DigiDesign ADAT Bridge I/O, Manual

Page 1: ...842 7900 fax 650 842 7999 Technical Support USA 650 842 6699 650 856 4275 Product Information USA 650 842 6602 800 333 2137 Fax on Demand USA 1 888 USE DIGI 873 3444 World Wide Web www digidesign com Digidesign FTP Site ftp digidesign com Digidesign ADAT Bridge I O Guide ...

Page 2: ...uct was tested for CISPR compliance under conditions that included the use of peripheral devices and shielded cables and connectors between system components Digidesign recommends the use of shielded cables and connectors between system components to reduce the possibility of causing interference to radios television sets and other electronic devices Safety Statement This equipment has been tested...

Page 3: ...en ADAT and Pro Tools Unsynchronized 21 Recording Tracks from Pro Tools to ADAT Unsynchronized 24 Configuring Sync 26 Transferring Audio Between ADAT and Pro Tools Synchronized 28 Chapter 4 Using the ADAT Bridge I O in Standalone Mode 31 ADAT Channels Transferred 31 Using Standalone Mode 31 Chapter 5 Synchronizing Pro Tools and ADAT with an Alesis BRC 33 Hardware Setup 34 Software Configuration 35...

Page 4: ...mePiece 47 Hardware Setup 48 Software Configuration 48 Chapter 9 Synchronizing Pro Tools and ADAT using an Opcode Studio 64XTC 51 Hardware Setup 52 Software Configuration 52 Chapter 10 Connecting Pro Tools to an ADAT Compatible Digital Mixer 55 Appendix A ADAT Bridge I O Technical Specifications 57 Analog Performance 57 Connectors 57 Miscellaneous 58 Physical Specifications 58 Index 61 ...

Page 5: ...d AES EBU digital inputs and outputs Slave Clock input and output and Word Clock output for synchronizing and re solving your Pro Tools ADAT system to an external synchronization source us ing Digidesign or third party synchroni zation peripherals Up to five ADAT Bridge I Os can be used with Pro Tools for a maximum of 72 channels of I O The ADAT Bridge 24 I O allows you to use an ADAT compatible d...

Page 6: ... you should have a basic working knowledge of your ADAT or ADAT compatible device and know how to format tapes how to record and play back audio and other com mon ADAT functions ADAT and ADAT Compatible Devices The term ADAT describes any ADAT op tical interface equipped device This in cludes ADAT compatible modular digital multitrack recorders MDMs sound cards A D or D A converters and digital co...

Page 7: ...AT compatible devices ADAT Firmware Requirements To use your ADAT with the ADAT Bridge I O it must have the following firmware version If you are not sure of the firmware version of your ADAT or ADAT compatible recorder please contact the manufacturer or your professional audio dealer The original ADAT should be equipped with firmware version 4 03 or higher The ADAT XT should be equipped with firm...

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Page 9: ...re inter faces and ADATs Making connections while power is on can damage your sys tem These cables are provided with your ADAT Bridge I O One 1 AC power cable One 1 60 pin to 50 pin interface cable Two 2 ADAT optical cables One 1 BNC slave clock cable The optical cables included with your ADAT Bridge I O are 2 feet in length Opti cal cables of up to 30 feet can be used with your system as long as ...

Page 10: ...Bridge I O provides 16 channels of ADAT digital I O split into two separate 8 channel groups Inputs and outputs from these groups are assigned in Pro Tools as A1 A8 for the in puts and outputs on Group A and B1 B8 for the inputs and outputs on Group B ...

Page 11: ... O sample rate is being slaved to an ADAT the ADAT Bridge I O is using the ADAT as its master clock reference This parameter is set by choosing ADAT Optical in the Sync Mode pop up in the Pro Tools Hard ware dialog or Session Setup window If this LED is flashing it indicates that the ADAT Bridge I O is either not receiving a signal from the ADAT or that the signal is invalid for some reason Digita...

Page 12: ...s that chan nels 1 2 in Pro Tools are currently selected to receive digital input via its AES EBU or S PDIF ports When this is set ADAT opti cal channels 3 8 are still sent to Pro Tools This parameter is set using the Ch 1 2 In put pop up in the Pro Tools Hardware dia log or Session Setup window The AES EBU or S PDIF inputs can be routed to Channels 1 2 of either Group A or Group B This gives you ...

