireface 802 RME...

Page 13: ...User s Guide Fireface 802 RME 13 User s Guide Fireface 802 Installation and Operation Windows...

Page 14: ...tive in the system check in Device Manager The USB or FireWire cable is not or not correctly inserted into the socket 6 2 De installing the Drivers A de installation of the driver files is not necessa...

Page 15: ...ired However settings should not be changed during playback or record if it can be avoided as this can cause unwanted noises Also please note that even in Stop mode several programs keep the recording...

Page 16: ...2 Word Clk Out 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...

Page 17: ...y setting will only be applied to this one specific Fireface Changing the sample rate during record playback often results in a loss of audio or brings up warning messages of the audio software Theref...

Page 18: ...yback The screenshot shows a typical configuration dialog of a stereo wave editor Audio data is sent to an analog or digital port depending on which has been selected as playback device Increasing the...

Page 19: ...Control Panel Sounds and Multimedia Audio and check Use only default devices Additionally the loudspeaker setup found under Volume Speaker Settings Advanced has to be changed from Stereo to 5 1 Surro...

Page 20: ...led WDM Kernel Streaming bypassing the WDM mixer thus achieves a similar performance to ASIO Because of the driver s multichannel streaming ability Sonar not only finds the stereo device mentioned abo...

Page 21: ...7 8 Fireface ADAT 1 7 8 Fireface ADAT 2 1 2 Fireface ADAT 2 1 2 Fireface ADAT 2 1 2 Fireface ADAT 2 3 4 Fireface ADAT 2 3 4 Fireface ADAT 2 3 4 Fireface ADAT 2 5 6 Fireface ADAT 2 5 6 Fireface ADAT 2...

Page 22: ...monitoring can be achieved by Steinberg s ASIO protocol with RME s ASIO drivers and all ASIO 2 0 compatible programs When ASIO Direct Monitoring has been switched on the input signal is routed in real...

Page 23: ...efined As long as the unit sees a valid signal there this input will be designated as the sync source In some situations changing the clock mode can not be avoided Example An ADAT recorder is connecte...

Page 24: ...available channels per port is reduced from 8 to 4 At a sample rate of 176 4 and 192 kHz the ADAT optical input and output operates in S MUX4 mode so the number of available channels is limited to 2 N...

Page 25: ...of pano rama 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...

Page 26: ...ted from the Fireface hardware Vector Audio Scope World wide unique Goniometer showing the typical afterglow of a oscilloscope tube Includes Correlation meter and level meter Spectral Analyser World w...

Page 27: ...e in the audio applica tion Check whether the sample frequency set in the audio application Recording properties or similar matches the input signal Check that cables devices have not been connected i...

Page 28: ...28 User s Guide Fireface 802 RME...

Page 29: ...User s Guide Fireface 802 RME 29 User s Guide Fireface 802 Installation and Operation Mac OS X...

Page 30: ...USB can be connected at the same time but it is not recommended How ever the unit will use only one port Upon start of the computer the port that becomes active first will be used With no port active...

Page 31: ...ferent computer 14 Configuring the Fireface 802 14 1 Settings Dialog Configuring the Fireface is done via its own settings dialog Start the program Fireface USB Settings The mixer of the Fireface 802...

Page 32: ...ple 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 Inter...

Page 33: ...d AES inputs operate simultaneously Because there is no input selector however the unit has to be told which one of the signals is the sync reference a digital device can only be clocked from a single...

Page 34: ...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 verifie...

Page 35: ...e Core Audio function Aggregate Devices which allows to combine several devices into one The current driver supports up to three Fireface 400 or 800 All units have to be in sync i e have to receive va...

Page 36: ...le causing near zero CPU load because calculated from the Fireface hardware Spectral Analyser World wide unique 10 20 or 30 band display in analog bandpass filter technology 192 kHz capable Vector Aud...

Page 37: ...k whether the Fireface 802 has been selected as recording device in the audio applica tion Check whether the sample frequency set in the audio application Recording properties or similar matches the i...

Page 38: ...38 User s Guide Fireface 802 RME...

Page 39: ...User s Guide Fireface 802 RME 39 User s Guide Fireface 802 Inputs and Outputs...

Page 40: ...gain In real world applications the Fireface 802 has such a low noise level that it doesn t matter What ever you connect to the Fireface has more self noise than its AD stage Therefore the digital ga...

Page 41: ...ty electronic switches which allow for a perfect adaptation of all outputs to the three most often used studio levels As with the analog inputs the analog output levels are defined to maintain a probl...

Page 42: ...uble Speed signal this input carries the channels 5 to 8 at Quad Speed the channels 3 and 4 Can also be used as SPDIF optical input ADAT1 Out Interface for the first or only device receiving an ADAT s...

