Adat card and word clock

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Adat card and word clock

By digiman Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:40 am
I just installed the adat exp. board in my 4000 and am wondering if I need to add some kind of word clock for syncronization. I have the MPC connected to the adat ins on my Steinberg MR816 interface. I also have my Motif XS digitally conneted to the Mr816 via firewire. According to what I have read, if you have 3 or more digital devices connected together, from what I understand you need to have some kind of word clock to manage the syncronization of the digital signals? The question I have is do I need to add some kind of clock to my setup and also now do I need to get the SPDIF card with the word clock out for the MPC4000? If so, just trying to add a adat card to my setup is starting to get VERY expensive.
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Re: Adat card and word clock

By dabmeister Sun Mar 20, 2011 2:09 am
digiman wrote:I just installed the adat exp. board in my 4000 and am wondering if I need to add some kind of word clock for syncronization. I have the MPC connected to the adat ins on my Steinberg MR816 interface. I also have my Motif XS digitally conneted to the Mr816 via firewire. According to what I have read, if you have 3 or more digital devices connected together, from what I understand you need to have some kind of word clock to manage the syncronization of the digital signals? The question I have is do I need to add some kind of clock to my setup and also now do I need to get the SPDIF card with the word clock out for the MPC4000? If so, just trying to add a adat card to my setup is starting to get VERY expensive.


Your case is similar to mine. I was torn between deciding wether to get either the spdif/wordclock board or just invest in a master clock device. Even if you do get the clock board for the 4k, you'll still need something to stablize your entire system.

Jitter is one of the most widely known artifacts that gets induced in a complex all digital system. Having something to lock everything to one source is better than daisy chaining imo.

I ended up going with the master clock since it would be the deciding factor in stablizing everything digital in my studio. I too added the adat card, but I ended up routing it through an apogee big ben rather than adding the w/c board & spending extra money I didn't have to spend.

Might have cost me a pretty pennie, but it's worth the money and does everything it's claimed to do.

http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/big-ben-features.php
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Re: Adat card and word clock

By feline1 Sun Mar 20, 2011 10:08 pm
Sound on Sound did a great article on the subject of "Do I need to spend $$$ on studio master word-clock?" not so long ago.

Since I am in a generous mood, I looked up the link for y'all ;)
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun10/a ... clocks.htm

If I recall from reading it, the answer was "quite often, no you don't", but it does of course depend on your exact set-up....
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Re: Adat card and word clock

By dabmeister Mon Mar 21, 2011 12:47 pm
feline1 wrote:Sound on Sound did a great article on the subject of "Do I need to spend $$$ on studio master word-clock?" not so long ago.

Since I am in a generous mood, I looked up the link for y'all ;)
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun10/a ... clocks.htm

If I recall from reading it, the answer was "quite often, no you don't", but it does of course depend on your exact set-up....


I agree with you if one isn't running an elaborate setup. But in a case like mine where I'm using two of the same soundcards, with the prospect of doing video (that x-video card for ben is def on my wish list) for future endeavors, I saw that it was a necessity.

But each situation is pretty much trial & error. And most katz around here wouldn't even qualify for something like this because they don't have the gear or need for it. So if dude decides to go with the w/c board and everything is cool, then so be it.

But if that's not the case, then he knows what he needs to do from this point out.

edit: I make my own BNC cables using RG59 coax wiring & crimp my ends. Done thousands of these from my days doing mobile cell phones in the 80's & 90's. It's rediculous what companies are charging for ready made cables these days.

Re: Adat card and word clock

By digiman Wed Mar 23, 2011 3:58 am
dabmeister wrote:
feline1 wrote:Sound on Sound did a great article on the subject of "Do I need to spend $$$ on studio master word-clock?" not so long ago.

Since I am in a generous mood, I looked up the link for y'all ;)
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun10/a ... clocks.htm

If I recall from reading it, the answer was "quite often, no you don't", but it does of course depend on your exact set-up....


I agree with you if one isn't running an elaborate setup. But in a case like mine where I'm using two of the same soundcards, with the prospect of doing video (that x-video card for ben is def on my wish list) for future endeavors, I saw that it was a necessity.

But each situation is pretty much trial & error. And most katz around here wouldn't even qualify for something like this because they don't have the gear or need for it. So if dude decides to go with the w/c board and everything is cool, then so be it.

But if that's not the case, then he knows what he needs to do from this point out.

edit: I make my own BNC cables using RG59 coax wiring & crimp my ends. Done thousands of these from my days doing mobile cell phones in the 80's & 90's. It's rediculous what companies are charging for ready made cables these days.


When using an external master clock connected to the MPC's wordclock card, does the terminator switch on the MPC need to be set to on or off? Also, what kind of cable do you need for the SPDIF out? Is it just a standard analog RCA cable?

Thanks
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Re: Adat card and word clock

By dabmeister Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:57 am
digiman wrote:When using an external master clock connected to the MPC's wordclock card, does the terminator switch on the MPC need to be set to on or off? Also, what kind of cable do you need for the SPDIF out? Is it just a standard analog RCA cable?

Thanks


If the mpc isn't being daisy chained for clocking, then the terminatior switch should be set to "on". And as far as cable type for spdif, you should be looking for a 75 ohm coax. Standard RCA cables are too thin and will help induce the jitter that was mentioned earlier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S/PDIF

Re: Adat card and word clock

By digiman Tue Mar 29, 2011 5:13 am
dabmeister wrote:
digiman wrote:When using an external master clock connected to the MPC's wordclock card, does the terminator switch on the MPC need to be set to on or off? Also, what kind of cable do you need for the SPDIF out? Is it just a standard analog RCA cable?

Thanks


If the mpc isn't being daisy chained for clocking, then the terminatior switch should be set to "on". And as far as cable type for spdif, you should be looking for a 75 ohm coax. Standard RCA cables are too thin and will help induce the jitter that was mentioned earlier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S/PDIF

Had to pull the SPDIF/Wordclock card out because my audio interface (Steinberg MR816csx) can only use one digital interface at a time. You can use 8 inputs of adat OR 2 track of SPDIF, but not both. The reason I bought the SPDIF was for the extra 2 channels. Oh well. Now the question I have is now that I'm just using the ADAT card, do I need to have adat cables for both the input and the output going into and from my audio interface? I plan to record out of the MPC into the MR816, but I've read that I also need to have the adat output from the MR816 connected to the MPC adat inputs for clock syncing. Is that correct, or can I get by with just a single adat cable coming out of the MPC into the MR816?

Re: Adat card and word clock

By illa90 Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:13 am
I would like to know about this also Because I am also going to expand my unit with an ADAT CARD .. If I need to have the word clock card also let me know because I can purchase it also at the pawn shop
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Re: Adat card and word clock

By dabmeister Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:52 am
digiman wrote:I can get by with just a single adat cable coming out of the MPC into the MR816.

Re: Adat card and word clock

By digiman Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:47 pm
dabmeister wrote:
digiman wrote:I can get by with just a single adat cable coming out of the MPC into the MR816.

So one cable is all I need?
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Re: Adat card and word clock

By dabmeister Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:53 pm
digiman wrote:
dabmeister wrote:
digiman wrote:I can get by with just a single adat cable coming out of the MPC into the MR816.

So one cable is all I need?


I never had a problem using just one.
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