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User`s Guide Babyface

1. 76 29 Warranty 76 30 IAppendiX uuu u 77 31 Declaration of 78 4 User s Guide Babyface RME User s Guide RME INTELLIGENT AUDIO SOLUTIONS Babyface gt General User s Guide Babyface RME 1 Introduction Thank you for choosing the RME Babyface This unique audio system is capable of transferring analog and digital audio data directly to Windows and Mac computers The latest Plug and Play technology guarantees a simple installation even for the inexperienced user Numerous unique features and well thought out configuration dialog puts the Babyface at the very top of the range of computer based audio interfaces The package contains drivers for Windows XP Vista 7 and Mac OS X x86 Intel Our high performance philosophy guarantees maximum system performance by executing as many functions as possible not in the driver i e the CPU but within the audio hardware 2 Package Contents Babyface Cable USB 2 0 with double power connector Breakout cable XLR TRS DIN D sub extension cable 1 3m 4 3 ft Carrying bag grey mesh Manual RME Driver CD 3 System Requirements e Windows XP SP2 or up Intel Mac OS X 10 5 or up e 1USB 2 0 port e Computer with at least Pentium Core 2 Duo CPU gt Brief Description and Characteristics All settings can be changed in real t
2. Single Speed Double Speed Quad Speed Babyface Analog 1 to 4 Babyface Analog 1 to 4 Babyface Analog 1 to 4 Babyface AS 1 to 2 Babyface AS 1 to 2 Babyface AS 1 to 2 Babyface ADAT 3 to 4 Babyface ADAT 3 to 4 Babyface ADAT 3 to 4 Babyface ADAT 5 to 6 Babyface ADAT 5 to 6 Babyface ADAT 5 to 6 Babyface ADAT 7 to 8 Babyface ADAT 7 to 8 Babyface ADAT 7 to 8 24 User s Guide Babyface RME 10 3 Known Problems If a computer does not provide sufficient CPU power and or sufficient USB bus transfer rates then drop outs crackling and noise will appear Such effects can be avoided by using a higher buffer setting latency in the Settings dialog of the Babyface Furthermore Plugins should be deactivated temporarily to make sure they do not cause these problems More information can be found in chapter 26 3 Another common source of trouble is incorrect synchronization ASIO does not support asyn chronous operation which means that the input and output signals not only have to use the same sample frequency but also have to be in sync All devices connected to the Babyface must be properly configured for Full Duplex operation As long as SyncCheck in the Settings dialog only displays Lock instead of Sync the devices have not been set up properly The same applies when using more than one Babyface or Fireface UC they all have to be in sync Else a periodically repeated noise will be heard The Babyface supports ASIO Direct Monitoring ADM
3. 5 Disable MIDI in background Deactivates MIDI Remote Control as soon as another application is in the focus or when TotalMix has been minimized Settings G Talkback Input fani xl Dim 1 20 0 dB Listenback Input AN 2 Dim 20 0 dB Main Out Recall 10 0 dB Dim Pr 20 0 dB MIDI Remote Control MIDIIn Babyface Midi Port 1 v MIDI Out Babyface Midi Port 1 Y Cancel Note When MIDI Out is set to NONE then TotalMix FX can be controlled by MIDI but is not in full Mackie Control mode Therefore the 8 channel block is not marked as remote target 54 User s Guide Babyface RME 21 9 Hotkeys and Usage TotalMix FX has many hotkeys and mouse hotkey combinations to speed up and simplify the usage The Shift key enables a fine tuning of the gain with all faders and in the Matrix On all knobs it will speed up the setting A click on a fader with held down Shift key adds the fader to the temporary fader group A click in the fader path with held down Shift key will let the fader jump to 0 dB at the next click to Same function Double click of the mouse Clicking on one of the Panorama or Gain knobs with held down Shift key lets the knob jump tp center position Same function Double click of the mouse A double click of the mouse on a knob or its numerical field opens the according Input Value dialog The desired value can then be set by keyboard Dragging the mouse from a param
4. ADAT 5 6 gt moved by the mouse wheel UFL UFL gt set to 0 dB and x by a double click The same happens with a single click plus held down Ctrl key gt adjusted in fine mode by mouse drag and mouse wheel when holding the Shift key down A Shift click on a fader adds the fader to the temporary fader group All faders now marked yellow are ganged and move simultaneously in a relative way The temporary fader group is deleted by a click on the F symbol in the upper right of the window The arrow symbol at the bottom minimizes the channel width to that of the level meters An other click maximizes it again A mouse click with held Ctrl key causes all channels to the right to enlarge and minimize at once User s Guide Babyface RME 43 The lowest field shows the current routing target A mouse click opens the routing window to select a routing target The list shows all activated routings of the current channel by arrows in front of the gt AN 12 listed entries the current one is shown in bold letters ama An arrow is only shown with an activated routing A routing is seen as activated when audio data is sent As long as the fader is set to x AAT SIC the current routing will be shown in bold letters but not have an arrow ADAT 7 8 in the front Trim Gain After a click on the double arrow one channel s faders are all synchronized Instead of changing only a single routing the fader affects all th
5. Current Clock ADAT In Sample Rate 44100 Hz Use the drop down menu Properties For to select the unit to Input Status be configured ADAT Sync 44 1 kHz On the right of it the current firmware and driver version is shown User s Guide Babyface RME 31 Options DSP EQ for Record Switches the 3 band EQ and Low Cut of all input channels into the recording path In case Loopback has been activated the EQ and Low Cut of the Output channel is placed into the re cording path See also chapter 23 5 Optical Out The optical TOSLINK output can operate as ADAT or SPDIF output The Channel Status is fixed to Consumer state Note The optical input detects the incoming format automatically Clock Mode Sample 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 Internal Master or the digital input signal Optical Slave If the external source isn t available Input Status No Lock the unit will change to the internal clock The current clock source is displayed as Current Input Status Indicates for the optical input whether there is a valid signal Lock No Lock or if there is a valid and synchronous signal Sync The third column shows the sample frequency detected by the hardware coarse recognition 32 kHz 44 1 kHz 48 kHz etc In Clock Mode the clock refer ence is
6. 7 Line Out Left 12 Line Out Left 3 Line Out Right 8 Line Out Right 13 Phones Left 4 MIDI Out 5 9 GND Shell 14 Phones Right 5 MIDI In 4 10 MIDI In 5 15 MIDI Out 4 15 pin D type connector and RCA phono breakout cable Pin Name Pin Name Pin Name 1 GND Shell 6 Line In Left 11 GND Shell 2 Line In Right 7 12 Line Out Left 3 Line Out Right 8 n c 13 Phones Left 4 MIDI Out 5 9 GND Shell 14 Phones Right 5 MIDI In 4 10 MIDI In 5 15 MIDI Out 4 74 User s Guide Babyface RME User s Guide INTELLIGENT AUDIO SOLUTIONS Babyface gt Miscellaneous User s Guide Babyface RME 75 28 Accessories There are several items available for the Babyface Part Number Description Optical cable for SPDIF and ADAT operation OK0050 Optical cable TOSLINK 0 5 m 1 6 ft OK0100 Optical cable TOSLINK 1 m 3 3 ft OK0200 Optical cable TOSLINK 2 m 6 6 ft OK0300 Optical cable TOSLINK 3 m 9 9 ft OK0500 Optical cable TOSLINK 5 m 16 4 ft OK1000 Optical cable TOSLINK 10 m 33 ft NTCARDBUS Power supply for Babyface Robust and light weight switching power supply 100 V 240 V AC 12 V 2 A DC BF BAGBK Bag for Babyface BF BOCMKH Breakout cable RCA phono BF BOXLRMKH Breakout cable XLR BF EXT13 Extension cable 1 3 m 4 6 ft 29 Warranty Each individual Babyface undergoes comprehensive quality control and a complete test before shipping The usage of high grade components should guarantee
7. At the same time the control room s microphone signal source de fined in Preferences is sent to the Phones The microphone level is adjusted with the channel s input fader Speak B Switches playback from Main Out to Main Out B The faders of the channels Main and Speaker B can be ganged via Link Mute FX Mutes Reverb and Echo on the Main Out to hear the mix without those Main Out gt effects Main Out gt Assign Allows to define the Main Out Main Phones 1 gt None Out B and up to two Phones outs The choice is limited to AN 1 2 AN 3 4 and AS Phones 2 4 AN 1 2 1 2 as at 192 kHz the other ADAT channels PH 3 4 are not available anymore AS 1 2 User s Guide Babyface RME 47 21 5 The Control Strip The Control Strip on the right side is a fixed element It combines different functions that are either required globally or constantly used and therefore should not be hidden in a menu Device selection Select the unit to be controlled in case more than one is Babyface installed on the computer DSP Meter Shows the DSP load caused by activated EQs and Low Cuts The DSP of the Babyface has been designed so that an overload can not F occur The display therefore is for information purposes only View Options Undo Redo With the unlimited Undo and Redo changes of the mix can be undone and redone at any time Undo Redo does not cover graphical changes window size position channels wide narrow etc and al
8. Mono Main Out Speaker B TrimGains Mute Solo Select select output bus Submix Recall load Snapshot 1 8 select Main Out select Cue Phones 1 2 Tested with Behringer BCF2000 Firmware v1 07 in Mackie Control emulation for Steinberg mode and with Mackie Control under Mac OS X User s Guide Babyface RME 61 24 3 Setup e Open the Preferences dialog menu Options or F3 Select the MIDI Input and MIDI Output port where your controller is connected to e When no feedback is needed when using only standard MIDI commands instead of Mackie Control protocol select NONE as MIDI Output e Check Enable MIDI Controlin the Options menu 24 4 Operation The channels being under Mackie MIDI control are indicated by a colour change of the name field black turns to brown The 8 fader block can be moved horizontally and vertically in steps of one or eight channels Faders can be selected to gang them In Submix View mode the current routing destination output bus can be selected via REC Ch 1 8 This equals the selection of a different output channel in the lowest row by a mouse click when in Submix View In MIDI operation it is not necessary to jump to the lowest row to perform this selection This way even the routing can be 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 Attention th
9. Mount the included breakout cable with or without the extension cable to the D sub connector of the Babyface The analog input sensitivity can be changed at the unit Select In or in TotalMix Settings Gain assuring the highest signal to noise ratio will be achieved Also try to achieve an optimum input level by adjusting the source itself Raise the source s output level until the peak level meters in TotalMix reach about 3 dB The analog line inputs of the Babyface can be used with 4 dBu and 10 dBV signals The elec tronic input stage can handle balanced XLR TRS jacks and unbalanced TS jacks input sig nals correctly The Babyface s digital output supports the formats SPDIF and ADAT optical On the analog playback side the DA side an adjustment of the analog output level can be done by the rotary encoder Select Out or Phones or in TotalMix FX The output signal of channels 3 4 Phones is also available at the unit The output level can be set freely using the rotary encoder This output is a low impedance type which can also be used to connect headphones TotalMix FX remembers all settings and loads these automatically when the Babyface drivers are loaded User s Guide Babyface RME 9 10 User s Guide Babyface RME User s Guide amg INTELLIGENT AUDIO SOLUTIONS Babyface gt Installation and Operation Windows User s Guide Babyface RME 11 6 Hardware Installation Connect compute
10. Please note that not all programs sup port ADM completely or error free The most often reported problem is the wrong behaviour of panorama 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 have to be changed At the time of print the option Use System Timestamp should be activated The Babyface supports both MME MIDI and DirectMusic MIDI It depends on the used application which one will work better 11 Using more than one Babyface The current driver supports up to three Babyface or Fireface UC All units have to be in sync i e have to receive valid digital sync information e f one of the Babyfaces is set to clock mode Master all others have to be set to clock mode Slave 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 Babyface Settings dialog e 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 Note TotalMix is part of the hardware of each Babyface 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 In real world an operation of more than one
11. Switches off all EQs Low Cuts Reverb and Echo and sets their knobs to default position Reset channel names Removes all names assigned by the user 56 User s Guide Babyface RME 22 The Matrix 22 1 Overview The mixer window of TotalMix looks and operates similar to mixing desks as it is based on a conventional stereo design The matrix display presents a different method of assigning and routing channels based on a single channel or monaural design The matrix view of the Baby face has the look and works like a conventional patchbay adding functionality way beyond comparable hardware and software solutions While most patchbays will allow you to connect inputs to outputs with just the original level 1 1 or 0 dB as known from mechanical patchbays TotalMix allows you to use a freely definable gain value per crosspoint Matrix and TotalMix are different ways of displaying the same processes Because of this both views are always fully synchronized Each change in one view is immediately reflected in the other view as well 22 2 Elements of the Matrix View The visual design of the TotalMix Matrix is mainly determined by the architecture of the Baby face system gt Horizontal labels All hardware outputs gt Vertical labels All hardware inputs Below are all J RME TotalMix FX Babyface 1 44 1k playback channels File Function Options Help 5 Green 0 0 dB field Standard 1 1 routing Out 1 Out 2 Out 3 Out pa
12. ters operate both pre and post efficiently preventing overloads going unnoticed gt RMS Level The numerical level display in the channels displays peak or RMS Mixer Setup gt 2 Rows Switches the mixer view to 2 rows Hardware Inputs and Software Playbacks are placed side by side This view saves a lot of space especially in height gt O Names Display of the original names of channels when they had been renamed by the user gt FX Opens the window to set up the effects Reverb and Echo User s Guide Babyface RNE 49 Snapshots Snapshots include all mixer settings but no graphical elements like window posi tions window size number of windows visible EQs or Settings scroll states Presets etc Only the state wide narrow of the channels is registered Moreover the Snapshot is only temporarily stored Loading a Workspace causes the loss of all stored Snapshots when these all had not been saved before in a Workspace or separately via File Save Snapshot as Via File Load Snapshot the mixer states can be loaded individually 8 different mixes can be stored under individual names in the Snapshot section A click on any of the 8 buttons loads the corresponding Snapshot A double click on the name field opens the dialog Input Name to edit the name As soon as the mixer state is changed the button starts flashing A click on Store lets all buttons flash whereby the last loaded one the base of the current state flashes inve
13. 8 ADAT channels don t seem to work e The optical output has been switched to SPDIF As can be seen in the block diagram all channels and their assignments still exist but the optical transmitter has been disconnected from ADAT The ADAT playback devices are still usable by routing and mixing them in To talMix to other outputs Playback works but record doesnt e Check that there is a valid signal at the input If so the current sample frequency is dis played in the Settings dialog e Check whether the Babyface has been selected as recording device in the audio application e Check whether the sample frequency set in the audio application Recording properties or similar matches the input signal e Check that cables devices have not been connected in a closed loop If so set the system s clock mode to Master Crackle during record or playback e Increase the number and size of buffers in the application e Try different cables coaxial or optical to rule out any defects here e Check that cables devices have not been connected in a closed loop If so set the system s clock mode to Master Possible causes for a Babyface not working e The USB cable is not or not correctly inserted into the socket e Not enough power Use the special dual USB power cable Driver installation and Settings dialog TotalMix work but a playback or record is not possible e While recognition and control of the device are low bandw
