RME Audio SteadyClock User Manual Download

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User’s Guide ADI-8 QS

5. Accessories

RME offers several optional components for the ADI-8 QS:

Part Number

Description

OK0050

Optical cable, Toslink, 0.5 m (1.7 ft)

OK0100

Optical cable, Toslink, 1 m (3.3 ft)

OK0200

Optical cable, Toslink, 2 m (6.6 ft)

OK0300

Optical cable, Toslink, 3 m (9.9 ft)

OK0500

Optical cable, Toslink, 5 m 16.4 ft)

OK1000

Optical cable, Toslink, 10 m (32.8 ft)

BO25MXLR4M4F1PRO Digital Breakout Cable Pro, AES/EBU

25-pin D-sub to 4 x XLR male + 4 x XLR female, 1m (3.3 ft)

BO25MXLR4M4F3PRO  same, 3 m (9.9 ft)

BO25MXLR4M4F6PRO  same, 6 m (19.8 ft)

BO25M25M1PRO

Digital D-sub Cable Pro, AES/EBU,

25-pin D-sub to 25-pin D-sub, 1m (3.3 ft)

BO25M25M3PRO

same, 3m (9.9 ft)

BO25M25M6PRO

same, 6m (19.8 ft)

BO25MXLR8M3

Analog Breakout Cable, 25-pin D-sub to 8 x XLR male, 3 m (9.9 ft)

BO25MXLR8M6

same, 6 m (19.8 ft)

BO25MXLR8M10

same, 10 m (33 ft)

BO25MXLR8F3

Analog Breakout Cable 25-pin D-sub to 8 x XLR female, 3 m (9.9 ft)

BO25MXLR8F6

same, 6 m (19.8 ft)

BO25MXLR8F10

same, 10 m (33 ft)

I64 MADI Card

MADI module featuring thru-input, Delay Compensation, Auto ID, MIDI
over MADI, remote via MADI

BOB32

BOB-32, Universal breakout box, 19" 1 Unit height. The professional
digital AES/EBU breakout solution

Summary of Contents for SteadyClock

Page 1: ...nal 8 Channel AD DA Converter Reference Low Latency Conversion 8 Channel Analog AES ADAT Interface Optional 64 Channel MADI Interface 24 Bit 192 kHz Digital Audio MIDI Remote Control 24 Bit Interface TotalRemote I64 Option Slot FlexGain SteadyClock SyncCheck AES 3 AES 10 ...

Page 2: ...8 5 Remote 15 8 6 Clock Section 15 8 7 Digital Input 16 8 8 Output State 16 8 9 Set Rotary Encoder 16 8 10 Output 17 9 The Setup Menu 9 1 Exit 17 9 2 Global Output Level 17 9 3 Input Trim 18 9 4 Output Trim 18 9 5 ID Id 18 9 6 Bank bA 19 9 7 Auto ID Au 19 9 8 Delay Compensation dC 19 9 9 Follow Clock FC 20 9 10 Word Clock Out Co 20 9 11 Trim Enable TE 21 9 12 Global Output Level Enable GE 21 9 13 ...

Page 3: ...l Reference 16 Technical Specifications 16 1 Analog 40 16 2 Digital Inputs 41 16 3 Digital Outputs 42 16 4 Digital 42 16 5 MIDI 42 16 6 General 43 16 7 Firmware 43 16 8 MADI User Bit Chart 43 16 9 Connector Pinouts 44 17 Technical Background 17 1 Terminology 46 17 2 Lock and SyncCheck 47 17 3 Latency and Monitoring 48 17 4 DS Double Speed 49 17 5 QS Quad Speed 49 17 6 AES EBU SPDIF 50 17 7 Signal ...

Page 4: ...ture and water from entering the device Never leave a pot with liquid on top of the device Do not use this product near water i e swimming pool bathtub or wet basement Danger of condensation inside don t turn on before the device has reached room temperature Installation Surface may become hot during operation ensure sufficient ventilation Avoid direct sun light and do not place it near other sour...