Page 13: ...of the ADAT Bridge I O Both the optical inputs and optical outputs must be connected to your ADAT for your sys tem to work properly 3 Optical In Out 2 Similar to Optical In Out 1 except the Optical 2 port carries data for Group B the second eight channels 9 16 of the ADAT Bridge I O 4 Computer A This port is used to make connections be tween the Digidesign ADAT Bridge I O and a Pro Tools MIX MIXpl...

Page 14: ...ing data is passed via these ports you should use high quality 75 ohm RG 59 cables for making connections and keep total cable lengths to less than 3 meters be tween all connected devices 9 Word Clock Out The Word Clock Out jack is a standard BNC type connector that outputs a word clock signal This jack is typically used to connect the ADAT Bridge I O to a BRC or other sync device that requires a ...

Page 15: ...eled Optical 1 In on the Digidesign ADAT Bridge I O and attach the other end to the Digital Output on your ADAT 3 If you are using two ADATs with your ADAT Bridge I O 16 channel mode make the same In Out connections from the Op tical 2 In Out ports on the Digidesign ADAT Bridge I O to the Digital In Out ports on ADAT 2 About ADAT Sync 9 pin Also shown in the above diagram is the ADAT 9 pin sync ca...

Page 16: ...nto Pro Tools for editing processing or mix ing To make basic system connections from the ADAT Bridge I O to a single ADAT 1 Connect the large end of the 50 pin in terface cable provided with your ADAT Bridge I O to the Computer A port on the ADAT Bridge I O To do this pinch the metal tabs on either side of the 50 pin con nector and push it into the port Release pressure on the tabs to lock the co...

Page 17: ... your primary Pro Tools card as described under Single ADAT systems 8 channel operation on page 12 Be sure to connect the ADAT Bridge I O Computer A port to the A branch of the Y cable and the Computer B port to the B branch of the Y cable as shown in the illustration or Connect the second interface cable to the next available I O card MIXPlus MIXI O d24 or DSP Farm Step 3 Clock Connections If you...

Page 18: ...ridge I O as expansion I O then these outputs will be channels 1 and 2 in the bank of outputs represented by the ADAT Bridge I O s Group A channels The illustration above shows a setup in which the ADAT Bridge I O is the primary Pro Tools audio interface in 8 channel mode If the ADAT Bridge is installed as expansion I O then its 60 to 50 pin Inter face cable would be connected to a differ ent inte...

Page 19: ...BRC MTP AV DTP etc Diagrams are provided for synchronization connections between your ADAT Bridge I O Pro Tools and each of the following devices Alesis BRC with a MIDI interface or with a Digidesign USD see Chapter 5 Synchronizing Pro Tools and ADAT with an Alesis BRC JL Cooper DataSync 2 and a MIDI inter face see Chapter 6 Synchronizing Pro Tools and ADAT Using a JL Cooper DataSync2 Mark of the ...

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Page 21: ...and ADAT using an Opcode Studio 64XTC Chapter 10 Connecting Pro Tools to an ADAT Compatible Digital Mixer Powering Up Your System Your Pro Tools ADAT system consists of several devices that must communicate properly so you should turn them on in the proper order Make sure your computer and peripherals are all off before begin ning Power up your system in this order 1 Turn on your Pro Tools hard dr...

Page 22: ...mary Pro Tools audio interface Using the ADAT Bridge I O as an expansion interface has special requirements that are noted throughout this guide Trashing the DigiSetup File Macintosh Only If you are using a Macintosh computer and are adding the ADAT Bridge to a previously installed Pro Tools system you will need to throw away your DigiSetup file before you open and configure Pro Tools This file is...

Page 23: ...O Group A and B ports connected to a MIX or d24 card with the optional Y cable first choose ADAT Bridge A 1 8 for the one connected to port A Then click the Interface Port pop up choose port B and choose ADAT Bridge B 1 16 as the interface connected to port B 5 Click the Sample Rate pop up and choose the appropriate sample rate 44100 44 1 kHz or 48000 48 kHz for the cur rently selected card and in...

