Solid State Logic MadiXtreme. Hi-speed MADI I/O Reference Manual Download

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MadiXtreme. Hi-speed MADI I/O

Multichannel Digital Audio Interface for PC and Macintosh based Digital Audio Workstations

Reference Guide

MadiXtreme.

This is SSL.

www.solid-state-logic.com

Summary of Contents for MadiXtreme. Hi-speed MADI I/O

Page 1: ...MadiXtreme Hi speed MADI I O Multichannel Digital Audio Interface for PC and Macintosh based Digital Audio Workstations Reference Guide MadiXtreme This is SSL www solid state logic com ...

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Page 3: ...stallation Windows XP and Vista 7 Installing the SSL Soundscape Device Driver Windows XP 7 Installing the WDM KS Driver Windows XP 9 Installing the SSL Drivers Windows Vista 10 Device Manager Windows XP and Vista 11 4b Installation Macintosh 12 Hardware Installation Macintosh 12 Software Installation Macintosh 13 5 Audio and Clock Connections 14 Audio Connections 14 Clock Connections 15 6 Audio an...

Page 4: ...rsions 28 Windows XP and Windows Vista 28 Removing the SSL Soundscape Device Driver PC 28 Macintosh 28 11 Firmware Updates 29 Windows XP and Windows Vista 29 Macintosh 30 12 Working With Your Audio Applications 31 Windows Applications 31 Macintosh Applications 31 Steinberg Nuendo 32 Selecting the Driver 32 Audio Connections and Clock Settings 32 Overview 33 Input Channel Strips 34 Output Channel S...

Page 5: ... Strip 41 Selecting an Output for the Track Channel Strip 41 Monitoring the Signal 41 Recording 41 Apple Logic Pro 42 Selecting the Driver 42 Audio Connections and Clock Settings 42 Creating a Logic Project 43 Mixer Overview 43 Selecting an Input or Output 44 Monitoring the Signal 44 Recording 44 13 Technical Specifications 45 Page iii ...

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Page 7: ... and playing back digital audio you can probably set your system up and feel comfortable running a session within minutes However reading this Reference Guide is highly recommended to make the most of the MadiXtreme s capabilities Initially please make sure you understand the Master Clock and Sample Rate concepts and that you also understand the routing possibilities and functionalities of the Alp...

Page 8: ...ons Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators heat registers stoves or other apparatus including amplifiers that produce heat There are no user adjustments or user serviceable items on this apparatus Adjustments or alterations to this apparatus may affect the performance such that safety and or international compliance standards may no longer be met Caution To reduce the risk of elect...

Page 9: ...s that use different driver models Macintosh The MadiXtreme Macintosh driver is compliant with the Core Audio architecture MADI As world leader in large format analogue and digital mixing consoles it was natural for SSL to be among the companies that initiated the development of MADI Multichannel Audio Digital Interface The MADI standard was finalized by the AES as AES10 first published in 1991 an...

Page 10: ...e card MadiXtreme 128 version shown here The MadiXtreme CD Printed Installation Guide Page 4 MadiXtreme Hi speed MADI I O Installation Guide Installations Handbuch Guide d Installation Guia de Instalación Guida di Installazione MadiXtreme This is SSL EN DE FR ES IT JP ...

Page 11: ...Driver to prepare Windows Plug and Play to identify the card automatically after it has been physically installed in the computer 3 Shut down the computer and install the MadiXtreme hardware Connect the Alpha Link unit s or other MADI hardware to the MadiXtreme via the MADI ports At this point you can also connect the WordClock 4 Start the computer again In Windows XP install the drivers when prom...

Page 12: ...escription below shows the procedure in Windows XP In Vista the procedure is similar but more warnings are displayed The first one appears as soon as you launch the DrvSetup application Subsequent warnings may look different from the ones shown in XP Always click the option that allows the procedure to continue In the application window press the Update button to copy the driver data to your Windo...

Page 13: ...ll be used later to secure the card into place 5 With the MADI connectors facing towards the rear panel of the computer offer up the card to the chosen socket Gently push the card into the slot until it fits into place do not use excessive force but ensure that the card is fully inserted into the slot before proceeding to the next step 6 If applicable use the screw which held the expansion slot co...

