# OK, RME interface. But which one?



## muratkayi (Feb 2, 2022)

Hi,

TL;DR: I want to buy a used RME USB 2.0, at least 2 in, at least 4 outs.
Which of the models would fit the bill, previous ones included?

I own a Tascam US 16x08. I stopped using it years ago due to inexplicable crackling noises which also found their way into recordings. As I was at a loss as to which interface to buy, I just got a cheapo Behringer one which helped fill the gap. An overhaul of my computer setup later I thought I'd give the Tascam another go and lo and behold! It's The Return of the Crackle.
Which is f'ed up, because that thing is a routing wonder and it actually sounds good with a lot of dynamic overhead to really drive the speakers.
I stopped using the Behringer, because it just sounds bad. If I really crank the main out, there is a noise floor so solid and loud you could safely walk on it. When I just play my usual piano VSTs I lose the flow very soon, because that Behringer thing...Don't get me wrong, it's not as if I am instantaneously disgusted by the sound (except of the noise floor, of course), but compared to the Tascam, it kills the vibe.

But the Tascam is crackling whenever it feels like it and that is a no-go.

BTW: Does anyone know what might be the reason? It is not the computer, nor the cable or the drivers. All of these have changed significantly. Maybe I just got a faulty unit, but it's too late for warranty service.

So. Long story short: everyone recommends RME interfaces for their rock solid reliability and their sound. It's the two things I am after. I even considered just shelving out the money for a new one, but 10 out of 12 articles for RME read "delivery in several months" and I can't have that.
And if they actually stand the test of time, I might as well save money and get a used one somewhere.

So question, as I don't know anything about previous runs of models by RME:
Which one is USB 2.0, hast at least 2 ins, at least one XLR with phantom power (negotiable), at least four outs (non-negotiable)? I need the four mono outs, because I want to be able to route a Maschine cue bus to outs 3 and 4 and run those into a headphone amp.

THanks for reading
Mu

EDIT: Of the new ones, the Fireface UCX II looks awesome, although I'd prefer a XLR main out. Because I experience ground hum when using quarter inch jacks.


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## gamma-ut (Feb 2, 2022)

Fireface UCX, which has been superseded by the UCX II, but if secondhand is OK, this one is pretty solid and they continue to do the drivers for it. 

Possibly the Babyface Pro but IIRC two of the outputs on that are designed to be headphone outs, so though the UCX might be overkill I'm not sure there's one in the RME range that lies between the two.

I have a UCX and I like it.


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## muratkayi (Feb 2, 2022)

Hi, thanks for the answer!

Ok, I checked and I think the UCX might be it.
I have a question which concerns the total number of ins and outs that it can handle, because if I saw that right those are more than are built into the thing. What does that mean? Is there other hardware to expand the ins/outs?


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## wickedw (Feb 2, 2022)

The ucx II has a slightly higher channel count than the original I believe, but the same amount of analog ins and outs.

But they both have digital ins/outs aswell. So you could for example connect a preamp with Adat (optical) and get those channels into your ucx. For example an rme octomic or something similar would expand your analog connections with 8 ins/outs.

I bought a ucx II a while ago myself and I can highly recommend it. I've always used rme interfaces and they are as advertised: rock solid.


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## StillLife (Feb 2, 2022)

I made the jump to RME a year And a half ago (UFX II - usb 2.0), and it has been nothing than fabulous. Stable, sounds wonderful, And TotalMix fx is a routing walhalla (when you get your head around it).


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## muratkayi (Feb 2, 2022)

Ok, the extended connectivity of the UFX seems like a dream come true - it's however a bit overkill for the situation I am in. The tascam was handy as I was recording a five piece folk band at the time.
Right now it's just me and occasionally duos and trios.

The UCX II is one of the devices currently to be delivered "in several months" which is bad. But I could try and search for it used.


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## muratkayi (Feb 3, 2022)

Follow-up question:

Are the UCX, UCX II and UFX compatible with Windows 10 and in the long run Windows 11? Are there OS specific product lines I have to mind?
I'm on Win10


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## StillLife (Feb 3, 2022)

Running w10 here: rock solid rme performance. Did not yet upgrade to w11, but with rme, I am totally confident I won't encounter any problem when I do.


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## gamma-ut (Feb 3, 2022)

If there's a company that maintains drivers for hardware, it's RME.

