HD24 / Octane / AD8000 word clock question

[Steven Hoover]

I've got an Alesis HD24 -
I will take delivery next week on an M-Audio Octane pre and will probably
add 2 Behringer AD8000 8 ch pres to get 24 inputs to the Alesis.

How do I hook up the word clock?

The Alesis and the Behrs only have word clock in -
I believe the Octane has clock in and out -
how do I do this?

I want to connect to the HD24 via lightpipe . . . .
thanks!
Steve

[Mike Rivers]

In article > writes:

> I've got an Alesis HD24 -
> I will take delivery next week on an M-Audio Octane pre and will probably
> add 2 Behringer AD8000 8 ch pres to get 24 inputs to the Alesis.
>
> How do I hook up the word clock?
>
> The Alesis and the Behrs only have word clock in -
> I believe the Octane has clock in and out -

More questions that you can't answer right now, I'll bet. Do any (or
all) of the preamps have a termination switch on their word clock
inputs? If not, are they terminated (probalby), or floating (probably
not)? If you can float the word clock inputs (this means that they're
a relatively high impedance, not 75 ohms) you can choose one device as
the word clock master, put T connectors on the other word clock
inputs, and parallel the inputs. Put a 75 ohm terminator (or switch on
the internal termination) on the last device in the chain.

If you choose the HD24 as the word clock master, set it so that it's
running on internal word clock. If you choose the Octane (if it
actually has a word clock output) as the master, you can either set
the HD24 to sync to one of the ADAT Lightpipe inputs or to sync to
external word clock.

As to which will work best, you'll have to experiment. You may find
some combinations that don't work at all, either because you don't
have the proper terminations or the proper inputs or outputs. You can
eliminate those. Of the things that get you some signal, make test
recordings to see if you can hear any difference in the sound, or
choose the hookup that gives you the fewest (ideally none) clicks and
pops.

The best solution would be to get a word clock distribution box that
has either a single input or an internal word clock generator as the
source, and enough outputs so that you can feed each of your devices
its own word clock signal independently. The Lucid Gen6X seems to be
the best bang for the buck in this area, unless there's something
newer that I haven't noticed. I think they're under $500.


--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

[Steven Hoover]

thank you, Mike
Steve

"Mike Rivers" > wrote in message
news:znr1078668154k@trad...
>
> In article >
writes:
>
> > I've got an Alesis HD24 -
> > I will take delivery next week on an M-Audio Octane pre and will
probably
> > add 2 Behringer AD8000 8 ch pres to get 24 inputs to the Alesis.
> >
> > How do I hook up the word clock?
> >
> > The Alesis and the Behrs only have word clock in -
> > I believe the Octane has clock in and out -
>
> More questions that you can't answer right now, I'll bet. Do any (or
> all) of the preamps have a termination switch on their word clock
> inputs? If not, are they terminated (probalby), or floating (probably
> not)? If you can float the word clock inputs (this means that they're
> a relatively high impedance, not 75 ohms) you can choose one device as
> the word clock master, put T connectors on the other word clock
> inputs, and parallel the inputs. Put a 75 ohm terminator (or switch on
> the internal termination) on the last device in the chain.
>
> If you choose the HD24 as the word clock master, set it so that it's
> running on internal word clock. If you choose the Octane (if it
> actually has a word clock output) as the master, you can either set
> the HD24 to sync to one of the ADAT Lightpipe inputs or to sync to
> external word clock.
>
> As to which will work best, you'll have to experiment. You may find
> some combinations that don't work at all, either because you don't
> have the proper terminations or the proper inputs or outputs. You can
> eliminate those. Of the things that get you some signal, make test
> recordings to see if you can hear any difference in the sound, or
> choose the hookup that gives you the fewest (ideally none) clicks and
> pops.
>
> The best solution would be to get a word clock distribution box that
> has either a single input or an internal word clock generator as the
> source, and enough outputs so that you can feed each of your devices
> its own word clock signal independently. The Lucid Gen6X seems to be
> the best bang for the buck in this area, unless there's something
> newer that I haven't noticed. I think they're under $500.
>
>
> --
> I'm really Mike Rivers - )
> However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
> lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
> you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
> and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

[Paul Stamler]

Steven Hoover > wrote in message
...
> I've got an Alesis HD24 -
> I will take delivery next week on an M-Audio Octane pre and will probably
> add 2 Behringer AD8000 8 ch pres to get 24 inputs to the Alesis.
>
> How do I hook up the word clock?
>
> The Alesis and the Behrs only have word clock in -
> I believe the Octane has clock in and out -
> how do I do this?
>
> I want to connect to the HD24 via lightpipe . . . .
> thanks!

