User manual ECHO DIGITAL AUDIO AUDIOFIRE WINDOWS

[. . . ] TM AUDIOFIRE 2 TM AUDIOFIRE 4 TM AUDIOFIRE 8 TM AUDIOFIRE 12 Owner's Manual Version 2. 0 for Windows Important Safety Instructions 1. Read Instructions ­ Be sure to read all of the safety and operating instructions before operating this product. Retain Instructions ­ The safety instructions and owner's manual should be retained for future reference. Heed Warnings ­ All warnings on your Echo product and in the Owner's Manual should be followed. [. . . ] Note that adjusting the pan knob will not affect your recording, as the input monitor controls only affect how the input signal is sent to (or monitored on) the outputs. Below the pan knob are the monitor solo and mute buttons. Activating the solo button will make sure that the selected output bus only monitors the inputs that are soloed. Activating the mute button on an input channel will prevent it from being monitored by the currently selected output bus. These are followed by the monitor fader, which controls the input monitor level. Like the pan, solo, and mute controls, this does not affect your recording level. The faders also have gang buttons, and their operation is the same as the gang button for the master output bus controls. Digital Inputs (AudioFire2, AudioFire4 and AudioFire8) The controls for the digital inputs can found to the right of the analog input controls and have the labels "S/PDIF", "1", and "2" at the top. They are outlined in blue in the example on page 25. Their operation is identical to the analog inputs. Playback Controls The playback controls are to the left of the master output controls and are similarly labeled, except instead of "Out" they are labeled "Play". They are outlined in orange in the example on page 25. The playback controls affect the level of audio being played by an application out the currently selected output bus. These controls operate the same as the input monitor controls, except there are no pan knobs, solo buttons, or level meters. 29 Console Software Console Software Adjusting Playback Volume Output volume adjustments are made in the digital domain. When you lower a volume fader below 0dB, you are actually decreasing the number of available bits, thereby taking away from the potential dynamic range of the system. Therefore, we suggest that whenever possible you leave the output faders (Playback & Output Bus) set to 0dB, and perform any necessary attenuation on your external mixer. When the playback volume controls are set to 0dB and the input signal approaches the maximum pre-clipping level, you can achieve the full 24-bit dynamic range of the system. Nominal Levels The console buttons that are labeled "+4" or "-10" are nominal level buttons. These buttons allow you to change the nominal level settings for the analog inputs and outputs. By default, the levels are set to send a +4dBu signal. You can switch between +4dBu (professional level) and ­10dBV (consumer level) for each analog output and input by clicking on the appropriate button. This feature allows you to connect either professional or consumer gear to each input and output. 30 Console Software Console Software Settings Tab Clicking the "Settings" tab allows you to access settings for controlling your AudioFire hardware. The Settings page includes the sample rate, clock source, buffer size, S/PDIF format and version information. The AudioFire8 Console Window: Settings Tab selected. Sample Rate The sample rate for your AudioFire hardware is set here. The sample rate, also known as clock rate, affects recording and playback. For more information please refer to Appendix C: An Introduction to Digital Recording. [. . . ] In answering the second question, consider the fact that music is often compressed or amplified after it is recorded, and that some headroom is necessary when recording to avoid clipping. The only way that 96dB would be adequate is if all music were recorded so that the peaks were just under full-scale and no compression or amplification was going to be applied after recording. Any time recorded music is amplified, so is the noise at the low end. Your Echo product has enough dynamic range to allow sufficient headroom and post-processing to be applied while still keeping the noise either off the recording completely or down as far as possible. 51 Appendix C: An Introduction to Digital Recording Appendix D: Specifications Appendix D: Specifications AudioFire2 - Audio Performance Analog Inputs (x2 balanced TRS): Line Inputs (x2 balanced TRS): Frequency Response: 20Hz to 20kHz, ±0. 1dB Dynamic Range: 113dB A-weighted THD+n: <0. 002% A-weighted Linearity: ±0. 01dB, 0dBFS to 100dBFS Nominal Input Level: +4dBu or ­10dBV Input Impedance: 10Kohms Maximum Input Level: +18dBu Analog Outputs (x2 balanced TRS): Frequency Response: 10Hz to 20kHz, ±0. 1dB Dynamic Range: 114dB A-weighted THD+n: <0. 002% A-weighted Nominal Output Level: +4dBu or ­10dBV Maximum Output Level: +17. 2dBu Headphone Output (x1 stereo mini): Frequency Response: 10Hz to 20kHz, ±0. 1dB Dynamic Range: 114dB A-weighted THD+n: <0. 002% A-weighted Nominal Output Level: +4dBu or ­10dBV Maximum Output Level: +17. 