Thanks
.
I find it interesting to log first impressions since often after you get settled with a piece you can forget what a pain in the ass it was to get going
. Information that can be valuable to those considering a purchase.
On that note:
I never cracked open the software. Might as well leave it sealed for a potential future sale. Just downloaded the current stuff from Steinberg.
My box was brand spanking new. I had to wait a couple of days for Sweetwater to take delivery, but it still needed the firmware upgrade. Be sure to load the Yamaha firewire (2 words I hate seeing next to each other) driver first.
Otherwise software install went smoothly. One bonus is that the ASIO driver for this unit offers double the maximum latency as the FF. So for mixing that = more plugs. I haven't tested how low I can get the latency yet. I guess I will eventually, but aside from MIDI it's pretty academic for me. I generally keep latency at whatever the maximum is available, and use zero latency for monitoring and recording latency compensation in Nuendo. Then I never have to think about it again.
The unit doesn't ship with the operation manual in paper form. All the complaints you're seeing about how much the manual sucks is because.....it's not the manual. It's a Getting Started booklet. The actual manual is a PDF. I need paper when it comes to manuals so this is a bummer but whatever, it's only 56 pages. Not too bad to print.
My set up is that I'm using the 816 as my primary interface. I'm running a PCM91 via SPDIF and I'm using a Drawmer 1969 as an External FX in Nuendo (one of Nuendo's coolest features). This means that I can send to the Drawmer via the 816 analog outputs but I have to take the return via my fireface because I need balanced line inputs and I didn't pay $1500 for a compressor so that I could be forced to go through mic pres on the way back in. Anyone using analog gear in mixing should consider this. This box is really an ITB device by design. That includes analog summing. The only way in that isn't through mic pres is unbalanced and there's only 2 of those. Not very pro.
Anyway, I'm running a lightpipe connection from the FF to the 816 to get the Drawmer back in.
I just figured out that the same knob that controls the main outputs also controls ALL the analog outputs. I'm guessing/hoping that I will find a way around this, but I need to run off and print the manual.
And so far my Lex doesn't see clock/signal over the coax.
I'll Edit this post as I discover solutions/dead ends.
>>EDIT>>>
Ok. I got the ADAT connection from the FF working. Master Vol does seem to only affect all analog outputs. So the answer is to calibrate it once and never touch it. I have to turn on control room in Nuendo and start using it. I never bothered before with Totalmix. It's a drag not having totalmix to show me levels both coming and going.
I haven't done a careful A/B with the FF yet, but just my overall first impressions on using the 816 for my D/A after using nothing but the FF in my room is that the sound is tighter, more detailed, but possibly less depth (not sure about that one). The low end in particular sounds tighter and I feel like I can more accurately hear pan settings. Again, it's just a first impression but it feels like an improvement. The FF might do better at lower levels though. I feel like there's more of a difference in the balance between softer and louder levels on the 816. That's a weird one though because with the FF I normally am sending a full strength signal from Nuendo and then attenuating for the speakers in Totalmix, whereas now I'm lowering the level in Nuendo.
I got the Lex to lock via SPDIF but I still can't get signal to it. I'm not sure what to do about that. It wouldn't lock if the connection was wrong. I know the Lex works perfectly in a SPDIF loop on the FF so it's not a bad setting on that end. I'm set to ADAT6+SPDIF Coax. I could rig it through the FF but this should be working. Anyone out there successfully outputing SPDIF from an 816?
>>>>>>EDIT>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Ok, I got the S/PDIF signal going - the second adjust knob is the digital output level (RTFM). It didn't matter though because there were clocking problems. The PCM91 doesn't have WC, it locks to the S/PDIF signal. Anyway the clock was pretty obviously drifting. The PCM91 also read the format as consumer S/PDIF which as I understand is only 20bit, but that's not even the problem. I don't know if this is the case but it sounds like the 816 doesn't use a Phase Lock Loop to reclock incoming digital signals (which the FF does).
So in the end I couldn't use the S/PDIF anyway. I guess it might work if you could send WC to the other device. I don't know. I don't think I'll ever know. My solution was simply to create a loop via ADAT to the FF and use the FF S/PDIF for the PCM91. Ideally I'd like to use the 816 S/PDIF to output to a KRK Ergo, but...we'll see. It's one thing to be knocking my reverb send down to 20bit, it's another thing to do that to my monitor output. I have to put a bitscope on the signal and make sure that's even what's happening.
Conclusion, with a LOT of help from the Fireface I'm making it work.
I have to test recording next. If this thing isn't worlds better in terms of ease of use then I'm just gonna bag it as an interface and go back to using the FF. I'll probably end up doing that anyway. It's insane, I'm basically still using the FF for almost all of my I/O during mixing. If all I need from the 816 are the D/As for the master out....I can just send that from the FF via ADAT and run the 816 in stand alone mode. I'm pretty sure that's where I'm going to wind up. I've had a couple of drop outs which never happened with the FF.
When I get some samples recorded I'll put them up.
>>>>>EDIT>>>>>
New development. The unit doesn't seem to store the digital master output level when powering down (it defaults to off). This is a pain because I'm using the PCM91 as a permanent FX send. I want to calibrate the level and leave it. I have to see if there's anything I'm doing wrong. This is a particular pain because....I don't even want to able to adjust this in the first place. Digital outs should just be wide open all the time.