RME Audio Hammerfall Multiface, User Manual

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User's Guide HDSP System Multiface
© RME
If several digital devices are to be used simultaneously in a system, they not only have to op-
erate with the same sample frequency but also be synchronous with each other. This is why
digital systems always need a single device defined as ‘master’, which sends the same clock
signal to all the other (‘slave’) devices. RME’s exclusive
SyncCheck technology (first imple-
mented in the Hammerfall) enables an easy to use check and display of the current clock
status. The ‘SyncCheck’ field indicates whether no signal (‘No Lock’), a valid signal (‘Lock’) or a
valid
and synchronous signal (‘Sync’) is present at each of the digital clock source inputs. The
AutoSync Reference display shows the current sync source and the measured frequency.
In practice, SyncCheck provides the user with an easy way of checking whether all digital de-
vices connected to the system are properly configured. With SyncCheck, finally anyone can
master this common source of error, previously one of the most complex issues in the digital
studio world.
Thanks to its AutoSync technique and lightning fast PLLs, the HDSP is not only capable of
handling standard frequencies, but also any sample rate between 28 and 103 kHz. Even the
word clock input, which most users will use in varispeed operation, allows any frequency be-
tween 28 kHz and 105 kHz.
At 88.2 or 96 kHz: If one of the ADAT inputs has been selected in ‘Pref Sync Ref’, the sample
frequency shown in the field
SPDIF Freq. differs from the one shown in ‘AutoSync Ref’. The
card automatically switches to S/MUX mode here, because ADAT optical inputs and outputs
are only specified up to 48 kHz. Data from/to a single input/output is spread over two channels,
the internal frequency stays at 44.1 or 48 kHz. In such cases, the ADAT sample frequency is
only half the SPDIF frequency.