• Registered: 2011-11-26
  • Posts: 21

Topic: AES-EBU comming in to hot?

Hi,just bought a UFX,couldn't be happier with it but i have an odd thing going on.

I am running a Tascam CDRW-2000 CD player/recorder aes-ebu into the UFX and the imput level is clipping.
I know that most of my commercial CD's from the last 10 years are pegged/crushed at 0 as that has been the trend(wich i am not a fan of),but i guess there is no way to set imput trim somehow on digital in..is there? The imput level meters on the ufx hardware box are also mostly in the red except for older cd's like the eagles wich were not pegged at 0(the good old days) and softer passages.

The cd's sound fine,i don't hear distortion,just wondering if that normal for the meters to be mostly red when listening to these cd's ,i've never used the aes-ebu for this purpose before.

Love this ufx box more everyday though,exellent product.
Thanks.

  • From: Houston, TX
  • Registered: 2007-05-11
  • Posts: 1,191

Re: AES-EBU comming in to hot?

Common from what I've seen.  One reason some CD Players sound bad - the DAC's can't cope with these high levels and then you have inter-sample peaks that likley exceed 0dBfs! ed:

cool

MADIface-XT+ARC / 3x HDSP MADI / ADI648
2x SSL Alphalink MADI AX
2x Multiface / 2x Digiface /2x ADI8

3 Reply by rmehappy (edited by rmehappy 2011-11-28 02:04:54)

  • Registered: 2011-11-26
  • Posts: 21

Re: AES-EBU comming in to hot?

Randyman... wrote:

Common from what I've seen.  One reason some CD Players sound bad - the DAC's can't cope with these high levels and then you have inter-sample peaks that likley exceed 0dBfs! ed:

cool

Yeah,i can understand that but in this case,there is no conversion on the way in.
The cd player comes into the UFX via aes-ebu digital and clips the UFX aes-ebu imput.
I can regulate the d/a output...or...maybe i don't understand digital signal flow fully.
I remember though now using this player with the mackie onyx 1200f via aes-ebu and don't remember it clipping the imput like that.
It was full on 0 dbfs but nothing red appeared on the meters.
That was a long time ago though.

  • Registered: 2011-11-26
  • Posts: 21

Re: AES-EBU comming in to hot?

@Randyman
Thanks for responding.
I gotta say im feelin pretty silly right now.
In my haste to switch between systems when i got the UFX,i accidentally used regular XLR cables to hook up the digital aes-ebu connection.
Got the right ones 110ohms and everything is yellow again.fryingpan

  • From: Houston, TX
  • Registered: 2007-05-11
  • Posts: 1,191

Re: AES-EBU comming in to hot?

Ah - So you were likely seeing errors.  Regardless, most CD's will go all the way up to 0dBfs (and some will stay alarmingly close to there rant ), and while not technicaly "clipping", most meters would indicate 0dBfs as a "clip" (RED).  I thought that was what you were referring to...

Just curious - how long was the XLR Mic cable you used?  You shuld be able to "get away" with a descent mic cable for AES (with slightly degraded clocking as the leading edges of the clock waveform are rolled off).  Did the RME indicate "Lock" or "Sync" with that cable?

cool

MADIface-XT+ARC / 3x HDSP MADI / ADI648
2x SSL Alphalink MADI AX
2x Multiface / 2x Digiface /2x ADI8

6 Reply by rmehappy (edited by rmehappy 2011-11-28 03:23:33)

  • Registered: 2011-11-26
  • Posts: 21

Re: AES-EBU comming in to hot?

Randyman... wrote:

Ah - So you were likely seeing errors.  Regardless, most CD's will go all the way up to 0dBfs (and some will stay alarmingly close to there rant ), and while not technicaly "clipping", most meters would indicate 0dBfs as a "clip" (RED).  I thought that was what you were referring to...

Just curious - how long was the XLR Mic cable you used?  You shuld be able to "get away" with a descent mic cable for AES (with slightly degraded clocking as the leading edges of the clock waveform are rolled off).  Did the RME indicate "Lock" or "Sync" with that cable?

cool

The cables were 6 footers,Ok quality,the kind you would find in PA rental like rapco.

That's the funny thing,the ufx kept alternating between lock and sync at first and the aes-ebu light on the hardware unit was flashing 3 times at intervals,then i clocked the tascam to the rme via bnc cable and it stopped blinking and settled on sync in the asio tab.
Meanwhile,the cd's were playing the whole time but clipping the imput.
Now its not clipping,most of these cd's are tight at 0 and it reflects that but the meters no longer go red on the hardware box.i.e normal if you like music with no headroom.lol

Another interesting note,i unclocked the tascam from the ufx and no flashing lights now with these cables and its still in sync.