Page 14: ... just make sure that Install the software automatically Recommended is selected and click Next Further windows will be displayed while Windows copies the driver files Depending on the specification of your system this could take a few seconds or a few minutes Eventually the dialog box below will confirm that the installation has been completed Clicking Finish closes the Wizard Page 8 ...

Page 15: ...er will be installed The series of dialogue boxes is almost identical to the one displayed for the main driver files with the exception of a warning regarding Windows Logo testing In the first dialogue box select No not this time and click Next In the second dialogue box ensure that Install the software automatically Recommended is selected and click Next Page 9 ...

Page 16: ...ation has been completed Clicking Finish closes the Wizard Installing the SSL Drivers Windows Vista If you have run the DrvSetup exe application as described in the Preparing Windows Plug and Play section then Windows Vista will install the drivers automatically when you restart the computer after physically installing the MadiXtreme This will happen in the background and you will not need to take...

Page 17: ...and Vista After a successful installation the SSL MadiXtreme appears in the SSL Soundscape Devices category in the Windows Device Manager The SSL Soundscape WDM KS Device is listed under Sound video and game controllers Page 11 ...

Page 18: ...rd 4 Locate a free PCIe expansion slot and remove the corresponding expansion slot cover from the back of the computer This may involve removing a screw which will be used later to secure the card into place MadiExtreme is a x1 PCIe card which will fit in any available PCIe slot irrespective of the length of slot 5 With the MADI connectors facing towards the rear panel of the computer offer up the...

Page 19: ...tallation CD that came with your card but if possible please use the latest version that can be downloaded from our website Click Continue or Install as necessary to continue the procedure and enter your log in password if prompted Eventually a summary screen should confirm that the installation was successful Click Close Page 13 ...

Page 20: ...nctive marks on the backplate of the card to identify which of the pair is the input and which is the output Standard MADI cables come as a pair and the SC connectors on the cables are keyed so that they can only fit one way into the MADI head The cable s input and output connectors will therefore always connect correctly to the corresponding connector of the MADI head However there are cases wher...

Page 21: ...reme locking to the incoming clock signal or to the MADI clock Use a 75 Ohm WordClock cable to connect the MadiXtreme s BNC WordClock connector to the BNC WordClock input or output connector of the Alpha Link or other device If you are using a MadiXtreme 64 with an Alpha Link MADI AX or Alpha Link MADI SX either device may be the clock master If you are using two Alpha Links with a MadiXtreme 128 ...

Page 22: ... using the TRack exe application which is included in the driver download package From the Device Manager Open the Device Manager expand SSL Soundscape Devices double click Madixtreme Device and click the I O Settings tab Using TRack Run TRack exe right click Madixtreme n where n is the number of the card ie Madixtreme 1 if you use a single MadiXtreme and click Properties Page 16 ...

Page 23: ...omatically switches to slave and to the corresponding pre selected clock source There is no need to change the settings of each card manually it is all done automatically according to your clock pre selections Also when used as a master device and slaved to an external clock signal MadiXtreme checks for changes to the sample rate of that clock signal and changes its own sample rate setting accordi...

Page 24: ... 56 Channel Mode When the MADI 56 channel mode box is checked the MADI interface can transmit or receive up to 56 audio channels reducing to 28 channels when operating at 88200 or 96000Hz and 14 channels when operating at 176400 or 192000Hz When the MADI 56 channel mode box is not checked the MADI interface can transmit or receive up to 64 audio channels reducing to 32 channels when operating at 8...

Page 25: ...ings Macintosh Accessing the Audio and Clock Settings Macintosh Click the Apple icon and select System Preferences In the System Preferences window click the MadiXtreme icon to display the MadiXtreme Preferences pane Page 19 ...

Page 26: ...8200 or 96000Hz and 14 channels when operating at 176400 or 192000Hz When 64 32 16 Ch is selected the MADI interface can transmit or receive up to 64 audio channels reducing to 32 channels when operating at 88200 or 96000Hz and 16 channels when operating at 176400 or 192000Hz For MadiXtreme 128 these settings apply to both MADI ports they can not be set independently MADI Frame Format When 48K S M...

Page 27: ...n be used Note that MadiXtreme n WDM where n is the unit number must be selected as the default audio device for sound playback The speaker configuration must be selected in the Advanced Audio Properties window which can be opened by clicking the Advanced button in the Sounds and Audio Devices Properties window Multichannel compatible applications will output multichannel audio via the selected gr...

