AudioBanter.com - View Single Post

(Mike Rivers) wrote in message news:znr1060881480k@trad...
In article writes:

the schematic shows a diode between two pins on the ES-50
interface. Did you do that when you built your cable? It seems odd
to me to have components outside the box. There's probably room
inside the connector but still....

You notice that there are some jumpers in the plug, too. This probably
has to do with making it work with something it wasn't intended to
work with. Diodes are tiny and cheap. Any old diode will do. Just be
sure to observe the polarity.

Ok. I have built the cable. I have double checked for opens and
shorts about 30 times now. I follow the setup procedure for the
ES-50. (Hook everything up and press the Setup button.) I get Cubase
SX to generate SMPTE via the SMPTE Generator plugin. I record that
onto track 8 of the TSR-8. I have SMPTE from Cubase coming out of an
analog output of the soundcard into the Master TC of the synchronizer,
and SMPTE from the tape deck coming out of track 8 into the Slave TC
of the synchronizer. I start both Cubase and TSR-8 from 0:00, wait a
couple of seconds and hit 'Chase'. TSR-8 goes into rewind until tape
spools off.

Of note, in an earlier attempt at this I had an open in my cable for
the Ext/Int pin. This prevented TSR-8 from being servo controlled by
synchronizer, so obviously I couldn't get a lock. However,
synchronizer was able to FF/RW tape deck, stepping at regular
intervals to see where it was in the TC until it was in the general
ballpark of Cubase. So if I "rewound" Cubase, TSR-8 would see
discontinuity in timecode and back track to more or less the same spot
as Cubase. While chasing without the servo control enabled I could
watch the indicator telling me the tape deck is behind, then the
'lock' indicator comes on, and then the 'ahead' indicator comes on as
the tape deck passes the computer. Telling me that the synchronizer
is indeed comparing and understanding the timecode and can tell when
they match.

So then I fix the cable to enable TSR-8 to allow external servo
control. This is the point that tape deck rewinds as soon as I put it
in chase. Anybody seen this before?

Other strange observations:

- When only Cubase is outputting TC the 24fps light flashes. Even
though plugin and timeline are set to 30fps. When only tape deck is
outputting TC the 30fps light flashes. When both are running both
24fps and 30fps lights flash. This occurs also if through tapedeck
into input monitor so that it is actually just passing the TC directly
from Cubase. Wtf?

- If I start Cubase from 0:00, clock on SMPTE plugin display clock
starts at 12:25:39:00 (hh:mm:ss:frame). If I start Cubase from any
point after 0:00 SMPTE
display clocks is synchronous with Cubase transport clock as one would
expect. Again, wtf?

- I've rerecorded the TSR-8 SMPTE track by clicking on 'Generate' on
the SMPTE generator plugin and recording that signal. I've also tried
recording the signal coming off plugin when in 'link' mode and putting
Cubase in 'Play'. (Should be identical right?) I've tried starting
at 0:00 and at 0:30 in case above 12:25:39:00 weirdness is a problem.
Results are identical in each case. TSR-8 rewinds as soon as "Chase"
is pressed.

- CoolEdit claims to have SMPTE synchronization but it's clear that
they really mean MTC, since you have to use a midi port for it. Why
don't they just say MTC? Their documentation propagates rather than
clears up the confusion between the two.

Anyway, if this sounds like something somebody's seen before and they
remember what the problem was, please let me know.

Thanks for your help,

rossi