Quick Masterlink Questions

[mosrite]

Could someone please tell me if it is possible to feed the Masterlink a digital signal and to be able to pan that signal hard left and right to be able to properly monitor a stereo recording?

Also, is the headphone amp fairly decent?

Thanks,
Rob.

[Recording David]

Yes the Masterlink has digital inputs (AES and coaxial) - you won't need to pan it to monitor in stereo.

The headphone amp is fine but nothing special.

[mosrite]

Thanks David.

So does it automatically assign the AES digital signal to Left and Right?

Basically, if you imagine that Im recording with an ORTF array then I want to hear that through the phones as Left hard panned and Right hard panned, can the Masterlink achieve this then?

[Recording David]

I'm assuming you'll go from your ORTF array, from preamps to ADC then to the Masterlink? If so then the stereo digital outs of the ADC will assign L and R correctly.

BTW if you're using an ORTF pair that is correctly set up you shouldn't need any panning at all.

[mosrite]

it's all getting sooo confusing

The ADC will simply send out 2 channels of audio. There wont be any panning information within that right? For instance, my ADC goes into my Pro Tools rig as 2 channels but I must then pan them left and right within the Pro tools mixer to hear what I want to hear.

I am presuming that the same happens with the Masterlink. 2 channels are sent to it over AES but they will both be center panned unless you manually pan hard left and right, is that something that you can do? Does this make any sense or have I got myself into a mess ??

Also, are you suggesting that with an ORTF array you don't hard pan left and right channels?

[travisgarrison]

In my experience, devices that feature S/PDIF or AES/EBU inputs/outputs assign them exactly as you want them - channel 1 to left, channel 2 to right. When you send 2 channels down an AES/EBU cable to the Masterlink, it should automatically record channel 1 to the left side, and channel 2 to the right side.

The confusion about not panning with ORTF is just nomenclature. In reality, you don't want to "pan" anything. You just want to assign each mic signal to a speaker and leave it there. More of a static assignment than panning...

[mosrite]

Sorry if I am misunderstanding any of this but is there really a suggestion here that with an ORTF pair you are not hard panning left to left and right to right? I know it's off topic and I know I've been critical listening all day (hence my head is in a bit of a spin) but what's with this talk??

[Recording David]

Yes, you do not need pan - straight out of your preamps and into the ADC or into a stereo mixer channel then to ADC.

I do a lot of 2 mic work (classical) straight to stereo using MS, ORTF and omni AB.

You don't need to pan in these circumstances (in ORTF the mics are spaced way apart anyway), I go straight from the preasmp to ADC to recorder (Masterlink if I'm using 2 mics) and get great stereo imaging.

[mosrite]

I do a lot of 2 mic work (classical) straight to stereo using MS, ORTF and omni AB.

You don't need to pan in these circumstances (in ORTF the mics are spaced way apart anyway), I go straight from the preasmp to ADC to recorder (Masterlink if I'm using 2 mics) and get great stereo imaging.

Well David all of my work is 2 mic classical and tradional recording and I have never heard of not panning an ORTF array. Would be interesting to know what French Radio originally intended...

[travisgarrison]

Once again, there is simply a difference in nomenclature at work here...

YES! An ORTF array must be hard-panned. One microphone hard-panned to the left, the other microphone hard-panned to the right. This is the only way to have true ORTF.

The point that David was trying to bring up is that there simply are no pan controls on the Masterlink or similar devices. If you send two channels of audio to the Masterlink, channel 1 will be hard-panned to the left, and channel 2 will be hard-panned to the right. You do not have the luxury of independently panning the channels within the stereo spectrum.

Clear as mud?

So the answer is... Yes! The Masterlink does what you want it to do. Go buy one right now.

[kclisby]

Originally Posted by travisgarrison

Once again, there is simply a difference in nomenclature at work here...

YES! An ORTF array must be hard-panned. One microphone hard-panned to the left, the other microphone hard-panned to the right. This is the only way to have true ORTF.

The point that David was trying to bring up is that there simply are no pan controls on the Masterlink or similar devices. If you send two channels of audio to the Masterlink, channel 1 will be hard-panned to the left, and channel 2 will be hard-panned to the right. You do not have the luxury of independently panning the channels within the stereo spectrum.

