The Digico UB MADI USB audio interface is deceptively simple. It's stated purpose is to transmit 48 channels of 24-bit audio—bi-directionally—between a MADI or AES device and a computer using a standard USB 2.0 port. That doesn't seem like a huge deal, until you consider that it's about the size of an iPod Classic, is bus-powered and has a list price of $1,395.
Connecting the UB MADI is very straightforward. A USB connector is used to connect to the computer, and both Windows and Macs are supported. Two BNC ports handle MADI (48 channel) or AES (two channel) in and out. Once the small driver software is installed on the host computer, audio is flowing almost immediately. Choose the UB MADI as your audio interface in the DAW software and you're up and running.
In true Digico fashion, the company included a significant amount of processing power in the small box. The heart of the device is custom 500 MHz dual-core FPGA derived from the SD7 that handles the A/D and D/A conversion. It's updatable in the field for new capabilities that might come along, it's not dependent at all on the USB connection for timing, and the latency is extremely low. It's also hot-swappable; if the USB connection is broken, plugging it back in will resume audio in about four seconds.
The unit is very flexible, as well. It will take the first 48 channels of any AES10-compliant MADI stream or stereo AES on coax. It clocks to the incoming digital signal, or if no input is present, to its own internal clock.
So those are the specs, how does it work? In a word, brilliantly. Our church has a Digico SD8 at FOH, and we typically use an RME MADIFace to record and playback 56 channels on a 17-inch MacBook Pro. Using that as a reference system, I set up the Digico UB MADI for a weekend.
The software drivers are supplied on a USB flash drive, and installing took under a minute. I plugged the UB MADI in, launched our DAW, selected the UB MADI as the audio device, loaded up a previously recorded service with about 40 tracks, and hit play. The audio showed up on the console as expected. It actually took almost as long to type these two paragraphs as it did to get audio flowing. Rarely are audio interfaces so easy to set up.
Once the weekend rolled around, we used it to track our weekend services. Again, it was completely flawless. The only issue we had was to shift a few tracks down into the 48 tracks it can handle. The sound quality is extremely good; I heard no jitter at all, and was at least as good as our reference interface.
If you are regularly using a MADI-based system and need a fast, easy and solid way to record up to 48 channels of audio, this is an ideal solution. It would also work great as a multi-track playback interface for sound effects or backing tracks. The UB MADI is a classic example of doing one thing, and doing it well.
