A solid, well-built little unit and a very worthwhile addition to any RME-based studio setup
Over the past 20 years RME have consistently produced equipment that has won them the respect of audio professionals in music, broadcast and film with their innovative designs, excellent value for money and incredible reliability. The UFX+ is the latest in a long line of products which incorporate a high level of connectivity both in the analogue and digital worlds and will seamlessly provide enormous flexibility when recording across multiple formats.
Starting with the basics, the UFX+ will connect to a computer either via Thunderbolt, USB 3.0 or USB 2.0. It can run up to 94 simultaneous inputs and outputs (at sample rates of 44.1kHz and 48kHz) and with the software utility called TotalMix FX+ can record, route and sub mix all of them while providing multiple low latency monitor mixes.
The layout of connections and controls is well thought out. On the front panel you have four Mic/ Instrument Combi XLR/jacks followed by two ¼” TRS sockets for headphones. To the right of those are the first of a pair of MIDI in/out sockets and a USB socket labeled Memory (which I will explain later) and then a large rotary encoder which has multiple functions, four small buttons for different display functions and lastly two smaller rotaries for the headphone outputs. To the rear there are eight TRS line inputs and six TRS line outs with outputs 1 and 2 on XLRs (so connecting your monitors is simpler). You then get an AES In/Out on XLRs, both co-axial and optical MADI connections, two ADAT light pipe ins and outs, USB, Thunderbolt and remote USB sockets, the other MIDI ins and outs and the IEC power socket. It’s a lot of connections but somehow RME have managed to make sense of them all. I tested connecting everything and while it gets pretty busy it is still possible to access every connector without too much effort. The things you need most are sensibly on the front panel.
Compatibility and Channel Counts
So having got your head around all the connection possibilities, where do you go from here? Firstly let’s deal with compatibility and channel counts. If you are using USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt you have ostensibly the same possibilities as there is enough
bandwidth to deal with 94 channels of record and playback at sample rates of 48k and 44.1k. When you go to 96kHz sample rate, channel counts halve, so you would go from 16 channels of ADAT to eight and 64 channels of MADI to 32, and at 192kHz they halve again. This means total compatibility with any digital protocol in the formats provided. While sample rate affects the number of channels available in the digital connections, the analogue inputs and outputs are not affected – so their channel counts remain constant. So as you can see, the UFX+ allows you massive flexibility in recording and monitoring multiple digital and analogue sources, all within one single U box.
If you only have USB 2.0 available you have to forgo the MADI connection for direct recording but you can still pick up signal from it within the internal mixer and route it around via the TotalMix utility.
TotalMix and the ARC USB
RME have supplied TotalMix FX+, their mix Utility, with all their interfaces for many years now and as it is a scaleable system it is fundamentally the same whether you use it with their simplest interface or the flagship UFX+. You can run the UFX+ without it, accessing everything directly from your DAW software but if you want low latency monitoring and the ability to build multiple monitor balances outside of your DAW it is excellent and more than up to the task. This most recent version has reverb, EQ and dynamics processing and with the UFX+ an incredible 4096 channels. If that sounds a bit scary, well, at first glance it is; it’s certainly a mixer you will have to learn. It is possible to set up a separate mix for every pair of outputs but in practice you may just want to use the two dedicated headphone outputs on the front of the unit plus balance in inputs to your main monitoring. To simplify operations even further you can buy the ARC USB, a very useful small footprint controller for TotalMix which has dedicated buttons for Monitor levels and speaker switching, headphone levels, talkback and dim. There are also eight buttons which you can assign to different functions, letting you build a personalised controller to suit your workflow. It’s a solid, well-built little unit and is a very worthwhile addition to any RME-based studio setup as it’s backwards compatible with all interfaces using TotalMix.
In Use
On the digital side, RME have always been right at the top of the tree. Their reliability is legendary, something I can attest to personally as I own one of their other MADI systems and a RayDAT system. On the analogue side they are up there too. The Mic and Line Amps and DI inputs sound excellent, crisp and clean with great depth of field and clarity. That said the UFX+ is dear so be sure you require this level of functionality before purchasing it, but if it fits your requirements you won’t be disappointed. It really is quite an amazing bit of kit.
What’s the best way to get convincing electric guitar parts in my tracks?
It probably goes without saying that, if you want your electric guitar parts to sound totally real, recording a real guitarist is the best way to go. However, in order to do this you’ll need to have access to a guitarist who can not only play, but also play what you want them to. If you’ve got that, there are plenty of great software amp and effect emulations that’ll enable you to get the tone you’re looking for.
If you don’t know a guitarist, you might consider using samples; the problem here is that the loops will be ‘static’ – you’ll pretty much have to work with what you’ve got, and what you’ve got might not be exactly what you need.
If you want to keep things in the box, a more flexible solution would be a ‘virtual guitarist’ plugin. There’s uJam’s Virtual Guitarist, and Ample Sound has a wide range of products that may suit your requirements. Native Instruments might also be able to help you out; its recently- released Session Guitarist - Electric Sunburst is inspired by Gibson’s Les Paul, and sounds pretty convincing.
How do I get my music on Beatport?
For the benefit of those not in the know, Beatport is an electronic music-focused download store that carries a considerable amount of clout in DJing and hi-tech production circles. Artists frequently cite their successes on there, and it’s very much a place where people want to be.
This being the case, you may be disappointed to learn that getting your music on Beatport isn’t just as simple as uploading it: the service’s Help page confirms that it’s only working with labels. However, this doesn’t mean that you have to be ‘signed’ in the traditional sense, as there are other routes in.
We’re talking about digital distribution services; typically, you’ll pay a subscription fee and then your music will be sent to the major music streaming and selling platforms. It’s worth noting, though, that not all of these support Beatport, so you’ll need to find one that does, and Beatport still has the right to reject your music if it doesn’t fit its criteria.
One option could be LANDR, the auto-mastering service that’s also getting into the distribution game and has announced that Beatport support is rolling out. There are various subscription options, including a free one that gets you a couple of low-res MP3 masters and track distributions a month.
One word of warning, though: putting tracks on Beatport doesn’t necessarily mean that people are going to buy them. Just dumping your music on there is no guarantee of success – in fact, some might argue that the opposite is true – so do be realistic in your expectations.
What’s the best laptop for music making?
The first decision you need to make is whether you want to buy a Mac or PC. There’s no right or wrong answer here, though if you’re used to using one platform more than another and already have quite a bit of software, switching
from one to the other might not make a great deal of sense.
If you want a Mac, a MacBook Pro would be the best option – the MacBook Air might be slightly lighter, but it’s not as powerful and doesn’t have a Retina display.
On the PC side, the market is so large that recommending specific machines is difficult, but make sure you don’t skimp on CPU power, storage space or RAM. It’s worth considering a high-powered gaming laptop or one that’s specifically designed with audio producers in mind, and Dell’s XPS machines are held in high regard, too.
Think about screen size. If you’re on the move a lot and have a desktop display you can plug into at home, a smaller laptop makes sense, but if you don’t and the machine will mostly stay in your studio, go bigger.
Finally, make sure your new laptop has all the connectivity options that you will need. Think about the peripherals you’re going to plug in (audio interface, MIDI controller, etc) and work out if you have the right number of compatible ports. Otherwise, you may find that you’ll also be forking out for various hubs and adapters sooner rather than later.