14. Babyface makes no sense and is therefore not actively supported by RME The second unit would have to be synchronized using the optical input The result is an extension by only 2 analog record and 4 analog playback channels plus 8 digital via ADAT Out It makes much more sense to directly connect an 8 channel converter to the ADAT of one Babyface adding full 8 channels of record and playback User s Guide Babyface RME 25 12 DIGICheck Windows The DIGICheck software is a unique utility developed for testing measuring and analysing digi tal audio streams Although this Windows software is fairly self explanatory it still includes a comprehensive online help DIGICheck 5 3 operates as multi client ASIO host therefore can be used in parallel to any software with both inputs and outputs The following is a short sum mary of the currently available functions Level Meter High precision 24 bit resolution 2 10 28 channels Application examples Peak level measurement RMS level measurement over detection phase correlation measure ment dynamic range and signal to noise ratios RMS to peak difference loudness long term peak measurement input check Oversampling mode for levels higher than 0 dBFS Supports visualization according to the K System Hardware Level Meter for Input Playback and Output Reference Level Meter freely con figurable causing near zero CPU load because calculated from the Babyface hardware Vector Audi
15. SyncAlign TMS TotalMix SteadyClock and Babyface are trade marks of RME Intelligent Audio Solutions Alesis and ADAT are registered trademarks of Alesis Corp ADAT optical is a trademark of Alesis Corp Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp Steinberg Cubase and VST are registered trademarks of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH ASIO is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH Copyright Matthias Carstens 12 2010 Version 1 3 Current driver version W 0 964 Mac OS X 1 49 Firmware 176 Although the contents of this User s Guide have been thoroughly checked for errors RME can not guarantee that it is correct throughout RME does not accept responsibility for any mislead ing or incorrect information within this guide Lending or copying any part of the guide or the RME Driver CD or any commercial exploitation of these media without express written permis sion from RME Intelligent Audio Solutions is prohibited RME reserves the right to change specifications at any time without notice User s Guide Babyface RME 77 31 Declaration of Conformity CE This device has been tested and found to comply with the limits of the European Council Direc tive on the approximation of the laws of the member states relating to electromagnetic compati bility according to RL2004 108 EG and European Low Voltage Directive RL2006 95 EG FCC This equipment has been tested and found t
16. X allow for the signalling of an offset value to correct buffer independent delays like AD and DA conversion or the Safety Buffer described below An analog loopback test will then show no offset because the application shifts the recorded data accordingly Because in real world operation analog record and playback is unavoidable the drivers include an offset value matching the Babyface converter delays Therefore in a digital loopback test a negative offset of about 3 ms occurs This is no real problem because this way of working is more than rare and usually the offset can be compen sated manually within the application Additionally keep in mind that even when using the digital I Os usually at some place an AD and DA conversion is involved no sound without User s Guide Babyface RME 69 Note Cubase and Nuendo display the latency values signalled from the driver separately for record and playback The values do not exactly equal the buffer size for example 3 ms at 128 samples instead a higher value is shown including the time needed for the AD DA conversion Playback shows an even higher value see Safety Buffer Safety Buffer An additional small Safety Buffer on the playback side has proven to be very efficient and use ful The Babyface uses a fixed additional buffer of 32 samples which is added to the current buffer size The main advantage is the ability to use lowest latency at highest CPU loads Fur thermore th
17. a device audio data is sent to an analog or digital port depending on which has been selected as playback device Preferences 1 71 689 tg Audio Database CD Burning Ay Sync General f VST di Audio device File fs Environment be wave edit Playback device Recording device Lautsprecher RME Babyface Ah DM Microsoft Soundmappe MME wDM Microsoft Soundmapper Buffer Number MME wDM ADAT 7 8 RME Babyface MME WDM Analog J AME Babyface Buffer Size MME WDM SPDIF ADAT 1 2 Babyface Latency 16bit 44 1kHz stereo 278 ms MME WDM Mikroton 2 High Definition Au MME WDM ADAT 344 RME Babyface W Be moneo as MME WDM ADAT 5 6 RME Babyface ASID Playback resolution 16 bit 20 bit Start streaming at application startup 24 bit Perform short fade in out when starting stopping 24 bit sample format playback 32 bit 4 bytes gt Transport settings are global to all windows Playback cursor Release audio hardware when switching to another Get position from audio driver application while playback and recording are not taking Correction samples a gt place Fa Increasing the number and or size of audio buffers may prevent the audio signal from breaking up but also increases latency i e output is delayed For synchronized playback of audio and MIDI or similar be sure to activate the checkbox
18. a long and trouble free opera tion of the unit If you suspect that your product is faulty please contact your local retailer Audio AG grants a limited manufacturer warranty of 6 months from the day of invoice showing the date of sale The length of the warranty period is different per country Please contact your local distributor for extended warranty information and service Note that each country may have regional specific warranty implications In any case warranty does not cover damage caused by improper installation or maltreatment replacement or repair in such cases can only be carried out at the owner s expense No warranty service is provided when the product is not returned to the local distributor in the region where the product had been originally shipped Audio AG does not accept claims for damages of any kind especially consequential damage Liability is limited to the value of the Babyface The general terms of business drawn up by Au dio AG apply at all times 76 User s Guide Babyface RME 30 Appendix RME news driver updates and further product information are available on our website http www rme audio com Distributor Audio AG Am Pfanderling 60 D 85778 Haimhausen Tel 49 08133 91810 Trademarks All trademarks registered or otherwise are the property of their respective owners RME DIGICheck and Hammerfall are registered trademarks of RME Intelligent Audio Solutions SyncCheck ZLM DIG196
19. and the Low Cut can be stored loaded and copied between Recall channels at any time click on Preset opens Save to gt a menu with several entries Import Export gt Recall Presets stored before by the user Factory Ny be selected loaded Rename Cheap Phones Compensation gt Save to There are 16 storage places available EQ Preset 1 to 16 Glitter Deep Bass Boost gt Import Loads a previously stored TM EQ Topo file tmeq Low Frequency Effects Bass Drum gt Export Stores the current state as TM Cymbals LCHEQ EQ file tmeq Wah Live Vocal Mic LC EQ gt Factory Includes 14 examples for the Peak creative use of Low Cut and Equalizer Notch High Frequency Cut gt Reset Resets the Low Cut and EQ to have zero influence Gain 0 dB gt Rename The EQ Presets 1 to 16 can be renamed The changes will be shown in both lists Recall and Save to 46 User s Guide Babyface RME 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 of the 16 storage places it is then also available in any other channel via Recall Copy between Snapshots The Presets are not saved in Snapshots therefore do not change when a different Snapshot is loaded Presets are saved in Workspaces and also loaded with these Copy between Workspaces is done by the export and import function of the Preset
20. be remote controlled via MIDI It is compatible to the widely spread Mackie Control protocol so TotalMix can be controlled with all hardware controllers supporting this standard Examples are the Mackie Control Tascam US 2400 or Behringer BCF 2000 Additionally the stereo output faders lowest row which are set up as Main Out in the Control Room section can also be controlled by the standard Control Change Volume via MIDI chan nel 1 With this the main volume of the Babyface is controllable from nearly any MIDI equipped hardware device MIDI Remote Control always operates in View Submix mode even when the View Option Free is currently selected in TotalMix FX 24 2 Mapping TotalMix supports the following Mackie Control surface elements Element Channel faders 1 8 Master fader SEL 1 8 DYNAMICS V Pots 1 8 pressing V Pot knobs CHANNEL LEFT or REWIND CHANNEL RIGHT or FAST FORWARD BANK LEFT or ARROW LEFT BANK RIGHT or ARROW RIGHT ARROW UP or Assignable1 PAGE ARROW DOWN or Assignable2 PAGE EQ PLUGINS INSERT STOP PLAY PAN FLIP DYN MUTE Ch 1 8 SOLO Ch 1 8 SELECT Ch 1 8 REC Ch 1 8 RECORD F1 F8 F9 F10 F11 Meaning in TotalMix volume Main Monitor channel s faders Activate Trim mode pan pan center move one channel left move one channel right move eight channels left move eight channels right move one row up move one row down Master Mute Master Solo Dim Main Out Talkback
21. can be used at once Note TotalMix is part of the hardware of each Babyface 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 In real world an operation of more than one Babyface makes no sense and is therefore not actively supported by RME The second unit would have to be synchronized using the optical input The result is an extension by only 2 analog record and 4 analog playback channels plus 8 digital via ADAT Out Much more sense makes the direct connection of an 8 channel con verter to the ADAT I O of one Babyface adding full 8 channels of record and playback 19 DIGICheck Mac The DIGICheck software is a unique utility developed for testing measuring and analysing digi tal audio streams Although this Windows software is fairly self explanatory it still includes a comprehensive online help DIGICheck 0 6 operates in parallel to any software showing all input data The following is a short summary of the currently available functions e Level Meter High precision 24 bit resolution 2 10 28 channels Application examples Peak level measurement RMS level measurement over detection phase correlation measure ment dynamic range and signal to noise ratios RMS to peak difference loudness long term peak measurement input check Oversampling mode for levels higher than O dBFS Supports visualization according to the K System e Hardwar
22. input Try recording a few samples from the CD and you will be disap pointed few CD players can be synchronized The samples will inevitably be corrupted be cause the signal from the CD player is read with the clock from the Babyface being out of sync In this case the Clock Source should be set temporarily to SPDIF RME s exclusive SyncCheck technology first implemented in the Hammerfall enables an easy to use check and display of the current clock status Input Status indicates whether there is a valid signal Lock No Lock for the optical input or if there is a valid and synchronous signal Sync In the field Clock Mode the clock reference is shown See chapter 26 1 In practice SyncCheck provides the user with an easy way of checking whether all digital de vices connected to the system are properly configured With AutoSync and SyncCheck finally anyone can master this common source of error previously one of the most complex issues in the digital studio world User s Guide Babyface RME 33 17 Mac OS X FAQ 17 1 Round about Driver Installation The driver with the file suffix zip provided by RME is a compressed archive Zip is directly sup ported by OS X a double click on the file is all one needs to do The driver consists of a package file pkg A double click will start the OS X installer The actual audio driver appears as a kernel extension file The installer copies it to gt System Library Extensions lt Its
23. under 20 9 5 Multi client Operation 20 9 6 Analog 21 9 7 Digital Recording 21 9 8 Digital Connections 22 9 9 Clock Modes Synchronization 23 10 Operation under ASIO 10 1 General nant teens 24 10 2 Channel Count under 5 24 10 3 Known Problems 25 11 Using more than one Babyface 25 12 DIGICheck Windows 26 13 Hotline 27 P Installation and Operation Mac OS X 14 Hardware Installation 30 15 Driver and Firmware 15 1 Driver Installation 30 15 2 Driver Update 30 15 3 Firmware 31 16 Configuring the Babyface 16 1 Settings Dialog General 31 16 2 Clock Modes Synchronization 33 2 User s Guide Babyface RME 17 Mac OS X FAQ 17 1 Round about Driver Installation 34 17 2 MIDI doesn t wolrk 34 17 3 Repairing Dis
24. DAT or SPDIF signal is applied to the Babyface the corresponding input LED starts flashing The unit indicates LOCK i e a valid input signal in case the signal is also in sync the LED is constantly lit see below Unfortunately LOCK does not necessarily mean that the received signal is correct with respect to the clock which processes the read out of the embedded data Example 1 The Babyface is set to 44 1 kHz internally clock mode Master and a mixing desk with ADAT output is con nected to input ADAT The corresponding LED will show LOCK immediately but usually the mixing desk s sample rate is generated internally also Master and thus slightly higher or lower than the Babyface s internal sample rate Result When reading out the data there will fre quently be read errors that cause clicks and drop outs In order to display those problems optically at the device the Babyface includes SyncCheck It checks all clocks used for synchronicity If they are not synchronous to each other i e abso lutely identical the SYNC LED flashes In case they are completely synchronous the LED is constantly lit In the above example the user would have noticed quickly that the LED kept on flashing after connecting the mixing desk The same information is presented in the Babyface s Settings dialog In the status display Input State the state of the input clock is decoded and shown as simple text No Lock Lock Sync In practice SyncCheck all
25. Direct Digital Synthesizer DDS This superior circuitry can generate nearly any frequency with highest pre cision DDS has been implemented into the Babyface with regard to the needs of professional video applications as well as to maximum flexibility The section Pitch includes both a list of typical video frequencies so called pull up pull down at 0 196 and 4 and a fader to freely change the basic sample rate in steps of 1 Hz over a range of 5 The Pitch function requires the Babyface to be in clock mode Master Internal The fre a quency setting will only be applied to this one specific Babyface up warning messages of the audio software Therefore the desired sample rate should be d Changing the sample rate during record playback often results in a loss of audio or brings set at least coarsely before starting the software Coarse Coarse modification in steps of 50 Hz Clock Mode is done by clicking with the mouse to Sample Rate 47952 the left right the fader Clock Source Internal Current Internal Fine 5 Fine modification in steps of 1 Hz is Pitch sd done by using the left right cursor keys 5 a vm T Reset Ctrl key plus left mouse click Application examples Pitch allows for a simultaneous change of speed and tune during record and playback From alignment to other sources up to creative effects everything is possible Pitch enables y
