omni - how to use both optical inputs simultaneously?

[lemieux]

Hello there,
I've been searching for 2 hours - reading the manual - racking my brain and I can not figure out how to monitor BOTH optical ins simultaneously on the Omni. can anyone help me PLEASE?

within the MIXER section of Hardware Setup window of the Avid CoreAudio Manager it only shows me one Optical (S/PDIF) input yet there are two optical ins side by side on the back of the omni.

thank you!!!

[Darryl Ramm]

The Omni only supports two channels of optical S/PDIF, the other connector is really for use with multiple link ADAT/SMUX. Reading the Omni User Guide should have made this clear to you.

[lemieux]

well Darryl, obviously the manual didn't make it clear to me. no need to be rude. call me stupid but sometimes the many formats of cables and connectors still confuse me after 17 years of being a full-time professional musician. One could make the argument that since there are two optical inputs that would constitute "two channels" - yes i know "2" most likely meant "stereo" but with all of the different audio and computer cable formats we all use these days sometimes I still get my wires crossed (pun intended). thanks for your help

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by lemieux

well Darryl, obviously the manual didn't make it clear to me. no need to be rude. call me stupid but sometimes the many formats of cables and connectors still confuse me after 17 years of being a full-time professional musician. One could make the argument that since their are two optical inputs that would constitute "two channels" - yes i know "2" means stereo but with all of the different audio and computer cable formats we all use these days sometimes I tend to get a bit confused. thanks for your help

I am not trying to insult you, I am pointing out it *is* in the manual. I agree the whole labeling and nomenclature of the optical connectors could be better, and maybe the rear panel marked better etc. In the doc it does say clearly several times there are only two channel of S/PDIF. Yes that means two channels as in one S/PDIF stereo channel.

[nst7]

Lemieux,

You can not use Optical Spidf in and Adat in at the same time, as you are discovering. If you use Coax Spidf in, then you can use Adat in as well. If you change it to that in the "Main" tab, you will then see the choice available in the Mixer tab.

Strangely though, you can use both Optical Spidf out and Adat out at the same time.

As for the 2 optical inputs, that is only used when using SMUX, which is the Adat format, but for higher sample rates like 88 or 96k. In that case, each optical input supports 4 channels instead of 8.

So the only workaround I know of, would be to get an optical to Coax Spidf converter.