Surround Monitoring

[splicestudios]

I'm upgrading from stereo to surround for TV mixing - I work in Asian TV and many clients still ask for mono because they can squeeze 4 languages onto a DigiBeta master) so surround has only just become a deliverables requirement - and so I want to get extra outputs from my 192 I/O. I am thinking of using an AI-3 (converts ADAT lightpipe <-> Analog balanced / unbalanced) into a second surround set of speakers (the current stereo speaker set-up includes a Mackie Big Knob and Event mains: my surround clients are TV-only cable channels) - anyone had success going this way? Kenn / SPLiCE Studios

[Tiago Silva]

The ADAT Lightpipe outputs, just like the TDIF outputs, REPLACE the 8 AES/EBU channels. You'll still have 16 channels total but you can leave the connections made and repatch inside ProTools what kind of digital output format you want to use for channels 9 to 16.

[splicestudios]

I'll go to the AI-3 from the enclosed digital (far right of the 192 I/O) so the digital card's outputs can stay as AES / EBU and with hardware set-up / main / AES / EBU selected out of the three choices, the Optical output of the 192 I/O will be ADAT format. The problem I've got is that the AI-3 isn't showing any signal on it's LEDs for Signal or for Clip - I've fed signals as high as 0dB from ProTools down the Optical 1-2 (ADAT) and get nothing showing up. I'm starting to think the AI-3 (purchaed from off eBay as my surround requirements are still only 1 project out of 50) may have a problem, not ProTools Thanks for clarifying the issue of the Digital I/O card - can I confirm that selecting the input into this card will determine which of the 3 formats (AES / TDIF / ADAT) will be used for those 8 tracks?

[Tiago Silva]

I think you can mix assignments between optical and electrical AES (for example, you can have 9-10 as optical and 11-12 as AES, and 13-14 as AES[Encl] all at the same time), but you can't use TDIF and AES at the same time.