Topic: Fireface 802 or Digiface USB as master for 2 Micstasy?(or vice versa)?

Hello (my first post - please be patience),

I am planning to record with 2 brand new Micstasy units that are coming, I would connect them via ADAT to a Fireface 802 or to a Digiface USB I own. Even if reading some reassuring threads about best clocking on both option, I wonder if there’s a better chain (considering the different release period of the 3 products and the probable differences in AD conversion process from Micstasy to 802 or Digiface).

Is it better to connect the linked 2 Micstasys (via BNC 75 Ohm cables) to the Fireface 802 (also with BNC of course) or to the Digiface? and in both cases, would be better to set the Micstasys as master or slave for best clocking?

One more question (sorry - but is somehow connected to the first one): once recorded and moving to mix/mastering phases, would it worth to switch back the clock (ie. from Micstasy back to Fireface 802) and use the Micstasy XLR output for the DA conversion?

Many thanks for your help!

Re: Fireface 802 or Digiface USB as master for 2 Micstasy?(or vice versa)?

Only one can be master. And it is best practise to set the most important recording device as master.
So one micstacy as master, the other slave to that one via WC. Then both via adat to whatever you find nost practical. The digiface or FF as slave to adat, no WC needed.
The only downside is that you will have to switch samplerate from micstacy 1.

Vincent, Amsterdam
https://soundcloud.com/thesecretworld
BFpro fs, 2X HDSP9652 ADI-8AE, 2X HDSP9632

3 (edited by ramses 2022-03-24 20:49:57)

Re: Fireface 802 or Digiface USB as master for 2 Micstasy?(or vice versa)?

vinark wrote:

Only one can be master. And it is best practise to set the most important recording device as master.
So one micstacy as master, the other slave to that one via WC. Then both via adat to whatever you find nost practical. The digiface or FF as slave to adat, no WC needed.
The only downside is that you will have to switch samplerate from micstacy 1.

Hi vinark, how are you ?

Remembering that micstasy can get clock from AES inputs and that the AES inputs are there for this purpose.
So would it perhaps be an option to configure 802 as clock master and then:
      802 ----AES---> Micstasy ---- AES ---> Micstasy

By this you would have the 802 as clock master so that sample rate can be set by application / DAW.
No need for WC, but AES breakout cables needed ...

Sorry, at the moment no time to consult the manual in regards to this, just to bring in another idea, what might be possible.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub14

Re: Fireface 802 or Digiface USB as master for 2 Micstasy?(or vice versa)?

Hi Ramses , yes I am good, thanks! You too?
And yes that, AES, is a great idea, especially if sample rate changing is needed. And you don't have the issue that adat always has a 44 or 48k clock.

Vincent, Amsterdam
https://soundcloud.com/thesecretworld
BFpro fs, 2X HDSP9652 ADI-8AE, 2X HDSP9632

Re: Fireface 802 or Digiface USB as master for 2 Micstasy?(or vice versa)?

Dear vinark - Dear Ramses,

thank you so much for the answers, I'll get a little bit more into AES even if in that way the "weakest" (probably?) unit in terms of AD quality will be the master (I would anyhow use the ADAT solution in the digiface option).
That option (AES - FF master) I guess would also be the best for the monitoring (DA paths) and not only for recording.

6 (edited by ramses 2022-03-25 11:29:14)

Re: Fireface 802 or Digiface USB as master for 2 Micstasy?(or vice versa)?

AES is a digital connection compareable to ADAT, SPDIF, etc ...
There is no sound degradation in any direction (A/D, D/A) as it is digital transfer of audio data.
Steadyclock works with AES as well (with any digital connection).

The advantage, as vinark already mentioned is, that you have 44.1 - 192 kHz ...
So if you have the recording interface as clock master then you can e.g. select 96 kHz in the application,
the ASIO driver sets the interface to 96kHz and the connected units will learn 96 kHz through AES.

If you use ADAT connections for clock distributions, then the connected devices can only distinguish between 44.1/48 kHz.
The "bundling" of multiple adat channels (2/4 for double/quad speed) can't be recognized by the devices for proper clock distribution over 48 kHz.

So using AES for clock distribution you might get rid of this problem ...
But then you should better use an interface which has at least 1 AES port for clock distribution.

For the transfer of audio signals you can use ADAT or MADI.

If it doesn't need to be an USB based solution, then also a RayDAT could be a very good choice.
Has everything you need. 4x ADAT, AES, SPDIF.

Then additionally an ADI-2 Pro FS R BE for monitoring and maybe even an ARC USB and then you have your dream setup.

According to manual the Micstasy has 1 AES input for clock sync (and 4 AES outputs). Can also be used as format converter.
The analog input signal will be send to all digital outputs (ADAT, MADI, AES).

You could also use a recording interface with MADI I/O, which might give you more flexibility in terms of placement of the Micstasies (maybe in different rooms or on stage).

I think excellent would also be the HDSPe MADI FX.
It has 3 MADI  channels, Analog Output (for phones), AES (to connect an ADI-2 Pro for monitoring)
and the only card with FX chip, optimizing driver (less resource consumption) and redundancy features.
See my review here:
https://www.tonstudio-forum.de/blog/ind … Pro-FS-BE/

Also excellent would be UFX+ with MADI, then you have USB/Thunderbolt and DURec for stand-alone and backup recordings to USB Disk, USB Stick, Mobile SSD ... very practical.

BR Ramses - UFX III, 12Mic, XTC, ADI-2 Pro FS R BE, RayDAT, X10SRi-F, E5-1680v4, Win10Pro22H2, Cub14

Re: Fireface 802 or Digiface USB as master for 2 Micstasy?(or vice versa)?

Well... once again — thanks a lot!you really gave me a view to implement the setup... I just need to save some money though!(thinking about the ADI-2-Pro FS R BE as a priority rather than a Neve Orbit 5057 or another good mic or reverb unit... but that's definitely another topic).

I honestly didn't know I could split the clock to the audio with AES and ADAT at the same time (shame on me) and that's a very good point.

I will study more and more your advices and start to plan a bit more seriously the setup trying to include and implement what I already have.