New (2021) RME Fireface UCX II

[Rja4000]

That's hardly doing anything. I mean, ~24 dB filter ultimate? My guess is it's still overloaded.

I corrected in the "Review" here

Hmm. I can't help but notice that 60 Hz x 2 = 40 Hz x 3 = 120 Hz, which could be a power supply related thing. That said, your spectra previously were clear of mains stuff, so....

I'm in Europe, so 50Hz.
I limited number of harmonics in THD computing and result looks much better.

There's still some funny business going on though, note the glitches whenever it ought to be hitting the first Gibbs peak after transition. The same at +13 dBu might be interesting to tell whether it's the filter / DAC or the analog side.

See the "review" as well.

It would certainly be interesting how the mic inputs are doing. (EIN at 75/60/40/20 dB shorted or 150R, THD(f) or IMD(f) at -1 dBFS for at least a few of them.)

That's coming.

 

[Rja4000]

I published more and corrected measurements in an "Unoffical review" here
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...x-ii-interface-review-and-measurements.26755/

 

[enricoclaudio]

It is a device that supports hot-plugging or surprise removal. But Apple seems to have issues with that. You might try our latest driver plus macOS 11.6.

https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?pid=176090#p176090

Just did the installation of 3.26 and the hot plugging/turn OFF-ON issue is finally fixed. The only weird thing is that after installation of 3.26 the UCX II wasn't recognized by macOS 11.6. It wasn't showing up in my audio devices and TotalMix wasn't opening. I checked permissions and it was fine. So did the installation for a second time and that did the trick. After second installation all is working fine.

 

[MC_RME]

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[enricoclaudio]

@MC_RME my UCX II has been acting a bit weird. If I switch it to Roon, in two opportunities, Roon has lost control of the UCX II and it goes missing. I can see it in my audio interfaces but no sound. Then after restarting the iMac, it's not in my sound devices anymore no matter what. I have to reinstall the RME USB Driver (3.26) then the UCX II shows up. I don't remember this happening when using it with Protools or Logic Pro X, neither when listening to non Roon content. This maybe something you want to look at it to fix it in the next firmware update?

 

[MC_RME]

Check your USB cable and the UCX II power supply connection. A vanishing unit can not be fixed by firmware.

Added: on a second thought that won't explain why you had to reinstall the driver. Looks more like some new issue going on in macOS...

 

[HiZ]

Check your USB cable and the UCX II power supply connection. A vanishing unit can not be fixed by firmware.

Added: on a second thought that won't explain why you had to reinstall the driver. Looks more like some new issue going on in macOS...

RME has a separate DAC from the audio interface, but there is no separate ADC.
Do you have any plans to release a 2ch flagship ADC using ESS chips next year or in the near future?

 

[enricoclaudio]

Check your USB cable and the UCX II power supply connection. A vanishing unit can not be fixed by firmware.

Added: on a second thought that won't explain why you had to reinstall the driver. Looks more like some new issue going on in macOS...

That was my original thought. I’m on the latest macOS Big Sur version. Updated it last week after release. Going to wait for you to release macOS Monterrey USB driver to do a fresh Monterrey installation in my iMac.

 

[Trell]

RME has a separate DAC from the audio interface, but there is no separate ADC.

I don't understand what you mean here, could you add to your comment with more details?

 

[HiZ]

I don't understand what you mean here, could you add to your comment with more details?

This means that RME does not manufacture only purely independent external AD converters.
External DACs and audio interfaces have a variety of lineups.

 

[Trell]

This means that RME does not manufacture only purely independent external AD converters.
External DACs and audio interfaces have a variety of lineups.

You mean AD converters with no DA functionality?

 

[HiZ]

You mean AD converters with no DA functionality?

That's right

 

[Rja4000]

Of course, they do

12Mic - RME Audio Interfaces | Format Converters | Preamps | Network Audio & MADI Solutions

www.rme-audio.de

 

[HiZ]

Of course, they do

12Mic - RME Audio Interfaces | Format Converters | Preamps | Network Audio & MADI Solutions

www.rme-audio.de

What I was talking about is a separate AD converter that provides 2ch of flagship performance like the ADI series.

 

[enricoclaudio]

Check your USB cable and the UCX II power supply connection. A vanishing unit can not be fixed by firmware.

Added: on a second thought that won't explain why you had to reinstall the driver. Looks more like some new issue going on in macOS...

@MC_RME Just so you know, if I restart my iMac running Bug Sur 11.6 the UCX II goes missing and the only way to get it back up is reinstalling the USB Driver (3.26). Do you think this could be a defective UCX II unit or just a bug in the firmware? Maybe a software causing conflict in my iMac?

 

[enricoclaudio]

Check your USB cable and the UCX II power supply connection. A vanishing unit can not be fixed by firmware.

Added: on a second thought that won't explain why you had to reinstall the driver. Looks more like some new issue going on in macOS...

@MC_RME I just installed the USB Driver in my 2014 MacBook Pro Retina running Big Sur 11.6 and the UCX II works just fine. It starts after Restart so looks like something buggy is going on with my 2017 iMac. Maybe a third party software causing conflict? Do you have a recommendation on where to look at without needing to do a macOS fresh installation? Any tip will be really appreciated.

 

[MC_RME]

@MC_RME Just so you know, if I restart my iMac running Bug Sur 11.6 the UCX II goes missing and the only way to get it back up is reinstalling the USB Driver (3.26). Do you think this could be a defective UCX II unit or just a bug in the firmware? Maybe a software causing conflict in my iMac?

In this case reading the RME forum helps:

Mac Big Sur and higher: driver not loaded after reboot (Page 1) — FireWire & USB series — RME User Forum

Mac Big Sur and higher: driver not loaded after reboot (Page 1) — FireWire & USB series — RME User Forum —

forum.rme-audio.de

And it is 100% Apple's fault. We're not the only one affected.

 

[Trell]

The TB situation is unchanged. USB 2.0 is good enough for 70 channels record PLUS 70 channels playback (RME MADIface Pro), the UFX II has only 20 channels per direction. TB for such a small amount of channels would just mean wasted money for a more expensive interface (same for USB 3).

Your comment on USB on new computers is misleading. USB 2.0 is always available. Simple and cheap (passive!) adapters to any kind of connector format are easy to get and these days a necessity to have anyway.

I think I still have one or two of these adapters for real old keyboards around somewhere, though I've not had such a keyboard for many years. USB 2.0 works very well with my ADI-2 DAC FS and I assume for my new UCX II as well when it arrives.

 

[Trell]

That's what I meant. It's more contrast that is lost than brightness.

Do you have any plans to add a brightness control of the display like for the ADI-2 DAC/PRO?

 

[MC_RME]

1. That adapter is USB to PS/2. Has nothing to do with the discussed subject (USB-C to USB 3 or 2).
2. Sorry, no brightness control planned.