A/D I/O Light Pipe questions

[beechstudio]

You can only use 8 tracks of lightpipe on a Digi001. But, you can use the analog inputs simultaneously with the digital. As an option, you could purchase a dual lightpipe soundcard and record to the hard drive and then import your 16 digital tracks into protools. Keep in mind protools will not 'talk' to any interfaces other than Digi and M-audio. Thats the reason for the importing.

[Beat_Bangaz]

thanks man... but also keep in mind I am willing to scrap the digi001 and go with something bigger and better too... like 192khz...

let me ask you this - so light pipe carries the sound it's self.. (I know how this sounds - but I am not hip to this) so the sounds would have to be plugged in by any analog plugs right?

2nd: would there have to be a 3rd party software to transport - import the triton tracks?

I hope that my questions may help other in a similar situation.

[jabney]

This may get moved, but I'll answer here.

Light Pipe is also known as "ADAT Light Pipe" and can carry 8 channels of audio at 44.1 (CD rate) or 48k (DAT, etc.)

The optical cable (also called Toslink) is almost always made of plastic, and is exactly the same type of cable used for consumer-level 2-track "Optical" digital connections, etc. The circuits at the send and receive ends determine how many channels the cable will carry. A few devices (2nd generation CreamWare Scope, for example) can switch between two optical types, but most do not.

A fairly common practice with digital devices is to provide an expansion slot into which such things as ADAT Light Pipe cards may be plugged. To carry 16 channels you will need two ADAT Light Pipe sockets in the sending device and two in the receiving device. And while ADAT Light Pipe does carry digital clock, complex systems with multiple devices may need to connect to a discrete digital clock in order to avoid clicks, pops, and glitches.

The downside of ADAT Light Pipe is that it uses the Toslink connector which may be the second-worst commonly used connector in all of audio. (There's also a mini-toslink but that's a topic for another day. Just be aware that it doesn't work with ADAT Light Pipe. It could, but I don't think any manufacturer is that mean.)

What takes place at the send & receive ends depends entirely on the sending & receiving devices. ADAT Light Pipe only deals in digital signal. To get an analog signal into ADAT Light Pipe requires Analog to Digital (A/D) conversion at the sending end. The receiving end is responsible for any Digital to Analog (D/A) conversion.

best,

John

[beechstudio]

Originally Posted by Beat_Bangaz

thanks man... but also keep in mind I am willing to scrap the digi001 and go with something bigger and better too... like 192khz...

If you're willing to ditch the Digi001, you have quite a few options. The only thing is, if you have to stay with the lightpipe and record at 192k you can only transfer 2 files at 192k on the lightpipe. (Somebody correct me if I'm wrong)

let me ask you this - so light pipe carries the sound it's self.. (I know how this sounds - but I am not hip to this) so the sounds would have to be plugged in by any analog plugs right?

Yes the lightpipe carries the digital signal. I'm not sure what you mean by plugged in by the analog plug.

2nd: would there have to be a 3rd party software to transport - import the triton tracks?

If you buy another hardware interface, it probably comes bundled with some type of software. A lot I've seen lately have been using Cubase Le. I personally don't have any experience with this software. I've heard though it supports up to 48 tracks which is more than the PT at only 32.


I hope that my questions may help other in a similar situation.

Hope this answered some of your questions....

[Beat_Bangaz]

Man thank you guys so "F'n" much... yeah this helps me out alot! What I meant by analog plugs was 1/4" plugs for analog...

for example you run midi - you still need the 1/4" plugs for the actual sound.... I didn't know if with digital fiber optics you would still have to run in that way? I might still be confused... you see triton only offers 2 out and up to 6 outs if you can figure that beast out... I had no luck with it... lol... so I am hoping that through the fiber optic "light pipe" cable I can run at least up to 8 out at once of the triton (which normally is less once the track is produced).

then I could use 8 out of my mpc 2000xl through fiber optic (light pipe) -

any suggestions on good outboard gear to run this? since I am new to the whole thing I am open for any directions.

Oh and for the art of knowing - I use audio logic plat. on a macintosh. Like I said scrap the digi001 and buy a new interface - maybe a card if needed.

My ultimate goal is to dump up to 16 tracks at once - say 8 out of the mpc - say 8 out of the triton. Multi-Tracked.

Thank you guys a million for the input!!!!!!

Low

[Slogun]

Sorry, but the Korg Triton has an optical S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital InterFace) out and that carries only two channels at the time. And that is not compatible with ADAT interfaces.

[Beat_Bangaz]

well I been looking for a good reason to move up to the next big thing. Guess that just gave me that reason. I like the triton - so maybe just grab an Extreme? I also like the sounds of the motiff and the phantom - but I would rather grab those in racks. Thanks for that input man!~

[Slogun]

The Extreme still only got S/PDIF. But if you buy the new Motif ES you could incorporate their optional mLAN card. That carries both audio and MIDI to your DAW through their altered version of "FireWire".

[Beat_Bangaz]

well that sounds good cause I do like the motiff library - what about the mpc 2000xl - it's got the 8 out and digital card... so that's ok right... the mpc I mean? hey and I want all of you that are helping me out here to know that your replies are appreciated!

[Slogun]

The optional card for the MPC adds 8 analog out and a stereo digital S/PDIF out. If it's lightpipe or coax (S/PDIF is available in both formats just to complicate everything further) format I don't know though, couldn't find that out from the AKAI site.
So what I would begin to look for is a A/D converter with 16 analog ins and 2xADAT out (or 2x A/D C to ADAT) and an audio interface with 16ch of ADAT ins.

There are two cheap alternatives for this. Check out Alesis AI3 and Behringer ADA8000 and add a RME audio interface to that. If you want better quality on your ADC, check out what RME has to offer.

[Beat_Bangaz]

well I can live with the 8 analog on the mpc - cause I don't really use more than that on there.... mostly drums and some sound fx - but the keyboard is where I am looking to dump like quick... lol... I can do the 8 analog out on the mpc - just wish there was a quick way to do the tone tracks from the triton.