Page 5: ...User s Guide ADI 8 QS RME 5 User s Guide ADI 8 QS General ...

Page 6: ...hannel hi end AD and DA converter in reference quality fully remote controllable In a standard 19 box with 1 unit height the device offers numerous extraordinary features like Intelligent Clock Control ICC SyncCheck SteadyClock analog and digital Lim iter four hardware reference levels up to 24 dBu AES EBU and ADAT I O optional MADI I O 192 kHz sample rate MIDI remote control digital input and out...

Page 7: ...e Setup menu is active the according parameter values are displayed in this level me ter window REMOTE defines the source for MIDI remote control operation Option Slot MADI or DIN jack In the CLOCK SECTION the current clock reference and frequency multiplier is chosen The digital input signal of the DA converters is chosen by pushing the DIGITAL INPUT button The 8 level meter of the OUTPUT STATE s...

Page 8: ...gital sources even SPDIF ADAT I O MAIN TOSLINK Standard ADAT optical port ADAT I O AUX TOSLINK Transmits further channels at activated sample multiplexing WORD IN BNC A push switch allows to activate internal termination 75 Ohms WORD OUT BNC Standard word clock output MIDI I O 5 pin DIN MIDI input and output via 5 pin DIN jacks Used to remote control the ADI 8 QS and with installed MADI Card to tr...

Page 9: ...the ADI 8 QS can be accessed by using D sub for an optional XLR multicore and 1 4 TRS jacks Both are internally connected so not operational at the same time The electronic input stage is built in a servo balanced design which handles unbalanced mono TS and balanced XLR stereo TRS jacks correctly automatically adjusting the level reference When switched on for the first time the ADI 8 DS starts in...

Page 10: ...5MXLR4M4F3PRO same 3 m 9 9 ft BO25MXLR4M4F6PRO same 6 m 19 8 ft BO25M25M1PRO Digital D sub Cable Pro AES EBU 25 pin D sub to 25 pin D sub 1m 3 3 ft BO25M25M3PRO same 3m 9 9 ft BO25M25M6PRO same 6m 19 8 ft BO25MXLR8M3 Analog Breakout Cable 25 pin D sub to 8 x XLR male 3 m 9 9 ft BO25MXLR8M6 same 6 m 19 8 ft BO25MXLR8M10 same 10 m 33 ft BO25MXLR8F3 Analog Breakout Cable 25 pin D sub to 8 x XLR femal...

Page 11: ...turer IMM Elektronik GmbH Leipziger Strasse 32 D 09648 Mittweida Trademarks All trademarks and registered trademarks belong to their respective owners RME Hammerfall and DIGICheck are registered trademarks of RME Intelligent Audio Solutions SyncAlign To talGain SyncCheck ZLM SteadyClock ADI 8 QS I64 Option Slot I64 MADI Card and Intelli gent Clock Control ICC are trademarks of RME Intelligent Audi...

Page 12: ...nt in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference in which case the user will be required to correct the interference at his own ex pense RoHS This product has been soldered lead free and fulfills the requirements of the RoHS directive ISO 9001 This product has been manufactured under ISO 9001 quality management The manufacturer IMM Elektronik GmbH is also certified for ISO 14001 En...

Page 13: ...User s Guide ADI 8 QS RME 13 User s Guide ADI 8 QS Usage and Operation ...

Page 14: ... damaged Both the fully symmetrical design and the digitally controlled release time contribute to the re duction of the unavoidable distortion of a peak limiter linearity errors of the control elements generation of the control voltage The distortion value of about 0 3 stays the same at any level and any frequency Another exceptional feature is the ability to handle extremely high levels At the l...