Page 28: ...e changed in the Windows Control Panel Sounds and Audio Devices dialog Click the Hardware tab Select Legacy Audio Drivers Double click the Properties button to open the Legacy Audio Drivers Properties window Click the Properties tab Expand Audio Devices Select Audio for Soundscape Multimedia Click the Properties button to open the Soundscape Multimedia Properties window Click the Settings button a...

Page 29: ...not suitable for DAW software the Soundscape driver implemented stereo and or eight channel virtual devices on top of the actual audio device In Vista the way audio devices are handled has been changed several times by Microsoft At the time of writing only the first input and output virtual devices are seen by Vista Despite this DAW applications should still be able to see all the WDM KS devices a...

Page 30: ...ble audio cards One such feature allows the monitoring to be switched from play to record so that there is no delay in monitoring the input signal through the PC Another feature is the ability to use accurate hardware synchronization capabilities via the card and ASIO 2 driver The SSL Soundscape ASIO 2 driver is automatically installed as part of the SSL Soundscape Device Drivers and should be ava...

Page 31: ...ct SSL Soundscape ASIO under VST Audio System The Direct Monitoring box should be checked to switch monitoring between the input for recording and output for playback from Cubase or Nuendo Please note that at the time of writing Direct Monitoring has not been implemented for MadiXtreme Page 25 ...

Page 32: ...scape drivers allow multiple cards to be used simultaneously the total number of input or output streams is currently limited to 254 if the total number of either stream exceeds 254 the audio application will not be able to see or use any of the streams For instance Three MadiXtreme 64s could be used simultaneously providing 192 input streams and 192 output streams One MadiXtreme 128 and one MadiX...

Page 33: ...ice click the Apple icon and select System Preferences In the System Preferences window click the Sound icon to display the Sound Preferences pane In the Sound Preferences pane use the Output and Input buttons to view the available output and input devices Click the MadiXtreme name to select it Page 27 ...

Page 34: ...er or the Remove button if you want to remove it and follow the instructions on screen Click Done to close the SSL Soundscape Driver Setup window at the end of the procedure The computer must always be restarted after the SSL Soundscape Device Driver has been updated or removed Removing the SSL Soundscape Device Driver PC In Windows XP open the Windows Control Panel click Add or Remove Programs se...

Page 35: ...ith obsolete firmware is detected In such cases click Next to proceed Please close any streaming applications currently running and wait while the firmware is updated After the update click Finish and then power down and re start the computer It is most important that power be removed from the computer for a short period after the firmware has been updated This is because MadiXtreme only loads the...

Page 36: ...tions You will be prompted to locate the firmware file that you want to load into the card Once the firmware update process has completed the computer must be shutdown and restarted in order to complete the update process It is most important that power be removed from the computer for a short period after the firmware has been updated This is because MadiXtreme only loads the new firmware image i...

Page 37: ...s such as setting up the clock synchronization configuring the inputs and outputs of the software mixer arming tracks etc This manual could not possibly cover every aspect of every audio application on the market However for your convenience we have provided a few pointers on the following pages for some of the most popular applications The information provided will help you to record audio using ...

Page 38: ...hen click OK Audio Connections and Clock Settings We will assume here that the MadiXtreme is connected to an Alpha Link MADI AX or MADI SX The Alpha Link is configured so that its analogue inputs 1 to 24 are connected to its MADI outputs 1 to 24 and vice versa A stereo test signal is being received via the Alpha Link s analogue inputs 1 and 2 and its analogue outputs 1 and 2 are connected to a mon...

Page 39: ...s created in the VST Connections window They are assigned automatically and incrementally to the MadiXtreme s inputs and outputs but can be reassigned manually if required Audio channel strips are created automatically in the centre section of the mixer when audio tracks are created in the current Nuendo Project These audio channel strips can receive signal from any input bus channel strip or from...

Page 40: ...ue box to create input channel strips as required To assign an existing Nuendo input bus to a different MadiXtreme input click the name of the MadiXtreme input in the Device Port column and select the required input from the resulting menu Output Channel Strips Output channel strips are created and can be reassigned in the same way as input channel strips Simply click the Output tab to add or assi...

