How do I connect external effects to a Digi-002R via S/PDIF?

[AntManBee]

I'd like to connect my Lexicon PCM-91 to my Digi-002 via the S/PDIF digital ports as a send/receive. I've bought a pair of 75ohm RCA cables but am having trouble doing the set-up.

The 002R Guide (page 531) says I should go to Setup>Playback Engine and "choose the peripheral", but there are no periperals on that page to select. Nor is the option mentioned for deselecting mirroring available.

And the S/PDIF option is not available in the Output section of the I/O options.

Would someone who knows how be kind enough to walk me through the set-up?

Thanks, Matt

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by AntManBee

I'd like to connect my Lexicon PCM-91 to my Digi-002 via the S/PDIF digital ports as a send/receive. I've bought a pair of 75ohm RCA cables but am having trouble doing the set-up.

The 002R Guide (page 531) says I should go to Setup>Playback Engine and "choose the peripheral", but there are no periperals on that page to select. Nor is the option mentioned for deselecting mirroring available.

And the S/PDIF option is not available in the Output section of the I/O options.

Would someone who knows how be kind enough to walk me through the set-up?

Thanks, Matt

What exact document are you reading? What version of Pro Tools?

What you are saying the documentation says makes no sense, in Setup>Playback Engine you select the 002 as the interface. That shows up as an option right?

If the digital IO available for the 002 you expect is not showing up hit the default button on each page in the Setup>IO dialog.

Beyond that its just a matter of making sure you connect the 002 S/PDIF output to the fx box S/PDIF input and visa versa, that both devices (your Pro Tools session and the FX box) have the same sample rate and that one device is set up to use the other for clocking.

This is covered in the "002 and 002 Rack Getting Started Guide" in a small section titled "To set up a send to an external digital effects device (digital sends/returns only):" You can search for that in the PDF.

[AntManBee]

Thanks for replying Darryl.

It's Pro Tools LE7 & a Digi-002R and I'm looking at the Pro Tools Reference Guide PDF from the Help menu.

Yes, the 002R is the only item listed in the Playback Engine window.

Hitting Default in the I/O Output section adds a load of ADAT outputs but no S/PDIF output (which is channels 17/18 in the input window).

I found the section you mention in the Getting Started Guide but it doesn't actually explain how to set-up an external effect viaS/PDIF beyond how to connect it, select RCA=S/PDIF and choose the internal clock - not what you do in order to actually use the effect and how to set-up the I/O. Are you able to help with this?

Sorry, I'm from the era when it was mixing desks, tape mnachines & patchbays, so despite using PT for ages, I'm always defeated by the way the user guides seem to never actually explain anything in a comprehensive way.

Thanks again. Matt

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

What exact document are you reading? What version of Pro Tools?

What you are saying the documentation says makes no sense, in Setup>Playback Engine you select the 002 as the interface. That shows up as an option right?

If the digital IO available for the 002 you expect is not showing up hit the default button on each page in the Setup>IO dialog.

Beyond that its just a matter of making sure you connect the 002 S/PDIF output to the fx box S/PDIF input and visa versa, that both devices (your Pro Tools session and the FX box) have the same sample rate and that one device is set up to use the other for clocking.

This is covered in the "002 and 002 Rack Getting Started Guide" in a small section titled "To set up a send to an external digital effects device (digital sends/returns only):" You can search for that in the PDF.

[AntManBee]

Also, the input & output of the S/PDIF are each a single RCA so I don't understand how there can be a stereo return or how I route a signal to the input of the external effect.

Originally Posted by AntManBee

Thanks for replying Darryl.

It's Pro Tools LE7 & a Digi-002R and I'm looking at the Pro Tools Reference Guide PDF from the Help menu.

Yes, the 002R is the only item listed in the Playback Engine window.

Hitting Default in the I/O Output section adds a load of ADAT outputs but no S/PDIF output (which is channels 17/18 in the input window).

I found the section you mention in the Getting Started Guide but it doesn't actually explain how to set-up an external effect viaS/PDIF beyond how to connect it, select RCA=S/PDIF and choose the internal clock - not what you do in order to actually use the effect and how to set-up the I/O. Are you able to help with this?

Sorry, I'm from the era when it was mixing desks, tape mnachines & patchbays, so despite using PT for ages, I'm always defeated by the way the user guides seem to never actually explain anything in a comprehensive way.

Thanks again. Matt

[nst7]

Each single Spidf RCA jack is actually 2 channels over 1 cable.

So if you have the cables going out of your 002 into the effects unit, and another going from the effects unit to the 002, you've got 2 channels both ways.



One thing to verify, in the Hardware setup menu, make sure Spidf is NOT selected as Optical.


Then, go into your I/O setup, and in each tab (input, output, inserts, busses), click "default". That should reset things in case they got messed up.



If you're trying to set it up as a send/return, do this:

Create a stereo Aux track. On the input of that track, select a pair of busses, such as buss 3-4, or 5-6, etc.

On that aux track, in the insert section, instead of selecting a plugin, you select I/O, and then select Spidf. This will now route signals to your effects unit and back again, just like it was a plugin.

And then, create sends on whatever tracks you want to send to that, routing the sends to whatever buss you chose (3-4, 5-6, etc.).

[albee1952]

RCA SPDIF is a stereo protocol and both channels are carried over a single wire/connection. Try this. Open the IO setup page in Pro Tools. On the INPUT tab, click on Add Path. Set it to STEREO and click the little boxes for 17&18. Label the path "Lexicon". Now go to the OUTPUT tab and do the same thing(add path, make it stereo and click the boxes for 17&18) Label that Lexicon. Now in a session, add a stereo AUX track and try to se its input to Lexicon(gotta be a stereo track). If that works, you're almost home. Add a stereo send to whatever track you want to feed to the reverb, and select Output>Lexicon. BTW, you will need to open the Hardware Setup window and select SPDIF as the clock source, and make sure the sample rate of the session matches the sample rate of the Lexicon(unless you can set the Lexicon to clock to incoming SPDIF or External). If you don't have clocking done correctly, 2 things can happen; the session can play/record at the wrong speed and pitch, or you may hear clicks and pops from the Lexicon return.

nst7 types faster

[AntManBee]

Thank you so much - it works! The last hurdle was that I had the input & output cables the wrong way round - I had the output of the 002R connected to the output of the PCM-91 (it seemed to make sense as they are both marked red...).

Originally Posted by nst7

Each single Spidf RCA jack is actually 2 channels over 1 cable.

So if you have the cables going out of your 002 into the effects unit, and another going from the effects unit to the 002, you've got 2 channels both ways.

One thing to verify, in the Hardware setup menu, make sure Spidf is NOT selected as Optical.

Then, go into your I/O setup, and in each tab (input, output, inserts, busses), click "default". That should reset things in case they got messed up.

If you're trying to set it up as a send/return, do this:

Create a stereo Aux track. On the input of that track, select a pair of busses, such as buss 3-4, or 5-6, etc.

On that aux track, in the insert section, instead of selecting a plugin, you select I/O, and then select Spidf. This will now route signals to your effects unit and back again, just like it was a plugin.

And then, create sends on whatever tracks you want to send to that, routing the sends to whatever buss you chose (3-4, 5-6, etc.).

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by AntManBee

Thank you so much - it works! The last hurdle was that I had the input & output cables the wrong way round - I had the output of the 002R connected to the output of the PCM-91 (it seemed to make sense as they are both marked red...).

Only in analog world(an unfortunate choice of connectors IMHO)