Page 24: ...nels 3 8 will represent the data from the ADAT 9 If you have additional interfaces config ure them in a similar manner 10 Click OK to close the Playback Engine dialog when you have finished Pro Tools will remember your configura tion until you change it If you want to change your Pro Tools hardware configura tion in the future you can do it from any of these locations The Playback Engine dialog Se...

Page 25: ...ig or digital sync mode If you own an Alesis M20 set it to Optical ADAT Bridge not Primary Interface If the ADAT Bridge is not the primary audio interface no sync choices will be available In this configuration external ADAT opti cal devices will always be in Dig Ext Sync or Optical mode Refer to your other Digidesign audio inter face guides for sync choices Switching Output Levels If you want to ...

Page 26: ...tions Because this can be time consuming it is a good idea to allow plenty of time for formatting before you begin recording with your ADAT When formatting ADAT tapes be sure to set the sample rate to either 44 1 kHz or 48 kHz depending on the rate at which you want to record Refer to your ADAT manual for details on re cording or playback at 44 1 kHz Different ADAT models have different requiremen...

Page 27: ...ording to Pro Tools Using the ADAT Device Analog Inputs Depending on your setup particularly if you are using the ADAT Bridge I O as your only Pro Tools interface you may want to record into Pro Tools using the ADAT or ADAT device analog inputs The following section explains how to connect and play an audio source through your ADAT and record it digitally onto your hard disk Be cause most ADATs ha...

Page 28: ...d to the same sample rate as the cur rent Pro Tools sample rate 3 On the ADAT record enable the destina tion ADAT tracks Make sure that the same tracks are not configured as Pro Tools input sources or a feedback loop will occur 4 In Pro Tools open the session with the audio you want to transfer to the ADAT 5 In the Pro Tools Session Setup window set Channel 1 2 input to ADAT if the ADAT Bridge is ...

Page 29: ...terface use the output se lector to route each destination track to the ADAT Bridge 5 Insert the ADAT tape you want to record on into your ADAT Make sure that it is for matted to the same sample rate as the cur rent Pro Tools sample rate 6 Set the ADAT s clock to Digital External or Optical 7 On the ADAT deck record enable the ADAT destination tracks you want to record to Make sure that the same A...

Page 30: ...ess Stop on your ADAT Configuring Sync Synchronized transfers between Pro Tools and ADAT have special configuration re quirements for clock time code and other sync related connections These configura tion requirements vary with the devices be ing used Configuring Windows Computers for Sync All that is required to configure Pro Tools ADAT sync on Windows com puters is that your sync peripheral be ...

Page 31: ...using one You must configure the MIDI interface before configuring any OMS devices To configure an OMS device 1 Make sure that the peripheral and or MIDI interface is turned on and connected properly to your system 2 Launch Pro Tools 3 From the Pro Tools Setups menu choose the OMS MIDI Setup command The OMS MIDI Setup dialog appears allowing you to select the serial port s that your MIDI in terfac...

Page 32: ...able Serial DMA in OMS 1 Choose Preferences from OMS Studio Setup s Edit menu 2 Deselect the Use Serial DMA option 3 Click OK to close the Preferences win dow Transferring Audio Between ADAT and Pro Tools Synchronized A more powerful way to transfer tracks be tween Pro Tools and ADAT is to do it with both systems synchronized With the sys tems in sync you can record tracks into Pro Tools to edit a...

Page 33: ...ded in each of the following setup examples If you use Pro Tools MIDI Machine Control you can use the Pro Tools Transport Master popup menu in the Transport window to con trol either Pro Tools or the ADAT Refer to your Pro Tools Reference Guide for more informa tion ADAT as Master Clock and Pro Tools as Slave In general you should make ADAT the master clock device when you are transfer ring audio ...

Page 34: ...matically de tects when an external sync source is lost In such a situation the I O automatically switches to internal sync mode until the exter nal sync input is reconnected to ensure that playback is maintained even if the sync source is removed ...