26. Get position from audio driver Note on Windows Vista 7 Since Vista the audio application can no longer control the sample rate under WDM Instead the user has to work himself through numerous settings up to 32 with a MADI card and to set the sample rate to the same value per stereo device Therefore the driver of the Babyface includes a workaround the sample rate can be set globally for all WDM devices within the Settings dialog see chapter 9 1 User s Guide Babyface RME 17 9 2 DVD Playback AC 3 DTS AC 3 DTS When using popular DVD software players like WinDVD and PowerDVD their audio data stream can be sent to any AC 3 DTS capable receiver using the Babyface s SPDIF output For this to work the WDM SPDIF device of the Babyface has to be selected in gt Control Panel Sounds and Multimedia Audio lt or gt Control Panel Sound Playback lt Also check use preferred device only The DVD software s audio properties now show the options SPDIF Out or similar When select ing it the software will transfer the non decoded digital multichannel data stream to the Baby face Note This SPDIF signal sounds like chopped noise at highest level Try to avoid mixing and routing the signal to your loudspeakers as they might get damaged Multichannel PowerDVD and WinDVD can also operate as software decoder sending a DVD s multichannel data stream directly to the analog outputs of the Babyface For this to work select th
27. I 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 22 User s Guide Babyface RME 9 9 Clock Modes Synchronization In the digital world all devices must be either Master clock source or Slave clock receiver Whenever several devices are linked within a system there must always be a single master clock digital system can only have one master If the Babyface s clock mode is set to Internal all other devices must be set to Slave The Babyface utilizes a very user friendly intelligent clock control called AutoSync Selecting Optical as Clock Source the system constantly scans the digital input for a valid signal If any valid signal is found the Babyface switches from the internal quartz Clock Mode Current Internal to a clock extracted from the input signal Clock Mode Current ADAT or SPDIF The difference to a usual slave mode is that whenever the clock reference fails the system will automatically use its internal clock and operate in clock mode Master AutoSync guarantees that record and record while play will always work correctly In certain cases however e g when the inputs and outputs of a DAT machine are connected directly to the Babyface A
28. Import available Reverb Echo Preset 1 to 16 Export Factory Vocal Heaven R E b gt Import Loads a previously stored TM FX aaa PETER Reverb file tmrv or a TM FX Echo file ven Rename Smooth Echo Slap Back gt Export Stores the current state as TM FX Smooth Reflection Reverb file tmrv or as TM FX Echo file Sizzle tmeo Drums Big Hall gt Factory Includes 10 examples for the ass Crunch configuration of the Reverb Stereo Enhancer gt Reset Resets the Reverb or Echo gt Rename The Presets 1 to 16 can be renamed The changes will be shown in both lists Recall and Save to 21 7 Preferences usss The dialog Preferences can be opened evel matas T via the Options menu or directly via F2 1 Full scale samples for Level Meters 3 0 Peak Hold Time s gt Full scale samples for OVR Tee Hep Number of consecutive samples to trigger an over detection 1 to 10 gt Peak Hold Time Hold time of the peak value Adjustable from 0 1 up to FX Send follows highest submix 9 9 8 Center Balance Pan when gt RMS 3 dB Shifts the RMS value by mabato ala ing 3 dB so that full scale level is Snapshots pals for Peak and RMS at 0 M Do not load Main volume balance Mixer gt FX Send follows highest Submix Locks the FX Send knob to the channel fader As TotalMix supports multiple routings per channel a definition is needed which fader only one is v
29. K cable is sufficient for connection More information on Double Speed S MUX can be found in chapter 26 4 ADAT In Interface for a device sending an ADAT signal to the Babyface Carries the channels 1 to 8 When receiving a Double Speed signal this input carries the channels 1 to 4 at Quad Speed the inputs 1 and 2 ADAT Out Interface for a device receiving an ADAT signal from the Babyface Transmits channels 1 to 8 When sending a Double Speed signal this port carries channels 1 to 4 at Quad Speed the channels 1 and 2 Note To use the optical output as ADAT port set the option Optical to ADAT in the Settings dialog SPDIF The optical input automatically switches to SPDIF operation when such a signal is detected The audio information is then shown in TotalMix on the first two ADAT channels AS 1 and AS 2 Activating the option TMS in the Windows Settings dialog enables RME s DIGICheck to analyze the Channel Status of the input signal To send out SPDIF from the optical output select the option Optical SPDIF in the Settings dialog The output signal in TotalMix has to be present on the first ADAT channels AS 1 2 MIDI Babyface offers one MIDI I O via two 5 pin DIN jacks The MIDI ports are added to the system by the driver Using MIDI capable software these ports can be accessed under the name Baby face Midi Using more than one Babyface the operating system adds a consecutive number to the port name like Babyface MID
30. THD 104 dB 0 00063 THD N 100 dB 0 001 Channel separation gt 110 dB Output XLR balanced Output impedance 75 Ohm Output level balanced at 0 dBFS 15 dBu Output level unbalanced at 0 dBFS 9 dBu DA Phones 3 4 As DA Line Out but e Output 6 3 mm TRS jack unbalanced e Output impedance 30 Ohm e Output level at 0 dBFS 7 dBu 25 2 MIDI 1 x MIDI via breakout cable with 2 x 5 pin DIN jacks Galvanically isolated by optocoupled input Hi speed mode Jitter and response time typically below 1 ms Separate 128 byte FIFOs for input and output 66 User s Guide Babyface RME 25 3 Digital Clocks Internal ADAT In SPDIF In Low jitter Design lt 1 ns in PLL mode all inputs Internal clock 800 ps Jitter Random Spread Spectrum Jitter suppression of external clocks gt 30 dB 2 4 kHz Effective clock jitter influence on AD and DA conversion near zero PLL ensures zero dropout even at more than 100 ns jitter Digital Bitclock PLL for trouble free varispeed ADAT operation Supported sample rates 28 kHz up to 200 kHz 25 4 Digital Inputs ADAT Optical 1XTOSLINK e Standard 8 channels 24 bit up to 48 kHz e Double Speed S MUX 4 channels 24 bit 96 kHz e Quad Speed S MUX4 2 channels 24 bit 192 kHz e Bitclock PLL ensures perfect synchronisation even in varispeed operation e Lock Range 31 5 kHz 50 kHz e Jitter when synced to input signal lt 1 ns e Jitter suppression gt 30 dB 2 4
31. User s Guide NG INTELLIGENT AUDIO SOLUTIONS Babyface Portable USB Audio at its best DVD TotalMix 24 Bit 192 kHz SteadyClock FRI SyncCheck USB 2 0 Digital I O System 22 Channels Analog ADAT SPDIF Interface 24 Bit 192 kHz Digital Audio 20 x 12 Matrix Router MIDI I O MIDI Remote Control P General 1 Introduction aaa 6 2 Package Contents 6 3 System Requirements 6 4 Brief Description and Characteristics 6 5 First Usage Quick Start 5 1 Connectors Controls Display 7 5 20 QUICK Start GB NAGA 9 P Installation and Operation Windows 6 Hardware Installation 12 7 Driver and Firmware 7 1 Driver Installation 12 7 2 Driver Update i ana Aga 13 7 3 De installing the Drivers 13 7 4 Firmware Update 13 8 Configuring the Babyface 8 1 Settings Dialog General 14 8 2 Settings Dialog Pitch 16 9 Operation and Usage 9 1 Playback an 17 9 2 DVD Playback AC 3 18 9 3 Notes WDM u a NANANA GG 19 9 4 Channel Count
32. a gt Black field with number Shows the current gain value as dB ADAT 5 6 gt Blue field This routing is muted gt Brown field Phase 180 inverted gt Dark grey field No routing To maintain overview when the window size has been reduced the labels are floating They won t leave the visible area when scrolling 22 3 Operation Using the Matrix is a breeze It is very easy to indentify the current crosspoint because the outer labels light up in orange according to the mouse position gt If input 1 is to be routed to output 1 use the mouse and click one time on crosspoint In 1 AN 1 with held down Ctrl key Two green 0 0 dB field pop in another click removes them 5 To change the gain equals the use of a different fader position see simultaneous display of the mixer view drag the mouse up or down starting from the gain field The value within the field changes accordingly The corresponding fader in the mixer view is moving simulta neously in case the currently modified routing is visible 5 On the right side is the Control Strip from the mixer window adapted to the Matrix The but ton for the temporary fader group is missing as well as all View options as they don t make sense here Instead the button Mono Mode lets you decide whether all the actions per formed in the Matrix are valid for two channels or just one User s Guide Babyface RME 57 The Matrix not always replaces the mixer view but it s
33. ally monitor where a signal is currently present The level meters of the hardware outputs are connected post fader thus displaying the actual output level User s Guide Babyface RME TOA jauuey9 yndjno REO 7 L Ieuueu yo yeed SINA jauueyo yndino 010 80 XIN soejAqeg Xd XINIEJOL INA ZL 10A ANA 2 NG NG ye ay RG Hz nG Et DI TON 3 DE XIN Tu x ZL 40 a AE olpny 0 6 5 ea si JOA NVd p TE RE sai gt 27 TOA OL jO 1 0 lag ain jauueUuD ZL 0 5 Boon indu 41 User s Guide Babyface RME 21 2 The User Interface The visual design of the TotalMix mixer is a result of its capability to route hardware inputs and software playback channels to any hardware output The Babyface has 10 input channels 12 software playback channels and 12 hardware output channels HARDWARE INPUTS SOFTWARE PLAYBACK AK KR HARDWARE OUTPUTS TotalMix can be used in the above view View Options 2 Rows The input channel should be placed above the corr
34. are the Babyface automatically uses Sample Multiplexing in DS mode One channel s data is distributed to two channels according to the following table Analogin Analogin DS Signal Port ADAT ADAT ADAT ADAT As the transmission of double rate signals is done at standard sample rate Single Speed the ADAT output still delivers 44 1 kHz or 48 kHz 26 5 QS Quad Speed Due to the small number of available devices that use sample rates up to 192 kHz but even more due to a missing real world application CD Quad Speed has had no broad success so far An implementation of the ADAT format as double S MUX results in only two channels per optical output There are few devices using this method In Quad Speed mode the Babyface automatically uses Sample Multiplexing One channel s data is distributed to four channels according to the following table Analogin Analogin DS Signal Port ADAT ADAT As the transmission of quad rate signals is done at standard sample rate Single Speed the ADAT output still delivers 44 1 kHz or 48 kHz User s Guide Babyface RME 71 26 6 Noise Level in DS QS Mode The outstanding signal to noise ratio of the Babyface s AD converters can be verified even with out expensive test equipment by using record level meters of various software But when acti vating the DS and QS mode the displayed noise level will rise from 109 dB to 104 dB
35. at 96 kHz and 82 dB at 192 kHz This is not a failure The software measures the noise of the whole frequency range at 96 kHz from 0 Hz to 48 kHz RMS unweighted at 192 kHz from 0 Hz to 96 kHz When limiting the measurement range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz so called audio bandpass the value would be 110 dB again This can be verified with RME s DIGICheck The function Bit Statistic amp Noise measures the noise floor by Limited Bandwidth ignoring DC and ultrasound File Function Options Help gt 7 4 0 by To 9 Subframe MSB Audio Data LSB AUX CUY RMS LB dB 3 RMS dBA 3 DC dB 1 Let RES RARE 100e 112 6 155 2 2 Right MANNANNA ee 1098 112 6 1645 Bits 4 8 42 46 20 24 20Hz 20kHz Acweighting OHz Press F1 For help SR 192kHz The reason for this behaviour is the noise shaping technology of the analog to digital convert ers They move all noise and distortion to the inaudible higher frequency range above 24 kHz That s how they achieve their outstanding performance and sonic clarity Therefore the noise is slightly increased in the ultrasound area High frequency noise has high energy Add the 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 26 7 SteadyClock The SteadyClock technology of the Babyface guarantees an e
36. ble and on the right side of the unit The connectors are not separated electrically When connecting two head phones the volume might be reduced The low impedance and unbalanced output signal is in terms of quality identical to the ones at the line outputs but limited to 7 dBu In case the phones output is to be used as line output usually an adapter TRS plug to RCA phono plugs or TRS plug to TS plugs is required More on cable codes and pinouts can be found in chapter 27 2 User s Guide Babyface RME 7 The short circuit protected low impedance line outputs do not operate servo balanced d When connecting unbalanced equipment make sure pin 3 of the XLR output is not con nected A connection to ground will cause a decreased THD higher distortion and in creased power consumption The Babyface has two analog microphone inputs that can operate as line inputs with levels up to 12 dBu when set to 0 dB gain The electronic input stage uses a servo balanced design which handles unbalanced and balanced signals correctly automatically adjusting the level reference When using unbalanced cables with the XLR breakout cable be sure to connect the ring 9 contact of a stereo TRS jack and pin 3 of XLR jack to ground Otherwise noise may cur caused by the unconnected negative input of the balanced input The rear of the Babyface has an optical input and output a power supply connector a USB socket and a 15 pin D s
37. completely unloads the driver which takes some DK Abbrechen time to finish s gt A reboot of the computer is not necessary When the update fails status failure the unit s Safety BIOS will be used from the next boot on the unit stays fully functional The flash process should then be tried again User s Guide Babyface RME 13 8 Configuring the Babyface 8 1 Settings Dialog General Configuration of the Babyface is done via its own settings dialog The panel Settings can be opened e by clicking on the fire symbol in the Task Bar s notification area The mixer of the Babyface TotalMix can be opened e by clicking on the double arrow symbol in the Task Bar s notification area The hardware of the Babyface offers a number of helpful well thought out practical functions and options which affect how the card operates it can be configured to suit many different requirements The following is available in the Settings dialog iy Free seno e Operation of the DSP Babyface 1 nl e Configuration of the digital I O e Current sample rate Buffer Size Latency e Synchronization behaviour 256 Samples Errors 0 0 e State of input and output Options Any changes made in the DSP EQ for Record Settings dialog are applied Optical Out v immediately confirmation e g by clicking on OK or exiting the SPDIF In TMS dialog is not required Clock Mode How
38. d to route this input signal to any hardware output Using the subgroup recording the input can still be recorded on a different channel As each of the 6 stereo hardware outputs can be routed to the record software and none of these hardware inputs get lost TotalMix offers an overall flexibility and performance not rivalled by any other solution The risk of feedbacks a basic problem of loopback methods is low because the feedback can not happen within the mixer only when the audio software is switched into monitoring mode N 3 to 12 Hardware Input Channel 1 4 TotalMix LC 79 A Babyface gt e F Fr 5 EQ OL Loopback Mode T DAL 1 Block Diagram 08 2010 EQ for Record Loopback Record Ch 1 t Hardware Output Audio Software l renal v Mix Playback Ch 1 VOL 1 of 12 a PAN xma VOL T n x mo 3 to 12 The block diagram shows how the software s input signal is played back and fed back from the Hardware Output to the software input The block diagram also shows why with activated Loopback the EQ of the Hardware Output is now within the record path With Loopback active the EQ of the input is not in the record path only in the monitoring path even when the Option DSP EQ for Record is act
39. e Level Meter for Input Playback and Output Reference Level Meter freely con figurable causing near zero CPU load because calculated from the Babyface hardware e Vector Audio Scope World wide unique Goniometer showing the typical afterglow of a oscilloscope tube Includes Correlation meter and level meter e Surround Audio Scope Professional Surround Level Meter with extended correlation analysis ITU weighting and ITU summing meter e Spectral Analyser World wide unique 10 20 or 30 band display in analog bandpass filter technology 192 kHz capable e Totalyser Spectral Analyser Level Meter and Vector Audio Scope in a single window e Completely multi client Open as many measurement windows as you like on any chan nels and inputs or outputs To install DIGICheck go to the DIGICheck directory on the RME Driver CD and run the in staller Follow the instructions prompted on the screen DIGICheck is constantly updated The latest version is always available on our website www rme audio com section Downloads DIGICheck 36 User s Guide Babyface RME 20 Hotline Troubleshooting The newest information can always be found on our website www rme audio com section FAQ latest Additions The unit and drivers have been installed correctly but playback does not work 15 Babyface listed the System Profiler Vendor ID 2613 e Has Babyface been selected as current playback device in the audio application The