2dBu 52 Appendix D: Specifications Appendix D: Specifications AudioFire2 - Hardware Host Interface: 1394a (FireWire) Two balanced ¼" analog inputs with precision 24-bit 128x oversampling analog-to-digital converters Two balanced ¼" analog outputs with high performance 24-bit 128x oversampling digital-to-analog converters One stereo headphone 1/8" analog output with high performance 24-bit 128x oversampling digital-to-analog converters Volume control for headphone output S/PDIF digital I/O with up to 24-bit resolution 24-bit data resolution maintained throughout entire signal path Multiple sample rates from 32kHz to 96kHz Variable sample rate feature lets you select any rate between 32kHz ­ 96kHz MIDI In/Out 53 Appendix D: Specifications Appendix D: Specifications AudioFire4 - Audio Performance Analog Inputs (x2 balanced universal XLR/TRS & x2 balanced TRS): Universal Inputs (x2 balanced XLR/TRS): Frequency Response: 10Hz to 20kHz, ±0. 2dB Microphone Input Level (balanced XLR): EIN: -129dBu Dynamic Range: 111dB A-weighted THD+n: <0. 004% A-weighted Input Impedance: 1. 5Kohms Gain Adjustment: +10 to +59dB Maximum Input Level at Minimum Gain: +9dBu Guitar/Line Input Level (balanced TRS): Dynamic Range: 110dB A-weighted THD+n: <0. 001% A-weighted Input Impedance: 102Kohms Gain Adjustment: 0 to +45dB Maximum Input Level at Minimum Gain: +18dBu Normal Line Inputs (x2 balanced TRS): Frequency Response: 20Hz to 20kHz, ±0. 1dB Dynamic Range: 113dB A-weighted THD+n: <0. 002% A-weighted Linearity: ±0. 01dB, 0dBFS to 100dBFS Nominal Input Level: +4dBu or ­10dBV Input Impedance: 10Kohms Maximum Input Level: +18dBu 54 Appendix D: Specifications Appendix D: Specifications Analog Outputs (x4 balanced TRS): Frequency Response: 10Hz to 20kHz, ±0. 1dB Dynamic Range: 114dB A-weighted THD+n: <0. 002% A-weighted Nominal Output Level: +4dBu or ­10dBV Maximum Output Level: +17. 2dBu AudioFire4 - Hardware Host Interface: 1394a (FireWire) Two high quality mic preamps with phantom power (+48v) Four balanced ¼" analog inputs with precision 24-bit 128x oversampling analog-to-digital converters Four balanced ¼" analog outputs with high performance 24-bit 128x oversampling digital-to-analog converters S/PDIF digital I/O with up to 24-bit resolution Trim control, level meter, and channel inserts for analog inputs 1 and 2 Headphone output with volume control 24-bit data resolution maintained throughout entire signal path Multiple sample rates from 32kHz to 96kHz Variable sample rate feature lets you select any rate between 32kHz ­ 96kHz MIDI In/Out 55 Appendix D: Specifications Appendix D: Specifications AudioFire8 - Audio Performance Analog Inputs (x2 balanced universal XLR/TRS & x6 balanced TRS): Universal Inputs (x2 balanced XLR/TRS): Frequency Response: 10Hz to 20kHz, ±0. 2dB Microphone Input Level (balanced XLR): EIN: -129dBu Dynamic Range: 111dB A-weighted THD+n: <0. 004% A-weighted Input Impedance: 1. 5Kohms Gain Adjustment: +10 to +59dB Maximum Input Level at Minimum Gain: +9dBu Guitar/Line Input Level (balanced TRS): Dynamic Range: 110dB A-weighted THD+n: <0. 001% A-weighted Input Impedance: 102Kohms Gain Adjustment: 0 to +45dB Maximum Input Level at Minimum Gain: +18dBu Normal Line Inputs (x6 balanced TRS): Frequency Response: 20Hz to 20kHz, ±0. 1dB Dynamic Range: 113dB A-weighted THD+n: <0. 002% A-weighted Linearity: ±0. 01dB, 0dBFS to 100dBFS Nominal Input Level: +4dBu or ­10dBV Input Impedance: 10Kohms Maximum Input Level: +18dBu 56 Appendix D: Specifications Appendix D: Specifications Analog Outputs (x8 balanced TRS): Frequency Response: 10Hz to 20kHz, ±0. 1dB Dynamic Range: 114dB A-weighted THD+n: <0. 002% A-weighted Nominal Output Level: +4dBu or ­10dBV Maximum Output Level: +17. 2dBu AudioFire8 - Hardware Host Interface: 1394a (FireWire) Two high quality mic preamps with phantom power (+48v) Eight balanced ¼" analog inputs with precision 24-bit 128x oversampling analog-to-digital converters Eight balanced ¼" analog outputs with high performance 24-bit 128x oversampling digital-to-analog converters S/PDIF digital I/O with up to 24-bit resolution Trim control, level meter, and channel inserts for analog inputs 1 and 2 Headphone output with volume control On-board 32-bit / 1. 6 gigaflop DSP 24-bit data resolution maintained throughout entire signal path Multiple sample rates from 32kHz to 96kHz Variable sample rate feature lets you select any rate between 32kHz ­ 96kHz MIDI In/Out Word clock I/O 57 Appendix D: Specifications Appendix D: Specifications AudioFire12 - Audio Performance Analog Inputs (x12 balanced TRS): Frequency Response: 20Hz to 20kHz, ±0. 1dB Dynamic Range: 113dB A-weighted THD+n: <0. 002% A-weighted Nominal Input Level: +4dBu or ­10dBV Input Impedance: 10Kohms Maximum Input Level: +17. 5dBu Analog Outputs (x12 balanced TRS): Frequency Response: 10Hz to 20kHz, ±0. 1dB Dynamic Range: 114dB A-weighted THD+n: <0. 002% A-weighted Nominal Output Level: +4dBu or ­10dBV Maximum Output Level: +17. 5dBu AudioFire12 - Hardware Host Interface: 1394a (FireWire) Twelve balanced ¼" analog inputs with precision 24-bit 128x oversampling analog-to-digital converters Twelve balanced ¼" analog outputs with high performance 24-bit 128x oversampling digital-to-analog converters Level meters on front panel for analog inputs and outputs, and sync On-board 32-bit / 1. 6 gigaflop DSP 24-bit data resolution maintained throughout entire signal path Multiple sample rates from 32kHz to 192kHz 58 Appendix D: Specifications Appendix D: Specifications Variable sample rate feature lets you select any rate between 32kHz ­ 192kHz MIDI In/Out Word clock I/O 59 Appendix D: Specifications Index Index A adjusting playback levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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