1 (edited by mavck 2022-06-12 05:48:20)

Topic: Disable Emphasis alerts?

Hi.
I have a setup that will never use emphasis.
However, because of my hardware, when my second interface is playing audio via its analog outputs (not emitting sound whatsoever via AES or SPDIF), my ADI will always tell me "Emphasis detected at AES input".
Yes, there might be an issue with the interface sending some type of signal that the ADI takes as Emphasis, but it is certainly working correctly when I record, which is when matters. When I actually use the AES output, I don't even get the message, so I know it is working as expected.
I will never use Emphasis, so I don' t need to mind it and don't need the alert.

Can I stop the message from showing all the time, since I know I won't need to be warned about it?

Thanks!

2

Re: Disable Emphasis alerts?

The ADI can not know what you record. That's an interesting bug in that other unit - no playback on AES/SPDIF makes it send an incorrect Channel Status on the AES/SPDIF stream, it seems.

But the message is shown only briefly when the Emphasis state changes. If you see it 'always': did you check the SPDIF input state in the State Overview screen? Maybe it is unstable and even unlocks without audio.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

3 (edited by mavck 2022-06-14 08:24:44)

Re: Disable Emphasis alerts?

Thanks for the very quick answer, MC!
And sorry for the not so quick reply.
I was thinking on how to explain this, so I realized a video speaks better than I can.
https://youtu.be/4rtKegyubz8

It seems like an erratic signal.
I am only playing one audio file constantly, but because the interface is only erroneously sending data via the AES out, and not real audio, it is an erratic signal that seems to start and end abruptly every few seconds.
This causes the problem that I cannot operate my ADI because the messages don't stop popping up.

This is not RME's fault at all, but I contacted the vendor of the other interface, and they say they no longer support it (lesson learned there).

If anything can be done, that would be more than amazing. Thanks!

4 (edited by KaiS 2022-06-14 10:50:40)

Re: Disable Emphasis alerts?

Try to use the SPDIF connection.

The Emphasis Bits are a little different AES and SPDIF, if you’re lucky the problem is related to this and disappears.

You could even try optical, switched to ADAT if possible, ADAT interface doesn’t have Emphasis at all.


Table at page 9:
http://fhein.users.ak.tu-berlin.de/Alia … Interf.pdf

Re: Disable Emphasis alerts?

KaiS wrote:

Try to use the SPDIF connection.

The Emphasis Bits are a little different AES and SPDIF, if you’re lucky the problem is related to this and disappears.

You could even try optical, switched to ADAT if possible, ADAT interface doesn’t have Emphasis at all.


Table at page 9:
http://fhein.users.ak.tu-berlin.de/Alia … Interf.pdf

Hi, KaiS.
Thanks for the possible solution.

That goes against my setup, which I will explain in a sec, but I did test it.
With that setup, I no longer get the message, but it did create another problem not worth discussing here.

Now, the real reason I cannot go for that setup is:

My other interface, Antelope Discrete SC 4, has 4 inputs. It has no AES outputs, and I am using a Lynx cable that is made for S/PDIF to AES.
It does have ADAT.
Everything can be routed.

The reason I bought it was merely to have 4 preamps that I could connect at once to my ADI.
So now they are connected as follows, and I use my ADI in Multichannel mode:

ADSC4 input 1 and 2 go out to ADAT out, this is being used in my ADI Optical input as ADAT.
ADSC4 input 3 and 4 go via S/PDIF out to AES in.
The analogue inputs of my ADI are tied to another stereo device, and the analogue outputs of the ADSC4 are exclusively for monitoring, connected directly to my monitors.

I have made sure to route the unit so the S/PDIF and ADAT outputs, all digital outputs, are muted when testing this issue. It will still send some type of signal, which is not audio, and is noted as Emphasis by the ADI.

So the setup is basically a 4x4 connection, and it is so just so I do not have to switch cables here and there and I can assign specific things to each input/output, since I work alone and I am not recording other people, at least not simultaneously, but I do use multiple devices.

Now, because of that I can only think of 3 solutions:
1) Having Antelope fix the firmware: They said already they won't fix a discontinued product (even if discontinued very recently, I bought it maybe a month before official discontinuation).
2) The ADI to be able to input ADAT (and or AES) via the Optical port and allow for the S/PDIF ports in the breaker to be used for S/PDIF separately and at the same time as the optical. I doubt is possible, due to the design of the unit (no expert here, but I figure it would have been done if possible).
3) Add an option to disable the message, as it is harmless.

Of course, if there is any other real option anyone can think of, I will love you forever big_smile.
I am not the most proficient guy when it comes to digital audio, so I apologize for my lack of knowledge.

Now, if none of these are an option, I will have to sell the ADSC4 and purchase another secondary interface, but I really hope that will not be necessary as the preamps are quite good and other than the message I have no issues with it.
(Even if it only has analog outputs, I actually wanted to get the RME Quadmic but I realized it has no Hi-Z. A Hi-Z enabled version would be killer, and more so if it has some type of digital output).

Thanks for all the help.

Re: Disable Emphasis alerts?

Oh, I now know what is happening. This is still unexpected and should not happen, but it seems the unit is sending some dirty clock information via S/PDIF, which the ADI picks up as Audio and if I really crank the volume and put it to digital through, it is audible.
This is where the "Emphasis" is being detected, from the clock signal, which is really bad apparently.

This only happens when I use USB audio from that interface, because it defaults to Internal clock via USB.
This is what was causing the issues. As long as I do not use USB audio, there is no problem - that means I have nothing to worry about, since this unit is for recording and I rarely use its USB audio capabilities, and much less in tandem with my ADI.

I am sorry for noticing this so late.
It would be still nice to have a way to disable the warning, but in this case, it is not a big problem.

Thank you for the help so far.