40. e WDM playback device Loudspeaker of the Babyface in XP gt Control Panel Sounds and Multimedia Audio lt and check Use only default devices Additionally the loudspeaker setup found under gt Volume Speaker Settings Advanced lt has to be changed from Stereo to 5 1 Surround Vista 7 5Control Panel Sound Playback lt as Standard Additionally the loudspeaker setup found under gt Configuration lt has to be changed from Stereo to 5 1 Surround PowerDVD s and WinDVD s audio properties now list several multichannel modes If one of these is selected the software sends the decoded analog multichannel data to the Babyface TotalMix can then be used to play back via any desired output channels The typical channel assignment for surround playback is 1 Left 2 Right 3 Center 4 LFE Low Frequency Effects 5 SL Surround Left 6 SR Surround Right Note 1 Selecting the Babyface to be used as system playback device is against our recom mendations as professional interfaces should not be disturbed by system events Make sure to re assign the selection after usage or to disable any system sounds tab Sounds scheme No audio Note 2 The DVD player will be synced backwards from the Babyface This means when using AutoSync and or word clock the playback speed and pitch follows the incoming clock signal 18 User s Guide Babyface RME 9 3 Notes on WDM The driver offers one WDM streaming device pe
41. e channel s active routings For a better overview the faders currently not visible are indicated by orange triangles beside the fader path When moving the fader the triangles also move to a new position equalling the faders new settings Background TotalMix has no fixed channel fader In case of the Babyface there are 6 stereo Aux sends shown alternately as single fader within the channel strip The high number of Aux sends enables multiple and fully independent routings In some cases it is necessary to synchronize the gain changes of these routings An example is the Post fader function where a change of the singer s volume shall be performed identical to the volume change of the signal sent to the reverb device so that the reverb level keeps its relation to the original signal Another example is the signal of a guitar that is routed to different submixes means hardware outputs which gets much too loud during the solo part and therefore needs to be reduced in volume on all outputs simultaneously After a click on the Trim button this can be done easily and with a perfect overview As all channel s routings change simultaneously when Trim is active this mode basically causes the same behaviour as a trim pot within the input channel affecting the signal already before the mixer That s how this function got its name In the View Options Routing the function Trim Gains can be globally switched on and off for all channels The gl
42. e 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 called Safety Offset on record and playback otherwise Core Audio won t operate click free The Babyface uses a Safety Offset of 16 sam ples This offset is signalled to the system and the software can calculate and display the total latency of buffer size plus AD DA offset plus 2 x Safety Offset plus Safety Buffer for the current sample rate 26 3 USB Audio USB audio is in several ways different from PCI based audio interfaces A Babyface can achieve a performance similar to a PCI or PCI Express card when used with an optimal PC Low CPU load and click free operation even at 48 samples buffer size are indeed possible on current computers However using older computers a simple stereo playback will begin to cause a CPU load of more than 30 A computer blocked for a short time no matter if ASIO or WDM will lose one or more data packets Such problems can only be solved by increasing the buffer size and with this the la tency The Babyface features a unique data B uffer Size Latency checking detecting errors during 5 transmission via USB and displaying them Z STEE Als in the Settings dialog Additionally the Babyface provides a special mechanism to continue recording and playback in case of drop outs and to corr
43. e has to be chosen Baby face Analog x x Channels 1 and 2 of the Babyface have digitally controlled microphone preamps of the highest quality The digital control offers a gain setting steps 3 dB within range 9 to 60 dB The configuration is Stereo done either directly at the unit via the rotary encoder or via the Settings panel of the input channels 1 and 2 in TotalMix with the knob Gain The current gain is displayed in dB beside the knob In the lower range the knob jumps from 9 dB to 0 dB This useful additional setting provides line signal compatibility at up to 12 dBu at the microphone input Width Above the knob Gain the inputs can be set separately to provide 48V phantom power at the XLR connectors Phantom power is required for condenser microphones Input channel 2 can be switched to the TRS jack on the right side of the Babyface The Hi Z instrument input has an input impedance of 470 kOhm The input gain is controlled by the same knob but the gain range now starts at 9 dB It often makes sense to monitor the input signal or send it directly to the output This can be done at zero latency using TotalMix see chapter 21 An automated control of real time monitoring can be achieved by Steinberg s ASIO protocol with RME s ASIO drivers and ASIO 2 0 compatible program When ASIO Direct Monitoring has been switched on the input signal is routed in real time to the out
44. ect the sample position in real time Like any audio interface the Babyface should have a data transmission to the computer as un disturbed as possible The easiest way to guarantee this is to connect it to its own bus which should be no big problem as most USB 2 0 interfaces are a double bus design A check in the Device Manager can be done as follows gt Connect the Babyface to a USB port gt Start the Device Manager View set to Devices by Connection gt Select ACPI x86 based PC Microsoft ACPI Compliant System expand PCI Bus This branch normally includes two entries of a USB2 Enhanced Host Controller A USB Root Hub can be seen which then connects all USB devices including the Babyface By reconnect ing to a different port this view immediately shows at which of the two controllers the Babyface is connected With multiple devices it can also be checked if they are connected to the same controller Furthermore this information can be used to operate an external USB drive without disturbing the Babyface by simply connecting the drive to the other controller 70 User s Guide Babyface RME Especially with notebooks it can happen that all internal devices and all the sockets ports are connected to the same controller with the second controller not used at all In that case all de vices have to use the same bus and interfere with each other 26 4 DS Double Speed When activating the Double Speed mode the Babyface operates at d
45. ed ones 7 3 De installing the Drivers A de installation of the driver files is not necessary and not supported by Windows anyway Thanks to full Plug amp Play support the driver files will not be loaded after the hardware has been removed If desired these files can then be deleted manually Unfortunately Windows Plug amp Play methods do not cover the additional autorun entries of To talMix the Settings dialog and the registration of the ASIO driver These entries can be re moved from the registry by a software de installation request This request can be found like all de installation entries in Control Panel Add or Remove Programs Vista 7 Programs and Fea tures Click on the entry RME Fireface USB 7 4 Firmware Update The Flash Update Tool updates the firmware of the Babyface to the latest version It requires an already installed driver Start the program fut usb exe The Flash Update Gr Lakan Tool displays the current revision of the Babyface s firmware and whether it needs an update or not If so then simply press the Update button A New Revision 175 progress bar will indicate when the flash process is finished Verify Ok Babyface 1 Current Revision 175 After the update the Babyface needs to be reset This is done by powering down the Babyface for a Programming Status Up to date short time Attention the Babyface should not be switched off for less than 5 seconds because Windows
46. er view by a right mouse click and selection of the menu entry Clear Submix As TotalMix FX includes an unlimited undo the delete process can be undone without any prob lem 23 4 Doubling the Output Signal If a mix should be sent out via two different hardware outputs the most elegant way is to use a permanently activated Cue Set up the mixdown on the routing to the Main Out use Copy Sub mix to copy the final mix to the other output then activate Cue on this other output The output signal and with this the complete mixdown will then be played back from two stereo outputs simultaneously the Main Out and the other Hardware Output Even better the faders of both outputs are still active so the signal level can be adjusted individually 58 User s Guide Babyface RME 23 5 Recording a Submix Loopback TotalMix includes an internal loopback function from the Hardware Outputs to the recording software Instead of the signal at the hardware input the signal at the hardware output is sent to the record software This way submixes can be recorded without an external loopback cable Also the playback from a software can be recorded by another software The function is activated by the Loopback button in the Settings panel of the Hardware Out puts In loopback mode the signal at the hardware input of the corresponding channel is no longer sent to the recording software but still passed through to TotalMix Therefore TotalMix can be use
47. esponding output channel However the default is a vertical alignment in three rows as known from an Inline desk so that the row Software Playback equals the Tape Return of a real mixing desk ii r HII HARDWARE OUTPUTS e Top row Hardware inputs The level shown is that of the input signal i e fader independent Via fader and routing menu any input channel can be routed and mixed to any hardware output bottom row e Middle row Playback channels playback tracks of the audio software Via fader and routing menu any playback channel can be routed and mixed to any hardware output bottom row e Bottom row Hardware outputs Here the total level of the output can be adjusted This may be the level of connected loudspeakers or the necessity to reduce the level of an over loaded submix The following chapters explain step by step all functions of the user interface 42 User s Guide Babyface RME 21 3 The Channels A single channel can be switched between mono and stereo mode The mode is set in the channel settings Hardware Outputs are always stereo Channel name The name field is the preferred place to select a channel by a mouse click A double click opens a dialog to assign a different name The original name will be shown when activating the option O Names in the View Options Panorama Routes the input signal freely to the left and right routi
48. eter 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 dialog File Open of the operating system to load a TotalMix Workspace file The key W starts the dialog Workspace Quick Select for a direct selection or storage of up to 30 Workspaces The key M switches the active window to Mixer view The key X switches the active window to Matrix view Ctrl M opens a new Mixer window Ctrl X opens a new Matrix window Another Ctrl M or closes the new window again F1 opens the online help The Level Meter setup dialog can be opened with F2 same as in DIGICheck The dialog Preferences is opened with F3 Alt F4 closes the current window Alt and number 1 to 8 not on the numeric keypad will load the corresponding Snapshot The right mouse button selects a Hardware Output At the same time a context menu is dis played having these options Clear Submix Deletes the whole submix of the selected output All inputs and playbacks of this routing will be set to Copy Submix Copies the whole submix of the selected output into memory All input and play back faders from that routing will be included gt Paste Submix Writes the previously copied submix on to the now selected output User s Guide Babyface RME 55 21 10 Menu Options Deactivate Screensaver When active checked any activated Windows screensaver w
49. ever settings should not be Sample Rate 44100 Hz changed during playback record if it can be avoided as Clock Source Internal w Current Internal this can cause unwanted noises Pitch 0 0002 Also please note that even in 5 F 5 Stop mode several programs m keep the recording and playback devices open which means that any new settings might not be applied immediately Input Status Optical No Lock Abbrechen 14 User s Guide Babyface RME Buffer Size The setting Buffer Size determines the latency between incoming and outgoing ASIO and WDM data as well as affecting system stability see chapter 9 1 10 Errors does not refer to buffer errors but USB transmission errors The display will be reset on any start of a playback record More information can be found in chapter 26 3 Options DSP EQ for Record Switches the 3 band EQ and Low Cut of all input channels into the recording path In case Loopback has been activated the EQ and Low Cut of the Output channel is placed into the re cording path See also chapter 23 5 Optical Out The optical TOSLINK output can operate as ADAT or SPDIF output The Channel Status is fixed to Consumer state Note The optical input detects the incoming format automatically SPDIF In TMS activates the transmission of Channel Status data and Track Marker information from the SPDIF input signal Clock Mode Sample Rate Sets the currently used
50. g the Output Signal 58 23 5 Recording a Submix Loopback 59 23 6 MS Processi 60 24 MIDI Remote Control 24 1 Overview 61 24 2 Mapping aeeiiaii 61 24 3 AL 62 24 4 Operation 62 24 5 MIDI Control 63 24 6 Loopback Detection 64 User s Guide Babyface RME gt Technical Reference 25 Technical Specifications 25 1 Analog E 66 25 2 MID i aa a ALAGA 66 25 3 Digital 67 25 4 Digital 67 25 5 Digital 67 25 6 General etienne ane 67 26 Technical Background 26 1 Lock and 68 26 2 Latency and Monitoring 69 26 3 USB Audio 70 264 DS Double 71 26 5 QS Quad 71 26 6 Noise Level in DS QS Mode 72 26 7 SteadyClock 72 27 Diagrams 27 1 Block Diagram 73 27 2 Connector Pinouts 74 P Miscellaneous 28 Accessories
51. he unit needs to be reset This is done by powering down the Babyface for a few seconds A reboot of the computer is not necessary When the update fails status failure the unit s second BIOS will be used from the next cold boot on Secure BIOS Technology Therefore the unit stays fully functional The flash process should then be tried again on a different computer 16 Configuring the Babyface 16 1 Settings Dialog Configuring the Babyface is done via its own settings dialog Start the program Fireface USB Settings The mixer of the Babyface TotalMix FX can be configured by starting the program Fireface USB Mixer The Babyface s hardware offers a number of helpful well thought out practical functions and options which affect how the card operates it can be configured to suit many different require ments The following is available in the Settings dialog e Operation of the DSP BO Fireface USB Settings e Configuration of the digital I O p roperties For e Current sample rate e Synchronization behaviour Babyface 22963979 B Firmware v173 Driver v1 43 e State of input and output Any changes performed in the Options Settings dialog are applied immediately confirmation e g by aac LJ sO or Record exiting the dialog is not required Optical Out SPDIF B However settings should not be Clock Mode changed during playback or record if it can be avoided as this can cause unwanted noises Clock Source Optical in J
52. idth applications playback record needs the full USB transmission performance Therefore defective USB cables with limited transmission bandwidth can cause such an error scheme User s Guide Babyface RME 37 38 User s Guide Babyface RME User s Guide NE INTELLIGENT AUDIO SOLUTIONS Babyface gt TotalMix FX User s Guide Babyface RME 39 21 Routing and Monitoring 21 1 Overview The Babyface includes a powerful digital real time mixer the Babyface mixer based on RME s unique sample rate independent TotalMix technology It allows for practically unlimited mixing and routing operations with all inputs and playback channels simultaneously to any hardware out puts TotalMix FX adds 3 band parametric equalizer low cut echo and reverb Here are some typical applications for TotalMix Setting up delay free submixes headphone mixes The Babyface allows for up to 6 fully independent stereo submixes On an analog mixing desk this would equal 12 Aux sends Unlimited routing of inputs and outputs free utilisation patchbay functionality Distributing signals to several outputs simultaneously TotalMix offers state of the art splitter and distributor functions Simultaneous playback of different programs via a single stereo output The ASIO multi client driver supports the usage of several programs at the same time but only on different playback channels TotalMix provides the means to mix and monit
