TC DBMax

[Dunebuggy]

Are you using in insert mode?

I ve used one for years as a LtRt Compressor/Limiter (connected on the output of the Dolby encoder) , very reliable machine LOTS of options. Be careful of the AGC feature.

Never had mismatch Left-Right output , i dont remember if there s access to the individual channels.

Sure , not Protools input settings ?

[Steven1145]

I really dont think you can unlink the two channels in a DBMax. I've had one for years, and even seen other re-recording mixers use it as a dialog dynamics unit for feature films. But Left and Right were always linked and processed simultaneously.

[huub]

Analog or digital connection?

[tonberryking]

Thanks for your replies everyone. I'll actually be able to troubleshoot more tomorrow rather than today, but here's what I do know without sitting at the desk.

@Dunebuggy - At the time. I was NOT using it as an Insert. I was just routing it through the Output/Input. Pro Tools I/O looks good.

@huub - It's an Analog Connection.


I'm going to try it as an insert tomorrow and report back - any other advice you guys may have would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[tonberryking]

Thanks for your replies everyone. I'll actually be able to troubleshoot more tomorrow rather than today, but here's what I do know without sitting at the desk.

@Dunebuggy - At the time. I was NOT using it as an Insert. I was just routing it through the Output/Input. Pro Tools I/O looks good.

@huub - It's an Analog Connection.


I'm going to try it as an insert tomorrow and report back - any other advice you guys may have would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[tonberryking]

Okay guys. Just tried it out as an insert. Same deal.

The signal that's appearing on the TC DBMax is perfectly balanced. However, when I route it back to Pro Tools, the left right side is still very low - either that or the left is too hot? I think the right side is the problem though.

Maybe a poor patch cable?

Thanks.

[originalscottyg]

Originally Posted by tonberryking

Okay guys. Just tried it out as an insert. Same deal.

The signal that's appearing on the TC DBMax is perfectly balanced. However, when I route it back to Pro Tools, the left right side is still very low - either that or the left is too hot? I think the right side is the problem though.

Maybe a poor patch cable?

Thanks.

This does sound like an analog wiring problem. Do the Pro Tools meters (on the return) reflect the drop in level on the right side? Sounds like maybe somewhere in the wiring between the output of the DBMax and the input to PT there is one leg of a balanced connection dropped. Have you tried running tone out from Pro Tools (signal generator) at a specific level and checking how much the levels differ coming back into Pro Tools with no gain reduction and no makeup gain on the DBMax unit?

[tonberryking]

Hey guys.

It was indeed the wiring. One of the trs cables on the digisnakes was bad. Should've definitely figured that out a bit earlier - but thank you all for your help!

[armshouse]

Hello i just got a dbmax but i'm having problems getting sound out of the spdif to go into my sound cards spdif, is there a setting in the machine that i have to select to change it or does the sound go out automatically. I've checked the cable and it's ok because i have a tc finalizer plus what i used to check it with.

Thanks

[Gar]

Originally Posted by armshouse

Hello i just got a dbmax but i'm having problems getting sound out of the spdif to go into my sound cards spdif, is there a setting in the machine that i have to select to change it or does the sound go out automatically. I've checked the cable and it's ok because i have a tc finalizer plus what i used to check it with.

Thanks

Did you ever fix this issue? I'm thinking about picking up one of these for use in broadcast and absolutely must use the SPDIF outs. I need to know if there are any spdif issues with it before I buy a used one that I can't return!

[Jay Rose]

If it's like the Finalizer, there's also a secondary menu function IIRC for analog balance. Worth checking if you hadn't already solved the cable issue.

Re the s/pdif issue: are you sure your clocks match? I don't recall there being an output selector; IIRC all outputs were live all the time.

(The IIRCs are because I haven't used my Finalizer in about four years. I'm mixing ITB and rendering much faster than realtime, so have stopped using external processors. Anybody want to buy a Finalizer? Or an Orville?)

[tpad]

I suspect that armshouse was having cockpit trouble and didn't have the input clock setting adjusted properly and wasn't getting any digital output, AES or SPDIF. There are no unique settings for the SPDIF output.

Most equipment will work with either AES or SPDIF, since the waveform and data fields are identical. The only differences lie in the status bits area.