Page 15: ...n Slot Note Via MIDI remote control all front panel controls can be locked Lock Keys An exception is the REMOTE key In the Off state no LED lit Lock Keys is deactivated Therefore a locking of all the controls can be revoked directly at the unit at any time 8 6 Clock Section The source and frequency of the unit s clock is configured in the CLOCK SECTION The button CLOCK lets you step through the op...

Page 16: ...ted to 4 channels 2 per optical output in this mode 8 7 Digital Input The key DIGITAL INPUT defines the signal source of the DA converters This is also true for the mode Digital to Digital where the chosen digital input signal is sent directly to the digital outputs Each input has its own SYNC LED If a valid input signal is applied SyncCheck is active automatically SyncCheck takes the chosen clock...

Page 17: ...p In this example d d can be activated check symbol or deactivated no check symbol Push SET 1 time to return to the options in the right window or simply wait for 6 seconds The last setting stays valid the setup menu is left and the level meters work again 9 1 Exit The Setup menu is exit automatically when no entries are received for about 6 seconds A quicker is to use the option Exit Selecting th...

Page 18: ...9 4 Output Trim Default 0 dB Available settings 6 dB up to 6 dB in steps of 0 5 dB Additionally to the four hardware based reference levels a digital gain change of 6 dB can be applied to any output channel This allows for an individual and separate level calibration of the DA converter outputs as required in a surround monitoring setup With a full scale signal 0 dBFS positive values cause an over...

Page 19: ...he use of the I64 MADI Card Multiple ADI 8 QS and Micstasy and ADI 642 see chapter 12 3 connected serially can assign consecutive IDs to themselves see chapter 9 5 At the first device in the chain Auto ID is set to On see picture to the left all other devices automatically turn into slaves 9 8 Delay Compensation dC Default Off Available settings On Off This option relates to the use of the I64 MAD...

Page 20: ...DS LED will light up automatically at 192 kHz the QS LED This function is automatically deactivated for the I64 MADI Card and the ADAT input as it is not possible to detect the sample rate range automatically 9 10 Word Clock Out Co Default FS Available settings Si FS Si stands for Always Single Speed FS for the current sample rate or Follow Sample rate In default state FS the word clock output fol...

Page 21: ...Direct Level dL Default Off Available settings On Off When Direct Level is activated turning the rotary encoder immediately changes the global out put level in the same way as the included Hardware Remote This option provides a comfort able setting of the volume at the unit without the need to enter the according Setup menu first At each change the level meters are shortly switched off displaying ...

Page 22: ...signal is sent with bit accuracy to the digital outputs In mode Effects the digital input signal is first proc essed by the digital settings Output Trim and Global Level then by the Input Trim settings then when activated by the digital limiter before finally reaching the digital outputs The block diagrams show the signal flow for both modes Digital to Digital Direct Digital to Digital Effects ...

Page 23: ...MADI Card the ADI 8 QS can also be remote controlled via MADI Status information of the unit is sent to all outputs simultaneously With an installed I64 MADI Card this includes embedded information at the MADI outputs see 15 2 MIDI over MADI The diagram shows the signal flow of the MIDI data with all I Os The MIDI input signal reaches both the internal Remote Command Processor and the MIDI outputs...

Page 24: ...he remote control software then uses a virtual MIDI port of the card port 3 which directly sends and receives MIDI data via MADI Software download http www rme audio de Downloads MIDI Remote Brief description of the Software ADI 8 QS MIDI Remote for Windows and Mac OS The unique multi window concept of the software MIDI Remote allows for a simultaneous usage and configuration not only of multiple ...

Page 25: ... be locked Lock Keys An exception is the REMOTE key In Off state Lock Keys is deactivated Therefore a locking of all the controls can be revoked directly at the unit at any time The software MIDI Remote also controls RME s ADI 648 ADI 6432 ADI 642 Micstasy the complete M series and the MADI Bridge ...

Page 26: ...26 User s Guide ADI 8 QS RME ...

Page 27: ...User s Guide ADI 8 QS RME 27 User s Guide ADI 8 QS Inputs and Outputs ...