53. ifferent functions of routing the level meters and the mi xer view Routing Babyface gt Submix The Submix view default is the preferred view and delivers the quickest overview operation and understanding of TotalMix The click on one of the Hardware Output channels selects the respective submix all other outputs are darkened At the same time all routing fields are set to this channel With Submix view it is very easy to generate a submix for any output select the output channel adjust the fader and pans of first and second row finished gt Free The Free view is for advanced users It is used to edit several submixes simultaneously without the need to change between them Here one works with the routings fields of the input and playback channels only which then show different routing destinations 5 Trim Gains Activates all Trim buttons on all channels TotalMix thus behaves like a conventional simple mixing desk Each fader affects all active routings of the channel simultaneously as if the fader were a trim pot in the hardware input Level Meter gt Pre FX 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 checked for overloads It is recommended to use Post FX as default setting as the ex treme reduction of a signal by LC EQ is very seldom Also all over displays of all level me
54. ignificantly enhances the routing capabili ties and more important is a brilliant way to get a fast overview of all active routings It shows you in a glance what s going on And since the Matrix operates monaural it is very easy to set up specific routings with specific gains 23 Tips and Tricks 23 1 ASIO Direct Monitoring Windows Programs that support ADM ASIO Direct Monitoring Samplitude Sequoia Cubase Nuendo etc send control commands to TotalMix This is directly shown by TotalMix When a fader is moved in the ASIO host the corresponding fader in TotalMix will move too TotalMix reflects all ADM gain and pan changes in real time But the faders only move when the currently activated routing the selected submix corre sponds to the routing in the ASIO host The Matrix on the other hand will show any change as it shows all possible routings in one view 23 2 Copy a Submix TotalMix allows you to copy complete submixes to other outputs 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 Output In the context menu select Copy Submix Then right click on the new submix output choose Paste Submix in the context menu Now fine tune the submix 23 3 Delete a Submix The easiest and quickest way to delete complex routings is by selection of the according output channel in the mix
55. ill be disabled temporarily Always on Top When active checked the TotalMix window will always be on top of the Win dows desktop Note This function may result in problems with windows containing help text as the TotalMix window will even be on top of those windows so the help text isn t readable Enable MIDI Control Activates external MIDI control of the TotalMix mixer The channels which are currently under MIDI control are indicated by a colour change of the name field Submix linked to MIDI control The 8 channel group follows the currently selected submix means Hardware Output when a different submix is chosen on the remote as well as when doing this in TotalMix When using multiple windows it can be useful to deactivate this feature for specific windows The view will not change then Preferences Opens a dialog box to configure several functions of the level meters and the mixer See chapter 21 7 Settings Opens a dialog box to configure several functions like Talkback Listenback Main Out and the MIDI Remote Control See chapter 21 8 Reset Mix Offers several options to reset the mixer state gt Straight playback with all to Main Out All Playback channels are routed 1 1 to the Hard ware Outputs Simultaneously all playbacks are mixed down to the Main Out gt Straight Playback All Playback channels are routed 1 1 to the Hardware outputs gt Clear all submixes Deletes all submixes gt Clear channel effects
56. ime Buffer sizes latencies from 48 up to 8192 samples selectable 4 channels 96 kHz 24 bit Record Playback via ADAT optical S MUX Clock modes slave and master Automatic and intelligent master slave clock control Unsurpassed Bitclock PLL audio synchronization in ADAT mode SteadyClock Jitter immune super stable digital clock DDS technology for free setting of the sample rate SyncAlign guarantees sample aligned and never swapping channels SyncCheck tests and reports the synchronization status of input signals TotalMix for latency free submixes and perfect ASIO Direct Monitoring TotalMix 264 channel mixer with 46 bit internal resolution TotalMix FX 3 band EQ Low Cut Reverb Echo 1 x MIDI I O 16 channels high speed MIDI 2 digitally controlled microphone inputs in reference quality 2 balanced line outputs level 15 dBu 1 x headphone output DIGICheck DSP Level meter in hardware peak and RMS calculation 6 User s Guide Babyface RME 5 First Usage Quick Start 5 1 Connectors Controls Display The top of the Babyface features a rotary encoder with push switch function 2 keys 2 LED bands and 5 status LEDs The two LED bands show the current gain the input or output level or indicate the channel to be set all dependent on the current mode The lowest LED signals phantom power 48 V orange the highest one overload Clip red The rotary encoder is used to change various parameters directly at the unit Fir
57. is feature puts a heavy load on the MIDI port when ganging more than 2 fad 9 ers In such case when using the Behringer 2000 turn off this option When Full LC Display Support is turned off only a brief information about the first fader of the block channel and row is sent This brief information is also available on the LED display of the Behringer BCF2000 Tip for Mac OS X users LC Xview www opuslocus com provides an on screen display emu lating the hardware displays of a Logic Mackie Control for use with controllers that can emulate a Logic Mackie Control but do not have a display Examples include the Behringer BCF2000 and Edirol PCR series Deactivate MIDI in Background menu Options disables the MIDI control as soon as another application is in the focus or in case TotalMix has been minimized This way the hardware con troller will control the main DAW application only except when TotalMix is in the foreground Often the DAW application can be set to become inactive in background too so that MIDI con trol is switched between TotalMix and the application automatically when switching between both applications TotalMix also supports the 9th fader of the Mackie Control This fader labelled Master will con trol the stereo output fader lowest row which is set up as Main Out in the Control Room sec tion 62 User s Guide Babyface RME 24 5 MIDI Control The hardware output set up as Main Out can be contr
58. isible is the one that FX Send will follow This is always the one with the highest fader position means the highest gain gt Center Balance Pan when changing Mono Stereo When switching a stereo channel into two mono channels the pan pots are set fully left and right This option will set them to cen ter instead gt Do not load Main volume balance The values stored in the Snapshot are not loaded for the Main Out so the current setting is not changed User s Guide Babyface RME 53 21 8 Settings The dialog Settings can be opened via the Options menu or directly via F3 Talkback gt Input Selects the input channel of the Talkback signal microphone in control room gt Dim Amount of attenuation of the signals routed to the Phones in dB Listenback gt Input Selects the input channel of the Listenback signal microphone in recording room gt Dim Amount of attenuation of the signals routed to the Main Outin dB Main Out gt Recall User defined listening volume activated by the Recall button at the unit or in TotalMix gt Dim Amount of attenuation for the Main Out in dB activated by the rotary encoder at the unit or in TotalMix MIDI Remote Control gt MIDI In Input where TotalMix receives MIDI Remote data gt MIDI Out Output where TotalMix sends MIDI Remote data gt Enable full LCD support Activates full Mackie Control LCD support with eight channel names and eight volume pan values
59. ivated User s Guide Babyface RME 59 Recording a Software s playback In real world application recording a software s output with another software will show the fol lowing problem The record software tries to open the same playback channel as the playback software already active or the playback one has already opened the input channel which should be used by the record software This problem can easily be solved First make sure that all rules for proper multi client operation are met not using the same record playback channels in both programs Then route the play back signal via TotalMix to a hardware output in the range of the record software and activate Loopback for recording Mixing several input signals into one record channel In some cases it is useful to record several sources into only one track For example when us ing two microphones recording instruments and loudspeakers TotalMix Loopback mode saves an external mixing desk Simply route mix the input signals to the same output third row then redefine this output into a record channel via Loopback This way any number of input channels from different sources can be recorded into one single track 23 6 MS Processing The mid side principle is a special positioning technique for microphones which results in a mid signal on one channel and a side signal on the other channel These information can be trans formed back into a stereo signal quite easily The process
60. k Permissions 34 17 4 Supported Sample Rates 34 17 5 Channel Count under Core Audio 35 17 6 Various Information 35 18 Using than one Babyface 36 19 DIGICheck 36 20 Hotline Troubleshooting 37 gt TotalMix FX 21 TotalMix Routing and Monitoring 21 1 Overview 40 21 2 The User Interface 42 21 3 The Channel 43 Settings 45 Equalizer 46 21 4 Section Control 47 21 5 The Control Strip 61 View Options 49 Snapshots Groups 50 21 6 Reverb and 51 21 7 Preferences 53 21 8 Settings 54 21 9 Hotkeys and Usage 55 21 10 Menu Options 56 22 The Matrix 22 1 OVOIVIOW uu u ua aka UMA 57 22 2 The User Interface 57 22 37 05 9 57 23 Tips and Tricks 23 1 ASIO Direct Monitoring Windows 58 23 2 Copy a SUbmMIX na aan 58 23 3 Delete a Submix 58 23 4 Doublin
61. kHz SPDIF optical e 1 x optical according to 60958 Accepts Consumer and Professional format Lock Range 27 kHz 200 kHz Jitter when synced to input signal lt 1 ns Jitter suppression 5 30 dB 2 4 kHz 25 5 Digital Outputs ADAT optical e 1 TOSLINK e Standard 8 channels 24 bit up to 48 kHz e Double Speed S MUX 4 channels 24 bit 96 kHz e Quad Speed S MUX4 2 channels 24 bit 192 kHz SPDIF optical e 1 x optical according to IEC 60958 e Format Consumer SPDIF according to IEC 60958 e Sample rate 28 kHz up to 200 kHz 25 7 General Power supply USB bus power or external power supply Typical power consumption 3 6 Watts Current at 12 Volt operating voltage 300 mA 3 6 Watts Dimensions WxHxD 100 x 25 x 160 mm 4 0 x 1 0 x 6 3 Weight 0 5 kg 1 1 Ibs Temperature range 5 up to 50 Celsius 41 F up to 122 F Relative humidity lt 75 non condensing User s Guide Babyface RME 67 26 Technical Background 26 1 Lock and SyncCheck Digital signals consist of a carrier and the data If a digital signal is applied to an input the re ceiver has to synchronize to the carrier clock in order to read the data correctly To achieve this the receiver uses a PLL Phase Locked Loop As soon as the receiver meets the exact fre quency of the incoming signal it is locked This Lock state remains even with small changes of the frequency because the PLL tracks the receiver s frequency If an A
62. l yy control number zz value The first row in TotalMix is addressed by MIDI channels 1 up to 4 the middle row by channels 5 up to 8 and the bottom row by channels 9 up to 12 16 Controller numbers are used 102 up to 117 hex 66 to 75 User s Guide Babyface RME 63 With these 16 Controllers faders and 4 MIDI channels each per row up to 64 faders can be controlled per row as required by the HDSPe MADI Examples for sending MIDI strings Set input 1 to 0 dB B0 66 68 Set input 5 to maximum attenuation B1 6A 0 Set playback 1 to maximum B4 66 7F Set Output 3 to O dB B8 68 68 Note Sending MIDI strings requires to use programmer s logic for the MIDI channel starting with O for channel 1 and ending with 15 for channel 16 Further functions Trim Gains On BC 66 xx BC MIDI channel 13 xx any value Trim Gains Off BC 66 xx or select a submix Select submix fader in third row channel 1 2 BC 68 69 xx channel 3 4 BC 6A 6B xx etc 24 6 Loopback Detection The Mackie Control protocol requires feedback of the received commands back to the hard ware controller So usually TotalMix will be set up with both a MIDI input and MIDI output Un fortunately any small error in wiring and setup will cause a MIDI feedback loop here which then completely blocks the computer the CPU To prevent the computer from freezing TotalMix sends a special MIDI note every 0 5 seconds to its MIDI outpu
63. l adds ivav uajino9 GQ anv OAU3S a SEL A8t IOYLNOD NIYO TVLIA a lt HIX L HIX 73 User s Guide Babyface RME 27 2 Connector Pinouts TRS jack analog instrument input The 14 TRS jack of the instrument input is wired according to international standards Tip hot Ring GND Sleeve GND XLR Connectors The servo balanced input circuitry allows to use monaural TS jacks unbalanced with no loss in level This is the same as when using a TRS jack with ring connected to ground The electronic output stage does not operate servo balanced When connecting unbal 9 anced equipment sure pin the output is connected connection ground will cause higher THD distortion TRS Phones jack The analog output 3 4 is accessible Left o P through a stereo TRS jack This allows a direct connection of head Right phones In case the output should op o P erate as Line output an adapter TRS plug to RCA phono plugs or TRS plug Shield to TS plugs is required The pin assignment follows interna tional standards The left channel is connected to the tip the right channel to the ring of the TRS jack plug Shield 15 pin D type connector and XLR breakout cable Pin Name Pin Name Pin Name 1 Line In Left 6 Line In Left 11 Line In Right 2 Line In Right
64. low bandwidth applications playback record needs the full USB transmission performance Therefore defective USB cables with limited transmission bandwidth can cause such errors User s Guide Babyface RME 27 28 User s Guide Babyface RME User s Guide INTELLIGENT AUDIO SOLUTIONS Babyface gt Installation and Operation Mac OS X User s Guide Babyface RME 29 14 Hardware Installation Connect computer and Babyface with the included USB cable Mac OS X detects the new hard ware as Babyface serial number 15 Driver and Firmware 15 1 Driver Installation After the Babyface has been connected see 14 Hardware Installation install the drivers from the RME Driver CD The driver files are located in the folder Babyface Installation works auto matically by a double click on the file Fireface USB pkg RME recommends downloading the latest driver version from the RME website If done the procedure is as follows A double click onto driver usb mac zip expands the archive file to Babyface USB pkg Instal lation works automatically by a double click on this file During driver installation the programs Fireface USB Settings and Fireface USB Mixer To talMix FX are copied to the Applications folder It is recommended to link these two programs to the Dock so that they are always available Possible reasons why a Babyface is not found after driver installation e The USB port is not active in the sys
65. menu Important and useful Presets should always be saved as TM EQ file so that they can not get lost even on accidental overwrite 21 4 Section Control Room In the section Control Room the menu Assign is used to Phones 1 Main define the Main Out which is used for listening in the studio For this output the functions Dim Recall Mono Talkback and Mute FX are automatically applied On the unit the keys NI Recall Recall and Dim push on the rotary encoder also follow this assignment RE Mono Additionally the channel will be shifted from the Hardware Talkback Outputs into the Control Room section and renamed Main The same happens when assigning Main Out B or the Phones The original name can be displayed by the function Mute FX O Names in the View Options at any time Speak B Phones 1 and 2 will have dim set in Settings and a special routing applied when Talkback is activated Also putting Assign them beside the Main Out increases the overview within the 2 output section greatly Dim volume will be reduced by the amount set the Settings dialog Recall Sets the gain value defined in the Settings dialog Can also be set at the unit by holding the key Recall down for two seconds Mono Mixes left and right channel Useful to check for mono compatibility and phase problems Talkback A click on this button will dim all signals on the Phones outputs by an amount set up in the Preferences dialog
