User Manual

User's Guide Fireface 802 © RME

Input

Thanks to a highly sensitive input stage

SPDIF coaxial can be fed too by using

a simple cable adapter phono/XLR. To

achieve this, pins 2 and 3 of a male

XLR plug are connected individually to

the two pins of a phono plug. The cable

shielding is only connected to pin 1 of

the XLR - not to the phono plug.

In AES operation, identical signals are available at both the optical and the XLR output. An ob-

vious use for this would be to connect two devices, i.e. using the Fireface 802 as a splitter (dis-

tribution 1 on 2).

Output

Using the cable adapter XLR/phono described above, devices with coaxial SPDIF interface can

be connected to the AES output of the Fireface 802 as well. Note that most consumer equip-

ment with phono (SPDIF) inputs will only accept signals having a Channel Status ‘Consumer’

format. The Consumer status is activated in the Settings dialog of the Fireface 802. In Con-

sumer mode the output voltage is reduced as well, as SPDIF calls for a lower voltage than

AES/EBU.

The output signal coding of the Fireface 802 has been implemented according to AES3-1992

Amendment 4:

x 32 / 44.1 / 48 kHz, 64 / 88.2 / 96 kHz, 176.4 / 192 kHz depending on the current sample rate

x Audio use

x No Copyright, Copy permitted

x Format Professional or Consumer

x Category General, Generation not indicated

x 2-Channel, No Emphasis

x Aux Bits Audio use, 24 Bit

x Origin: RME

21.3 MIDI

Fireface 802 has a MIDI I/O via four 5-pin DIN sockets. The MIDI ports are added to the system

by the driver. Using MIDI capable software, these ports can be accessed under the name Fire-

face MIDI. Using more than one Fireface, the operating system adds a consecutive number to

the port name, like Fireface MIDI (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.

Note

: The MIDI input LEDs display any kind of MIDI activity, including MIDI Clock, MTC and

Active Sensing. The latter is sent by most keyboards every 0.3 seconds.