RME HDSPe MADI FX

The HDSPe MADI FX sets a new milestone among RME audio interfaces. Never before has there been such a powerful and high-performance multi-channel computer interface.

390 channels! Three MADI I/Os - two optical and one coaxial - are accompanied by an AES/EBU I/O and an analogue monitor output. There is also a word clock I/O and a total of four MIDI I/Os. As is typical for RME, all the technology and connections are concentrated in a very small space. Only one PCIe slot on the motherboard and a second free slot on the computer are required.

To guarantee RME's worldwide unique low-latency performance even with so many channels, a new, modular high-tech audio core has been developed, which processes more than three times the number of channels of the previous RME MADI flagship and requires an even lower system load. Assuming a powerful computer, record-breaking latencies of up to 32 samples can be utilised even when using all 390 channels. Sophisticated efficiency technology automatically switches off channels that are not currently being used in the hardware so that they do not require any computing power. A simple stereo signal does not place a greater load on the computer than a simple stereo card - despite a professional multi-channel system with almost 400 channels!

The new core technology goes hand in hand with a special TotalMix FX version in order to utilise the enormous number of channels efficiently and practically. In addition to numerous performance optimisations, which make the 4096-channel mixer of the MADI FX react just as smoothly as its Fireface UFX counterpart (1800 channels), and a faster DSP for a higher number of EQs and compressors, this primarily affects the manageability of the sheer mass of channels. A new hide technology makes it possible to hide unused channels visually. Hide setups can be saved and loaded at any time, for example to switch between displaying the drum mix and the complete band mix at the click of a mouse.