66. ming device Loudspeaker Analog 1 2 of the RME driver can operate as usual stereo device or as up to 8 channel device An 8 channel playback using the Windows Media Player requires the speaker setup 7 1 Sur round Configure as follows XP 5 Control Panel Sounds and Multimedia Audio Volume Speaker Settings Advanced lt Vista 7 gt Control Panel Sound Playback Loudspeaker Configure lt User s Guide Babyface RME 19 9 4 Channel Count under WDM The Babyface s ADAT optical interface offers sample rates of up to 192 kHz using a standard ADAT recorder For this to work single channel data is spread to two or four ADAT channels using the Sample Multiplexing technique This reduces the number of available ADAT channels from 8 to 4 or 2 per ADAT port Whenever the Babyface changes into Double Speed 88 2 96 kHz or Quad Speed mode 176 4 192 kHz all devices no longer available vanish automatically WDM Stereo device Double Speed Quad Speed Babyface Analog 1 2 Babyface Analog 1 2 Babyface Analog 1 2 Babyface Analog 3 4 Babyface Analog 3 4 Babyface Analog 3 4 Babyface AS 1 2 Babyface AS 1 2 Babyface AS 1 2 Babyface ADAT 3 4 Babyface ADAT 3 4 Babyface ADAT 5 6 Babyface ADAT 7 8 Note Under Vista 7 the analog outputs 1 2 show up as Loudspeaker 9 5 Multi client Operation RME audio interfaces support multi client operation This means several programs can be used a
67. mple rate ANAN ere ee Under ASIO the audio software sets the sample rate so that such an error can not happen If the input sample rate is different then there will be no Sync indication oag Input Status ADAT Sync 32 kHz With RME s AutoSync and SyncCheck finally anyone can master this common source of error previously one of the most complex issues in the digital studio world User s Guide Babyface RME 23 10 Operation under ASIO 10 1 General Start the ASIO software and select ASIO Fireface USB as the audio I O device or the audio driver The Babyface supports ASIO Direct Monitoring ADM The Babyface MIDI I O can be used with both MME MIDI and DirectMusic MIDI Fembedienungsgerate Quick Controls MIDI soe MIDI Anschluss Ein 7 ASIO Fiteface USB VST System Link pe j OK Abbrechen 10 2 Channel Count under ASIO At a sample rate of 88 2 or 96 kHz the ADAT optical input and output operates in S MUX mode so the number of available channels 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 Note When changing the sample rate range between Single Double and Quad Speed the number of channels presented from the ASIO driver will change too This may require a reset of the I O list in the audio software
68. name is FirefaceUSB kext It is visible in the Finder allowing you to verify date and driver version Yet in fact this again is a folder containing subdirectories and files Nonetheless this driver file can be removed by simply dragging it to the trash bin This can be helpful in case a driver installation fails 17 2 NIDI doesn t work In some cases the applications do not show the MIDI port The reason for this is usually visible within the Audio MIDI Setup It displays no RME MIDI device or the device is greyed out and therefore inactive Mostly removing the greyed out device and searching for MIDI devices again will solve the problem The Babyface is class compliant Therefore it comes without a driver OS X recognizes it as MIDI device and will be using it with the driver included in the operating system 17 3 Repairing Disk Permissions Repairing permission can solve problems with the installation process plus many others To do this launch Disk Utility located in Utilities Select your system drive in the drive volume list to the left The First Aid tab to the right now allows you to check and repair disk permissions 17 4 Supported Sample Rates RME s Mac OS X driver supports all sampling frequencies provided by 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 verified in the A
69. ng destination lower label see below The level reduction in center position is 3 dB Mute and Solo Input channels and playback channels each have a mute and solo button Numerical level display Shows the current RMS or Peak level updated twice per second OVR means overload The setting Peak RMS is changed in the View Options Level meter The meter shows both peak values zero attack 1 sample is enough for a full scale display by means of a yellow line and mathematically correct RMS values by means of a green bar The RMS display has a relatively slow time constant so that it shows the average loudness quite well Overs are shown in red at the top of the bar In the Preferences dialog F2 the Peak Hold time the over detection 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 but only the fader of the cur rent routing Compared to a standard mixing desk TotalMix does not have a channel fader but only Aux Sends as many as there are hardware outputs Therefore TotalMix can create as many different Submixes as there are hardware outputs This concept is understood best in the Submix View but more on that later Below the fader the Gain is shown in a numerical display field according to the current fader position The fader can be gt dragged with the left mouse button pressed
70. ng output very conveniently User s Guide Babyface RME 45 A click on EQ opens the Equalizer panel It is available in all input and output channels and affects all routings of the respective channel pre fader The panel includes a low cut and a 3 band parametric equalizer which can be activated separately Lo Cut Activated by the button Lo Cut The slope of the high pass filter is adjustable between 6 12 18 and 24 dB per octave The cut off point 3 dB is adjustable between 20 Hz and 500 Hz Note the Lo Cut is not included in the frequency graphics EQ Activated by the EQ button Type Band 1 and 3 can operate in peak bell or shelf shelving mode The middle band is fixed to peak mode Gain All three bands can change their amplitude amplification between 20 dB to 20 dB Freq The center frequency of the filter is adjustable Band 1 20 Hz to 10 kHz Band 2 100 Hz to 20 kHz Band 3 500 Hz to 20 kHz While in peak mode the center frequency is adjusted in shelf mode the cut off point 3 dB will be changed Q The Quality factor of the filter is adjustable from 0 7 wide to 5 0 narrow The frequency graphics give a precise overview of the filter results Overlapping filters influence each other This can be used to achieve more than 20 dB amplitude or to generate difficult frequency response optimizations But the graphics do not show the changes caused by the Low Cult filter Preset Settings of the EQ
71. not been enabled within the DAW and or monitoring has been disabled globally TotalMix Options The 8 ADAT channels don t seem to work e The optical output has been switched to SPDIF As can be seen in the block diagram all channels and their assignments still exist but the optical transmitter has been disconnected from ADAT The ADAT playback devices are still usable by routing and mixing them in To talMix to other outputs Playback works but record doesn t e Check that there is a valid signal at the input If so the current sample frequency is dis played in the Settings dialog e Check whether the Babyface has been selected as recording device in the audio application e Check whether the sample frequency set in the audio application Recording properties or similar matches the input signal e Check that cables devices have not been connected in a closed loop If so set the system s clock mode to Master Crackle during record or playback e Increase the number and size of buffers in the Settings dialog or in the application e Try different cables coaxial or optical to rule out any defects here e Check that cables devices have not been connected in a closed loop If so set the system s clock mode to Master e Check the Settings dialog for displayed Errors Driver installation and Settings dialog TotalMix work but a playback or record is not possible e While recognition and control of the device are
72. o Scope World wide unique Goniometer showing the typical afterglow of a oscilloscope tube Includes Correlation meter and level meter Surround Audio Scope Professional Surround Level Meter with extended correlation analysis ITU weighting and ITU summing meter Spectral Analyser World wide unique 10 20 or 30 band display in analog bandpass filter technology 192 kHz capable Bit Statistics amp Noise Shows the true resolution of audio signals as well as errors and DC offset Includes Signal to Noise measurement in dB and dBA plus DC measurement Totalyser Spectral Analyser Level Meter and Vector Audio Scope in a single window Channel Status Display Detailed analysis and display of SPDIF and AES EBU Channel Status data Global Record Long term recording of all channels at lowest system load Completely multi client Open as many measurement windows as you like on any chan nels and inputs or outputs To install DIGICheck go to the DIGICheck directory on the RME Driver CD and run setup exe Follow the instructions prompted on the screen DIGICheck is constantly updated The latest version is always available on our website www rme audio com section Downloads DIGICheck 26 User s Guide Babyface RME 13 Hotline Troubleshooting The newest information can always be found on our website www rme audio com section FAQ Latest Additions The input signal cannot be monitored in real time e ASIO Direct Monitoring has
73. o comply with the limits for a Class B digital device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules These limits are designed to provide reasonable protec tion against harmful interference in a residential installation This equipment generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions may cause harmful interference to radio communications However there is no 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 equipment off and on the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected Consult the dealer or an experienced radio TV technician for help RoHS This product has been soldered lead free and fulfils the requirements of the RoHS directive Note on Disposal According to the guide line RL2002 96 EG WEEE Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment valid for all european countries this product has to be recycled at the end of its lifetime In case a disposal of electronic waste is not possible the recycling can also be done by Audio AG For this the de
74. obal Trim mode is recommended when using TotalMix FX as live mixing desk 44 User s Guide Babyface RME A click on the tool symbol opens the channel s Settings panel with differing elements For ex ample the Option Inst exists only in input channel 2 and the ADAT channels do not offer the phantom power option Stereo Switches the channel to mono or stereo mode Settings 48V Activates phantom power at the corresponding input Serves as Stere power supply for high quality condenser mics This option should stay 4607 Nat off with other sources to prevent failure by spikes MS 980 906 Inst Switches input 2 from XLR breakout cable to the TRS jack at the unit Width Gain Sets the gain for both analog inputs The knob can be adjusted by dragging the mouse or by the mouse wheel This also works when the mouse has been moved over the two gain displays Then the gain can FX Send be changed separately for left and right channel even when the MS Prec channel is in stereo mode Phase L Width Setting the stereo width 1 00 equals full stereo 0 00 mono PRSSER 1 00 swapped channels AN 19 Hardware Inputs FX Send Setting the level of the signal sent to the FX bus which feeds Echo and Reverb The current setting is also visible with closed channel settings because knob and small fader are always synchronized To make this function as useful as possible FX Send is locked to the highest submix thus imitating the Aux Po
75. olled by the standard Control Change Volume via MIDI channel 1 With this the main volume of the Babyface is controllable from nearly any MIDI equipped hardware device Even if you don t want to control all faders and pans some buttons are highly desirable to be available in hardware These are mainly the Talkback and the Dim button and the new moni toring options listen to Phones submixes Fortunately a Mackie Control compatible controller is not required to control these buttons as they are steered by simple Note On Off commands on MIDI channel 1 The notes are hex decimal keys Dim 50 93 A6 Mono 2A 42 F 2 Talkback 5E 94 6 Recall 5F 95 H 6 Speaker B 32 50 D3 Cue Main Out 62 D4 Cue Phones 1 3F 63 D4 Cue Phones 2 40 64 E4 Snapshot 1 36 54 Snapshot 2 37 55 3 Snapshot 3 38 56 G Snapshot 4 39 57 Snapshot 5 58 Snapshot 6 59 3 Snapshot 7 60 4 Snapshot 8 3D 61 C 4 Trim Gains 20 45 2 Master Mute 2 44 92 Master Solo 2B 43 G2 An example of a small MIDI controller covering such MIDI functionality and even some more is the Behringer BCN44 This little box has 4 pots and 8 buttons for all the above functions Furthermore all faders of all three rows can be controlled via simple Control Change com mands The format for the Control Change commands is Bx yy zz x MIDI channe
76. on FX in the View Options Mixer Setup brings up the Output FX panel Here all pa rameters for the effects Reverb and Echo are adjusted The Babyface uses a DSP engine within its FPGA for all the calculations of all the EQs and Low Cuts in parallel to the DSP engine for TotalMix However Reverb and Echo are calculated on the host CPU means the computer On current computers this will not cause any noticeable CPU load The transmission of the stereo signal FX Send to the computer and the K effects signal FX Out back to the Babyface is done by two invisible ASIO channels The delay latency generated by this method is of no consequence for the offered effects reverb and echo But it is still taken into account for the adjustment of the Reverb PreDelay The lowest value depends on the currently chosen buffer size see Settings dialog chapter 8 1 Preset gt Reverb Activated by the On button Type Lists different reverb algorithms for selection Available are gt Rooms 1 4 Reverb based on impulse responses with different tonal colors Room 1 and 2 sound dry and small Room 3 and 4 brilliant and a bit bigger gt Envelope Reverb out of single echoes plus feedback where the volume course envelope is freely adjustable gt Gated Simpler version of the Envelope reverb for cut reverb effects gt Classic Classic multi tap reverb with feedback generating both the typical sound and the very long reverb times Settings f
77. or Room 1 4 PreDelay Delay of the reverb signal Adjustable from the current buffer size some milliseconds up to 999 ms Low Cut High pass filter before the reverb generation removes low frequency signals which should not cause a reverb sound Adjustable from 20 Hz up to 500 Hz Output FX High Cut Low pass filter after the reverb generation A reduction of the treble often lets the reverb sound more natural Adjustable from 5 kHz up to 20 kHz Room Scale Determines the size of the room thus changing density and length of the reverb effect Adjustable from 0 5 up to 2 0 Smooth Softens the reverb effect affects stereo width density and sound colour Adjustable from 0 up to 100 Width Adjusts the stereo width of the reverb signal from 100 stereo to 0 mono Volume Adjusts the level of the reverb effects signal sent to the FX return bus User s Guide Babyface RME 51 Special Settings for Envelope and Gated Attack Length of time for the volume increase of the reverb signal Also called rise time Ad justable from 5 ms up to 400 ms Hold Length of time for the fixed volume part of the reverb signal Adjustable from 5 ms up to 400 ms Release Length of time for the volume decrease of the reverb signal Adjustable from 5 ms up to 400 ms Special Settings for Classic Reverb Time Sets the duration of the reverb referenced to a volume drop of 20 dB Adjustable from 0 1 s up to 9 9 s High Damp Sets the t
