Syncing PT to 2" and vice versa...

[PeeTee]

Other then the discontinued Timeline Micro Lynx and the Adams-Smith Zeta III (which I can't seem find info for on the web), who else makes a synchronizer for locking 2" & PT?
Thanks in advance.

[dave-G]

We most frequently have PT chase the 2" deck using the Digidesign USD And Zeta III. Some would argue to have the tape machine do the chase-work, but I haven't found the process to be at all harmful to the audio, and PT locks much quicker than the Otari can.

Come to think of it. What is the "conventional" way of doing this?

-dg

[dave-G]

I meant for my reply to imply that you can stripe track 24 of your 2" tape using the USD, then have the USD read that code so PT can chase. This is the most economical way to do things if you don't have a synchronizer for the 2" deck.. It'll work fine.

That said, having a synchronizer with everything getting a house sync-signal will make your sync-chores tighter and easier.

hmmm ... "reply to imply" . . . I'm going to have to remember that one...

-dg

[mikeoxbig]

I'm using a midi time piece a/v with pro tools chasing an mci jh24 and it works great.

[Jonny Atack]

Pee Tee,

It will sound much better for the 2" to be resolved to the PT with a proper master clock (an Apogee, Aardsync or Nanosync) supplying WC to the lynx or adam smith. You might look for a used Microlynx or Zeta3 on ebay or digibid. Frankly, anyone who says that there is no jitter degradation when PT chases tape has honestly not compared the two properly. Good luck,

Jon
Capitol Studios Paris
www.capitolstudiosparis.com

[Jonny Atack]

Pee Tee,

It will sound much better for the 2" to be resolved to the PT with a proper master clock (an Apogee, Aardsync or Nanosync) supplying WC to the lynx or adam smith. You might look for a used Microlynx or Zeta3 on ebay or digibid. Frankly, anyone who says that there is no jitter degradation when PT chases tape has honestly not compared the two properly. Good luck,

Jon
Capitol Studios Paris
www.capitolstudiosparis.com

[PeeTee]

I'm actually following an eBay auction on a Micro Lynx. (My heart starts to go fast as the auction's time comes to a close.)

I wouldn't be asking for a synchonizer if all I wanted to do was chaselock PT off the Studer. I need something to vary the cap-stan of the Studer after I set-up a tempo map with the drum tracks in PT, do a layover....then stripe. Already got the Nanosyncs last week...the improvement is obvious!

Thanks all for the responses.

[dave-G]

Originally posted by Jonny Atack:
Pee Tee,

Frankly, anyone who says that there is no jitter degradation when PT chases tape has honestly not compared the two properly.

I agree, but the degradation depends on what you're doing while chasing. Jitter degradation on chase-locked playback lowers the quality of that playback, so transfering from PT to tape suffers. However, if you have PT chase, but are recording from tape to PT it seems to me that it suffers less, because once it's recorded, it begins its life against a non-chasing and stable clock.

Of course, in my case we have a black-locked Zeta and USD.


Aah.

-dave

[Jonny Atack]

Hi Dave,

Jitter can certainly degrade a digital recording. Even if the clock/black is real stable and nice during playback after, any jitter introduced during the recording is there for good.

Jon

[Corey Shay]

Yes, I agree, because in this case you are doing A/D conversion, so therefore jitter affects the timing of each sample, and if the samples are taken at the wrong time in a recording, they will end up being the wrong sample values playes back at the right time on playback. The playback is not degraded, but the recording is.

This is different of course when doing digital recordings over AES or spdif. Since all sample values are absolute, the timing at which they come is mostly irrelevant, as long as they come in the right order. It might be real jittery on recording, but playback will be fine.

It's a shame that these synchronizer boxes have all but gone extinct. Hoever, Aardvark's TimeSync is supposed to do a good job of reducing jitter from LTC. I have a USD and have done many transfers from 2" and the sound quality is still surprisingly good. The literature on the USD boasts about its tight and stable lock, but mostly says nothing about jitter or jitter reduction. I have not heard the effects of a better unit or a synchronizer though.