User manual ALESIS AI-1 REFERENCE MANUAL

[. . . ] ALESIS AI-1 Reference Manual TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION 1. 0 ABOUT THE AI-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1. 1 IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT THIS MANUAL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1. 2 OVERVIEW OF MAIN FUNCTIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1. 2A Digital Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1. 2B Digital Audio Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1. 2C Sample Rate Conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1. 3 BASIC OPERATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1. 3A Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1. 3B Destination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1. 3C ADAT Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1. 3D Destination Rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 CHAPTER 2 : HOOKUP 2. 0 POWER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2. 1 CONNECTION TO ADAT(S) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2. 1A Single ADAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2. 1B Multiple ADATs without the BRC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2. 1C Connecting the BRC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2. 2 AES/EBU AND S/PDIF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 2. 2A Connecting an AES/EBU Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 2. 2B Connecting an S/PDIF Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 2. 3 48 kHz CLOCK OUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 2. 4 POWERING-UP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 CHAPTER 3 : TRANSFERRING DIGITAL AUDIO 3. 0 AI-1 TO ADAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 3. 0A Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 3. 0B Selecting Record Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 3. 0C Destination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3. 0D Converting Sample Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3. 1 ADAT TO AI-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3. 1A Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3. 1B Selecting Source Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3. 1C Destination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3. 1D Converting Sample Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3. 2 USING THE BRC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 3. 2A Digital Input. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 3. 2B Bouncing Tracks Between ADATs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 3. 2C Recording from AI-1 onto ADAT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 1 3. 2D BRC Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 3. 2E Output ADAT Tracks to AI-1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 3. 2F Bouncing Tracks While Outputting To AI-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 3. 3 CONFIGURATIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 3. 3A ADAT to AES/EBU (48kHz) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 3. 3B AES/EBU to ADAT (48kHz). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 3. 3C AES/EBU to ADAT (44. 1kHz to 48kHz) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 3. 3D ADAT to AES/EBU (48kHz to 44. 1kHz) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 3. 3E AES/EBU to ADAT (44. 1kHz) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 3. 3F ADAT to S/PDIF (48kHz) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 3. 3G S/PDIF to ADAT (48kHz). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 3. 3H S/PDIF to ADAT (44. 1kHz to 48kHz) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 3. 3I ADAT to S/PDIF (48kHz to 44. 1kHz). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 3. 3J S/PDIF to ADAT (44. 1kHz) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 3. 3K ADAT to ADAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 3. 3L AES/EBU to AES/EBU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 3. 3M S/PDIF to S/PDIF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 CHAPTER 4 : APPENDICES 4. 0 APPENDIX 1 SPECIFICATIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 4. 1 APPENDIX 2 MAINTENANCE/SERVICE INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 4. 1A Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 4. 1B Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 4. 1C Servicing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 2 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1. 0 ABOUT THE AI-1 Congratulations!You've just purchased a powerful tool that will enhance your ADAT system with incredible digital audio routing flexibility. The AI-1 Digital Interface and Sample Rate Converter provides you a way of routing any two ADAT tracks to another digital recording system, or the other way around, and will convert the sampling rate as needed. The AI-1 is essential for either recording digital audio from other sources onto ADAT, or mixing down a 2 track mix from ADAT to a DAT machine or CD recorder, all while remaining in the digital domain. [. . . ] By doing so, the first ADAT will route any digital audio information it receives back out to the second ADAT, which in turn can record the information coming from the AI-1. First, a delay of 3 samples will be added to the audio on the second ADAT. Second, you will temporarily be unable to monitor what is on tape on the first ADAT (since it is monitoring the digital input, and not the tape). Using a BRC is the only way to route the AI-1's output to multiple ADATs without any delay. Tip: If you are using a multiple ADAT system without a BRC, we recommend always using the first ADAT in the system to record from the AI-1. If you wish to record information coming from the AI-1 onto the tape in ADAT #2 or #3, etc. , it is not necessary to reroute the cables. Instead, you should swap tapes with that ADAT and the first ADAT. This way, you can monitor the first 18 tape on another ADAT, and you avoid having to reconnect your system. 3. 0C Destination To route the AI-1 to ADAT, set the AI-1's Destination to ADAT by pressing the DESTINATION ADAT button. The button's LED will be lit indicating it has been selected. 3. 0D Converting Sample Rate If the source you are recording from is already using a 48kHz clock, the 48kHz DESTINATION RATE LED will be lit. This is the same clock that ADAT uses, so there is no need to convert the sample rate. If the source's clock rate is 44. 1kHz, the 44. 1kHz DESTINATION RATE LED will be lit indicating that the ADAT(s) will synchronize to the source's clock. You now have the option of converting the source's clock rate to 48kHz, or leaving it at 44. 1kHz. Either may be done by pressing the 48kHz button (the 48kHz DESTINATION RATE LED will be lit, indicating it has been selected), or simply by leaving it alone (the 44. 1kHz LED will remain lit). If the source's clock rate is something other than 48kHz or 44. 1kHz, neither DESTINATION RATE LEDs will be lit, and no sample rate conversion will be permitted. In this case, the ADAT(s) will still synchronize to the incoming source's clock rate. 3. 1 ADAT TO AI-1 The AI-1 can route up to two ADAT tracks at a time to other digital audio recording equipment from other manufacturers, including: multitrack digital recorders, hard disk recorders, digital effects devices, CD recorders and DAT machines. Since the ADAT digital bus is a proprietary multichannel interface, it is necessary to convert the digital audio of the optic bus into a standard that is compatible with other equipment. The two standards supported are AES/EBU and S/PDIF. It might also be necessary to convert the sample rate of the outgoing digital audio. The AI-1 can convert back and forth 19 between 48kHz and 44. 1kHz. 3. 1A Source To route the ADAT to the AI-1, set the AI-1's Source to ADAT by pressing the SOURCE ADAT button. The button's LED will be lit indicating it has been selected. Note: When the AI-1's Source is set to ADAT, the AI-1 links the ADAT optic input to the ADAT optic output, so that digital audio is routed from one ADAT to another. This means that, in a two ADAT system, it is possible to make a digital backup of all eight tracks of ADAT #2 to ADAT #1, while simultaneously routing two tracks from ADAT #2 to either an AES/EBU or S/PDIF device. 3. 1B Selecting Source Tracks You may select a pair of ADAT tracks by pressing one of the four ADAT CHANNEL buttons (1/2, 3/4, 5/6 or 7/8). [. . . ] The proper control settings for this operation are as follows: Source = S/PDIF Destination = ADAT Destination Rate = 44. 1kHz Figure 14 37 3. 3K ADAT to ADAT In this configuration, the AI-1 becomes a transparent link in a daisychain. In the figure below, ADAT #2 is transmitting all 8 tracks to ADAT #1, in addition to all 8 tracks of ADAT #1 being routed to ADAT #2. The sample rate is fixed at 48kHz, and cannot be changed to 44. 1kHz. The proper control settings for this operation are as follows: Source = ADAT Destination = ADAT Destination Rate = 48kHz Figure 15 When bouncing tracks from ADAT #2 to ADAT #1, the first ADAT is the master and must provide sync information to ADAT #2. [. . . ]