Page 28: ...t guarantees an exceptional sound quality outstanding low distortion and highest Signal to Noise ratio in all level settings One of the main issues when working with an AD converter is to maintain the full dynamic range within the best operating level Therefore the ADI 8 QS internally uses hi quality elec tronic switches which introduce no additional noise or distortion to the audio path The key I...

Page 29: ...ll supply analog breakout multicores D sub to XLR in Tascam pinout in different lengths The maximum output level at the D sub connector is 27 dBu Each output channel has its own 7 segment level meter so every channel can be checked for output signal and overloads easily The level data are taken directly in front of the DA converter so behind the digital level settings of Output Trim and Global Out...

Page 30: ...hannel universal sample rate and format converter is highly recommended Besides the audio data digital signals in SPDIF or AES EBU format contain a channel status coding which is being used for transmitting further information The output signal coding of the ADI 8 QS has been implemented according to AES3 1992 Amendment 4 32 kHz 44 1 kHz 48 kHz 64 kHz 88 2 kHz 96 kHz 176 4 kHz 192 kHz according to...

Page 31: ...When activat ing the option Digital to Digital in the Setup menu the currently chosen digital input data is pre sent at the outputs instead see chapter 9 15 The ADAT outputs can be used in parallel to the AES outputs at up to 192 kHz but in QS mode only channels 1 to 4 will be available ADAT MAIN Interface for the first or only device sending receiving an ADAT signal Carries the channels 1 to 8 In...

Page 32: ...channels used by an individual device is determined automatically Auto ID or manually in the setup menu ID ID 01 Channels 1 8 ID 02 Channels 9 16 ID 03 Channels 17 24 ID 04 Channels 25 32 ID 05 Channels 33 40 ID 06 Channels 41 48 ID 07 Channels 49 56 ID 08 Channels 57 64 The I64 MADI Card defaults to the 56 channel format at its outputs As soon as a 64 channel format is detected at the inputs or t...

Page 33: ...2 Activate ADC Auto Delay Compensation in the first unit ID of the master is always 1 All following units become Slave and compensate the respective delay automatically The routing is done according to the setting of the matrix If Auto Auto Channel Assignment is acti vated in the first unit too all following units get a consecutive ID and with this the according channel routing Mixed setups Auto I...

Page 34: ...ination Output The ADI 8 QS word clock output is constantly active providing the current sample frequency as word clock signal In master mode the word clock will be fixed to 44 1 kHz or 48 kHz DS x 2 QS x 4 In any other case the sample rate is identical to the one present at the currently cho sen clock input When the current word clock source fails the last valid sample rate will be held automatic...

Page 35: ...ut word clock is not only the great problem solver it also has some disadvantages The word clock is based on a fraction of the really needed clock For example SPDIF 44 1 kHz word clock a simple square wave signal has to be multiplied by 256 inside the device using a spe cial PLL to about 11 2 MHz This signal then replaces the one from the quartz crystal Big disadvantage because of the high multipl...

Page 36: ...the higher voltage word clock networks are in some cases more stable and reliable if cables are not terminated at all Ideally all outputs of word clock delivering devices are designed as low impedance types but all word clock inputs as high impedance types in order to not weaken the signal on the chain But there are also negative examples when the 75 Ohms are built into the device and cannot be sw...

Page 37: ... in case the optional I64 MADI Card has been fitted see chapter 10 3 15 Remote This mini DIN jack can only be used to connect the included remote control The 5 meter 16 ft long cable is fixed to the Hardware Remote unit More in formation on usage and functionality is found in chapter 10 1 Note The Hardware Remote uses the function Global Output Level see chapter 9 2 The vol ume can not be changed ...

Page 38: ...38 User s Guide ADI 8 QS RME ...

Page 39: ...User s Guide ADI 8 QS RME 39 User s Guide ADI 8 QS Technical Reference ...