Hook up the analog outputs of the Behringers to the analog inputs of the
Alesis. Its converters are almost certainly better sounding than the ones in
the Behringers.

Peace,
Paul

[Preben Friis]

"Paul Stamler" > wrote in message
...

> Hook up the analog outputs of the Behringers to the analog inputs of the
> Alesis. Its converters are almost certainly better sounding than the ones
in
> the Behringers.

.... or allmost cetanly excatly the same, since the Behringer is full of
Alesis chips...

/Preben Friis

[Paul Stamler]

Preben Friis > wrote in message
...
>
> "Paul Stamler" > wrote in message
> ...
>
> > Hook up the analog outputs of the Behringers to the analog inputs of the
> > Alesis. Its converters are almost certainly better sounding than the
ones
> in
> > the Behringers.
>
> ... or allmost cetanly excatly the same, since the Behringer is full of
> Alesis chips...

At that price, my guess is they're lower-grade versions. You can't afford to
throw too many away when you're selling for cheeep.

Peace,
Paul

[Steven Hoover]

thanks - but the point is I want to connect via light pipe . . . .
Steve

"Paul Stamler" > wrote in message
...
>
> Preben Friis > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > "Paul Stamler" > wrote in message
> > ...
> >
> > > Hook up the analog outputs of the Behringers to the analog inputs of
the
> > > Alesis. Its converters are almost certainly better sounding than the
> ones
> > in
> > > the Behringers.
> >
> > ... or allmost cetanly excatly the same, since the Behringer is full of
> > Alesis chips...
>
> At that price, my guess is they're lower-grade versions. You can't afford
to
> throw too many away when you're selling for cheeep.
>
> Peace,
> Paul
>

[Paul Stamler]

Steven Hoover > wrote in message
...

> thanks - but the point is I want to connect via light pipe . . . .

How come? Ground loop problems?

Peace,
Paul

[Mike Rivers]

In article > writes:

> thanks - but the point is I want to connect via light pipe . . . .

That's fine, but you should understand the problems involved, and
consider the alternatives. On the surface, it would appear to be
better, simpler and cheaper to connect your equipment with three fiber
optic cables rather than 24 copper cables, but it might not work out
that way in practice.

You have two different A/D converters available to you in the chain
(actually three since you're talking about two different 8-channel
preamp boxes) and Paul raises a legimate question - which ones are the
better converters? It may not matter to you, or they may be close
enough that there are other more significant considerations. But it
would be worth your while to do a little checking and listening
yourself. You can evaluate this very easily by using just one
preamp/converter and ignore word clock problems and the need for
buying a bunch of analog cables.

If it turns out to require a master word clock generator in order to
make things work well, you need to consider that cost against the cost
of analog connections, where there will be no clocking problems at
all.

Asking questions is fair, but rejecting alternate approaches because
you "want" to do it your way isn't very engineer-like.



--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

[Steven Hoover]

thanks for your time and the alternative approaches.
Steve

> Asking questions is fair, but rejecting alternate approaches because
> you "want" to do it your way isn't very engineer-like.
>
>
>
> --
> I'm really Mike Rivers - )
> However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
> lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
> you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
> and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

[Preben Friis]

"Paul Stamler" > wrote in message
...

> At that price, my guess is they're lower-grade versions. You can't afford
to
> throw too many away when you're selling for cheeep.

AD1101 ADC's are $ 1.60, AD1201 DAC's are $1.80 ... and I guess Behringer
gets an extra discount when they buy big bulk... - Is it possible to gain
anything by saving there?

http://www.alesis-semi.com/products.htm

Btw: Interesting to see who else is using chips from Alesis
Semiconductors...

http://www.alesis-semi.com/companies.htm ..!

/Preben Friis