• Registered: 2018-11-21
  • Posts: 6

Topic: [Solved] UFX II AES => miniDSP DDRC-88D => Okto DAC8 Pro

I have my control room set up with the UFX II AES digital outputs going to a miniDSP DDRC-88D (that's the all digital 8in x 8 out with dirac box) and then to an Okto DAC8 Pro for D/A conversion, then to my studio monitors. All the devices have AES/EBU ins/outs.

I have some pops/clicks that I'm trying to track down and can't seem to find.

One thing to note. All my DAW projects are 44.1Khz and the sample rate and clock source in the RME settings are for 44.1 and Internal.

The miniDSP does not have any settings that I can find for sample rate and the manual says it auto-detects the sample rate from the first two inputs and sets it to whatever that is. The first two input channels are all I'm using at the present time and they are connected to the AES outputs of the RME. The miniDSP also does not have any indicators as to what it's set at.

The Okto DAC8 Pro also auto-detects the sample rate, but does display it on the LED screen and it always shows 48K.

The miniDSP manual also says it has an internal SR of 48K and that it converts whatever the input is to 48K for it's processing. Not something I like, but didn't know about that when I purchased it.

I've always assumed the miniDSP accepted the incoming 44.1k stream, converted it to 48K internally to do it's processing and then just left it at 48K for the outputs. Therefore the Okto saw it as 48K, auto-set itself to that, and everything was fine.

But now that I can't find these pops/clicks in my system I'm wondering if that is all working as I think it is. Although if there were a sample rate mismatch, I'm not sure it would manifest as pops/clicks.

Any thoughts, information, or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks, gabo

2 Reply by MC

  • MC
  • MC
  • Administrator
  • Offline
  • From: Germany/Thailand
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 25,567

Re: [Solved] UFX II AES => miniDSP DDRC-88D => Okto DAC8 Pro

Connect your analog destination directly to the UFX II instead of the Okto. Then you will know if it happens in the external devices or already within the UFX II. That's the first step to pin down the issue.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

MC's Website

  • Registered: 2018-11-21
  • Posts: 6

Re: [Solved] UFX II AES => miniDSP DDRC-88D => Okto DAC8 Pro

Thanks, yes I had already done that which helped sort out the issue.

And good news, I finally figured it out. Nothing to do with the output chain at all, so that was great news.

Turns out, the culprit came from the sessions I just happened to be working on when I implemented this chain. The first project was mixing a project that someone else recorded in studio one.

Since I also have studio one, the customer sent me his full project files instead of stems/tracks/etc. And it turns out he was using the "console emulation" in his project. The console emulation in S1 is not a traditional plug-in and is implemented in an entirely different way. I guess if a project has that turned on and someone else uses that project but has not purchased the console emulation, it doesn't fail in a graceful way. So you have to go turn that off manually.

I don't use console emulation because I have a "real console!" hahaha. Turning that off resolved the issue.

Thanks for the help!
gabo