They have a pretty active support forum, so you should be able to get a good idea of whether those devices are going to run with Win 11. I doubt it's going to be an issue but sometimes the updates trip up what are quite low-level drivers – OS X hasn't been playing nice recently, for example, though the issues are readily fixable.






RME User Forum


RME User Forum —



forum.rme-audio.de





Looking at it, I don't see Win 11 being called out specifically in a sticky, which suggests to me there isn't much in the way of issues. I'm on OS X so don't have any experience running RME interfaces with a Windows installation.


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## wickedw (Feb 3, 2022)

Running the ucx II on Windows 11, no problems whatsoever.


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## muratkayi (Feb 3, 2022)

Guys, you've been a tremendous help, thank you very much!
💛


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## samphony (Feb 3, 2022)

muratkayi said:


> Follow-up question:
> 
> Are the UCX, UCX II and UFX compatible with Windows 10 and in the long run Windows 11? Are there OS specific product lines I have to mind?
> I'm on Win10



The RME devices will probably still be supported once mankind settled on mars. 🤓


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## PaulieDC (Feb 3, 2022)

I have the RME BabyFace Pro FS and it's stellar. Once I added it to my tower, all remaining audio issues vanished.

One complaint people have is the two headphone jacks (6.3mm and 3.5mm), they do not have separate controllable volumes. It's really more of a convenience to accommodate your cans without need of an adapter. I did find a workaround, but first I will mention that the headphone outs are designed to also work as line outs, if that's helpful.

Besides the main XLR outs for my Neumann monitors and the 6.3mm for my headphones, I wanted a 4th out to run a simple pair of bookshelf speakers simply for PC sound, and have the volume totally controllable. The 3.5mm jack would work but then I'd have to unplug the headphones from the 6.3mm each time, otherwise raising the volume for the bookshelf speakers would crank it into my headphones sitting right there. Found a better way which gives me full control of volume: I use the optical out to a https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09JTZYG4F (simple DAC), and run the desktop speakers on that. Voila, separate output control.

So like @StillLife mentioned, if you commit the time to learn the insanely complex TotalMix FX software, WOWWWW is it powerful. You can set up all kinds of output mixes and save them as presets, including built in Loopback which I love. One preset I made is for any Loopback needs, such as audio from a YouTube vid, etc. Start your DAW recording on an audio track, play the source in your browser or wherever, and TotalMix FX sends the audio right to your DAW when you select that input. RME has videos how to set that up.

The one thing about the software that drives me batty is the same issue with Kontakt... there are a boatload of tiny buttons and controls, so clicking the controls or moving faders in TotalMix FX with a mouse is like picking up grains of sand with tweezers... maddening. RME to the rescue, they made a dedicated hardware controller to instantly select presets, adjust volumes, dim output with a click if needed, etc. Absolutely worth the money if you've set up the software and commit to using it:



It's totally plug and play. Always saw this thing, never knew what it was and now it is mandatory on my desk. This works with the software and ANY RME interface you may buy.

There you go, just some thoughts!


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## muratkayi (Feb 3, 2022)

Awesome! I will go through those details, before making up my mind. Thanks for the comprehensive tips!


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## muratkayi (Feb 4, 2022)

OK, I basically decided to get a UCX II new. I browsed Reverb and a few other online shops for used UCXs, but the price difference is negligable. 

THere is still the problem of delivery, but I decided I'd just accept that. Had a phone call with Thomann online shop who explained that RME used AD/DA components of a supplier whose factory burned down. And due to quality standards they (RME) basically chose to not deliver at all rather than compromise until they find supplies which match their QA standards. This in turn leads to delay of their batches and they said they would be back to normal delivery times by mid 2022. Which is actually a nice bit of background info which fits in with all of the stories about build and support quality I have heard until now.

Thought you might find that interesting.


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## muratkayi (Feb 5, 2022)

Addendum:
I just realized all of the outputs are DC coupled. That is a problem - I stumbled out into a nightly thunderstorm under a full moon the other day and made a terribly solemn oath to never go into hardware modular and now this...it does not bode well.


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## StillLife (Feb 5, 2022)

PaulieDC said:


> I have the RME BabyFace Pro FS and it's stellar. Once I added it to my tower, all remaining audio issues vanished.
> 
> One complaint people have is the two headphone jacks (6.3mm and 3.5mm), they do not have separate controllable volumes. It's really more of a convenience to accommodate your cans without need of an adapter. I did find a workaround, but first I will mention that the headphone outs are designed to also work as line outs, if that's helpful.
> 
> ...