Page 41: ...he prompts Then using the information provided in the previous sections configure the new project so that you have One stereo input bus and corresponding input channel strip assigned to STR 1 Madixtreme 1 and STR 2 Madixtreme 2 One stereo output bus and corresponding output channel strip assigned to STR 1 Madixtreme 1 and STR 2 Madixtreme 2 One audio track and corresponding audio channel strip wit...

Page 42: ... the window Audio Connections and Clock Settings It is assumed that MadiXtreme is connected to an Alpha Link MADI AX or MADI SX The Alpha Link is configured so that its analogue inputs 1 to 24 are connected to its MADI outputs 1 to 24 and vice versa A stereo test signal is received via the Alpha Link s analogue inputs 1 and 2 and its analogue outputs 1 and 2 are connected to a monitoring system It...

Page 43: ...ains Section includes direct stereo outputs assigned to the audio hardware When Sonar 7 0 Producer Edition is started a dialogue offers the option to create a new project The default configuration of the new project is two stereo audio tracks and two MIDI tracks This is a good way to start experimenting with MadiXtreme and was used for writing this manual so please follow the prompts to create a n...

Page 44: ...xtreme 1 in the submenu Selecting an Output for the Track Channel Strip Next select the track output by clicking the output field near the bottom of the track channel strip Select SSL Soundscape ASIO STR 1 Madixtreme 1 to hear the signal transmitted via the MadiXtreme s first output pair Monitoring the Signal Click the Input Echo button to hear the signal going through the channel strip prior to r...

Page 45: ... Connections and Clock Settings It is assumed that the MadiXtreme is connected to an Alpha Link MADI AX or MADI SX The Alpha Link is configured so that its analogue inputs 1 to 24 are connected to its MADI outputs 1 to 24 and vice versa A stereo test signal is received via the Alpha Link s analogue inputs 1 and 2 and its analogue outputs 1 and 2 are connected to a monitoring system It is further a...

Page 46: ...t project By default the output of each audio channel strip is routed to the Master section this can be changed if required To get started create a new Samplitude project by clicking New Virtual Project VIP under the File menu Name the project in the resulting dialogue window and click OK to confirm and close the window By default the project will have four stereo audio tracks and corresponding au...

Page 47: ...ctly to the MadiXtreme outputs 1 and 2 It is routed to the Master section of the Samplitude Mixer which itself should be routed to the MadiXtreme outputs 1 and 2 If you need to change the output routing of the Master section click the output field at the bottom of the Master section just like you did for the output of the channel strip and select the output pair as required Monitoring the Signal C...

Page 48: ...nu Audio Connections and Clock Settings For this quick start example it is assumed that the MadiXtreme is connected to an Alpha Link MADI AX or MADI SX The Alpha Link is configured so that its analogue inputs 1 to 24 are connected to its MADI outputs 1 to 24 and vice versa A stereo test signal is received via the Alpha Link s analogue inputs 1 and 2 and its analogue outputs 1 and 2 are connected t...

Page 49: ... Pro Mixer will be configured as shown below on the keyboard press 2 to display the Mixer If necessary click the Arrange button near the top of the Mixer so that it is lit in blue with Single and All turned off The Audio channel strip receives the signal from the MadiXtreme input or after recording from the recorded track in the Arrange window The Output channel strip controls the overall output l...

Page 50: ...the settings Monitoring the Signal Click the Input Monitoring button to hear the signal going through the channel strip prior to recording The Track channel strip meters will indicate the signal level and you will hear it through your monitoring system Recording In this example simply click the Record button when you are ready to start recording Since there is only a single track present in the pr...

Page 51: ...vel Non operating 0 to 12000m Connections System Single x1 PCIe slot MADI Twin SC type chassis socket Glass Multimode Fibre 50 125µ or 62 5 125µ Wordclock 75Ω BNC Zin 75Ω 3V3 5V TTL compatible Driver Models Macintosh Core Audio PC ASIO 2 WDM MME GSIF2 DWave System Requirements Macintosh PowerPC G4 G5 or Intel OS X Tiger Version 10 4 11 or greater OS X Leopard Version 10 5 4 or greater 512MB RAM 1 ...

Page 52: ...and are hereby acknowledged No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means whether mechanical or electronic without the written permission of Solid State Logic Oxford OX5 1RU England As research and development is a continual process Solid State Logic reserves the right to change the features and specifications described herein without notice or obligation Solid State Lo...

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