Page 35: ...s 1 2 of the ADAT format inputs are transferred to AES EBU or S PDIF Outputs All other ADAT channels are ignored Using Standalone Mode To use the ADAT Bridge I O in standalone mode 1 Make sure that your computer is off 2 Connect the digital audio source the DAT or digital I O equipped CD player to the ADAT Bridge I O 3 Turn on the digital audio source the DAT or digital I O equipped CD player 4 Tu...

Page 36: ...el is sent to all odd channels of the ADAT 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 and channel 2 audio the right channel is sent to all even channels 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 This allows you to record your digital input pair on any ADAT pair 8 Press Record and Play on the ADAT 9 Begin playback of the source material on DAT or CD Since both the AES EBU and S PDIF out puts of the ADAT Bridge I O are active when it is in stan...

Page 37: ...word clock out from ADAT Bridge I O to BRC 48 kHz word clock in Pro Tools Y cable serial or USB cable to modem printer or USB port ADAT BRC Standard MIDI Interface ADAT 1 ADAT 2 Digidesign ADAT Bridge optical cables in out BRC 9 pin remote out MIDI in out MIDI Time Code MIDI IN MIDI OUT REMOTE OUT TO ADAT MAC SERIAL MIDI IN MIDI OUT Pro Tools card B A 50 pin interface cables to BRC 48 kHz word clo...

Page 38: ...e BRC then check that the BRC external clock sync source is at 48kHz Input To change this setting press EDIT then press EXT SYNC until Clock Source is displayed in the LED Use the lowercase uppercase increment ar rows to scroll to 48kHz Input Press EDIT again to exit For highest quality ADAT to Pro Tools transfers with this setup the BRC needs to be the clock and positional master The ex ample tha...

Page 39: ...ting correctly In stead of choosing OMS or FreeMIDI device names Pro Tools popup menus of MIDI ports simply list the available hardware MIDI ports of the currently installed MIDI Interface Recording Tracks from an ADAT to Pro Tools Using a BRC This setup explains how to perform a syn chronized ADAT to Pro Tools track transfer using a BRC To transfer audio from ADAT to Pro Tools 1 Connect the BRC a...

Page 40: ...on Setup window Set Channel 1 2 input to ADAT if the ADAT Bridge is your primary interface or Analog if it is not your primary audio in terface Set Pro Tools Sync Mode to ADAT Optical if the ADAT Bridge is not your primary audio interface choose Digital Choose the sample rate and frame rate that matches the material on the ADAT 8 Create destination audio tracks for the ADAT tracks to be transferre...

Page 41: ...e and controls the Pro Tools Transport To transfer audio from Pro Tools to ADAT 1 Make sure the desired Pro Tools session is open and the Sync Mode is set to Internal in the Session Setup window 2 On the BRC make sure the Gen Sync but ton is on 3 Press the Enable Ext Sync button Before doing this lower your main monitor levels as ADATs can emit a loud pop when the master clock is changed on the BR...

Page 42: ... on using MMC with Pro Tools In this setup Pro Tools is the transport master in a BRC ADAT system using MIDI Machine Control MMC Configuring MIDI Macintosh OMS Configuration 1 Make sure that OMS has been recognized by your MIDI interface 2 Make sure you have a device called the BRC OMS includes a preset for the BRC 3 In OMS make sure that the BRC is set to RECEIVE MMC and sends and receives MTC Yo...

Page 43: ...d To popup and leave the channel ID for the BRC set to 127 5 Click OK to close the Peripherals win dow 6 Choose Windows Show Session Setup 7 Check to make sure the session start time is correct for the current ADAT project 8 Put Pro Tools online by clicking the On line button in the Pro Tools Transport win dow 9 Press the Play button in the Pro Tools Transport window and the ADATs should locate to...

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Page 45: ...r DataSync2 Computer to Pro Tools card Interface Y cable serial or USB cable to modem printer or USB port JL Cooper DataSync 2 Standard MIDI Interface ADAT 1 ADAT 2 Digidesign ADAT Bridge optical cables in out 9 pin sync in out MIDI in out MIDI IN MERGING IN SMPTE OUT MIDI OUT TO ADAT SYNC IN FROM ADAT SYNC OUT MAC SERIAL MIDI IN MIDI OUT Pro Tools card B A 50 pin interface cables ...

