User`s guide

User's Guide Fireface 400 © RME

8. Operation and Usage

8.1 Playback

In the audio application being used, Fireface must be selected as output device. This can often

be found in the Options, Preferences or Settings menus under Playback Device, Audio Devices,

Audio etc.

We recommend switching all system sounds off (via >Control Panel /Sound<). Also Fireface

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 >Control Panel /Multimedia /Audio< or >Control Panel /Sound /Playback<.

The screenshot shows a

typical configuration dia-

log of a (stereo) wave

editor. After selecting a

device, audio data is sent

to an analog or digital

(ADAT / SPDIF) port,

depending on which has

been selected as play-

back device.

Increasing the number

and/or size of audio buff-

ers may prevent the au-

dio signal from breaking

up, but also increases

latency i.e. output is de-

layed. For synchronized

playback of audio and

MIDI (or similar), be sure

to activate the checkbox ‘Get position from audio driver’.

Note on Windows Vista/7/8

Since Vista the audio application can no longer control the sample rate under WDM. Therefore

the driver of the Fireface 400 includes a workaround: the sample rate can be set globally for all

WDM devices within the Settings dialog, see chapter 7.1.