Getting Presonus DigiMax to work with Digidesign 96io (HD1)-pulling my hair out!

[4 the Max]

1. I registered for the Presonus forum but I have to wait to be officially registered by the moderator after activating my account.

2. I own 2 Presonus Digimax systems: A DigiMax 96 K which was connected (and working) to a Digidesign 002factory and DigiMax LT connected to a Digi003R (and working).

I am migrating my DigiMax96k to a Digidesign HD1 with 96io which I just purchased.

I BLA modded my 96io. I didn't test the 96io with the Digimax prior to having it modded as I purchased the 96io and HD1 card used and sent the 96io to be modded immediately after I purchased it.

I trust BLA reputation and assume that the unit works correctly after it was modded.

I connected my Digidesign 96 i/o BNC word clock out to a Presonus DigiMax 96k BNC word clock in. Both the lights on the DigiMax and ProTools HD indicate that there is sync and the lights on the Digimax indicate the same sample rate as the PT session. If I create a new session with a different sample rate, then the new sample rate is reflected on the Digimax front panel.

I used a 15 foot 75 ohm canare cable with crimped on bnc connectors which I purchased new from BH photovideo.

I did NOT use a BNC terminator on either the DigiMax or 96io. only the BNC cable connecting the word clock ports. I never had to use BNC terminator with either the Digi002 or Digi003R systems.

I connected an ADAT optical from Presonus to 96i/o in. I see a red light coming out of the fiber before inserting it into the 96io.

3. I connected a mic to the mic pre of the Presonus and and the lights on the Digimax rise and lower with the volume of the music.

4. I set the io of the track to ADAT1.

5. When I click the R icon for the track, there is NO activity in the meter nor do I hear something on my CR monitors except for occasional clicks.

6. The lights on channels 9-16 on the 96io raise and lower from green-to yellow-to red and back down.

7. I've tried 3 different ADAT optical cables, all of which worked with the Digimax when it worked and was connected to my Digi002LE system.

8. I switched the BNC cables so that the DigiMax is the master and the 96io is the slave and set ProTools HD for external clock. The lights on the Digimax and 96io and the message in PT indicates sync. However, the lights on channels on the 96io don't rise and fall as when I use the 96io as the master clock.

9. Again, I get no activity when I record enable the track.

10. I tested the mic and cable into an Analog Pre channel 1 and they work fine.

11. I had a DigiMax LT connected and working with a Digi003R.
I exchanged the Digimax 96K for a DigiMaxLT connecting it to the 96 io and did all of the above, exchanging ADAT and BNC cables and ports because I had no activity on record enabled track as before.

Again, I have no activity in ProTools HD but the lights on the front of the DigiMax for the relevant channel rise and fall with the volume of the music.

Please advise me.

I've sent this same email to Presonus tech support tonight, but you guys are a bright and helpful (and humorous) bunch and giving this forum a try too.

Thanks

[lildrummerboy70]

I have been having issues with a Digimax LT lately. One thing to try is to get a BNC termination and a BNC t bar adapter and terminate the BNC connection at the Digimax. I had to do this to use the Digimax with my Apogee Big Ben (it was the Big Ben manual that recommended the BNC termination). It's worth a try for the sake of being thorough. Hope you get it figured out.

[daniel c]

Have you checked the I/O setup in Pro Tools?

[4 the Max]

Thank you for your help.

Yes, I checked my io setup in ProTools.

Channels 9-16 indicate ADAT 1 to 8 and output is none (PT won't let me change it to anything else.)

[syntax]

Just a thought. What if you used AES/EBU instead? The Digimax 96k has it and, frankly, it is a better option than ADAT.

[4 the Max]

Thank you for your consideration.

I have the AES/EBU breakout cable for the DigiMax which allows 24 bit output up to 96K in 4 stereo pairs.

PreSonus

The 96 io has only 1 AES/EBU stereo pair input (page 5):
akmedia.digidesign.com/support/docs/96_IO_Guide_25668.pdf

hence the invention of the ADAT lightpipe to allow a 8 channel stream in a small single port cable.

It was a good thought though.

[4 the Max]

1. Presonus - nothing to tell me to do yet.

2. BLA - uninstall PT HD. Re-install PT HD. I haven't done this yet.

[DDKNY]

Okay so you have two interconnections ADAT Lightpipe and Coax Word Clock to the I/O-96. Where I/O 96 must act as the Master Clocksource.

While I/O 96 could represent each fader input in PT differently than the Digi003. If you see activity on inputs 9-16 on the I/O 96 you're just not hearing them through software IO setups.

If you see sync, generally it means it's working correctly on both sides, just the software needs a re-config based on what physical assignments are made to virtual faders. Also make sure the Optical connectors are not in SPDIF mode but ADAT Lightpipe. Max spec is 48khz per channel not 96khz (TOSLINK).