RME Audio Fireface 800 User's Guide

User's Guide Fireface 800 The most powerful FireWire® audio interface ever! FireWire 800 / 400 Digital I/O System 10 + 16

10 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 5.2 Quick Start After the driver installation (chapter 6 / 13) connect the TRS-jacks or the XLR connecto

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME11 User's Guide Fireface 800 Installation and Operation - Window

12 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 6. Hardware and Driver Installation 6.1 Hardware and Driver Installation To simplify installation it is

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME13 7. Configuring the Fireface 7.1 Settings Dialog - General Configuration of the Fireface 800 is done via its

14 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME Enable MMCSS for ASIO activates support with higher priority for the ASIO driver. Note: At this time, act

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME15 Clock Mode Sample Rate Sets the currently used sample rate. Offers a central and comfortable way of configuri

16 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 7.2 Settings Dialog – Analog Inputs Input selection for the channels 1, 7 and 8. Channel 1 can be the fr

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME17 7.3 Settings Dialog - Pitch Usually soundcards and audio interfaces generate their internal clock (master mo

18 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 7.4 Clock Modes - Synchronization In the digital world, all devices must be either Master (clock source)

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME19 7.5 Bandwidth This option allows to reduce the amount of bandwidth used on the FireWire bus. A typical ex-am

2 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME Important Safety Instructions ...5 General 1 Introduction ...

20 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 8.2 DVD-Playback (AC-3/DTS) AC-3 / DTS When using popular DVD software players like WinDVD and PowerDVD,

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME21 8.3 Notes on WDM The driver offers a WDM streaming device per stereo pair, like Fireface ADAT 1 (1+2). WDM s

22 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 8.4 Channel Count under WDM The HDSP system’s ADAT optical interfaces allow to record sample rates of up

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME23 8.6 Digital Recording Unlike analog soundcards which produce empty wave files (or noise) when no input sign

24 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 9. Operation under ASIO 9.1 General Start the ASIO software and select ASIO Fireface as the audio I/O d

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME25 9.3 Known Problems If a computer does not provide sufficient CPU-power and/or sufficient FireWire transfer r

26 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME The driver takes care of the numbering of all Firefaces, so that it doesn't change. The unit with th

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME27 12. Hotline – Troubleshooting The newest information can always be found on our website www.rme-audio.com, s

28 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME29 User's Guide Fireface 800 Mac OS X – Installation and Operatio

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME3 16 Mac OS X FAQ 16.1 MIDI doesn't work ...37 16.2 Repai

30 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 13. Hardware Installation Desktop Computer • Use the power cord to connect the Fireface with any suita

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME31 14.3 Firmware Update The Flash Update Tool updates the firmware of the Fireface 800 to the latest version. I

32 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 15. Configuring the Fireface 15.1 Settings Dialog - General Configuring the Fireface is done via its ow

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME33 Inputs Input selection for the channels 1, 7 and 8. Channel 1 can be the front instrument input, or the rear

34 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME Bandwidth Limit Allows to reduce the amount of bandwidth used on the FireWire bus. See chapter 15.3. All

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME35 15.2 Clock Modes - Synchronization In the digital world, all devices must be either Master (clock source) or

36 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 16. Mac OS X FAQ 16.1 MIDI doesn't work In some cases MIDI does not work after the installation of

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME37 16.5 FireWire Compatibility RME's Fireface 800 should be fully compatible to any FireWire port found on

38 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 18. DIGICheck Mac The DIGICheck software is a unique utility developed for testing, measuring and analys

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME39 19. Hotline – Troubleshooting The newest information can always be found on our website www.rme-audio.com, s

4 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 26 The Matrix 26.1 Overview ...71 26.2 Elem

40 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME41 User's Guide Fireface 800 Stand-Alone Operation, Connections

42 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 20. Stand-alone Operation The Fireface 800 has an internal memory to permanently store all configuration

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME43 21. Analog Inputs 25.1 Line Rear The Fireface has eight balanced Line inputs as 1/4" TRS jacks on the

44 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 21.3 Instrument The instrument input of the Fireface 800 has been optimized especially for guitar and ba

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME45 22. Analog Outputs 22.1 Line The eight short circuit protected, low impedance line outputs are available as

46 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 23. Digital Connections 27.1 ADAT The ADAT optical inputs of the Fireface 800 are fully compatible with

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME47 Special Characteristics of the SPDIF Output Apart from the audio data itself, digital signals in SPDIF or AES

48 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 24. Word Clock 24.1 Word Clock Input and Output SteadyClock guarantees an excellent performance in all

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME49 24.2 Technical Description and Usage In the analog domain one can connect any device to another device, a sy

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME5 Important Safety Instructions ATTENTION! Do not open chassis – risk of electric shock The unit has non-iso

50 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 24.3 Cabling and Termination Word clock signals are usually distributed in the form of a network, split

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME51 User's Guide Fireface 800 TotalMix FX

52 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 25. TotalMix: Routing and Monitoring 25.1 Overview The Fireface 800 includes a powerful digital real-ti

