Another OMNI Optical Issue

[rmccam]

Hi Everyone,

I've been trying to get my MacBook Pro's optical output into my OMNI. I'm not new to Pro Tools and I've read all of the threads on the matter. I'm on Yosemite and in System Preferences I'm going out the "Digital Out - Optical digital-out port". The red light is coming out the optical cable and when I plug the cable into my Apollo it works without any hesitation. I even went into Audio MIDI Setup and told the Mac to send out the signal as 48kHz, just in case it was a weird sample rate issue. So I'm at a loss here.

I've tried every combination of settings, I think, but these are my OMNI Hardware Settings:





I can't figure out what I'm missing here. My OMNI is on firmware 2.10, if that matters. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Ryan

[V5V]

If I understand correctly, you're trying to record whatever is coming out of the optical output of your MacBook Pro via the optical input on your Omni. Is that right?

Is the same MacBook Pro also running Pro Tools, and therefore hosting the Omni, or is the Pro Tools system running on a separate computer?

The reason I ask is that you have the clock source for Pro Tools set to "internal." Typically when recording a digital source you'd either select the input being recorded as the clock source or lock both the source and the recorder to a common external clock. I don't know if that's even possible when both devices are running on the same computer.

Either way, the clock source might be worth looking into.

[rmccam]

Thanks Lorin. I totally get what you're saying. It is the same computer but I'm not trying to record it, just monitor it. And it doesn't seem to be a clocking issue - no clicks and stuff - it just won't pass audio. Many people have cited the same issue, I think.

I'm just trying to playback the audio from my Mac (Soundminer, Spotify, YouTube, files, etc.), without having to close Pro Tools and choose HDX as the output device in my Mac's System Preferences. I know some people have this working.

For what it's worth, when I change the clock source it gives me the "Your hardware doesn't have sync..." error.

Thanks again.

Ryan

[Brandonx1]

Have you tried switching the omni tok adat? I guess yoiu Apollo is s3t to adat, right?

[rmccam]

Originally Posted by Brandonx1

Have you tried switching the omni tok adat? I guess yoiu Apollo is s3t to adat, right?

Thanks for the reply. Ya, I'd tried that. I tried it again just to be sure and still no dice. The Apollo can run different protocols but it was going straight from the MacBook Pro, SPDIF over optical. The Apollo recognized it as SPDIF (which is what it's supposed to be).

Ryan

[albee1952]

Changing clock is still worth a try. On my rig, SOME(but not all) hardware will simply refuse to pass audio if clocking is not correct.

[Top Jimmy]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Changing clock is still worth a try. On my rig, SOME(but not all) hardware will simply refuse to pass audio if clocking is not correct.

It is worth a try, but it shouldn't matter since he has the realtime sample rate conversion enabled for the optical input.

[rmccam]

I've tried it all. I got Avid on the phone for over an hour and half (gotta get something for the subscription fee). Nothing. They said they had to run tests on their end, whatever that means.

The only thing I can think of is a ribbon cable has come loose to the digital board... maybe a bad solder joint? I'll consider opening it up.

Thanks for all your help. If anyone has any other ideas, I'm open to ideas.

Ryan

[Marco Bernardo]

I have mine like this:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/r72dob17k7...50.42.jpg?dl=0

and

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5zz4teefa4...54.32.jpg?dl=0

And it's working fine for years.

[rmccam]

Thanks Marco. Just to confirm, you're going into the optical in on the OMNI, right? Not the coaxial? Avid said that they're not sure that you can go into the optical (which I'm 99.9% sure is incorrect). What OMNI firmware are you on and what version of Pro Tools?

Thanks a million. It doesn't solve my problem but it at least limits the possibilities.

Ryan