Mbox 2, Apogee Ensemble, s/pdif problem
 

Howdy,

Yesterday I was able to open a Ptools session, make a new track, set it to the spdif input and record onto it using my apogee ensemble as a mic pre and A/D converter .. today not so much.

When it worked I had no blinking lights, no sample rate sync issues, and virtually no stress in my life .. hehe.

TODAY however, is not the same as yesterday. My setup is the same as yesterday with one change. I tried to be super cool and attempt to sync logic pro 8 to pro tools 8 using the instructions I found in this DUC thread. .. I have been unsuccessful so far. BUT, i did develop a new problem.

with the same settings as yesterday (to the best of my knowledge) I attempted to once again record through my apogee into the mbox via spdif. but now the spdif light blinks as though it cannot finish syncing up with the ensemble's time code. it does not give me any sync errors like 'the sample rate you selected is wrong you dummy' but it no longer sees the signal when I record enable the track (as the light blinks on and on into the night).

I attempted updating the firmware on my mbox but this did not solve the problem. I also noticed some other peculiar things occurring.

when pro tools isn't open, and I set the src sample rate to 48 on my ensemble, the spdif light on the mbox stops blinking. (i hoped this meant I could at least record with it in a 48 khz pro tools session) so I created a new 48 khz session and tried to record, but when I record enable a track (with spdif as the input) all I get is extremely peaked out signal. and no matter how much I turned up or down the volume knob for that channel the signal level on the meter remained the same.

to summarize:

spdif light doesn't blink when it's set to 48 khz but I get insane noise signal
spdif light does blink when I do a session at 44.1 khz but I get no signal.

I have also attempted switching out my spdif cable in the off chance it morphed into an rca .. but it didn't help.

I've spent much of my day searching these boards for a solution but have been unable to find when as of late, any help would be greatly appreciated.

(also as a p.s.) should I be able to see s/pdif as an output option in the I/O matrix? it seems like I should but currently I do not. I have rebooted with a spdif cable attached and detached and have gotten the same result both times.

Here are my comp specs / software specs in case they help:

Model Name: Power Mac G5 Quad
Model Identifier: PowerMac11,2
Processor Name: PowerPC G5 (1.1)
Processor Speed: 2.5 GHz
Number Of CPUs: 4
L2 Cache (per CPU): 1 MB
Memory: 9 GB
Bus Speed: 1.25 GHz
Boot ROM Version: 5.2.7f1

Apogee Ensemble:
Maestro 1.7
EnsembleDaemon v1.4
Driver v2.4.6fc4
Firmware v1.9.24
Hardware C
FPGA v1.31
CPLD v1.5

Mbox 2
Firmware 1.43

Pro Tools LE 8
Version 8.0cs3

Thank you so very much for taking the time to help me out with this. If you're close by, I'll send you some cookies.

:::::::: I posted this in the wrong forum earlier which is why I have this seperate follow up as well :::::::

update:

still no go but more strange happenings. when I attempt to record onto a track via spdif, still no sound. but when i switch the inputs to channels 1 or 2, the analog inputs, I get nothing but super loud white noise. I have nothing plugged into the analog inputs of the mbox at the moment. (this is when apogee ensemble src rate is at 44.1 and ptools session is as well) and the spdif light blinks

when I switch the src rate to 48 but keep the session the same I now get noise in all 4 channels with gaps of silence periodically (which I assume is a sample rate mismatch problem) and the error telling me the sample rates don't match. .. but the spdif light on the mbox no longer blinks. also, the noise on the fourth channel (spdif channel) is washing in and out like am ocean wave. it also has the gaps of silence though.

if anyone has ANY idea what might be going on here it'd be greatly appreciated. as you can tell, I'm baffled. and if there is for some reason an answer in another thread that I may have overlooked, a link would be super helpful. thanks again everybody!

Re: Mbox 2, Apogee Ensemble, s/pdif problem
 

Did you go in and default all you paths in the I/O matrix?
Then check your session set up and make sure that SPDIF in not set to optical. See if that helps. :-)

Re: Mbox 2, Apogee Ensemble, s/pdif problem
 

when I default mu outputs in the IO matrix it gives me no new paths. I do not have optical as an option which I'm sure is because mine is just an mbox 2, not a pro, I simply have the spdif and the analog ins.

After I default (and before) the only channels that show up as vertical columns are the Mbox analog 1/2. When I'm in looking at my inputs It has Analog 1/2 and spdif 3/4.

why has my computer smote me so?

Re: Mbox 2, Apogee Ensemble, s/pdif problem
 

Maybe someone else could chime in, because I have a Mbox2 and it's doing the same thing in the I/O matrix as well. :confused: I wonder if it only mirrors analog 1&2 to the spdif output. If it does... that sucks. :mad: I haven't had any clocking issues with mine. I use my laptop with the Mbox2 as an extra VI host spdif clocked to my digi003R on my desktop and it works really well. That way you can use Mainstage within PTLE. Anybody? :o

Re: Mbox 2, Apogee Ensemble, s/pdif problem
 

I just checked the AMS on my laptop and the core audio driver has only 2 outputs! It has 4 inputs! :mad: SPDIF looks like a mirror only output! Digi, why would you cripple an output?

Re: Mbox 2, Apogee Ensemble, s/pdif problem
 

*bump* ... anyone? thoughts?

and it seems there are two of us with the spdif output oddities here. anyone else?

hope everyone's labor day was relaxing!

Re: Mbox 2, Apogee Ensemble, s/pdif problem
 

We will have to wait another day for Digi Tech to chime in. :-)

Re: Mbox 2, Apogee Ensemble, s/pdif problem
 

has anyone had problems trying to get audio to come through spdif with gear OTHER than the apogee ensemble? and does it seem like a different or similar issue that has already been mentioned?

Re: Mbox 2, Apogee Ensemble, s/pdif problem
 

To this day, a friend has a Panasonic SV-3800 DAT machine that neither of us can get to work directly with either an 002R or an MBox2 via S/PDIF. It works just fine with MOTU and Apogee gear, which in turn works just fine with the Digi gear.

Re: Mbox 2, Apogee Ensemble, s/pdif problem
 

I'VE FIXED IT:

problem arose after a mac software update.
I'm currently on 10.5.7 on a ppc G5
the ensemble didn't like the update vis-a-vis, i could no longer get it to interface with the mbox 2.

if you run into this problem update your firmware here and (hopefully) everything should be fine.

hopefully my rants help, happy thursday.