78. or these on a single stereo output Mixing of the input signal to the playback signal complete ASIO Direct Monitoring RME 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 playback or in the record path Depending on the current application the functionality equals insert or effects send and effects return for example as used during real time monitoring when adding some reverb to the vocals Every single input channel playback channel and hardware output features a Peak and RMS level meter calculated in hardware These level displays are very useful to determine the pres ence and routing destinations of the audio signals For a better understanding of the TotalMix mixer you should know the following 40 As shown in the block diagram next page the record signal usually stays un altered To talMix does not reside within the record path and does not change the record level or the audio data to be recorded exceptions EQ for Record and Loopback mode The hardware input signal can be passed on as often as desired even with different levels This is a big difference to conventional mixing desks where the channel fader always con trols the level for all routing destinations simultaneously The level meters of input and playback channels are connected pre fader to be able to visu
79. ou to intentionally de tune the complete DAW This way the DAW can match instruments which have a wrong or unchangeable tuning Pitch allows for the change of the sample rate of all WDM devices at the same time Since Vista this is no longer possible via the audio program thus requires a manual reconfiguration of all WDM devices Changing the sample rate from the Settings dialog solves this problem As the change within the system requires some time record playback should not be started immedi ately but only after at least 5 seconds after a change Tip the current CPU load can be used to determine if the audio subsystem has finished the re configuration 16 User s Guide Babyface RME 9 Operation and Usage 9 1 Playback In the audio application being used Babyface must be selected as output device It can often be found in the Options Preferences or Settings menus as Playback Device Audio Devices Audio etc We recommend switching all system sounds off via gt Control Panel Sound lt Also Babyface should not be the Preferred Device for playback as this could cause loss of synchronization and unwanted noises If you feel you cannot do without system sounds you should consider using the on board sound device or buying a cheap Blaster clone and select this as Preferred Device in gt Control Panel Multimedia Audio lt or gt Control Panel Sound Playbacks The screenshot shows a typical configuration dialog After selecting
80. ouble sample rate The internal clock 44 1 kHz turns to 88 2 kHz 48 kHz to 96 kHz The internal resolution is still 24 bit Sample rates above 48 kHz were not always taken for granted and are still not widely used because of the CD format 44 1 kHz dominating everything Before 1998 there were no re ceiver transmitter circuits available that could receive or transmit more than 48 kHz Therefore a work around was used instead of two channels one AES line only carries one channel with its odd and even samples being distributed to the former left and right channels 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 Wire in the professional studio world and is also known as S MUX Sample Multiplexing in connection with the ADAT format Not before February 1998 Crystal shipped the first single wire receiver transmitters that could also work with double sample rate It was then possible to transmit two channels of 96 kHz data via one AES EBU port But Double Wire is still far from being dead On one hand there are still many devices which can t handle more than 48 kHz g digital tape recorders But also other common interfaces like ADAT or TDIF are still using this technique Because the ADAT interface does not allow for sampling frequencies above 48 kHz a limitation of the interface hardw
81. ows for a quick overview of the correct configuration of all digital de vices So one of the most difficult and error prone topics of the digital studio world finally be comes easy to handle 68 User s Guide Babyface RME 26 2 Latency and Monitoring The term Zero Latency Monitoring was introduced by RME in 1998 for the DIGI96 series of audio cards It stands for the ability to pass through the computer s input signal at the interface directly to the output Since then the idea behind has become one of the most important fea tures of modern hard disk recording In the year 2000 RME published two ground breaking Tech Infos on the topics Low Latency Background which are still up to date Monitoring ZLM and ASIO and Buffer and Latency Jitter both found on the RME website How much Zero is Zero From a technical view there is no zero Even the analog pass through is subject to phase er rors equalling a delay between input and output However delays below certain values can subjectively be claimed to be a zero latency This applies to analog routing and mixing and in our opinion also to RME s Zero Latency Monitoring The term describes the digital path of the audio data from the input of the interface to its output The digital receiver of the Babyface can t operate un buffered and together with TotalMix and the output via the transmitter it causes a typical delay of 3 samples At 44 1 kHz this equals about 68 us 0 000068 at 192 kH
82. put whenever a recording is started punch in 9 7 Digital Recording Unlike analog soundcards which produce empty wave files or noise when no input signal is present digital interfaces always need a valid input signal to start recording Taking this into account RME added a Clock Mode comprehensive signal status display to SampleRate 4100Hz the Babyface showing sample frequency lock and sync status in the Settings dialog Clock Source Optical In Current ADAT and a status LED directly at the unit Pitch 000 The sample frequency shown in the Settings Se ae ee pc 3 lt 5 dialog is useful as a quick display of the 9 90 9 current configuration of the unit and the connected external equipment If no sample Input TE frequency is recognized it will read No Lock 226 aral ini This way configuring any suitable audio application for digital recording is simple After connec tion the Babyface displays the current and external sample frequency This parameter can then be changed in the application s audio attributes or similar dialog User s Guide Babyface RME 21 9 8 Digital Connections ADAT The ADAT optical input of the Babyface is fully compatible with all ADAT optical outputs RME s unsurpassed Bitclock PLL prevents clicks and drop outs even in extreme varipitch operation and guarantees a fast and low jitter lock to the digital input signal A usual TOSLIN
83. r and Babyface with the supplied USB cable Turn on the computer That s it Chapter 26 3 explains how to find the ideal USB port 7 Driver and Firmware 7 1 Driver Installation After the Babyface has been recognized see 9 Hardware Installation the hardware assistant finds a Babyface Insert the RME Driver CD into your CD ROM drive and follow further instruc tions which appear on your computer screen The driver files are located in the directory Babyface on the RME Driver CD Windows now installs the driver of the Babyface and registers it as a new audio device in the system After a reboot the symbols of TotalMix and Settings dialog will appear in the task bar In case the Hardware Wizard does not show up automatically after connecting the Baby 4 face do attempt to install the drivers manually An installation of drivers for recognized hardware can cause a blue screen when booting Windows In Windows 7 Microsoft removed the automatic start of the Driver Software Update dialog The refore this dialog has to be started manually after the failed driver installation Hit the Windows key type Device Manager start the Device Manager by selecting it from the list and hit Enter The device is shown with a yellow warning symbol Usually it is already found in the correct category Sound Video and Game Controller Plug amp Play detects a multimedia device Right click on the device and select Update Driver Soft
84. r stereo pair like Analog 3 4 Babyface WDM Streaming is Microsoft s current driver and audio system directly embedded into the op erating system WDM Streaming is hardly usable for professional music purposes as all data is processed by the so called Kernel Mixer causing a latency of at least 30 ms Additionally WDM can perform sample rate conversions unnoticed cause offsets between record and playback data block channels unintentionally and much more Several programs do not offer any direct device selection Instead they use the playback device selected in Windows under XP lt Control Panel Sounds and Multimedia Audio gt Vista 7 lt Control Panel Sound Playback gt The program Sonar from Cakewalk is unique in many ways Sonar uses the so called WDM Kernel Streaming bypassing the WDM mixer thus achieves a similar performance to ASIO see below Because of the driver s multichannel streaming ability Sonar not only finds the stereo device mentioned above but also the 8 channel interleaved devices and adds the channel number at the end Babyface Analog 1 2 1 2 is the first stereo device Babyface Analog 3 4 is the next stereo device Babyface Analog 1 2 3 4 are the channels 3 4 of the first 8 channel interleaved device It is not recommended to use these special interleaved devices Also it is not possible to use one stereo channel twice the basic and the interleaved device Multi Channel using WDM The WDM Strea
85. reble damping over time for the reverb signal In principle this is a low pass 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 algorithms for selection Available are gt Stereo Echo Separated echo generators on left and right channel As a result the echo follows the sound source within the stereo field gt Stereo Cross Echo generator on left and right channel with cross coupled feedback which is only working for the stereo parts of the input signal In case the input signal is only left or right the Stereo Cross acts exactly like the Pong Echo gt Pong Echo Generates an echo that jumps between left and right channel independent from the source signal s stereo position Settings Delay Time Sets the delay time for the first echo Feedback Feedback to produce further echoes Width Adjusts the stereo width of the echo signal from 100 stereo to 0 mono Volume Adjusts the level of the echo effects signal sent to the FX return bus 52 User s Guide Babyface RME Preset Settings of the Reverb and the Echo can be stored loaded and copied between chan nels at any time A click on Preset opens a menu with several entries gt Recall Presets stored before by the user can be selected and loaded Racal Save gt Save to There are 16 storage places
86. rsely The storage finishes by clicking the desired button means storage place The storage process is exited by another click on the flashing Store button The area Snapshots can be minimized by a click on the arrow in the title bar Groups The area Groups provides 4 storage places each for fader mute and solo groups The groups are valid per Workspace being active and usable in all 8 Snapshots But with 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 of the groups TotalMix uses flashing signals to guide you through the group setup After a click on Edit and click on the desired storage place all desired functions for this group have to be activated or selected The storage process is finished by another click on Edit When setting up a fader group make sure to not add faders that are at the most top or most lowest position except all faders of that group have this position The Mute groups operate other than the global mute exclusively for the current routing This way you can not mute signals on all outputs unintentionally Instead signals can be muted on specific submixes by the push of a button A solo group operates exactly like the global solo signals outside the current routing are not affected 50 User s Guide Babyface RME 21 6 Reverb and Echo A click
87. sample rate Offers a central and comfortable way of configuring the sample rate of all WDM devices to the same value as since Vista the audio software is no longer allowed to set the sample rate However an ASIO program can still set the sample rate by itself During record playback the selection is greyed out so no change is possible Clock Source The unit can be configured to use its own clock Internal Master or the digital input signal Optical Slave If the external source isn t available Input Status No Lock the unit will change to the internal clock The current clock source is displayed as Current Pitch More information on Pitch is available in chapter 8 2 Input Status Indicates presence of a valid signal at the optical input Lock No Lock and whether the signal is synchronous Sync The third column shows the sample frequency detected by the hardware coarse recognition 32 kHz 44 1 kHz 48 kHz etc In Clock Mode the clock reference is shown See also chapter 26 1 The About tab includes information about the current driver version as well as the current firm ware version of the Babyface User s Guide Babyface RME 15 8 2 Settings Dialog Pitch Usually soundcards and audio interfaces generate their internal clock master mode by a quartz Therefore the internal clock can be set to 44 1 kHz or 48 kHz but not to a value in be tween SteadyClock RME s sensational Low Jitter Clock System is based on a
88. sends the monaural mid channel to left and right the side channel too but phase inverted 180 to the right channel For a better understanding the mid channel represents the function L R while the side channel represents L R RME TotalMix FX Babyface 1 During record the monitoring needs to be done in File Function Options Help conventional stereo Therefore TotalMix also offers the Out 1 Out 2 Out functionality of a M S decoder Activation is done in the Settings panel of the Hardware Input and Software Playback aie channels via the MS Proc button 1 The M S Processing automatically operates as M S encoder or decoder depending the source signal format When processing a usual stereo signal all monaural information will be shifted into the left channel all stereo information into the right channel Thus the stereo signal is M S encoded This yields some interesting insights into the mono stereo contents of modern music productions Additionally some very interesting methods of manipulating the stereo base and generating stereo effects come up as it is then very easy to process the side channel with Low Cut Expander Compressor or Delay The most basic application is the manipulation of the stereo width a change of the level of the side channel allows to manipulate the stereo width from mono to stereo up to extended 60 User s Guide Babyface RME 24 MIDI Remote Control 24 1 Overview TotalMix can
89. shown See also chapter 26 1 32 User s Guide Babyface RME 16 2 Clock Modes Synchronization In the digital world all devices must be either Master clock source or Slave clock receiver Whenever several devices are linked within a system there must always be a single master clock digital system can only have one master If the Babyface s clock mode is set to Internal all other devices must be set to Slave The Babyface utilizes a very user friendly intelligent clock control called AutoSync Selecting Optical as Clock Source the system constantly scans the digital input for a valid signal If any valid signal is found the Babyface switches from the internal quartz Clock Mode Current Internal to a clock extracted from the input signal Clock Mode Current ADAT or SPDIF The difference to a usual slave mode is that whenever the clock reference fails the system will automatically use its internal clock and operate in clock mode Master AutoSync guarantees that record and record while play will always work correctly In certain cases however e g when the inputs and outputs of a DAT machine are connected directly to the Babyface AutoSync may cause feedback in the digital carrier so synchronization breaks down To solve this problem switch the Babyface clock mode to Master Clock Source Inter nal In some situations changing the clock mode can not be avoided Example A CD player is con nected to the SPDIF
90. so no changes to the Presets The accidental overwrite of an EQ Preset can not be made undone Undo Redo also operates across Workspaces Therefore 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 Fader Mute Global Mute operates in a pre fader style muting all currently activated routings of the channel As soon as any Mute button is pressed the Mute Master button lights up in the Control Strip area With this button all selected mutes can be switched off and on again One can com fortably set up a mute group or activate and deactivate several mute buttons simultaneously Solo As soon as any Solo button is pressed the Solo Master button lights up in the Control Strip area With this button all selected Solos are switched off and on again Solo operates as Solo in Place post fader style as known from common mixing desks A typical limitation for mixing desks Solo working only globally and only for the Main Out does not exist in TotalMix Solo is always activated for the current submix only Fader A Shift click on a fader adds the fader to the temporary fader group All faders now marked yellow are ganged and move simultaneously in a relative way The temporary fader group is deleted by a click on the F symbol 48 User s Guide Babyface RME View Options This area combines d