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME53

54 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 25.2 The User Interface The visual design of the TotalMix mixer is a result of its capability to route h

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME55 25.3 The Channels A single channel can be switched between mono and stereo mode. The mode is set in the chan

56 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME The lowest field shows the current routing target. A mouse click opens the routing window to select a rou

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME57 A click on the tool symbol opens the channel’s Settings panel. Stereo. Switches the channel to mono or stere

58 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 25.4 Section Control Room In the section Control Room the menu Assign is used to define the Main Out wh

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME59 25.5 The Control Strip The Control Strip on the right side is a fixed element. It combines different functio

6 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME

60 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 25.5.1 View Options View Options - Show. This area combines different functions of routing, the level

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME61 25.5.2 Snapshots - Groups Snapshots. Snapshots include all mixer settings, but no graphical elements like w

62 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME Hidden channels in Mixer/Matrix are still fully functional. An existing routing/mixing/FX process-ing sta

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME63 The button Sub activates another useful special view. When in Submix view, Sub will cause all channels to dis

64 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 25.6 Preferences The dialog Preferences can be opened via the Options menu or directly via F2. Level Me

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME65 25.6.1 Store for Current or All Users (Windows) TotalMix FX stores all settings, workspaces and snapshots fo

66 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 25.7.2 MIDI Page The MIDI page has four independent settings for up to four MIDI remote controls, using

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME67 25.7.3 OSC Page The OSC page has four independent settings for up to four MIDI remote controls via Open Soun

68 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 25.7.4 Aux Devices The RME OctaMic XTC is a highly flexible hi-quality 8-channel microphone, line and in

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME69 25.8 Hotkeys and Usage TotalMix FX has many hotkeys and mouse/hotkey combinations to speed up and simplify t

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME7 User's Guide Fireface 800 General

70 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 25.9 Menu Options Deactivate Screensaver: When active (checked) any activated Windows screensaver will b

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME71 26. The Matrix 26.1 Overview The mixer window of TotalMix looks and operates similar to mixing desks, as it

72 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME The Matrix not always replaces the mixer view, but it significantly enhances the routing capabili-ties an

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME73 27.5 Recording a Subgroup (Loopback) TotalMix includes an internal loopback function, from the Hardware Outp

74 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME Mixing several input signals into one record channel In some cases it is useful to record several sources

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME75 28. MIDI Remote Control 28.1 Overview TotalMix can be remote controlled via MIDI. It is compatible to the w

76 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 28.3 Setup • Open the Preferences dialog (menu Options or F3). Select the MIDI Input and MIDI Output po

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME77 28.5 Standard MIDI Control The hardware output which is set up as Main Out can be controlled by the standard

78 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME Examples for sending MIDI strings: - Set input 1 to 0 dB: B0 66 68 - Set input 17 to maximum attenuation

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME79 28.8 Stand-Alone MIDI Control When not connected to a computer, the Fireface 800 can be controlled directly

8 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 1. Introduction Thank you for choosing the Fireface 800. This unique audio system is capable of transferr

80 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME In stand-alone MIDI mode, the Mackie Control protocol also gives access to some settings of the Settings

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME81 User's Guide Fireface 800 Technical Reference

82 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 29. Technical Specifications 29.1 Analog AD, Line In 1-8, rear • Resolution AD: 24 bit • Signal to No

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME83 DA, Line Out 1-8, rear • Resolution: 24 bit • Dynamic range (DR): 116 dB, 119 dBA @ 44.1 kHz (unmuted) • F

84 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME ADAT Optical • 2 x TOSLINK • Standard: 16 channels 24 bit, up to 48 kHz • Sample Split (S/MUX): 2 x 8

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME85 30. Technical Background 30.1 Lock and SyncCheck Digital signals consist of a carrier and the data. If a di

86 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 30.2 Latency and Monitoring The term Zero Latency Monitoring has been introduced by RME in 1998 for the

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME87 Note: Cubase and Nuendo display the latency values signalled from the driver separately for record and playba

88 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 30.4 Number of Channels and Bus Load As explained in chapter 35.3, FireWire Audio does not reach the sam

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME89 30.5 DS - Double Speed When activating the Double Speed mode the Fireface 800 operates at double sample rate

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME9 5. First Usage – Quick Start 5.1 Connectors and Front Panel The front of the Fireface 800 features an instru

90 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 30.7 AES/EBU - SPDIF The most important electrical properties of 'AES' and 'SPDIF' c

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME91 30.8 Noise level in DS / QS Mode The outstanding signal to noise ratio of the Fireface's AD-converters

92 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 31. Diagrams 31.1 Block Diagram Fireface 800

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME93 31.2 Connector Pinouts TRS jacks of analog input / output The stereo 1/4" TRS jacks of the analog inpu

94 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME95 User's Guide Fireface 800 Miscellaneous

96 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 32. Accessories RME offers several optional components for the Fireface 800: Part Number Description

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME97 34. Appendix RME news, driver updates and further product information are available on our website: http://

98 User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME 35. CE / FCC Compliance CE This device has been tested and found to comply with the limits of the Europe