RME Fireface UCX in Linux 5.1

Talk about your MIDI interfaces, microphones, keyboards...

Moderators: MattKingUSA, khz

Post Reply
User avatar
eikakot
Established Member
Posts: 103
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2010 2:24 pm
Location: Vilnius, Lithuania
Has thanked: 7 times
Been thanked: 3 times
Contact:

RME Fireface UCX in Linux 5.1

Post by eikakot »

stanlea
Established Member
Posts: 700
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:49 pm
Has thanked: 41 times
Been thanked: 23 times

Re: RME Fireface UCX in Linux 5.1

Post by stanlea »

Thanks, what does this support better than simple Class Compliant ?
stanlea
Established Member
Posts: 700
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:49 pm
Has thanked: 41 times
Been thanked: 23 times

Re: RME Fireface UCX in Linux 5.1

Post by stanlea »

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page= ... -UCX-Linux

What is unclear for me is the availability of this patch, as Kernel 5.0 is not ready yet. Could this patch be applied on actual kernels ?
kflak
Established Member
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2017 4:35 pm

Re: RME Fireface UCX in Linux 5.1

Post by kflak »

I own a Fireface UCX, and have been using linux-ck 5.1.x. for a little while now, but I don't really see/hear any difference from previous versions. I was (naively) hoping for native control of the animal through alsamixer, but I don't see any. Nor do I see much difference in terms of latency. Would be great to know what the fuzz is all about... Or do I have to modprobe something to get the thing to work properly? Unfortunately my C skills aren't up to the task of decifring the git diff.
Jamesf
Established Member
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 12:23 pm
Location: Madrid
Has thanked: 51 times
Been thanked: 13 times

Re: RME Fireface UCX in Linux 5.1

Post by Jamesf »

kflak wrote:I own a Fireface UCX, and have been using linux-ck 5.1.x. for a little while now, but I don't really see/hear any difference from previous versions. I was (naively) hoping for native control of the animal through alsamixer, but I don't see any. Nor do I see much difference in terms of latency. Would be great to know what the fuzz is all about... Or do I have to modprobe something to get the thing to work properly? Unfortunately my C skills aren't up to the task of decifring the git diff.
Are you using it via USB or firewire?
I'm not a C hacker myself, but I do spend way too much of my time doing code forensics.. One thing that stood out was that all the files being patched are under

Code: Select all

/sound/firewire/
, which strongly implies to me that it's specifically for firewire operation and won't affect USB usage.
I'm slow, but I get there eventually.
kflak
Established Member
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2017 4:35 pm

Re: RME Fireface UCX in Linux 5.1

Post by kflak »

Oh dear... I am using it with USB. Haven't seen a firewire cable in ages. Might have to get me an adapter, then, to benefit from this. Thanks for staring at the code!
Jamesf
Established Member
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 12:23 pm
Location: Madrid
Has thanked: 51 times
Been thanked: 13 times

Re: RME Fireface UCX in Linux 5.1

Post by Jamesf »

Reviving this post, because I'm finally looking seriously at getting/building a new non-laptop DAW, and it's just possible that my beloved FA-101 will refuse to do its thing. If that happens, I'll probably be deciding between a UCX and an AIO plus... not quite sure yet.

So, how have you found the UCX as an interface? Did you ever get it firewired?
I'm slow, but I get there eventually.
kflak
Established Member
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2017 4:35 pm

Re: RME Fireface UCX in Linux 5.1

Post by kflak »

Hey there,

Never went down the firewire hole, but in general the UCX is an excellent interface. The only drawback (and this may be a major drawback if you are spending a lot of time on the road with your soundcard) is that the only way to control it outside of mac/windows is through the encoder in front. Works great until it breaks. And fixing it might not be non-trivial, depending on where you live. But apart from that: most excellent soundcard! Just make sure you have access to a mac/dows to set up a few initial presets (phantom power on/off can't be controlled with said encoder).
Jamesf
Established Member
Posts: 70
Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 12:23 pm
Location: Madrid
Has thanked: 51 times
Been thanked: 13 times

Re: RME Fireface UCX in Linux 5.1

Post by Jamesf »

kflak wrote: Sat Jun 20, 2020 3:20 pm Hey there,

Never went down the firewire hole, but in general the UCX is an excellent interface. The only drawback (and this may be a major drawback if you are spending a lot of time on the road with your soundcard) is that the only way to control it outside of mac/windows is through the encoder in front. Works great until it breaks. And fixing it might not be non-trivial, depending on where you live. But apart from that: most excellent soundcard! Just make sure you have access to a mac/dows to set up a few initial presets (phantom power on/off can't be controlled with said encoder).
I'm really only looking for a soundcard, not a mixer, so it sounds like a good choice. Thanks!
I'm slow, but I get there eventually.
Post Reply