• Registered: 2022-05-16
  • Posts: 13

Topic: Connecting ADI-2 Pro to Fireface 802

Hi everyone!

I'm very new to posting in forums and would definitely say that i'm useless when it comes to connections..

My main audio interface is a Fireface 802 connected to a Ferrofish 16 through ADAT, using all 16 I/O from the Ferrofish. That means that i have no spare ADAT I/O on my 802. I have just purchased a ADI-2 Pro FS R BE. I can't connect it to my 802 through ADAT cause they're all used up and i can't connect it through AES cause im goin from the AES out port on the ADI-2 to my Genelec 8341's. That leaves me with the coaxial I/O from the back of the ADI-2. My question here is - does it matter in quality compared to AES or ADAT, connecting the ADI-2 and my 802 through coaxial?

I know the Fireface 802 doesn't have Coaxial inputs and outputs, so i've ordered two coaxial to AES cables (3m). Link attached:

XLR female -> RCA male : https://www.thomann.de/gb/pro_snake_aes … able_3.htm

XLR male to RCA male https://www.thomann.de/gb/pro_snake_aes … male_3.htm

So AES in and out from the 802 to Coax in out on the ADI-2. Will this work? My understanding is that it will detect the conncetion as SPDIF?

Sorry for any bad english or stupid questions.. Would be awesome to get some answers and clarity here.

Thank you! smile
Oliver

2 Reply by KaiS (edited by KaiS 2022-05-17 06:01:25)

  • KaiS
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Re: Connecting ADI-2 Pro to Fireface 802

Oliver Nelson wrote:

... - does it matter in quality compared to AES or ADAT, connecting the ADI-2 and my 802 through coaxial?

I know the Fireface 802 doesn't have Coaxial inputs and outputs, so i've ordered two coaxial to AES cables (3m). Link attached:

XLR female -> RCA male : https://www.thomann.de/gb/pro_snake_aes … able_3.htm

XLR male to RCA male https://www.thomann.de/gb/pro_snake_aes … male_3.htm

So AES in and out from the 802 to Coax in out on the ADI-2. Will this work? My understanding is that it will detect the conncetion as SPDIF?

SPDIF and AES carry the same digital audio, so from this side the quality is identical.


There are two difficulties regarding the electrical properties between AES-XLR and SPDIF-Coax:

• AES carries and expects higher electrical signal levels.

This does NOT mean audio is louder, but the carrier signal voltage is different!
As a result:
The direction AES -> SPDIF always works, but -
The direction SPDIF -> AES sometimes works, and sometimes doesn’t.

Solutions exist, in form of interface adapters, but they are a bit hard to find e.g.:
https://www.thomann.de/de/neutrik_naditbncm.htm

plus this little adapter for BNC - Cinch:
https://www.thomann.de/de/pro_snake_ada … rca_75.htm


• ADI-2 Pro’s SPDIF Coax connection uses a ground connection, it’s not isolated to chassis ground.
As a result, depending on your configuration, a ground loop can be introduced, that causes audible hum.
It might well be, for your config, this problem does not appear at all.

A solution would be quite simple:
Connect the cables one at a time.
Then, only on a cable that causes hum when connected, open the cable’s XLR and cut the screen (the bare silver or copper stranded wire on Pin 1).

KaiS's Website

  • Registered: 2022-05-16
  • Posts: 13

Re: Connecting ADI-2 Pro to Fireface 802

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer KaiS!

Cables will arrive tomorrow or Wednesday, will update ASAP. 

All the best,
Oliver

  • Registered: 2022-05-16
  • Posts: 13

Re: Connecting ADI-2 Pro to Fireface 802

SPDIF and AES carry the same digital audio, so from this side the quality is identical.


There are two difficulties regarding the electrical properties between AES-XLR and SPDIF-Coax:

• AES carries and expects higher electrical signal levels.

This does NOT mean audio is louder, but the carrier signal voltage is different!
As a result:
The direction AES -> SPDIF always works, but -
The direction SPDIF -> AES sometimes works, and sometimes doesn’t.

Solutions exist, in form of interface adapters, but they are a bit hard to find e.g.:
https://www.thomann.de/de/neutrik_naditbncm.htm

plus this little adapter for BNC - Cinch:
https://www.thomann.de/de/pro_snake_ada … rca_75.htm


• ADI-2 Pro’s SPDIF Coax connection uses a ground connection, it’s not isolated to chassis ground.
As a result, depending on your configuration, a ground loop can be introduced, that causes audible hum.
It might well be, for your config, this problem does not appear at all.

A solution would be quite simple:
Connect the cables one at a time.
Then, only on a cable that causes hum when connected, open the cable’s XLR and cut the screen (the bare silver or copper stranded wire on Pin 1).

Hi,

Hope i used this quote function correctly.

I just received the cables and have plugged them from SPDIF coax on the ADI-2 to AES/EBU in and out on the 802.

It seems to work, i hear no hum or distortion yet. As i said earlier my understanding of connecting things together is minimal, even in the settings. @KaiS, would you say this is the right settings (Pic attached with my RME Fireface settings, Totalmix & windows 11 output) In the Fireface settings, the clock says that it's syncing and source is AES (ADI-2 Pro i hope)

ink to picture: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ee2fkroj1cb6n … s.png?dl=0

Not 100% sure about the settings i use in the Fireface settings. Adat2 out, AES in out, clock source etc.

