RME adds Room EQ capability to TotalMix FX (UFX+, UFX II, UFX III and UCX II only)

[dominikz]

Just saw this yesterday on RME forums and thought it was exciting news:

RME proudly presents: 9-band PEQ, Delay, Volume Calibration and Crossfeed - four very useful features for speaker surround setup and optimized headphone usage. Now available for our flagship interfaces UFX+, UFX II and UFX III in TotalMix 1.90 for Mac and Windows!

(full source)

Preview:

I can only hope this functionality finds its way to Babyface and ADI-2 DAC successors some day

EDIT [2024-01-25]: Seems UCX II support was added as well; updated title accordingly.

 

[kongkong]

Just saw this yesterday on RME forums and thought it was exciting news:

(full source)

Preview:

I can only hope this functionality finds its way to Babyface and ADI-2 DAC successors some day

That said what we can safely exclude (means no Room EQ):

- Fireface UFX, MADIface XT hw rev 1 (all existing units), HDSPe MADI FX hw rev 1 (firmware below 100)

- Fireface 802, UCX

- units without external DSP chip: Fireface UC, Digiface USB, Digiface AES, Babyface / Pro, all HDSPe cards (MADI FX see below), Digiface Dante, Digiface Ravenna

- ADI-2 series. DSP already maxed out (not to mention the limited number of channels...)


Products that should be able to get Room EQ* (no guarantee at this point that they do):

- MADIface XT hw rev 2, which is in development, not yet available

- HDSPe MADI FX hw rev 2, identified by firmware version 200 or higher

- Fireface 802 FS

- UCX II


Thanks for news.

But... Check below reply.

 

[dominikz]

That said what we can safely exclude (means no Room EQ):

- Fireface UFX, MADIface XT hw rev 1 (all existing units), HDSPe MADI FX hw rev 1 (firmware below 100)

- Fireface 802, UCX

- units without external DSP chip: Fireface UC, Digiface USB, Digiface AES, Babyface / Pro, all HDSPe cards (MADI FX see below), Digiface Dante, Digiface Ravenna

- ADI-2 series. DSP already maxed out (not to mention the limited number of channels...)


Products that should be able to get Room EQ* (no guarantee at this point that they do):

- MADIface XT hw rev 2, which is in development, not yet available

- HDSPe MADI FX hw rev 2, identified by firmware version 200 or higher

- Fireface 802 FS

- UCX II


Thanks for news.

But... Check below reply.

Thanks, I did see that too.
But who knows, perhaps in some future product versions... Hope springs eternal

 

[192kbps]

UCX II also has it.

 

[Noah]

 

[DJBonoBobo]

UCX II also has it.
View attachment 344357

Maybe add UCX II to the thread title, @dominikz ?

I can confirm it works. Official drivers and firmware are out for a week or so.
With room eq, delay and volume calibration it is now a standalone hardware DSP solution for a surround setup. Really fantastic.

 

[dominikz]

UCX II also has it.
View attachment 344357

Maybe add UCX II to the thread title, @dominikz ?

I can confirm it works. Official drivers and firmware are out for a week or so.
With room eq, delay and volume calibration it is now a standalone hardware DSP solution for a surround setup. Really fantastic.

Thanks, just updated the title and added a clarification in initial post. IMHO this functionality significantly increases the value proposition of these (already amazing) interfaces

 

[Atanasi]

The new Room EQ also adds a small feature that has been requested for a long time: output channels get Volume Calibration that allows up to 24 dB of attenuation. This way if you have sensitive speakers or headphones where the volume of 0 dB is dangerously loud even at lower reference levels, you can take advantage of Volume Calibration attenuation to make 0 dB an acceptable volume level.

There have been various ways to reset the volume to 0 dB by mistake, like double-clicking the fader or loading an unintended snapshot. Volume Calibration, like other Room EQ settings, are not loaded through snapshots. However, changing the Workspace includes Room EQ settings.

 

[Rednaxela]

Maybe add UCX II to the thread title, @dominikz ?

I can confirm it works. Official drivers and firmware are out for a week or so.
With room eq, delay and volume calibration it is now a standalone hardware DSP solution for a surround setup. Really fantastic.

This is most interesting indeed.

Are all frequencies freely assignable? Or are there limitations like for instance this one in the ADI-2 units?

 

[DJBonoBobo]

This is most interesting indeed.

Are all frequencies freely assignable? Or are there limitations like for instance this one in the ADI-2 units?

View attachment 355447

As far as i can see (no guarantees): All 9 bands can be set between 20-20k Hz, 0.4-9.9 Q and -20db to +20db. Bands 1, 8, 9 can be set to either bell, shelving, high pass or low pass, the others are fixed to bell.

 

[Rednaxela]

That’s amazing, thank you so much!

