User’s Guide DIGI9636
© RME
16
10.3 General Operation
The green ‘Lock’ LED next to the input jack will light up when the input sees a valid word clock
signal. Selecting ‘Word Clock’ in the ‘Clock Mode’ field will switch clock control over to the word
clock signal. As soon as there is a valid signal at the BNC jack, 'Sync Ref' will display 'Word'.
This message has the same function as the green ‘Lock’ LED next to the BNC input jack, but
appears on the monitor, i.e. the user can check immediately whether a valid word clock signal
is present and is currently being used.
The wordclock input and output as well as all ADAT ports only work in Single Speed mode.
At 96 kHz, the word clock output will therefore be a 48 kHz signal.
11. Using more than one Hammerfall
The current drivers support any combination and number of Hammerfalls, both
DIGI9636
and
DIGI9652
. Please note that only one ADAT Sync can be used (of course). Additional
all cards must be in sync i.e. have to receive valid sync information (either via wordclock or
using AutoSync).
12. Special Characteristics of the SPDIF Output
Apart from the audio data itself, digital signals in SPDIF or AES/EBU format have a header
containing channel status information. False channel status is a common cause of malfunction.
The Hammerfall ignores the received header and creates a totally new one for the output
signal.
Note that in record or monitor modes, set emphasis bits will disappear. Recordings originally
done with emphasis should always be played back with the emphasis bit set!
This can be done by selecting the 'Emphasis' switch in the Settings dialogue ('SPDIF Out'). This
setting is updated immediately, even during playback. The Hammerfall's new output header is
optimized for largest compatibility with other digital devices:
•
32 kHz, 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz or 96 kHz, depending on the current sample rate
•
Audio use, Non-Audio
•
No Copyright, Copy Permitted
•
Format Consumer or Professional
•
Category General, Generation not indicated
•
2-channel, No Emphasis or 50/15 µs
•
Aux bits Audio Use
Professional AES/EBU equipment can be connected to the Hammerfall thanks to the
transformer-balanced coaxial outputs, and the ‘Professional’ format option with doubled output
voltage. Output cables should have the same pinout as those used for input (see section 8.1
‘Connections’), but with a male XLR plug instead of a female one.
Note that most consumer-orientated equipment (with optical or phono S/PDIF inputs) will
only accept signals in ‘Consumer’ format!
The audio bit in the header can be set to 'Non-Audio'. This is necessary when Dolby AC-3
encoded data is sent to external decoders (surround-sound receivers, television sets etc. with
AC-3 digital inputs), as these decoders would otherwise not recognize the data as AC-3.
