• Registered: 2008-03-20
  • Posts: 19

Topic: Digital sync of 2 raydat cards (Internal or AES)

I have went ahead and got one of the dynapower 3 slot chassis, and realized that as I am going to have them set up (1 in the Mac Pro and one in the Dynapower) there is no way to internally clock them.

Since I will be using an Apogee Big Ben as house clock, can I just sync each card up on it's own using AES, or do I have to use the internal clock jumpers?

Thanks again for your assistance. I have looked through all the documentation and am unable to get a clear yes or no answer.

George

  • From: Germany
  • Registered: 2007-04-10
  • Posts: 9,690

Re: Digital sync of 2 raydat cards (Internal or AES)

AES will work fine.

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

Regards
Daniel Fuchs
RME

RME Support's Website

  • Registered: 2008-03-20
  • Posts: 19

Re: Digital sync of 2 raydat cards (Internal or AES)

Hello again Daniel,

We have discovered that for some reason the clocking on the AES/SPDIF cables between 1 Raydat card and the other on our slave is getting lost. Let me attempt to give you a clear idea of the setup and what is going on:

We have 2 computers: A windows 7 Pro PC and a Mac Pro with a Netstor 3 slot expansion chassis. Each as 2 Raydat systems, for 72 channels of I/O. They are connected as follows:

Apogee Big Ben is our master clock going into Windows Computer with 2 Raydat cards via the RME BNC sync card.

We then have all 4 ADAT connections made between the PC Raydat cards, as well as the AES/SPDIF cable outs from the Raydats going into 2 Raydat systems, one in the Mac Pro, and the second into the Netstor 3 slot chassis connected to the Mac. The Netstor chassis also has a UAD 2 duo card in it.

The sync selected in the Hammerfall DSP settings application is set to AES on both cards (since the Mac OS driver sees them as 2 cards and we make an aggregate device in order to use them as a 72 input/output audio card).

The problem: the AES/SPDIF connection on the Mac Pro Raydat that is on the Netstor chassis looses digital sync, and becomes distorted and grainy. If I open the Hammerfall DSP app and toggle the AES sync to 48k (the sample rate we use in our system) it goes away and sync is reestablished.

Sometimes this issue shows up when we start the system up, and other times it will show up after we have been working for an unspecific amount of time.

We are using the current versions of RME software on all our systems. This issue is also happening on both our LA studio, and our duplicate studio with exactly the same setup in NYC.

Both Mac Pros are current generation 12 core 3.0 GHz with 24 GB ram and running Mac OS 10.6.8 and Logic Pro 9.1.6 in 64 bit mode (This also happens in 32 bit mode). Both PCs are running Windows 7 Pro, have the current generation RME software drivers, and are running VEPro 4 and Midi over Lan for midi in and audio out to the Mac Pro's.

We are using 3 FT long Lightpipe cables with no kinks, as well as Mogami cables for Digital AES and SPDIF sync. They are also about 3 FT long. The system is properly grounded and has good power conditioning as well as all new cables between any other connections.

I have tried to be as informative as I could be. I am wondering if you have any suggestions for a resolution of this issue?

Thanks,

George Leger III