 

[markstein]

I was so amazed reading this, however it seems, that RME still did not implement various high and low pass filters like especially Linkwitz Riley 1st, 2nd,3rd, 4th order in their eq settings. Not understandable. So, this solution is - still - not usable to integrate subs.

Could you please check and confirm whether I am right?

 

[DJBonoBobo]

I was so amazed reading this, however it seems, that RME still did not implement various high and low pass filters like especially Linkwitz Riley 1st, 2nd,3rd, 4th order in their eq settings. Not understandable. So, this solution is - still - not usable to integrate subs.

Could you please check and confirm whether I am right?

Answered here, although i don't know how to invert the phase: https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=38865

tl;dr: Use room eq in combination with the other eq setting and set 2 HP/LP filters with Q 0.7.

Also: check your attitude. We are talking about free upgrades here.

 

[markstein]

Thank you for this link, valuable information.

Btw, I checked my attitude, and it's okay.

I indeed appreciate RME a lot. Well engineered products, very good documentation, incl. measurements, stable software. Free functionality updates. I currently own an ADI-2 PRO FS R and would not hesitate purchasing a RME product based on the technical datasheet only.

However, RME sometimes seems a little bit "stubborn" when discussing new feature requests. I remember MC stating that the number of PEQs in Total Mix would be sufficient for any use case and that a delay will not be supported as a Fireface is no loudspeaker management device. Now they implemented Room EQ. And stopped half way by not implementing a proper x-over solution. This is a little bit a wasted opportunity to make a good add-on a really great add-on.

 

[DJBonoBobo]

Thank you for this link, valuable information.

Btw, I checked my attitude, and it's okay.

I indeed appreciate RME a lot. Well engineered products, very good documentation, incl. measurements, stable software. Free functionality updates. I currently own an ADI-2 PRO FS R and would not hesitate purchasing a RME product based on the technical datasheet only.

However, RME sometimes seems a little bit "stubborn" when discussing new feature requests. I remember MC stating that the number of PEQs in Total Mix would be sufficient for any use case and that a delay will not be supported as a Fireface is no loudspeaker management device. Now they implemented Room EQ. And stopped half way by not implementing a proper x-over solution. This is a little bit a wasted opportunity to make a good add-on a really great add-on.

Nope, it's not. You get something for free and take the opportunity to complain that there isn't more.

 

[markstein]

Just to put my reaction into perspective:

I just purchased a Fireface UFX II due to the added room eq feature. Room eq is really a game changer, especially due to the possibility of adding delay. So yes, thank you RME for adding this (even is there is still room for a little bit more ;-) )!

If everything works as expected, the UFX will replace my minidsp SHD which is currently used to integrate 2 mains and 2 subs and to manage room modes.

 

[concorde1]

Does this mean with a UCX II , I could do independent DSP for 2 subs and 2 speakers? "Per channel" DSP. Like with the MiniDSP Flex?

If so -- I'm going to get one!

 

[Keith_W]

As far as i can see (no guarantees): All 9 bands can be set between 20-20k Hz, 0.4-9.9 Q and -20db to +20db. Bands 1, 8, 9 can be set to either bell, shelving, high pass or low pass, the others are fixed to bell.

View attachment 355495

Can you put all 9 bands < 200Hz and use it for bass EQ only?

 

[DJBonoBobo]

Can you put all 9 bands < 200Hz and use it for bass EQ only?

Looks like it. I can´t see any restrictions besides the max Q of 9.9, max gain +/- 20dB and full numbers for frequency. Also, bands 2-7 and the second of the "original" EQ bands are fixed to the bell type, but you still have in total 5 bands of EQ that can be set to shelf, high pass or low pass.

Does this mean with a UCX II , I could do independent DSP for 2 subs and 2 speakers? "Per channel" DSP. Like with the MiniDSP Flex?

If so -- I'm going to get one!

You can set volume, delay and in total 12 bands of EQ per channel. If i understood correctly you have to stack 2 high pass filters for making a subwoofer crossover, but it looks like it is possible, I have not tried myself. You are completely free how to route the channels. There are more features, like crossfeed, dynamic compression and so on.
You cannot intall Dirac Live on the UCX and use it as a standalone Dirac-host, like the MiniDSP Flex. Maybe the Flex also has other and even more options, but i don´t know it.

 

[Stingber09]

There are two options to use Dirac Live RCS with RME interface.
1) Use Dirac Live RCS as standalone mode (limit to 8ch of processing).
2) Use Dirac Live RCS as a VST3 plugin in Liveprofessor (VST host) and route each input and output thru TotalMix FX (RME Interface Software).

Dirac Live Room Correction Suite – Dirac

Dirac Live Room Correction Suite features patented algorithms to digitally reduce the room impacts and enhance the accuracy of sound reproduction, from timing and frequency...

www.dirac.com

I'm currently using option 2 with a 7.8.6 setup.