Topic: New HDSPe AES channels not working (card detected)

Hey guys, I hope someone can help me:

Recently I bought a new HDSPe AES card, to use in conjunction with my old HDSPe PCI card + Multiface 2.

Updated all drivers (uninstalling the old ones first) and connected hardware and cables.

New card being recognized by the system, appearing as a new tab ("AES (2)") in the Hammerfall DSP Settings config software. But only channels AES 3 and AES 4 appear as SYNC (in the Input Status), all the others appear as NO LOCK. Clock source is Word Clock (working fine) and Word is SYNC (also in the Input Status).

When sending through the new AES outputs (using Cubase 7.5) weird things happen:

-When sending through channels AES 1/2, nothing arrives at my Apogee converters.

-When sending through channels AES 3/4 (the ones that appear on SYNC), I detect signal arriving at the Apogee converters, but through channels AES 7/8. When I return something through those same channels (AES 7/8) it arrives on the HDSPe AES through channels AES 5/6. Also sound is glitchy.

-When sending through channels AES 5/6, I detect signal arriving at the Apogee converters, but through channels AES 3/4 AND replicated on AES 5/6. If I try to return something back, nothing arrives at the HDSPe AES, independently of the channel selected.

Same confusion happens when using the secondary PCIe, but with different channel numbers.

I already tried replacing the DB25 cable, but nothing changed.
My old HDSPe PCI + Multiface is working perfectly for many years,
connected to my Apogee converters.

I am using Windows 7 SP1 64 bits, 16 GB RAM, Intel Core i7 3.4 GHz.
No other soundcard installed.

What should I do next? Is it a defective HDSPe AES card, maybe? 

Thank you very much! :-)

Re: New HDSPe AES channels not working (card detected)

RME uses the TASCAM DSUB pinout standard for AES/EBU. Apogee is using a different format. This seems like a clear case of wrong cables.

Regards,
Jeff Petersen
Synthax Inc.

Re: New HDSPe AES channels not working (card detected)

Hi Jeff, thank you for the quick reply!

I am using this cable:
25 Pin D Sub to 25 Pin D Sub Cable
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00J … ge_o00_s00

The Apogee user manual tells me to use a "DB-25 Apogee AES-IFC breakout cable or equivalent".

I thought they were compatible. Am I wrong?
Is there a converter?

Thanks again!

Re: New HDSPe AES channels not working (card detected)

This is an Analog cable, not AES/EBU. Definitely not compatible to either the RME card or the Apogee converter.

Regards,
Jeff Petersen
Synthax Inc.

Re: New HDSPe AES channels not working (card detected)

Wow, that was stupid. Sorry, really noob regarding AES, never done this before.

So I need a DIGITAL D-Sub cable, AES/EBU.
Like this one, correct?  (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/4 … ub_to.html)

Now as I understand Apogee is using the Yamaha version of the DB25, and RME is using the TASCAM version. Is there a way to connect (convert) both?

Thank you for the patience! smile

Re: New HDSPe AES channels not working (card detected)

Check your manual for the Apogee converter for pinout info.

Regards,
Jeff Petersen
Synthax Inc.

Re: New HDSPe AES channels not working (card detected)

Thanks guys, you put me in the right direction.
(I was unable to access the website for a while, coming back just to thank you)