Just got the arc. It is indeed brillant.


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## muratkayi (Feb 8, 2022)

I have a follow-up question for UCX II owners about DuRec:
Is it possible to record 2 signal streams of any recording situations, say one into the PC DAW and one via DuRec onto a USB drive with lower gain? That way, I could have a failsafe backup recording at lower levels running simultaneously


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## StillLife (Feb 8, 2022)

I have yet to use durec, but I believe it is marketed as just that: a failsafe during recording.


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## muratkayi (Feb 8, 2022)

That would just make the whole unit even awesome-er-er!


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## PeterKorcek (Feb 9, 2022)

I have had *RME UCX *for many, many years - highly recommended (as others already pointed out), rock solid, stable drivers, they really know how to to audio interfaces!


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## Wibben (Feb 9, 2022)

muratkayi said:


> OK, I basically decided to get a UCX II new. I browsed Reverb and a few other online shops for used UCXs, but the price difference is negligable.
> 
> THere is still the problem of delivery, but I decided I'd just accept that. Had a phone call with Thomann online shop who explained that RME used AD/DA components of a supplier whose factory burned down. And due to quality standards they (RME) basically chose to not deliver at all rather than compromise until they find supplies which match their QA standards. This in turn leads to delay of their batches and they said they would be back to normal delivery times by mid 2022. Which is actually a nice bit of background info which fits in with all of the stories about build and support quality I have heard until now.
> 
> Thought you might find that interesting.


Thanks for letting us know! I've been frustratingly refreshing the page looking at the availability for weeks! Haha


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## muratkayi (Apr 26, 2022)

Guys,
after a few months of patience, my RME Fireface UCXII arrived and I installed/configured it successfully. I find the menu structure and the handling quite easy. I need a few silent hours to read through the manual for TotalMixFX, but what I have read so far is already mind-blowing, as this device solves a few problems I wasn't aware I had, lol. Really looking forward to diving into it.
But question that I would like to throw into this thread, here:

Using the RME Fireface UCXII as a standalone Recorder is quite an exciting outlook. Do you think there is a viable solution to power it when on-the-road or in a mobile way? That way, I could use it for fiel recordings, I mean like literally out in the fields. If I understood correctly, the RME main is regulated against voltage fluctuations, so I don't think you could damage it, but are there actually devices able to provide let's say an hour high voltage AC to run this thing out "en plein-air" as the italians say?


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## David Kudell (Jun 9, 2022)

Been looking into getting an RME as the driver stability thing is appealing…I’ve been getting a lot of crashes since the last Apogee driver update.

My question, is anyone using any of the FireWire based RME stuff? I could technically make it work via a Fw800 to Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 adapter. Would love an UCX II at some point but they’re back ordered and an old Digiface on eBay for cheap would tide me over.


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## fakemaxwell (Jun 9, 2022)

David Kudell said:


> Been looking into getting an RME as the driver stability thing is appealing…I’ve been getting a lot of crashes since the last Apogee driver update.
> 
> My question, is anyone using any of the FireWire based RME stuff? I could technically make it work via a Fw800 to Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 adapter. Would love an UCX II at some point but they’re back ordered and an old Digiface on eBay for cheap would tide me over.


RME does a good job keeping their old hardware reasonably updated. They released a firmware for their FW line in 2019, so relatively recent.

My only concern there is the TB to FW conversion. If you've used it in the past without issue I'd bet you're good to go.


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## David Kudell (Jun 10, 2022)

fakemaxwell said:


> RME does a good job keeping their old hardware reasonably updated. They released a firmware for their FW line in 2019, so relatively recent.
> 
> My only concern there is the TB to FW conversion. If you've used it in the past without issue I'd bet you're good to go.


Thanks, yeah, I might just wait for the UCX II to get back in stock. I am mostly just impatient because I've been getting crashes lately from the latest Apogee drivers, and I want to know if that's the cause. Plus, I hear the latency of the RME stuff is better.


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## muratkayi (Jun 10, 2022)

It might be reasonable to order now, because there will be a waiting list and every now and then 4-6 units might arrive and the waiting list gets served and shorter. In my case that meant waiting for 3 months between ordering and delivery and I know that 5 people got their hardware before me. If you wait til it's widely available you might be in for a much longer delay


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## David Kudell (Jun 15, 2022)

muratkayi said:


> It might be reasonable to order now, because there will be a waiting list and every now and then 4-6 units might arrive and the waiting list gets served and shorter. In my case that meant waiting for 3 months between ordering and delivery and I know that 5 people got their hardware before me. If you wait til it's widely available you might be in for a much longer delay


I went ahead and ordered the UCX II, I’m hoping 2-3 weeks based on their estimates.


