Clocking - am I missing something?

crosscutred · 29th January 2012

I am finding my new setup to be holding up my workflow quite badly.

I used to have 3x Delta 1010s stacked up in my PC running XP, clocking was never an issue for me and the sample rates were controlled from within whatever software I was using even with other applications open in the background.
It was possible to have a; Cubase session open in 24/96, a wavelab session open with wavs at different sample rates, and media player/youtube/etc.
Sometimes the driver wouldn't release in the right way and something would play in the wrong sample rate or something but it was uncommon and everything played nicely.

Now I have upgraded my converters to a SSL Alphalink with a Madixtreme 64 card.....

So as I understand it is best to clock from the Alphalink, which seems to mean changing sample rate from the button on the front of the box.

I can live with that, I'd prefer not to though, but what really grinds my gears is having to restart software for it to recognize the change. It's Wavelab that is really irritating me most as this is the software I often use to turn a wav from 96 to 44.1 during the mastering process.

Is the solution to clock the Alphalink to the madicard or windows somehow?
What are the sound quality implications of this?
Is it a problem with SSL drivers? (which have a minimal, annoying to access and prone to crashing user interface)

Any thoughts are welcome, cheers

norbury brook · 29th January 2012

I'd clock to the Madixtreme as it's physically in your computer and therefore IMHO always the best way to clock. I would also hazard a guess that if you clock with the card, the SSL should automatically just follow sample rate changes made by the madixtreme. It would be the master, and hopefully, being connected to the motherboard will change sample rate automatically with your DAW software exactly how you described your old setup.

I used to be a mixtreme user and had a mixpander and the early version of the Alpha link, this was how I had it setup.

MC

29th January 2012	#1
crosscutred Gear addict Joined: Aug 2008 Location: Bradford UK Posts: 309 Thread Starter	Clocking - am I missing something? I am finding my new setup to be holding up my workflow quite badly. I used to have 3x Delta 1010s stacked up in my PC running XP, clocking was never an issue for me and the sample rates were controlled from within whatever software I was using even with other applications open in the background. It was possible to have a; Cubase session open in 24/96, a wavelab session open with wavs at different sample rates, and media player/youtube/etc. Sometimes the driver wouldn't release in the right way and something would play in the wrong sample rate or something but it was uncommon and everything played nicely. Now I have upgraded my converters to a SSL Alphalink with a Madixtreme 64 card..... So as I understand it is best to clock from the Alphalink, which seems to mean changing sample rate from the button on the front of the box. I can live with that, I'd prefer not to though, but what really grinds my gears is having to restart software for it to recognize the change. It's Wavelab that is really irritating me most as this is the software I often use to turn a wav from 96 to 44.1 during the mastering process. Is the solution to clock the Alphalink to the madicard or windows somehow? What are the sound quality implications of this? Is it a problem with SSL drivers? (which have a minimal, annoying to access and prone to crashing user interface) Any thoughts are welcome, cheers __________________ Alex Eden www.factorystreet.co.uk

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29th January 2012	#2
norbury brook Lives for gear Joined: Jan 2009 Location: London Posts: 926	I'd clock to the Madixtreme as it's physically in your computer and therefore IMHO always the best way to clock. I would also hazard a guess that if you clock with the card, the SSL should automatically just follow sample rate changes made by the madixtreme. It would be the master, and hopefully, being connected to the motherboard will change sample rate automatically with your DAW software exactly how you described your old setup. I used to be a mixtreme user and had a mixpander and the early version of the Alpha link, this was how I had it setup. MC