Synchronization – all products
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Synchronization – all products
Synchronizing Multiple Devices
Layla24, Mona, Gina24 and Mia are designed to work alongside other audio
equipment. If you are planning on using your card with other audio
equipment, please note the following:
The Mac drivers included in this package support multiple Echo cards
within the same system. In addition, your new Echo hardware will operate
alongside other Echo products. Echo hardware can also peacefully coexist
with audio equipment from other manufacturers, but be aware that operating
alongside
another product is not the same as operating
with
it. In order for
accurate synchronization to occur, the other audio product(s) in your system
must support a synchronization mode that is compatible with your particular
Echo hardware. Without such synchronization, the individual pieces of
equipment will act independently of each other. This scenario may be fine
for some musical applications; however, it is not appropriate for situations
where sample-accurate synchronization is required or that will be affected
by clock drift.
Let’s take a brief look at the various synchronization types.
Word Clock
–
This is a synchronization signal that connects to the BNC
connector labeled
Word Clock
on Layla24/Mona’s back panel. This
synchronization clock runs at the selected sample rate. Think of it as a kind
of electronic metronome, which clicks back and forth at the digital sample
rate. It is one of the most widely used forms of synchronization in digital
audio. Layla24/Mona is always generating Word Clock on its Word Clock
output BNC connector. Although it can generate Word Clock at any sample
rate it is set to, Layla24/Mona can only sync to Word Clock if the master
device is set to a sample rate between 30kHz and 100kHz. Otherwise you
will get noise and/or loss of sync.
S/PDIF
– The Sony/Phillips Digital Interchange Format is a serial bit-
stream that has a clock signal embedded in the data stream. When recording
from an S/PDIF source, whether via optical cables or RCA cables, Echo
products will utilize the synchronization clock that is embedded in the
S/PDIF while it decodes the bitstream. Your Echo digital audio system can