Hi,

I'm interested in purchasing RME Fireface 802 with Advanced Remote Control.

The manual of ARC says:

The button Recall is used to store and load a
specific listening volume for the Main Out defined
in TotalMix FX.

Can someone tell me what does "Main Out" entail? Outputs 1-2 or all outputs?

We do surround mixing also and this small recall feature is very important for us, so I'd like confirmation that it's not just outputs 1-2. We often need to go back to default volume level on a 5.1 mix.

Thanks!

You can link/gang outputs to the Main out and the ARC will control them together: stereo, 5.1, 7.1 whatever. I use an RME UFX and calibrate speaker levels with TotalmixFX.
I calibrate the Main out at '0' equals 85db SPL C weighted/slow. My room is small so the control is generally set to -6 which equals 79db SPL.
The Recall button snaps back to 85. Mute, Dim also control whatever monitor config you have.
I have saved various TotalmixFX Workspace settings for basic stereo, 5.1, tracking with a console, etc.
In 5.1 I use TotalmixFX to generate an LoRo which feeds a pair of Dorroughs and can be looped-back to record channels.
Pretty cool really...

Thanks Brian,

That's good news. This was enough info for me to go and purchase the FF802. Can't wait to try it.

Hi, I just bought UCX, and am struggling to get it to work with 5.1. I am strongly thinking about buying dedicated monitor controller but seeing the RME ARC USB unit that is set to come out soon I am still wondering if I can pull it off monitoring just through TotalMix

Can you write how did you set your mixer in TotalMix for 5.1 mixes?

Tnx

I use Pro Tools HD and set the I/O as ITU (LR C LFE Ls Rs) so L is out1 R is out2 C is out3 LFE is out4 Ls out5 and Rs out6.
In Totalmix on the hardware row (bottom)the Main Out is LR, click on the Main out so it's selected and on the software row (middle) bring the fader up for 1 and 2 (double click) There should be no other sources feeding Main 1 and 2 such as hardware input (top row) or software row, only 1 and 2.
For the Center channel use hardware out 3, you may need to reassign or remove B speakers depending on how Totalmix is setup. Select hardware out 3 and on the software row bring up fader 3 (split 3/4 into two mono channels).
Hardware out 4 is LFE and and is fed from software out 4, hardware out 5 is Ls fed from software out 5 and hardware out 6 is Rs fed from software 6. For each hardware out there should only be the corresponding software out as source (to keep things simple in the beginning).
If you can calibrate monitoring levels externally, just set all Totalmix faders software and hardware at zero and calibrate your room to the level you need either at the power amps or self powered speakers.
To gang the hardware out faders in Totalmix click Main out then shift click the rest C LFE Ls Rs and they will all move together as a group. Once you have everything setup correctly save the Workspace for instant recall.

Nice info bcwiz, really helped me, btw next month the RME ARC USB unit comes out that should put an cherry on top of monitoring through UCX

Yes you can create presets that can be assigned to buttons on the ARC. I have a 5.1 to stereo (LoRo) fold down that also sets up second set of small monitors for checking compatibility and listening on small speakers.
The monitor control is stepped in 1/2 db increments so you can set a reference level at zero and trim down from there. I am in a much larger room now so I leave the Totalmix faders (software and hardware) at zero and calibrate the monitor levels at the power amps to 85spl. I normally monitor at 82spl so the monitor control is set at -3. The Recall button on the remote can be used to snap back to 85 or whatever level you wish. Totalmix can be customized to your setup and style of working. Definitely worth the time and effort to understand it.

there is a topic on rme forum about the future surround monitoring feature

https://www.forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=25011

some cool ideas there

i think the more people comment on that topic the faster we get the surround monitoring in totalmix fx app

Getting a little off topic here but you are now familiar with my setup so I need your advice.
So, as I've said I have 5.1 setup that is currently connected to UCX 6 line outputs.
Now I would like to attach another speaker set, maybe two stereo pairs, one larger HIFIs speakers and one smaller speakers. They will be routed as "Speakers B" in TotalMix
As you've guessed I ran out of line outputs on UCX beacuse I wan't to keep my Phones outputs connected to dedicated headphones all time.
Now do you advise I get an ADAT device to connect my main 5.1 through UCXs 6 ADAT channels, maybe Behringer ADA8200??
Another option is a Tascam DS-M7.1 controller that I can get rather cheap, it also has ADAT in.

Thanks

i used to use tascam ds-m 7.1 for years

it was a nice device, except for the converters - sounded bad, i used rosetta 800 for d/a conversion

however, my unit died two months ago, the service guys are trying to fix it, but so far they did not succeed. so i suspect it's just gone forever.

it is an old device, chances are other units will also die sooner or later, so i suggest - get a proper ADAT d/a converter and hopefully one day totalmix will have all the features the ds-m 7.1 had. and more.

Ah, yeah I've been reading around the Net about Tascams converters, almost decided to take a leap of faith and buy it, but this is informative

Is the ARC able to toggle input channels on/off? For example, press Button 1 and Ch1 is muted. Press Button 1 again and Ch1 is unmuted.

And if so, could I group channels to toggle on one button? Like Button 2 will mute/unmute both Ch2 and Ch3?

Not exactly what you described (to my knowledge) but you can store snapshots with whatever settings you like and toggle between them with the ”Snap” 1-8 buttons on the top of the unit.

Yes, buttons can toggle some settings. I answered my own question (my ARC just arrived in the mail and I'm setting it up). I wanted some buttons to affect individual channels, independently of loading an entire snapshot.

Snapshot functions can only be set to "Load", while other functions can be set to "Toggle" or "Push" (Push is a momentary hold, like Talkback). So I get 4 mute groups that can act on their own. I wish I had the option to reverse the button light, so light-on would be actually un-mute. But that's fine, at least it can perform the function I need.