Page 40: ...se 96 kHz 0 5 dB 5 Hz 45 5 kHz Frequency response 192 kHz 1 dB 5 Hz 66 5 kHz THD 110 dB 0 00032 THD N 104 dB 0 00063 Channel separation 110 dB DA Conversion Resolution 24 bit Signal to Noise ratio SNR 24 dBu 44 1 kHz 117 0 dB RMS unweighted 120 dBA Signal to Noise ratio SNR 19 dBu 117 dB RMS unweighted 120 dBA Signal to Noise ratio SNR 13 dBu 117 dB RMS unweighted 120 dBA Signal to Noise ratio SNR...

Page 41: ...d 10 kOhm Switch for internal termination 75 Ohm Automatic Double Quad Speed detection and internal conversion to Single Speed SteadyClock guarantees super low jitter synchronization even in varispeed operation Transformer coupled galvanically isolated input Not affected by DC offsets within the network Signal Adaptation Circuit signal refresh through auto center and hysteresis Overvoltage protect...

Page 42: ...pp Cable length coaxial up to 100 m Optical via FDDI duplex SC connector 62 5 125 and 50 125 compatible Cable length optical more than 500 m Generates 56 channel and 64 channel mode and 96k frame Single Wire up to 64 channels 24 bit 48 kHz Double Wire 96k frame up to 32 channels 24 bit 96 kHz Quad Wire up to 16 channels 24 bit 192 kHz 15 4 Digital Clocks Internal AES In ADAT In Word Clock In Optio...

Page 43: ...ed on programmable logic By re programming of a little compo nent called Flash PROM both function and behaviour of the unit can be changed at any time At the time of writing this manual the unit is shipped with firmware 1 2 The firmware version is displayed after power on for about one second on the level meters of the ADI 8 QS Firmware 1 1 Initial release Firmware 1 2 Seldom problem with the comb...

Page 44: ...e sure that the connectors are clearly labeled with Tascam and Ya maha The cable can only be used when the Tascam side is connected to a Tascam connector and the Yamaha side is connected to a Yamaha connector Yamaha Signal In 1 2 In 1 2 In 3 4 In 3 4 In 5 6 In 5 6 In 7 8 In 7 8 D Sub 1 14 2 15 3 16 4 17 Signal Out 1 2 Out 1 2 Out 3 4 Out 3 4 Out 5 6 Out 5 6 Out 7 8 Out 7 8 D Sub 5 18 6 19 7 20 8 2...

Page 45: ...y allows to use unbalanced connections with no loss in level For this to work pins 3 and 1 GND have to be connected The output circuitry does not operate in a servo balanced way When connecting unbalanced devices make sure that pin 3 stays unconnected TRS jacks analog inputs outputs The stereo TRS jacks of the analog inputs are wired according to international standards Tip hot Ring cold Sleeve GN...

Page 46: ...te and hence twice the sample rate A stereo signal subsequently requires two AES EBU ports The Double Wire method is an industry standard today however it has a number of different names like Dual AES Double Wide Dual Line and Wide Wire The AES3 specification uses the uncommon term Single channel double sampling frequency mode When used with the ADAT format the term S MUX is commonly used Double W...

Page 47: ...le rate is generated internally and thus slightly higher or lower than the ADI 8 QS s internal sample rate Result When reading out the data there will frequently be read er rors that cause clicks and drop outs Also when using multiple inputs a simple LOCK is not sufficient The above described problem can be solved elegantly by setting the ADI 8 QS from internal clock to MADI its internal clock wil...

Page 48: ...gnificant delay Modern converter chips operate with 64 or 128 times over sampling plus digital filtering in order to move the error prone analog filters away from the au dible frequency range as far as possible This typically generates a delay of about 40 samples equalling one millisecond A playback and re record of the same signal via DA and AD loop back then causes an offset of the newly recorde...