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## Tom_D (Jun 15, 2022)

I also recently converted to RME. Have a Babyface Pro FS and some of their AVB gear. All working well with both PC (Windows 10) and Mac (M1). Would recommend.


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## SonicMojo (Jun 15, 2022)

Upgraded to the UCXII in Jan 2022 - coming from the Multiface 2 which I bought new in 2009.

I literally used my Multiface 2 every single day from June 2009 - Jan 2022 and never turned it off, never had a glitch and continued to get driver updates into mid 2021.

If there is such a rare thing as "just works" - RME defines it. Yes - it is priced for those who can truly appreciate the best - but when it comes to audio interfaces - there is really no need for a discussion.

Cheers

Sonic.


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## David Kudell (Jun 15, 2022)

Great to hear all the rave reviews. I've been researching RME the past few weeks and all I ever found is praise, especially how they're reliable, stable, and they just work. I first heard about RME from reading Hans Zimmer's praise about them, and he's someone I definitely trust!

I've had my Apogee Duet 2 for probably 8 years now and it's been pretty good, but the last driver update started causing my Mac to crash. Stability is so important when you're trying to write on a deadline, and after a few days of dealing with rebooting and not writing music, I felt like it was time to try a new interface.

Besides the low latency, I'm also looking forward to the Loopback feature, which will be great for when I record screencasts for my YouTube videos and sample library demos. The UCX II also has AES out, which I can run to my Genelec monitors with AES inputs to save on a couple D/A conversion steps. I'm not sure I'll even hear a difference but at least I'll feel like I'm getting the best quality my system is capable of.


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## Ben (Jun 15, 2022)

David Kudell said:


> Great to hear all the rave reviews. I've been researching RME the past few weeks and all I ever found is praise, especially how they're reliable, stable, and they just work. I first heard about RME from reading Hans Zimmer's praise about them, and he's someone I definitely trust!
> 
> I've had my Apogee Duet 2 for probably 8 years now and it's been pretty good, but the last driver update started causing my Mac to crash. Stability is so important when you're trying to write on a deadline, and after a few days of dealing with rebooting and not writing music, I felt like it was time to try a new interface.
> 
> Besides the low latency, I'm also looking forward to the Loopback feature, which will be great for when I record screencasts for my YouTube videos and sample library demos. The UCX II also has AES out, which I can run to my Genelec monitors with AES inputs to save on a couple D/A conversion steps. I'm not sure I'll even hear a difference but at least I'll feel like I'm getting the best quality my system is capable of.


I bought a UFX II 3-4 years ago, and I haven't regretted it once!
Also it's super nice to be able to store routing and mixing settings - I have one for conference calls, one for working with a DAW, and one where I can route my DAW signal into the conference call


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## David Kudell (Jun 15, 2022)

Ben said:


> I bought a UFX II 3-4 years ago, and I haven't regretted it once!
> Also it's super nice to be able to store routing and mixing settings - I have one for conference calls, one for working with a DAW, and one where I can route my DAW signal into the conference call


Great ideas! I watched a couple YT videos about Total Mix and was thinking, "how have I survived without this all my life?" I think I'm going to spring for that ARC USB controller too, that looks very handy.

Also, I'm kinda glad I'll have similar hardware to you since I use VEP so much.


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## kgdrum (Jun 15, 2022)

I have been using RME products for many years,first I had a FF800 which was a pretty good i/o but was
designed with an internal power supply which failed after about 5 years. 
I replaced the ps and after another 5 years the power supply failed again. The U.S. rep who i have been dealing with for years who’s great actually acknowledged it was a design flaw so I switched to the UCX(version 1). Which thankfully has an external power supply (wall wart)which I love!
I have made progress with understanding Total Mix which for me is very deep ,extremely capable and at times has been a bit of a mind fuck but overall I really like RME.
If you’re in the USA ,SynthAX is the distributor and Jeff Peterson is an amazing person to deal with if you ever have a question,problem etc……….👍 

I’ve been using RME now for about 15 years definitely a great company and support.