Available settings is:

ADAT2 OUT:

- AES/SPDIF
- ADAT

AES INPUT:

- AES
- ADAT2

Clock Source:

- Word
- ADAT1
- ADAT2
- Internal

Thank you for your patience with me..

Best,
Oliver

  • KaiS
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Re: Connecting ADI-2 Pro to Fireface 802

I‘m not sure about the clock:

You‘ve set AES as source for FireFace, this means ADI-2 Pro is Clock Master.

Now it depends if ADI-2 Pro really runs on internal clock, please have a look.
It‘s under:
Setup / Options / Clock / Clock Source: should be “INT”.

State Overview (Press Encoder2  2 times) should although say “Clock Source INT”.

KaiS's Website

  • Registered: 2022-05-16
  • Posts: 13

Re: Connecting ADI-2 Pro to Fireface 802

KaiS wrote:

I‘m not sure about the clock:

You‘ve set AES as source for FireFace, this means ADI-2 Pro is Clock Master.

Now it depends if ADI-2 Pro really runs on internal clock, please have a look.
It‘s under:
Setup / Options / Clock / Clock Source: should be “INT”.

State Overview (Press Encoder2  2 times) should although say “Clock Source INT”.

Thank you for answering KaiS!

Yes the ADI-2 is set on internal in the settings. I wanted the ADI-2 to be the Clock Master since it uses a more modern Steady Clock etc, is this a bad thing?

So I guess at the moment it all runs as it should? I was unsure since it said clock was AES and im using the in out SPDIF coax from the ADI-2 to the AES on the 802

Best,
Oliver

  • KaiS
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Re: Connecting ADI-2 Pro to Fireface 802

Everything fine.
For the moment, leave everything like it is.

Personally I prefer to have the DAW / driver / primary interface define the sample rate.
This way I can easily switch between different projects without the need to care for SR manually.
This prevents the from accidentally recording in the wrong SR.

ADI-2’s Steadyclock FS delivers the same quality as master or slave.

KaiS's Website

  • Registered: 2022-05-16
  • Posts: 13

Re: Connecting ADI-2 Pro to Fireface 802

KaiS wrote:

Everything fine.
For the moment, leave everything like it is.

Personally I prefer to have the DAW / driver / primary interface define the sample rate.
This way I can easily switch between different projects without the need to care for SR manually.
This prevents the from accidentally recording in the wrong SR.

ADI-2’s Steadyclock FS delivers the same quality as master or slave.

Oh, I didnt know that! So if I have 802 as internal and master clock I will still benefit from steadyclock FS?

Best,
Oliver

  • KaiS
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Re: Connecting ADI-2 Pro to Fireface 802

Oliver Nelson wrote:
KaiS wrote:

ADI-2’s Steadyclock FS delivers the same quality as master or slave.

Oh, I didnt know that! So if I have 802 as internal and master clock I will still benefit from steadyclock FS?

Absolutely, this exactly is what SteadyClock FS is about:
Delivering best signal quality, no matter what jitter is in the original signal.

KaiS's Website

  • Registered: 2022-05-16
  • Posts: 13

Re: Connecting ADI-2 Pro to Fireface 802

KaiS wrote:
Oliver Nelson wrote:
KaiS wrote:

ADI-2’s Steadyclock FS delivers the same quality as master or slave.

Oh, I didnt know that! So if I have 802 as internal and master clock I will still benefit from steadyclock FS?

Absolutely, this exactly is what SteadyClock FS is about:
Delivering best signal quality, no matter what jitter is in the original signal.

Thank you KaiS!

Extremely helpful.

So just to make sure,  all the settings looks OK to you? I was unsure since it says AES and I thought it would be SPDIF since it's from coaxial in out on the ADI-2. Any more settings I should be aware of on the ADI-2? I control the Genelec 8341s from a Genelec controller, is there any gain staging I should be aware of here? Don't know If that makes any sense?

Best,
Oliver

Thank you!

11 Reply by KaiS (edited by KaiS 2022-05-18 05:17:31)

  • KaiS
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Re: Connecting ADI-2 Pro to Fireface 802

Oliver Nelson wrote:

...all the settings looks OK to you? I was unsure since it says AES and I thought it would be SPDIF since it's from coaxial in out on the ADI-2. Any more settings I should be aware of on the ADI-2? I control the Genelec 8341s from a Genelec controller, is there any gain staging I should be aware of here?

Yes.
It says AES because that’s the port you are using, it doesn’t care or even recognize the type of signal that is connected.

Look here for the “gain staging”:
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.ph … 21#p161721

The description is meant to be used for analog signal, so “Auto Reference Level” can be ignored for your digital interconnect.
All other settings are corresponding to your situation.

Both versions, case 1 and 2, optimize dynamic range for each use case.

KaiS's Website

  • Registered: 2022-05-16
  • Posts: 13

Re: Connecting ADI-2 Pro to Fireface 802

Yes.
It says AES because that’s the port you are using, it doesn’t care or even recognize the type of signal that is connected.

Look here for the “gain staging”:
https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.ph … 21#p161721

The description is meant to be used for analog signal, so “Auto Reference Level” can be ignored for your digital interconnect.
All other settings are corresponding to your situation.

Both versions, case 1 and 2, optimize dynamic range for each use case.

Thank you KaiS! Much appreciated.

Best,
Oliver