Anyone ever sync a Focusrite Voicemaster to 2 delta 1010's?

TubeLover wrote on 3/6/2005, 7:47 PM
I HAVE OWNED THESE 2 DELTA 1010'S FOR SOME TIME NOW AND I HAVE THEM SYNCED TOGETHER SPDIF. I RECENTLY BOUGHT THE FOCUSRITE TRACKMASTER AND VOICEMASTER PRO WHICH HAVE SPIDIF OUT. I AM TRYING TO ACHEIVE A CHAIN WITH THE 4 UNITS SO I CAN USE THEM DIGITALLY AND FREE UP INPUTS (ANALOG) ON THE 2 1010'S BY USING THE SPDIF IN'S FOR THE 2 UNITS, USING THE VOICEMASTER AS THE MASTERCLOCK BY CONNECTING IT TO DELTA 1(LOCKING IT TO SPDIF IN THE PANEL) AND ROUTING THE WORDCLOCK OUT FROM DELTA 1 TO THE TRACKMASTER THEN CONNECTING THE SPDIF FROM THE TRACKMASTER TO THE SECOND 1010 SETTING THAT ONE AT SPDIF LOCK. THIS IS HOW M-AUDIO INSTRUCTED ME. IT WORKS EXCEPT ABOUT EVERY 3RD OR 4TH TIME I RECORD 12 EVENTS OR SO, IF YOU ZOOM IN ON THE ENDING EDGES OF THE EVENTS, THEY ARE FRACTIONS OF A MILLISECOND OFF SYNC. SOMETIMES EVEN WHOLE MILLISECONDS. AFTER TRYING EVERY IMAGINABLE CONFIG. I DECIDED TO JUST CONNECT EVERYTHING THE WAY IT USE TO BE(JUST THE 2 DELTA CARDS SYNCED SPDIF and the 2 focusrites connected analog) AND I'M STILL HAVING THE PROBLEM. IS IT POSSIBLE THAT I SOMEHOW DAMAGED THE INTERNAL CLOCKS ON MY DELTA 1010'S? THEY WHERE WORKING FINE BEFORE!! I KNOW THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH VEGAS( WHICH BY THE WAY, SINCE 5.0D IS WORKING BETTER THAN EVER) BUT I KNOW ALOT OF YOU GUYS PULL OFF WAY MORE COMPLICATED CONFIGS. THAN THIS SO I THOUGHT I'D JUST ASK. AND NO, IT'S NOT IRQ'S OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. IT WORKED FINE FOR THE PAST 3 YEARS. IS IT TIME TO BUY NEW CARDS??THANKS FOR YOUR SUGGESTIONS

Comments

sstillwell wrote on 3/9/2005, 5:59 PM
1) Try not SHOUTING in all caps. Thank you.

2) use a master clock like a Apogee Big Ben or Lucid GENx6 96 to send word clock signal to all units, and have them all slave to the master clock. The Trakmaster and Voicemaster Pro will both sync to Word Clock, as will the Delta 1010s. As an added benefit, your recorded signal should sound MUCH better, as any decent master word clock is going to be more stable (less jitter) than the built-in clocks of the other units.

Scott
TubeLover wrote on 3/9/2005, 7:39 PM
Sorry about the CAPSLOCK I was in a hurry...
Is it possible to sink them without a masterclock?
sstillwell wrote on 3/9/2005, 8:29 PM
I don't have my 1010 (I have a 1010 and a 44, but have been using a MOTU 828mkII for a while) in the computer right now, but you should be able to sync them both together at the driver level. In order for that to work, you have to use the ASIO drivers, and configure the drivers to use multi-card sync (it's in the M-Audio control panel). That will only sync up the analog inputs...I don't know of any decent way to sync the two S/PDIF inputs, since each input has to be clocked from its source, and the two sources aren't synced. In order to get it to work with EVERYTHING digital, I'm afraid you're probably going to have to do it with an external clock.

Hey...wait. Why not use the word clock output of one of the 1010s (set to internal clock) and drive all the other units (set to slave on word clock input) from it? You can run your word clock cable (75-ohm coax with BNC connectors) down the line using BNC T-connectors and a 75-ohm terminator at the end. That assumes that you can defeat any internal termination... Otherwise, you've saved yourself the expense of an external clock, but would wind up buying a clock distribution amp.

Isn't digital sync fun?

Scott
TubeLover wrote on 3/10/2005, 2:01 PM
Thanks for the tips.... I was able to sync it all without a clock..Had to buy another 1010 and also bought an M-audio Tampa.
I have it set up like so...
M-audio tampa preamp spdif to delta 1, lock delta one to spdif wordclock to focusrite voicemaster, spdif to delta 2,lock delta 2 to spdif, wordclock to joemeek twin Q spidif to delta 3 lock delta 3 to spidif. Works great! Thanks!! And yes Digital sync is alot of fun!! J/K