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## Tom_D (Jun 15, 2022)

> Also it's super nice to be able to store routing and mixing settings - I have one for conference calls, one for working with a DAW, and one where I can route my DAW signal into the conference call


Also this. My previous interface, while stable, didn't have nearly the flexibility of TotalMix. I just picked up the ARC controller to go with it as well 👍


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## kgdrum (Jun 15, 2022)

Tom_D said:


> Also this. My previous interface, while stable, didn't have nearly the flexibility of TotalMix. I just picked up the ARC controller to go with it as well 👍




I’ve been lusting for the ARC controller for a while but must admit I don’t totally understand it’s capabilities,it looks too simple ,lol 
Do you find it useful?


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## Tom_D (Jun 15, 2022)

Today is the 


kgdrum said:


> I’ve lusting for the ARC controller for a while but must admit I don’t totally understand it’s capabilities,it looks too simple ,lol Do you find it useful?


Today is the first day I have used it. I like having it handy for switching between snapshots, toggling the TotalMix window on and off, making volume adjustments to the main output, volume recall of the main output, toggling mono sum for the main output, and switching between the main output and speaker B. I believe you can control most of the same things in TotalMix with MIDI or OSC controls, but I just went with this as it fully integrates with TotalMix without having to do anything else; all I have to do is go to preferences and decide what I want each button to do.


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## toddkreuz (Jun 15, 2022)

i still have my RME Multiface II. Still love it. One of my favorite features is Loopback.


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## Piano Pete (Jun 15, 2022)

TLDR: All of RME's product's are top of the line and built like freight trains. If audio over IP is also of interest, they have full integration for that as well.

They have been, and will probably continue to be (if they keep up doing what they have been) my only recommendation for professional interfaces. They also hold their resale value—for that reason.


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## rhizomusicosmos (Jun 15, 2022)

kgdrum said:


> I have been using RME products for many years,first I had a FF800 which was a pretty good i/o but was
> designed with an internal power supply which failed after about 5 years.
> I replaced the ps and after another 5 years the power supply failed again. The U.S. rep who i have been dealing with for years who’s great actually acknowledged it was a design flaw so I switched to the UCX(version 1). Which thankfully has an external power supply (wall wart)which I love!
> I have made progress with understanding Total Mix which for me is very deep ,extremely capable and at times has been a bit of a mind fuck but overall I really like RME.
> ...


If you still have your FF800 and want to resurrect it, the power supply problem might be a capacitor that is easy to replace. We had this issue with an RME UFX that lost most of its analogue I/O. I had a look at the PS board and found a cap that had blown -- replaced that and it has been running fine now for a couple of years.


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## kgdrum (Jun 15, 2022)

rhizomusicosmos said:


> If you still have your FF800 and want to resurrect it, the power supply problem might be a capacitor that is easy to replace. We had this issue with an RME UFX that lost most of its analogue I/O. I had a look at the PS board and found a cap that had blown -- replaced that and it has been running fine now for a couple of years.


Thanks I still have it but honestly replacing a capacitor is definitely above this drummers paygrade. 😱


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## SonicMojo (Jun 18, 2022)

toddkreuz said:


> i still have my RME Multiface II. Still love it. One of my favorite features is Loopback.


As do I - have it at the ready as a spare if it comes to that.


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## David Kudell (Jul 13, 2022)

I received my UCX II yesterday and I already love it. I ordered through Sweetwater in early June so it took about a month to arrive. 

I also got the ARC remote which I’m using to control the volume to my monitors. I have AES digital going from the UCX II to my monitors so the ARC allows me to control volume digitally without passing through any analog gear. Not that I’ll probably hear the difference but at least I feel better knowing the signal path is as good as possible. 😂


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## muratkayi (Jul 13, 2022)

I'm happy for you, enjoy the great device!

My favourite things about it (try them!)
- DuRec. Portable recordings with no fan noise around anywhere. Also wanna use it for live recording
- TotalMix. I started delegating mixing tasks to TotalMix, it is so versatile
- Loopback. I really used to hook up cables from back to front to sample stuff. No more!
- with TotalMix and the awesome Mic preamps I could totally see me using the UCXII as my central audio hub for live performance and instant live recording with my acoustic duo. Still have to work this out, so I will report back on that when it happened.

One last thing. Coming from low price audio interfaces and portable mini recorders I was accustomed to do some basic noise removal as my first editing step. With a recent DuRec recording the noise floor was so low, there wasn't any point in trying to dim it down. I was really baffled. As the only difference to previous recording situations were the new mic preamps, I blame them. Seem to be really awesome in that (and maybe more) regard.


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