Page 43: ...calls for a lower voltage than AES EBU The output signal coding of the Fireface 802 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 th...

Page 44: ...sh the blue switch so that it snaps into its lock position The yellow LED will be lit when termination is active Another push will release it again and de activate the termination Output The word cloc...

Page 45: ...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 multip...

Page 46: ...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 f...

Page 47: ...User s Guide Fireface 802 RME 47 User s Guide Fireface 802 Stand Alone Operation...

Page 48: ...at the Unit The front panel operation is identical to the one under Windows and OS X It is limited to the direct access on Gains and Volume and the functions enabled by the ARC In stand alone mode th...

Page 49: ...conversion will cause a small delay of the signals of around 0 1 ms at 192 kHz see chapter 38 2 But this is nothing to worry about as it is the same delay that would be caused by changing the microph...

Page 50: ...50 User s Guide Fireface 802 RME...

Page 51: ...User s Guide Fireface 802 RME 51 User s Guide Fireface 802 TotalMix FX...

Page 52: ...is not only 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 playba...

Page 53: ...User s Guide Fireface 802 RME 53...

Page 54: ...ependent Via fader and routing menu any input channel can be routed and mixed to any hardware output bottom row Middle row Playback channels playback tracks of the audio software Via fader and routing...

Page 55: ...tection 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...

Page 56: ...is shown as white triangle Background TotalMix has no fixed channel fader In case of the Fireface 802 there are 15 stereo Aux sends shown alternately as single fader within the channel strip The high...

Page 57: ...inputs The available settings are 4 dBu and LoGain Width Defines the stereo width 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 wh...

Page 58: ...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 option Assign Cue to in t...

Page 59: ...med 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...

Page 60: ...the control voltage of Compressor and Expander Adjustable 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 Ex...

Page 61: ...dialog Speaker 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 Mixes left and right channel Useful to check for mono compatibi...

Page 62: ...ore 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 F...

Page 63: ...estinations Level Meters 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 che...

Page 64: ...this they are also lost when 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 o...

Page 65: ...hannel has been made invisible When SPDIF 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 se...

Page 66: ...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 details Arrow to the right A left mous...

Page 67: ...the typical sound and the very long reverb times General Settings PreDelay Delay of the reverb signal Adjustable from 0 ms up to 999 ms Low Cut High pass filter before the reverb generation removes lo...

Page 68: ...ss 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 different echo...

Page 69: ...nd 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...

Page 70: ...he Main Out When adjusting other submixes the FX send will not follow the fader movement Center Balance Pan when changing Mono Stereo When switching a stereo channel into two mono channels the pan pot...

Page 71: ...pecial Options Lock User Interface Default off Can be activated to freeze the current mix state Faders buttons and knobs relating to the mix state can not be moved anymore 25 7 1 Store for Current or...

Page 72: ...the Listenback signal microphone in recording room Default None Dim Amount of attenuation of the signals routed to the Main Out in dB Main Out Recall User defined listening volume activated by the Rec...

Page 73: ...2 Mono Channels One fader controls one mono channel Should be disabled when stereo channels are used Submix Selection in Input Playback Row Enables a selection of the submix when in first row without...

Page 74: ...check or uncheck In Use TotalMix FX OSC Service 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 na...

Page 75: ...nd can be chosen MIDI Settings MIDI In Set the currently used MIDI connection to OctaMic XTC MIDI Out Set the currently used MIDI connection to OctaMic XTC Device ID Default 0 This setting relates to...

Page 76: ...eyboard 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...

Page 77: ...evel meters and the mixer See 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 Open...

Page 78: ...to F Enable Stand Alone MIDI Not connected to a computer the Fireface 802 can still be controlled directly by MIDI See chapter 28 6 Activate CC mode on disconnect With this entry checked the Fireface...

Page 79: ...nels Green 0 0 dB field Standard 1 1 routing Dark grey field with number Shows the current gain value as dB Blue field This routing is muted Red field Phase 180 inverted Dark grey field No routing To...

Page 80: ...s 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 O...

Page 81: ...is input signal to any hardware output Using the subgroup recording the input can still be recorded on a different channel As each of the 15 stereo hardware outputs can be routed to the record softwar...

Page 82: ...e for microphones which results in a mid signal on one channel and a side signal on the other channel This information can be transformed back into a stereo signal quite easily The process sends the m...

Page 83: ...otalMix supports the following Mackie Control surface elements Element Meaning in TotalMix Channel faders 1 8 volume Master fader Main Out channel fader SEL 1 8 DYNAMICS Activate Trim mode V Pots 1 8...

Page 84: ...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 Su...

Page 85: ...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 41 65 F 4 Cue Phones 4 42 66 F 4 Snapshot 1 36 54 F 3 Snapshot 2 37 55 G 3...