Page 46: ... Transport is controlled by the ADAT This enables you to synchronize the ADAT and Pro Tools with better than 1 4 frame accuracy To achieve near sample ac curacy a USD or other Slave Clock capable sync peripheral is required Recording Tracks from an ADAT to Pro Tools with a DataSync2 This setup explains how to perform a syn chronized ADAT to Pro Tools track trans fer To transfer audio from ADAT to ...

Page 47: ...ck to assign its input Inputs 1 8 correspond to the ADAT Bridge I O s Group A inputs Inputs 9 16 correspond to ADAT Bridge I O s Group B inputs If you have ad ditional ADAT Bridges ADATs assign their inputs as well With Ch 1 2 input set to ADAT Pro Tools automatically sets I O pop ups to ADAT Bridge Group A B input output labels 12 Select a Pro Tools monitoring mode Auto Input Monitor or Input Onl...

Page 48: ...chronous material in a single pass That way whatever delay is intro duced will be introduced equally to the ma terial maintaining its phase coherence To transfer audio from Pro Tools to ADAT 1 Make sure the DataSync2 is configured as described in the previous ADAT to Pro Tools setup 2 On the ADAT set the ADAT s clock to Digital 3 Make sure that the ADAT tape is format ted to the same sample rate a...

Page 49: ...xample for the MTP AV Computer to Pro Tools card 256x clock signal to ADAT Bridge Slave Clock IN 256x clock signal MTP AV out Interface Y cable serial or USB cable to modem printer or USB port Mark of the Unicorn MTP AV ADAT 1 ADAT 2 Digidesign ADAT Bridge optical cables in out Pro Tools card B A 50 pin interface cables 9 pin ADAT Sync cable ...

Page 50: ...ools MIDI Machine Control MMC output capabili ties this is because with only clock out puts the MTP cannot listen to the ADAT Essentially the MTP AV responds to MMC from Pro Tools sending ADAT Sync to the ADAT along with MTC to Pro Tools Configuring OMS The simplest way to configure the MTP AV is to use the MTP Express Console appli cation included with your MTP AV to navigate through the MTP AV s...

Page 51: ... signal from ADAT Bridge I O Word clock from ADAT Bridge Interface Y cable serial cable to modem or printer port Mark of the Unicorn Digital TimePiece ADAT 1 ADAT 2 Digidesign ADAT Bridge optical cables in out REMOTE EXPANSION MIDI 1 MIDI 2 OUT IN OUT IN ADAT Sync OUT ADAT Sync IN DA 88 Sync IN WORD 1x SMPTE VIDEO WORD 256x IN 1 2 IN OUT OUT IN OUT S PDIF IN OUT DA 88 Sync OUT Sony 9 pin Pro Tools...

Page 52: ...s with near sample accuracy The DTP allows you to either control the Pro Tools transport via the ADAT or con trol the ADAT s transport via Pro Tools In either case Pro Tools should provide the master clock reference signal Recording Tracks from ADAT to Pro Tools with a DTP This setup explains how to perform a syn chronized ADAT to Pro Tools track trans fer Pro Tools functions as both transport and...

Page 53: ... ac tual recording 15 Choose Time Code from the Pro Tools Display menu so that the Pro Tools counter will display time in SMPTE frames 16 Choose the desired Pro Tools online re cording mode Record Online at Time Code Lock or Record Online at Insertion Selec tion To do this choose Preferences from the Pro Tools Setups menu Click the Oper ation button and enable the desired mode at the bottom of thi...

Page 54: ...annel outputs 9 16 correspond to Group B optical outputs 9 16 If your ADAT Bridge I O is not your mas ter Pro Tools interface you must use the output selector to choose the inputs for each destination track according to how your Audio Interfaces are ordered 8 Set the Pro Tools pre roll time to at least 10 seconds 9 Click the Pro Tools Play button 10 At the point at which you want to begin recordin...

Page 55: ...io 64XTC to an ADAT Bridge Pro Tools and ADATs MIDI IN MIDI OUT 2 2A 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 1A Computer to Pro Tools card 256x clock signal to ADAT Bridge Slave Clock IN 256x clock signal out Interface Y cable serial cable to modem or printer port Opcode 64XTC ADAT 1 ADAT 2 Digidesign ADAT Bridge optical cables in out Pro Tools card B A 50 pin interface cables 9 pin ADAT Sync cable ...