Clear as mud?

So the answer is... Yes! The Masterlink does what you want it to do. Go buy one right now.

He's absolutely right.....

[mosrite]

BTW if you're using an ORTF pair that is correctly set up you shouldn't need any panning at all

It was that sentence that got me, still makes no sense...

there simply are no pan controls on the Masterlink or similar devices. If you send two channels of audio to the Masterlink, channel 1 will be hard-panned to the left, and channel 2 will be hard-panned to the right. You do not have the luxury of independently panning the channels within the stereo spectrum.

Interesting. Pro Tools doesnt do this. But I guess a standalone recorder is a different kettle of fish as, unlike a daw where there is a mixer to do the panning, in a recorder there is not.

[d_fu]

Originally Posted by mosrite

It was that sentence that got me, still makes no sense....

Well, "no panning" means Left is Left and Right is Right. If you feed a device like the Masterlink a stereo signal, it will leave them L/R as they are and not pan them towards the center. You seem to worry about both channels being in the center for some reason and not being able to pan them left and right... This is not the case. Your idea of "not panning" is diametrical to what the others are referring to...
An SPDIF or AES/EBU signal is stereo and does not need to be panned towards the sides. It is also being recorded and monitored like this by the Masterlink or other such devices.


Daniel

[mosrite]

An SPDIF or AES/EBU signal is stereo and does not need to be panned towards the sides. It is also being recorded and monitored like this by the Masterlink or other such devices.

But not by Pro Tools...

[d_fu]

Originally Posted by mosrite

But not by Pro Tools...

I don't know PT at all... What does it do?

[niquest]

I'm sure you guys know all this but maybe this will help clarify things.

PT, like most other DAWs, mixes a lot of inputs to LR-stereo (or multichannel). Every input seen by the software is treated the same way, so an AES or spdif will just be seen as what it is: two channels coming in. When your input channel then crosses the 2ch-stereo-mix buss, you are free to decide if you want it panned to Hard Left or just off center to Right or wherever. Panning will distribute your channel signal to your two (or six or whatever) output devices via the mix buss. It's like you have a mixing console between what comes in and what goes out. BTW, if you create a stereo channel you needn't worry about panning. In L will go out to Out L and so forth. PT does the panning for you.

The Masterlink is in concept a 2ch-stereo recording and playback device, it is basically meant for an environment which is exclusively LR-stereo. Since it just records 2 channels there is no other way than to record input 1 (L in most cases) to track 1 and input 2 to track 2 (R in most cases). No panning involved.

It gets confusing when people link the totally electrical issue of channel distribution to the acoustical/aesthetics issue of panning signals within a fixed stereo system like ORTF.

Hope this makes any sense.

[mosrite]

I'm sure you guys know all this but maybe this will help clarify things.

PT, like most other DAWs, mixes a lot of inputs to LR-stereo (or multichannel). Every input seen by the software is treated the same way, so an AES or spdif will just be seen as what it is: two channels coming in. When your input channel then crosses the 2ch-stereo-mix buss, you are free to decide if you want it panned to Hard Left or just off center to Right or wherever. Panning will distribute your channel signal to your two (or six or whatever) output devices via the mix buss. It's like you have a mixing console between what comes in and what goes out. BTW, if you create a stereo channel you needn't worry about panning. In L will go out to Out L and so forth. PT does the panning for you.

The Masterlink is in concept a 2ch-stereo recording and playback device, it is basically meant for an environment which is exclusively LR-stereo. Since it just records 2 channels there is no other way than to record input 1 (L in most cases) to track 1 and input 2 to track 2 (R in most cases). No panning involved.

It gets confusing when people link the totally electrical issue of channel distribution to the acoustical/aesthetics issue of panning signals within a fixed stereo system like ORTF.

Hope this makes any sense.

I think we've probably all been singing from the same hymn book, but it took an eloquent post like yours to help clarify things for everyone. Thanks!

[Sounds Great]

And the headphone amp works just fine. More than enough juice.