RME Audio Fireface 802, User Manual

Page: 43 / 112

User's Guide Fireface 802 © RME 43
Input
Thanks to a highly sensitive input stage
SPDIF coaxial can be fed too by using
a simple cable adapter phono/XLR. To
achieve this, pins 2 and 3 of a male
XLR plug are connected individually to
the two pins of a phono plug. The cable
shielding is only connected to pin 1 of
the XLR - not to the phono plug.
In AES operation, identical signals are available at both the optical and the XLR output. An ob-
vious use for this would be to connect two devices, i.e. using the Fireface 802 as a splitter (dis-
tribution 1 on 2).
Output
Using the cable adapter XLR/phono described above, devices with coaxial SPDIF interface can
be connected to the AES output of the Fireface 802 as well. Note that most consumer equip-
ment with phono (SPDIF) inputs will only accept signals having a Channel Status ‘Consumer’
format. The Consumer status is activated in the Settings dialog of the Fireface 802. In Con-
sumer mode the output voltage is reduced as well, as SPDIF 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 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
21.3 MIDI
Fireface 802 has a MIDI I/O via four 5-pin DIN sockets. The MIDI ports are added to the system
by the driver. Using MIDI capable software, these ports can be accessed under the name
Fire-
face MIDI
. Using more than one Fireface, the operating system adds a consecutive number to
the port name, like
Fireface MIDI (2)
etc.
The MIDI ports support multi-client operation. A MIDI input signal can be received from several
programs at the same time. Even the MIDI output can be used by multiple programs simultane-
ously. However, due to the limited bandwidth of MIDI, this kind of application will often show
various problems.
Note: The MIDI input LEDs display any kind of MIDI activity, including MIDI Clock, MTC and
Active Sensing. The latter is sent by most keyboards every 0.3 seconds.