Page 49: ... double sample rate It was then possible to transmit two channels of 96 kHz data via one AES EBU port But Double Wire is still far from being dead On one hand there are still many devices which can t handle more than 48 kHz e g digital tape recorders But also other common interfaces like ADAT or TDIF are still using this technique Because the ADAT interface does not allow for sampling frequencies ...

Page 50: ...principle because the audio information is stored in the same place in the data stream However there are blocks of additional information which are different for both standards In the table the meaning of the first byte 0 is shown for both formats The first bit already determines whether the following bits should be read as Professional or Consumer information Byte Mode Bit 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 Pro P...

Page 51: ... value would be 114 dB again This can be verified with RME s DIGICheck The function Bit Statistic Noise measures the noise floor by Limited Bandwidth ignoring DC and ultrasound The reason for this behaviour is the noise shaping technology of the analog to digital convert ers They move all noise and distortion to the in audible higher frequency range above 45 kHz Therefore the noise is slightly inc...

Page 52: ...nced coaxial cables with 75 Ohms BNC plugs they are not expensive and easy to get The optical interface is much more interesting due to its complete galvanic separation but for many users it is a mystery because very few have ever dealt with huge cabinets full of professional network technology Therefore here are some explanations regarding MADI optical The cables used are standard in computer net...

Page 53: ...ock has originally been de veloped to gain a stable and clean clock from the heavily jittery MADI data signal The embedded MADI clock suffers from about 80 ns jitter caused by the time resolution of 125 MHz within the format Common jitter values for other devices are 5 ns while a very good clock will have less than 2 ns The picture to the right shows the MADI input signal with 80 ns of jitter top ...

Page 54: ...54 User s Guide ADI 8 QS RME 17 Block Diagram ...

Page 55: ... This string triggers a complete dump of all value response data bytes Request Level meter Data Format F0 00 20 0D 41 Bank no dev ID 11 F7 This string triggers a shorter dump of only the level meter data Set Value Sets any number of parameters nn oo can be repeated freely Value Response After being triggered by receiving a request value command device sends a string of all value response data byte...

Page 56: ...ove 0Eh 14 Trim Input Ch 6 x x see above 0Fh 15 Trim Input Ch 7 x x see above 10h 16 Trim Input Ch 8 x x see above 11h 17 Setup 1 x x see setup 1 table 12h 18 Setup 2 x x see setup 2 table 13h 19 Setup 3 x x see setup 3 table 14h 20 Setup 4 x x see setup 4 table 15h 21 Lock Sync Info 1 x see lock sync table 1 16h 22 Lock Sync Info 2 x see lock sync table 2 17h 23 Lock Sync Info 3 x see lock sync t...

Page 57: ...ion 4 AES 5 ADAT 2 LSB 0 clock select 1 MSB 1 clock range 0 single speed 1 ds 2 qs LSB 0 LSB 0 clock range Setup 3 MSB 7 0 6 Auto Device 0 off 1 on 5 Delay Compensation 0 off 1 on 4 MSB 1 Peak Hold 0 off 1 auto reset 3 LSB 0 Peak Hold 2 manual 3 reset tx only 2 MSB 1 Digital Input 0 Option 1 ADAT 2 AES 1 LSB 0 Digital Input LSB 0 Lock Keys 0 unlock 1 lock Setup 4 MSB 7 0 6 MSB 1 fx drive 0 3 1 4 5...

Page 58: ...ync 0 no sync 1 sync Request only LSB 0 AES 1 Lock 0 unlock 1 lock Lock Sync 3 MSB 7 0 6 0 5 AES 2 Sync 0 no sync 1 sync 4 AES 2 Lock 0 unlock 1 lock Request only 3 AES 3 Sync 0 no sync 1 sync Request only 2 AES 3 Lock 0 unlock 1 lock Request only 1 AES 4 Sync 0 no sync 1 sync Request only LSB 0 AES 4 Lock 0 unlock 1 lock Request Level Meter Data Level meter Data MSB 7 0 6 0 A D only 5 MSB 2 gain ...

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