clock sputtering on 888 24 i/o at end of chain

[8068]

We have 3 mix plus 24 systems. Every few days the 5th or 6th 888 i/o will crackle sputter, and output audio with a little distortion, or cut out. This happens on all three systems. I am sure all my settings are correct. This never happens on the first three i/o's ( 24 tracks ) all clock cables are short ( standard digi issue ). I have swapped all cables ( clock and tdm )and y cables.
Usually a reboot, and or reseating connectors gets the problem to go away for a few hours to a few days or weeks.
Is this normal? Anybody else have this problem?
Thanks
Brad

[Shawn Simpson]

Are you running the clock cable from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 to 5 to 6? If you are, you have to realize that by the time you reach the 6th i/o, you have about 9' of clock cable. You're doing everything right, but this problem will happen with superclock run that distance. The solution I found was to split the clock cable from the first interface with a good bnc splitter and connect the 2nd and 4th to it, then go 2 to 3, then 4-5-6. That will cut down the cable length enough keep everything happy. In an ideal situation, you'd take the first i/o's superclock into an active distribution amp, then use the exact same length of cable to connect each of the remaining ones, but the solution above is much cheaper and very easy to implement. This problem doesn't happen in the HD systems because these interfaces use loop sync that operates at 1x the sample frequency. Good luck.

[8068]

Makes Sense!
Thank you
Brad