“I just added a Mackie D8B digital board to my ADAT/BRC setup and am confused about how to get it configured. I have all the right pieces, I think, but I’m not sure how to configure it. This has to be a common setup, right?”
Yes, it is a very common setup. These are the types of questions that the Sweetwater Technical Support staff can help you with, but given how common this type of scenario is we think it makes sense to cover it here. So…courtesy of the Sweetwater Technical Support staff here goes.
Cabling and Hookup
1. Connect fiber optic (lightpipe) cables between the ADAT’s DIGITAL IN and the DIO8 card’s ADAT OPTICAL OUT, and between the ADAT’s DIGITAL OUT and the DIO8 card’s ADAT OPTICAL IN.
2. Connect a BNC cable from the Clock I/O card’s WORD CLOCK OUT connector to the 48 kHz IN connector on the BRC.
Note: It is necessary to terminate this connection with a 50 ohm termination at the BRC end of the cable. You will need a BNC “T” connector and a 50 ohm BNC terminator. Connect the “T” connector to the 48 kHz IN jack on the BRC. Then connect the BNC cable from the DIO8 card to one side of the “T” and connect the 50 ohm terminator to the other side of the “T.”
3. Connect the 9-pin D-sub sync cables between the BRC (REMOTE OUT TO ADAT) and the first ADAT’s SYNC IN connector. Then connect the sync cables in a daisy-chain fashion between the remaining ADATs.
4. Connect MIDI cables between the MIDI OUT connector on the Digital 8 Bus’ Remote CPU and the MIDI IN connector on the BRC, and between the MIDI IN connector on the Digital 8 Bus’ Remote CPU and the MIDI OUT connector on the BRC.
Settings:
D8B
1. Click the “Setup” button in the bottom menu bar of the SVGA monitor to open the General
Setup window.
2. Click the “Digital” icon on the left side of the window to open the Digital I/O dialog box.
3. Click each Tape Input and Output box and select ADAT for each DIO8 card installed.
ADATs
1. On the front panel of the ADAT, select DIGITAL IN.
BRC
1. Set the External Sync parameters to the following:
a) Press the EDIT button.
b) Set the Clock Source to “48kHz Input.”
b) Set the Locate Reference to “Internal.”
c) Press the EDIT button to exit the “Edit External Sync” page.
Make sure the EXT SYNC button is still lit.
2. Press the EDIT button and the GEN SYNC button twice to bring up the MIDI page.
Set the parameter to MTC. Press the EDIT button to exit out of the “Edit Generate Sync” page.
Leave the GENERATE SYNC button lit.
Other Notes
1. You must turn on the Digital 8 Bus first, then turn on the ADATs.
2. Make sure the DIGITAL I/O button on the BRC is not lit.
3. Under the MIDI/UTIL button on the BRC, make sure #1 MIDI Echo is off and #8 Output Rew/FF is off. This is so the automation doesn’t run when shuttling around on your ADATs, which would cause your faders to jump around very rapidly.