Page 86: ...Options Enable Stand Alone MIDI in TotalMix FX activates this mode Note When not needed the stand alone MIDI operation should not be active as the unit will react on MIDI notes after power on and wil...

Page 87: ...8 pan pressing V Pot knobs pan center CHANNEL LEFT or REWIND move one channel left CHANNEL RIGHT or FAST FORWARD move one channel right BANK LEFT or ARROW LEFT move eight channels left BANK RIGHT or...

Page 88: ...input the MIDI functionality is disabled After fixing the loopback check Enable MIDI Control under Options to reactivate the TotalMix MIDI 28 8 OSC Open Sound Control Besides simple MIDI notes the Ma...

Page 89: ...User s Guide Fireface 802 RME 89 User s Guide Fireface 802 Class Compliant Mode...

Page 90: ...though since there are dedi cated and matured drivers for both OS X and Windows which provide ALL the device s features at lowest latencies The main reason for implementing Class Compliant mode was to...

Page 91: ...Kit If everything works as expected the unit will enter CC host mode indicated by the blue USB LED turning on Audio playback in iTunes will automatically be performed by the 802 using analog outputs 1...

Page 92: ...f movement We are working with cable lengths of 50 cm and 1 m both work flawlessly These cables are available as DeLock iPhone extension cable or Dock Extender e g from Amazon It is important to note...

Page 93: ...applications like MultiTrack DAW and Music Studio Garage Band supports all inputs but only two at a time Auria and Cubasis can record all 22 inputs of the Fireface 802 simultaneously Playback will use...

Page 94: ...94 User s Guide Fireface 802 RME...

Page 95: ...User s Guide Fireface 802 RME 95 User s Guide Fireface 802 Technical Reference...

Page 96: ...level for 0 dBFS Lo Gain 19 dBu Input level for 0 dBFS 4 dBu 13 dBu Input level for 0 dBFS 10 dBV 2 dBV 8 5 dB Gain 4 dBu Microphone In 9 12 front As AD but Input XLR electronically balanced Input im...

Page 97: ...Monitor Output Phones 9 12 As DA but Output 6 3 mm TRS stereo jack unbalanced Maximum output level at 0 dBFS High 16 8 dBu Output impedance 30 Ohm 34 2 MIDI 1 x MIDI I O via 5 pin DIN jacks Galvanica...

Page 98: ...tion even in varispeed operation Lock range 31 5 kHz 50 kHz Jitter when synced to input signal 1 ns Jitter suppression 30 dB 2 4 kHz SPDIF optical ADAT2 1 x optical according to IEC 60958 Accepts Cons...

Page 99: ...els 24 bit 192 kHz Windows USB Quad Speed 1 x 2 channels 24 bit 192 kHz SPDIF optical ADAT2 Format Consumer SPDIF according to IEC 60958 Sample rate 28 kHz up to 200 kHz Word Clock BNC Max output volt...

Page 100: ...slightly higher or lower than the Fireface s 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 inputs...

Page 101: ...d 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...

Page 102: ...U loads Furthermore the fixed buffer does not add to the latency jitter see Tech Info the subjective timing is extraordinary Core Audio s Safety Offset Under OS X every audio interface has to use a so...

Page 103: ...insufficient buffering within FireWire controllers single peak loads on the PCI bus can already cause loss of one or more data packets This is independent of the manufacturer and no RME problem FireWi...

Page 104: ...annels By this you get the double amount of data i e also double sample rate Of course in order to transmit a stereo signal two AES EBU ports are necessary then This transmission mode is called Double...

Page 105: ...he dou bled quadrupled bandwidth and a wideband measurement will show a significant drop in SNR while the human ear will notice absolutely no change in the audible noise floor 35 8 SteadyClock The Ste...

Page 106: ...106 User s Guide Fireface 802 RME 36 Diagrams 36 1 Block Diagram Fireface 802...

Page 107: ...TRS jack with ring connected to ground XLR jacks of analog inputs The XLR jacks are wired according to international standards 1 GND shield 2 hot 3 cold TRS Phones jack The analog monitor outputs on...

Page 108: ...108 User s Guide Fireface 802 RME...

Page 109: ...User s Guide Fireface 802 RME 109 User s Guide Fireface 802 Miscellaneous...

Page 110: ...ntrol for UCX UFX and 802 38 Warranty Each individual Fireface 802 undergoes comprehensive quality control and a complete test at IMM before shipping The usage of high grade components should guarante...

Page 111: ...rademarks of Microsoft Corp Steinberg Cubase and VST are registered trademarks of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH ASIO is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH iPad FireWire the FireWire...

Page 112: ...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 equipm...

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