“Why can’t I get my Alesis Masterlink to output digital audio to my CD recorder? I have tried both digital outputs (S/PDIF & AES) coming out of the Masterlink and going into the CD recorder only to get the “unlock” message on the CD recorder screen. I have seen this message before, but it has always been because I did not have the cable plugged in at all yet. I have a Denon DN250 CD player and it outputs digital audio to the CD recorder perfectly. What’s the deal and what can I do about it?”
Assuming your cables are good (always check this first) and of the proper type for the task, you may be encountering an incompatibility between the format of your Masterlink recordings and the CDR. Masterlink can make recordings at 24/96, as well as other sample rates and bit depths. Your typical CD recorder is going to want to see only 44.1 kHz signals at its digital input because that’s the data rate it must use to make a CD. Some recorders can do a limited amount of sample rate conversion while recording. For example, you might send a 48 kHz signal to your CDR and it will convert that on the fly to 44.1 kHz, but it may not be able to deal with 88.2 kHz or 96 kHz. Having a sample rate that is out of range applied to a digital input would surely cause the “unlock” error on many CD recorders. Try playing a standard audio disc in the Masterlink and see if you can get it to communicate with your CDR that way. If it still doesn’t work you may have to seek service on the Masterlink.