TDIF/ADAT Routing into DM4800

[Costelon]

Many thanks for previous help and I now have my DM4800 successfully up and running with Sonar X1.

My next task is to hook it up to the digital card on my Focusrite ISA 828 which has the Focusrite digital card.

I've set the jumpers on the card for normal TDIF (i.e non protools output).

However, I've tried connecting via the TDIF and Adat inputs to the DM4800 but cant get any signal in.

What I've done by way of routing is to use channels 25 onwards and assigned these to TDIF1 or Adat 1 etc, with the outputs being routed to Slot 1 as are all the regular mic/line ins on the mixer.

However, I'm not seeing any signal in when I switch to layer two or any signal into Sonar.

I should mention also that when I go to the digital page on the mixer, I see TDIF 1 recognised - but it shows up on the output (bottom half of the dialogue box) and everthing on the input side (top of the box) just lists unrecognised. The ISA is wordclocked to the DM4800.


As always, help appreciated. I could use the analogue outputs of the Focusrite but as I have the card, I would prefer to go digital all the way in to the DM4800.

Thanks in advance.

 

[JHTorch]

Many thanks for previous help and I now have my DM4800 successfully up and running with Sonar X1.

My next task is to hook it up to the digital card on my Focusrite ISA 828 which has the Focusrite digital card.

I've set the jumpers on the card for normal TDIF (i.e non protools output).

However, I've tried connecting via the TDIF and Adat inputs to the DM4800 but cant get any signal in.

What I've done by way of routing is to use channels 25 onwards and assigned these to TDIF1 or Adat 1 etc, with the outputs being routed to Slot 1 as are all the regular mic/line ins on the mixer.

However, I'm not seeing any signal in when I switch to layer two or any signal into Sonar.

I should mention also that when I go to the digital page on the mixer, I see TDIF 1 recognised - but it shows up on the output (bottom half of the dialogue box) and everthing on the input side (top of the box) just lists unrecognised. The ISA is wordclocked to the DM4800.


As always, help appreciated. I could use the analogue outputs of the Focusrite but as I have the card, I would prefer to go digital all the way in to the DM4800.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Costelon: I am very new to the DM-3200 as well and had major issues trying to get digital multi-channel audio into the DM. (See my last few posts for the gory details). Many users here seem to swear by (and not at) the Tascam Firewire card. I have an old MOTU 2408 MkII that I was planning to use with the DM for digital I/O and as you may know the MOTU has 3 banks of 8 channel TIDF AND ADAT ports, plus SDIF and 10 analog I/O (two devoted to monitoring). But no dice. I can't speak about the Focusrite ISA, though I have one of their channel strips/mic pre's which I love and use.

I'll defer giving any specific DM advice to those more experienced DM users. However, my sense of it is that this board is very finicky about non-Tascam gear and you may be better served by getting one of the Tascam option cards as a work around for what you want to do with the Focusrite. For A/D/A conversion, we use the Lynx Aurora 8 as our front end. Since it is connected to the DM only by the Lynx's analog outs to the DM's M/L inputs, we have no digital interface issues.

From my internet searches over the last few days, it seems as if the only people who are having success connecting non-Tascam digital gear to the DM are those who place a separate master clock in their setups.

Good luck!!

 

[Costelon]

Hi JhTorch and thanks for your advice. I should perhaps be clearer that I have the Tascam Firewire card in the desk and it communicates fine with Sonar on my PC.

Just to narrow down my query in case anyone else can also help me, before I even get to the routing side of things, it doesn't look to me as if the DM is seeing the card in the ISA properly. What's strange is that its detecting something because if I query TDIF I it gives data for output (as I said above) but for FS etc. on the input side, it shows unkown.

However, if I query the other TDIF inputs they show up as empty.

So it seems as if the DM is detecting some kind of connection into TDIF 1 but cannot recognise it properly.

On the offchance if anyone has any experience of connecting any of the Focusrite cards into a DM it would be great to hear from you.

 

[JHTorch]

What's strange is that its detecting something because if I query TDIF I it gives data for output (as I said above) but for FS etc. on the input side, it shows unkown.

However, if I query the other TDIF inputs they show up as empty.

So it seems as if the DM is detecting some kind of connection into TDIF 1 but cannot recognise it properly.

On the offchance if anyone has any experience of connecting any of the Focusrite cards into a DM it would be great to hear from you.

That was sort of our problem -- we were able to lock via TDIF/WC. Digital audio was coming into the MOTU from the DAW and we could hear it in the MOTU's headphone jack. Sounded fine, no clocking error noise. However, no indication that the DM via the TDIF ports was receiving the audio stream.

Hopefully you can get one of the more experienced users here to help you out. Good luck.

 

[Will Miho]

Disconnect the firewire cable and see if then the Focusrite functions as it should. My guess is that the Tascam firewire driver does not like sharing audio duties with the Focusrite card. I work on a MAC, and it is a definite limitation that the IF/FW-DM card will not play well with the others. I have had luck with MOTU 2408's when I want to get above 32 channels however, but always use the TDIF connectors not ADAT. As they carry word clock, they tend to "just work" in a lot of scenarios without a great deal of hassle. YMMV.

 

[Dark]

Hey guys, I can see this thread hasn't been updated in some time, but I'm hoping someone is still listening out there because I have EXACTLY the same problem. The only difference is I'm using a MOTU 2408, 896 and 8Pre rather than the Focusrite ISA. The ADAT link between the interfaces and the DM 4800 is fine, as are the analogue connections. It's just the TDIF connections which are problematic (i.e. making me want to eat my own face!). I've attached a copy of the TDIF query page Costleton mentioned earlier. Please help if you can, you awesome audio geniuses, this is really driving me nuts.