[PlanetCCRMA] multiple card synching

[Fernando Lopez-Lezcano]

On Thu, 2005-02-24 at 09:58, Mark Knecht wrote:
> On 24 Feb 2005 09:34:13 -0800, Fernando Lopez-Lezcano
> <nando@ccrma.stanford.edu> wrote:
> > On Thu, 2005-02-24 at 09:19, Mark Knecht wrote:
> > > On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 16:44:17 +0100, Michele Spinolo
> > > <michele.spinolo@tin.it> wrote:
> > > > > RME and 'cheap' don't go together very well. The low end HDSP 9652 is
> > > > > still about $600 each and it has three ADAT interfaces you wouldn't be
> > > > > using. That's not the right solution.
> > > > >
> > > > > Actually it may not require an HDSP which is expensive and way more
> > > > > card than you want. Possibly one of the smaller RME cards would work
> > > > > using some sort of control language. Also, there are many well
> > > > > supported 2 or 4 channel cards that have spdif inputs. Possibly one of
> > > > > them would work? I have an AP2496 but I've never investigated whether
> > > > > it can sync to spdif. If it did then 3 of them would be only
> > > > > moderately painful I think.
> > > >
> > > > Yes, I know RME and cheap don't go together, unluckily!:-)
> > > > I meant cheap regarding RME cards, i.e. the cheaper RME card which could do
> > > > the trick!;-)
> > > > Is your suggestion for HDSP 9652 or HDSP 9632?
> > >
> > > Really I cannot recommend either for your needs. The problem with all
> > > currently produced RME cards that I know of is that the spdif input is
> > > on a second card. You have to purchase the HDSP 9652 and use it with a
> > > daughter card. The daughter card takes up a slot, so if you needed 3
> > > spdif inputs you'de pay about $1800, you would use 6 slots inside your
> > > PC, and you'd have no less than 9 ADAT ports supporting 72 channels of
> > > ADAT audio data that you were not using. That seems like a terrible
> > > waste to me!
> > >
> > > A more likely scenario that I'd personally check into would be some
> > > sort of exterrnal ADAT to spdif converter box. If you could find one
> > > that meets your needs (3 spdif inputs) and that box did the conversion
> > > of incoming spdif to ADAT then you'd only need a low end RME card with
> > > ADAT. Unfortunately a quick Google only led to spdif to ADAT Optical
> > > (also known as TosLink) which is standard for high end audio receivers
> > > and, imagine, DVD players.
> > 
> > I have successfully used the z-systems detangler for that (multiple
> > spdif <-> single adat), see:
> >   http://www.z-sys.com/pp_routing.html
> > 
> 
> I've not used these but many folks in the Pro Tools area swear by
> them. They are pretty pricy, but if you buy the right one I think
> you'd keep it in service for years and years.
> 
> Looking at the alphabet soup I wasn't able to quickly determine which
> version Michele would want to go from spdif to ADAT optical. Is it a
> z8.8 in some configuration?

That would be the z8.8a (further down in the page). And yes, they are
expensive. I think I must have been the first user of the z8.8a as it
was not really working and had to get a firmware upgrade from them that
finally fixed it :-)

-- Fernando