RME’s famed stability is backed up by an unsung hero that comes with all of their interfaces; TotalMixFX. Here are some things you might not have known about that RME’s hardware DSP mixer can do for you.
RME audio interfaces have long been the tool of choice for people who have stability and functionality at the top of their Must Have list, with users across the board from YouTubers and content creators, to no-compromise broadcast and post users for whom failure is not an option.
TotalMixFX is the most recent implementation of RME’s hardware DSP mixer/router and accompanying control app. You can think of TotalMixFX as doing everything that the traditional studio console can do but without the huge footprint and electricity bill.
1 - Creating Recording Chains
TotalMixFX affords artists everything from confidence reverb, to the ability to hear ‘the sound in their head’ in their cans with per-channel EQ and dynamics while recording a pre-FX stream to the DAW. These effects can also be inserted into the record path, for traditional style recording chain processing, saving time and avoiding the conversation with clients about why their instrument in the control room mix doesn’t sound like it did in their headphones.
2 - Real Faders And Buttons
If you struggle with the idea of running all those critical console-based tasks using a mouse, TotalMixFX offers hardware control surface support. While MCU offers some exciting possibilities from newer units such as SSL’s UF8, OSC handles open source tablet control options in addition to RME’s own TotalMix Remote for PC, Mac, or iOS devices using the IP of the host system. Standalone control is possible over MIDI using anything from MIDI fader packs to that unloved controller keyboard.
3 - Zero Latency Monitoring With A Twist
Perhaps one of the biggest bonuses of running inputs through any mixer in front of the DAW is either true or near zero-latency monitoring. ADM, (ASIO Direct Monitoring) lets Windows users take full advantage of TotalMixFX zero latency while using their DAW to create headphone mixes. Mac users needn’t feel left out though, because the RME drivers deliver roundtrip latency that is so low, monitoring from within your DAW will be fast enough for all but the most latency-critical situations.
4 - Loopback Done Right
Being able to record one software application’s output into another’s input has become the expectation on all but the most basic of interfaces. While this is great for podcasting or content creation, implementations vary. RME’s multi-client driver means that making your headphone mix available as a virtual input in your DAW is as easy as clicking a button on a TotalMixFX output channel.
5 - Big Console Monitoring
Having to flip-flop between DAW and interface app to achieve basic tasks like switching speaker pairs, monitor sources, or using talk and listenback can be a big workflow-killer when working entirely in the box (ITB). TotalMixFX gives you a full control room section, giving you back the ‘big console’ experience missing in ITB workflows.
Improving Your Workflow
Using these advanced features of TotalMixFX brings big console advantages to the mixer-less studio without the expense, complexity, and footprint of a big desk. With built-in recordable per-channel EQ and Dynamics, global reverb and delay, proper loopback, and support for real hardware buttons and faders, the reasons to improve your workflow using an RME box start to look pretty convincing.