HDX: Mixing SSL Deltalink with HD I/O Interfaces

[Spindrift300]

Hi, I have an SSL Deltalink running two RADAR ADA II units for 48ch of I/O. I want to buy an HD I/O Digital 16x16 so I can interface a slew of AES/EBU outboard. Is there any issue with running these two units on two HDX cards in a MacPro or is this asking for trouble?

Would I word clock off of the RADARs into the HD I/O or is the clock coming from the sync of the HDX cards (which are getting their clock from the RADAR)?

What if I decide to throw 8ch of Analog in the empty slots of the HD I/O too? Trouble in river city?

Thanks in advance for the insights.

[LukeHoward]

Originally Posted by Spindrift300

Hi, I have an SSL Deltalink running two RADAR ADA II units for 48ch of I/O. I want to buy an HD I/O Digital 16x16 so I can interface a slew of AES/EBU outboard. Is there any issue with running these two units on two HDX cards in a MacPro or is this asking for trouble?

Would I word clock off of the RADARs into the HD I/O or is the clock coming from the sync of the HDX cards (which are getting their clock from the RADAR)?

What if I decide to throw 8ch of Analog in the empty slots of the HD I/O too? Trouble in river city?

Thanks in advance for the insights.

The latencies may not match so, at the very least, you probably don't want to be doing things in parallel (e.g. compression) mixed across interfaces. The interface provides the clock. If you are using the HD Digital I/O only for AES/EBU inserts then it would make sense to make the RADAR the clock master. It would probably be simpler to get a Pro Tools card for the RADAR but, in the absence of that, a word clock distributor taking the WC out from the RADAR to both the SSL Deltalink and HD I/O will likely be the most robust option. In theory it shouldn't matter which Pro Tools interface is the "master" as far as Pro Tools is concerned. Switching sample rates will be a bit of a pain, but so it is.