Page 56: ...he 64XTC drivers and confirm that the device is operating correctly The 64XTC ports will appear in Pro Tools as available sync sources destina tions Macintosh On the Macintosh the 64XTC requires OMS OMS Setup Macintosh Only Before you begin confirm that you have installed and configured the 64XTC and that it is recognized by OMS i e it is shown in OMS Setup Once the XTC is rec ognized by OMS a Stu...

Page 57: ... button to open the Machine Control Peripherals window There enable Machine Control at the bot tom of the window and for Send to se lect ADAT this is the device port you just defined in OMS Setups and set its ID to 127 8 Click OK to close the Peripherals dialog 9 Once configured the 64XTC will receive transport commands from Pro Tools via MMC and send those commands to the ADAT via OMS and the 64X...

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Page 59: ...ADAT Bridge I O 4 Connect an optical cable from Optical 2 Out on the ADAT Bridge I O to optical in put 2 on the digital mixing console 5 Connect an optical cable from optical output 2 on the digital mixing console to Optical 2 In on the ADAT Bridge I O 6 If your digital console does not have the ability to lock to the Word Clock signal car ried over these optical connections con nect the Word Cloc...

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Page 61: ... Response 20 Hz 20 kHz 1 dB Gain Settings 4 dBu and 10 dBV software selectable Digital to Analog Converter 24 bit D A converters Delta Sigma Connectors Analog Output Two 1 4 TRS connectors tip ring S PDIF In Level 0 to 5 V low 2 0 to 6 0 V high Connector Gold plated coaxial RCA jack S PDIF Out Level TTL 3 3 V typical Connector Gold plated coaxial RCA jack AES EBU In Level 5 V p p at 110 ohms pin 2...

Page 62: ...e selectable Sync Modes Internal ADAT optical digital audio slave clock Front Panel Display 18 green and yellow LEDs arranged in two rows by 9 columns Optical compatibility Includes Alesis ADAT ADAT XT M20 and compatible products Physical Specifications Height 1RU 1 75 4 45 cm Width 19 0 48 26 cm Depth 10 5 26 67 cm Power Requirements Voltage 85 to 264 VAC Frequency 47 to 63 Hz autoswitching Watta...

Page 63: ...Appendix A ADAT Bridge I O Technical Specifications 59 Relative Humidity 0 to 95 non condensing Weight 4 4 lbs 2 4 kg Vibration Resistance 5 mm displacement 10 to 55 Hz each axis Shock 5 G max ...

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Page 65: ...uts 9 connecting 14 Apple Serial DMA disable 28 audio transferring 21 Auto Input Monitor 22 B BNC cable length affecting performance 5 slave clock cable 5 BRC and 44 1k sessions 34 syncing Pro Tools and ADAT with 33 using with MMC 38 C cables provided 5 Ch 1 2 Input 20 Channel 1 2 input 23 clicks and pops 5 34 clock ADAT internal 17 general 5 Computer A connector 9 Computer B connector 9 connect B...

Page 66: ...ole 3 MMC 38 port 39 modes for monitoring audio 22 modular digital multitrack MDM 1 monitoring modes 22 monitoring system 3 O offset 43 OMS 27 Setup application 27 online 39 Opcode 64XTC setup diagram 51 optical cables 5 Optical In Out 1 9 Optical In Out 2 9 P Playback Engine 18 20 polarity 23 pops and clicks 5 34 pops clicks 5 Port 5 in 64XTC OMS Setup 52 power cable 5 Power Switch 7 power up 17 ...

Page 67: ...In 11 Sync Mode 19 43 Sync Mode LEDs 7 Sync Out 11 synchronized PT ADAT 28 System Requirements 3 T Tascam DA30 special settings 21 transport master 29 trashing the DigiSetup file 18 U Universal Slave Driver and BRC 34 Use Apple Serial DMA disable 28 using ADAT Bridge I O without Pro Tools 31 using MMC with a BRC 38 W Windows and sync 26 Word Clock Out 10 ...

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