User Manual

User's Guide Fireface 800 © RME
15
9.2 Playback
The Fireface 800 can play back audio data in supported formats only (sample rate, bit resolu-
tion). Otherwise an error message appears (for example at 22 kHz and 8 bit).
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 strongly recommend switching all system sounds off (via >Control Panel /Sounds<). Also
HDSP should not be the Preferred Device for playback, as this could cause loss of synchroniza-
tion and unwanted noises. If you feel you cannot do without system sounds, you should con-
sider buying a cheap Blaster clone and select this as Preferred Device in >Control Panel
/Multimedia /Audio<.
The RME Driver CD includes step by step instructions for configuring many popular audio ap-
plications, found in the directory \rmeaudio.web\english\techinfo\conf.
The screenshot on
the right shows a
typical configuration
dialog as displayed
by a (stereo) wave
editor. After selecting
a device, audio data
is sent either to an
analog or digital
(ADAT / SPDIF) port,
depending on which
has been selected as
playback device.
Increasing the num-
ber and/or size of
audio buffers may
prevent the audio
signal from breaking
up, but also in-
creases latency i.e.
output is delayed. For synchronized playback of audio and MIDI (or similar), be sure to activate
the checkbox ‘Get position from audio driver’.
The Fireface’s ADAT optical interfaces support sample rates of up to 96 kHz using a standard
ADAT recorder. Single-channel data at this frequency requires two ADAT channels, achieved
using the Sample Split technique. This reduces the number of available ADAT channels from 8
to 4. Under Windows MME, channels are routed to ADAT devices in double-speed mode as
follows:
• Only the 4 stereo pairs of the ADAT1 port are available
• The ADAT2 port is no longer available
This kind of implementation allows a problem-free usage of both ADAT ports in Single and
Double Speed, as the routing for ADAT1 doesn't change. However, the hardware spreads the
data differently:
• Channel 1 is transmitted via channels 1 and 2, channel 2 via 3 and 4 etc.
• The ADAT2 port transmits channels 5 to 8
Please refer to the diagram in chapter 31. Routing for record and playback is identical.