91. st Fader function of a standard mixing desk When moving the big fader both knob and small fader will also move This way the reverb signal will always have the same relation to the dry signal The level of the signal sent to the effects can be controlled by the FX In level meters of the FX window It becomes visible after a click on FX in the View Options MS Proc Activates M S processing within the stereo channel Monaural information is sent to the left channel stereo information to the right Phase L Inverts the phase of the left channel by 180 Settings Phase R Inverts the phase of the right channel by 180 Note the functions Width MS Proc Phase L and Phase R affect all routings of the respective channel Besides Phase L und Phase R the settings of the Hardware Outputs have two more options FX Return FX Return The effect signal Echo and Reverb is mixed to the respective hardware output by the duo knob small fader PRASER Loopback Sends the output data to the driver as record data The corresponding submix can be recorded then This channel s hardware input sends its data only to TotalMix no longer to the recording software Hardware Outputs 14 Loopback Another difference 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 With this any hardware output can be controlled and listened to through the monitori
92. st the left key Select is used to select the mode which is then displayed by the Status LEDs gt Input Setting the gain of the analog stereo inputs A push on the encoder changes between left right or both gt Output Setting the output level of the analog outputs 1 2 at the breakout cable A push on the encoder activates Dim for the Main Out defined in TotalMix FX default Analog 1 2 gt Phones Setting the output levels of the analog outputs 3 4 A push on the encoder activates Dim for the Main Out defined in TotalMix FX default Analog 1 2 gt Sync Synchronisation indicator for the digital optical input SPDIF ADAT Flashes when the signal has been detected but is not fully synchronous See also chapter 9 9 16 2 Clock Modes Synchronisation The key Recall is used to store and load a specific listening volume for the Main Out default Analog 1 2 defined in TotalMix FX Pushing the knob for 2 seconds stores the current setting If the volume output level had been changed a quick hit on the Recall key will restore the former value The right side of the Babyface has an instrument input and a headphones output The analog input 2 can be switched in TotalMix between line low OR impedance balanced at the breakout cable and instrument high impedance unbalanced TRS jack at the unit See Settings menu of input channel 2 The analog outputs Phones channels 3 4 are available at the breakout ca
93. t As soon as it detects this special note at the input the MIDI functionality is disabled After fixing the loopback check Enable MIDI Control under Options to reactivate the TotalMix MIDI 64 User s Guide Babyface RME User s Guide RTE INTELLIGENT AUDIO SOLUTIONS Babyface gt Technical Reference User s Guide Babyface RME 65 25 Technical Specifications 25 1 Analog AD Microphone Line 1 2 Input XLR electronically balanced Input impedance 2 kOhm Resolution 24 bit Signal to Noise ratio SNR 108 dB RMS unweighted 111 dBA Frequency response 44 1 kHz 0 1 dB 5 Hz 20 6 kHz Frequency response 96 kHz 0 5 dB 5 Hz 45 3 kHz Frequency response 192 kHz 1 dB 5 Hz 90 kHz THD lt 100 dB lt 0 001 THD N lt 98 dB lt 0 0012 Yo Channel separation gt 110 dB Gain range 0 dB 9 up to 60 dB Maximum input level XLR Gain 0 dB 12 dBu Maximum input level XLR Gain 60 dB 48 dBu CLIP LED 0 dBFS SIG LED 52 dBFS AD Instrument In 2 As Microphone Line 1 2 but e Input 6 3 mm TRS jack unbalanced e Input impedance 470 kOhm e Maximum input level TRS Gain 9 dB 12 dBu e Maximum input level TRS Gain 60 dB 39 dBu DA Line Out 1 2 Resolution 24 bit Dynamic range DR 112 dB 115 dBA 44 1 kHz unmuted Frequency response 44 1 kHz 0 5 dB 5 Hz 22 kHz Frequency response 96 kHz 0 5 dB 5 Hz 45 kHz Frequency response 192 kHz 1 dB 5 Hz 80 kHz
94. t the same time Also ASIO and WDM can be used simultaneously The use of multi client operation requires to follow two simple rules e Multi client operation requires identical sample rates l e it is not possible to use a software with 44 1 kHz and another one with 48 kHz e Different software can not use the same playback channels at the same time If for example Cubase uses channels 1 2 this playback pair can t be used in WaveLab no mat ter if ASIO or WDM However this is no limitation at all because TotalMix allows for any output routing and therefore a playback of multiple software on the same hardware outputs Note that identical inputs can be used at the same time as the driver simply sends the data to all applica tions simultaneously ASIO Multiclient RME audio interfaces support ASIO multi client operation It is possible to use more than one ASIO software at the same time Again the sample rate has to be identical and each software has to use its own playback channels Again the inputs can be used simultaneously RME s sophisticated tool DIGICheck is an exception to this rule It operates like an ASIO host using a special technique to access playback channels already occupied Therefore DIGICheck is able to analyse and display playback data from any software no matter which format the software uses 20 User s Guide Babyface RME 9 6 Analog Recording For recordings via the analog inputs the corresponding record devic
95. tem check in System Profiler USB e The USB cable is not or not correctly inserted into the socket e The Babyface does not receive any or not enough power In this case please use the in cluded dual cable Plug both connectors from one end of the cable into the computer If the Babyface starts correctly the lowest green LED in the left band will flash the In LED is con stantly lit the lowest one the right band too 15 2 Driver Update In case of a driver update it s not necessary to remove the old driver first it will be overwritten during the installation In case of problems the driver files can be deleted manually by dragging them to the trash bin Applications Fireface USB Mixer Applications Fireface USB Settings System Library Extensions FirefaceUSB kext Users username Library Preferences Fireface USB folder Users username Library Preferences de rme audio FirefaceUSBMixer plist Users username Library Preferences de rme audio Fireface_USB_Settings plist 30 User s Guide Babyface RME 15 3 Firmware Update The Flash Update Tool updates the firmware of the Babyface to the latest version lt requires an already installed driver Start the program Babyface USB Flash The Flash Update Tool displays the current revision of the Babyface firmware and whether it needs an update or not If so simply press the Update button A progress bar will indicate when the flash process is finished Verify Ok After the update t
96. ub connector for the included breakout cable Optical Out USB 2 0 Breakout cable Optical In Power Optical I O TOSLINK The unit automatically detects SPDIF or ADAT input signals The opti cal output can operate as ADAT or SPDIF output depending on the current setting in the Set tings dialog USB 2 0 USB socket for connection to the computer Socket for power connection Unburdens the computer s power supply or ensures a stable power supply in case it proves to be insufficient when taken from the computer If the power supply via standard USB cables is not sufficient the included special dual power cable can also be used The included breakout cable provides these connections gt Microphone Line In 2 x XLR balanced gt Line Out 2 x XLR balanced gt Phones Output 1 x stereo TRS 1 4 6 lt 6 3 unbalanced Can also used as additional line output gt MIDII O One MIDI input and output via 5 pin DIN connector If the breakout cable turns your desktop into a mess the included extension cable comes to the rescue It is simply inserted between the breakout cable and the D sub connector of the Baby face Then both breakout cable and all cables connected to it will be out of sight without de creasing the Babyface s technical specifications or performance 8 User s Guide Babyface RME 5 2 Quick Start After the driver installation chapter 7 15 connect the inputs to the analog signal source
97. udio MIDI Setup Select Audio devices under Properties of and choose the Babyface A click on Format will list the supported sample frequencies 34 User s Guide Babyface RME 17 5 Channel Count under Core Audio At a sample rate of 88 2 or 96 kHz the ADAT optical input and output operates S MUX mode so the number of available channels 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 It is not possible to change the number of Core Audio devices without a reboot of the computer Therefore whenever the Babyface changes into Double Speed 88 2 96 kHz or Quad Speed mode 176 4 192 kHz all devices stay present but become partly inactive Single Speed Double Speed Quad Speed Babyface Analog 1 to 4 Babyface Analog 1 to 4 Babyface Analog 1 to 4 Babyface AS 1 to 2 Babyface AS 1 to 2 Babyface AS 1 to 2 Babyface ADAT 3 to 4 Babyface ADAT 3 to 4 Babyface ADAT 5 to 6 Babyface ADAT 7 to 8 17 6 Various Information The driver of the Babyface requires at least Mac OS 10 5 as special USB functions are used that are not available in older versions of the operating system Via gt System Preferences Audio MIDI Setup lt the hardware can be configured for the system wide usage Programs that don t support card or channel selection will use the device selected as Standard Input and Standard O
98. utoSync may cause feedback in the digital carrier so synchronization breaks down To solve this problem switch the Babyface clock mode to Master Clock Source Inter nal In some situations changing the clock mode can not be avoided Example A CD player is con nected to the SPDIF input Try recording a few samples from the CD and you will be disap pointed few CD players can be synchronized The samples will inevitably be corrupted be cause the signal from the CD player is read with the clock from the Babyface being out of sync In this case the Clock Source should be set temporarily to SPDIF RME s exclusive SyncCheck technology first implemented in the Hammerfall enables an easy to use check and display of the current clock status Input Status indicates whether there is a valid signal Lock No Lock for the optical input or if there is a valid and synchronous signal Sync In the field Clock Mode the clock reference is shown See chapter 26 1 Under WDM the Babyface will has to set the sample rate Therefore the error shown to the right occur Sample Rate 44100 Hz S Current 32000 Hz stable signal with a sample rate of 32 kHz is detected at the ADAT input Clock Source Optical In 1 Curent ADAT Sync but Windows audio had been en TT set to 44100 Hz before The red color of the text label signals the error AR 4 3 condition prompts the user set 5 5 32000 Hz manually as sa
99. utput Soundstudio Mplayer Amplitube etc In the lower part of the window the audio hardware s capabilities are shown and can be changed in some cases On the record side no changes are possible Programs that don t sup port channel selection will always use channels 1 2 the first stereo pair To access other inputs use the following workaround with TotalMix route the desired input signal to output channels 1 2 In the channel settings of outputs 1 2 activate Loopback Result the desired input signal is now available at input channel 1 2 without further delay latency Use Speaker Setup to freely configure the playback to all available channels Even multichan nel playback Surround DVD Player can be set up this way User s Guide Babyface RME 35 18 Using more than one Babyface OS X supports the usage of more than one audio device within an audio software This is done via the Core Audio function Aggregate Devices which allows to combine several devices into one All units have to be in sync i e have to receive valid sync information via a digital input signal e f of the Babyfaces is set to clock mode Master all others have to be set to clock mode Slave and have to be synced from the master by feeding ADAT or SPDIF The clock modes of all units have to be set up correctly in the Babyface Settings dialog e Ifall units are fed with a synchronous clock i e all units show Sync in their Settings dialog all channels
100. vice has to be sent free to the door to RORY as Am Pfanderling 60 D 85778 Haimhausen Germany Shipments not prepaid will be rejected and returned on the original sender s costs 78 User s Guide Babyface RME
101. ware from the context menu The dialog Update Driver Software appears Now follow the instructions given below Possible reasons why a Babyface is not found automatically e The USB port is not active in the system check the Device Manager e The USB cable is not or not correctly inserted into the socket e The Babyface does not receive any or not enough power In this case please use the in cluded dual cable Plug both connectors from one end of the cable into the computer If the Babyface starts correctly the lowest green LED in the left band will flash the In LED is con stantly lit the lowest one in the right band too 12 User s Guide Babyface RME 7 2 Driver Update When facing problems with the automatic driver update the user driven way of driver installa tion will work Under gt Control Panel System Device Manager Sound Video and Game Controllers RME Babyface Properties Driver lt you ll find the Update Driver button XP Select Install from a list or specific location advanced click Next select Don t search will choose the driver to install click Next then Have Disk Now point to the driver update s directory Vista 7 Select Browse my computer for driver software then Let me pick from a list of device drivers from my computer then Have Disk Now point to the driver update s direc tory This method also allows for the installation of older drivers than the currently install
102. xcellent performance in all clock modes Thanks to a highly efficient jitter suppression the AD and DA conversion always oper ates on highest sonic level being completely independent from the quality of the incoming clock signal W Pos 408 15 SteadyClock has been originally developed Tek to gain a stable and clean clock from the heavily jittery MADI data signal the embed ded MADI clock suffers from about 80 ns ag aa jitter Using the Babyface s input signals ET SPDIF and ADAT you ll most probably I i never experience such high jitter values But SteadyClock is not only ready for them it would handle them just on the fly Common interface jitter values in real world applications are below 10 ns a very good value is less than 2 ns w 10 0ns The screenshot shows an extremely jittery SPDIF signal of about 50 ns jitter top graph yellow SteadyClock turns this signal into a clock with less than 2 ns jitter lower graph blue The signal processed by SteadyClock is of course not only used internally but also used to clock the digital output Therefore the refreshed and jitter cleaned signal can be used as ref erence clock without hesitation 72 User s Guide Babyface RME 27 Diagrams 27 1 Block Diagram Babyface MIDI TRS XLR 2 XLR 1 ove asn oeju quil asn asn Buissazosg 1 490 94p883S 1283610 ano u
103. z only 15 us The delay is valid for ADAT and SPDIF in the same way Oversampling While the delays of digital interfaces can be disregarded altogether the analog inputs and 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 frequency range as far as possible This typically generates a delay of one millisecond A playback and re record of the same signal via DA and AD loopback then causes an offset of the newly recorded track of about 2 ms The exact delays of the Babyface are Sample frequency kHz 1441 AD 43 2 x 1 fs ms 0 98 AD 38 2 x 1 fs ms DA 28 x 1 fs ms Buffer Size Latency Windows This option found in the Settings dialog defines the size of the buffers for the audio data used in ASIO and WDM see chapter 10 Mac OS X The buffer size is defined within the application Only some do not offer any setting For example iTunes is fixed to 512 samples General A setting of 64 samples at 44 1 kHz causes a latency of 1 5 ms for record and play back each But when performing a digital loopback test no latency offset can be detected The reason is that the software naturally knows the size of the buffers therefore is able to position the newly recorded data at a place equalling a latency free system AD DA Offset under ASIO and OS X ASIO Windows and Core Audio Mac OS

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