Wordclock?

[underground]

Can anyone explain wordclock to me, I have a Tascam TM-D 1000 digital mixer. I picked up a TDIF to adat convertor to use the optical I/o on 001. Some one tiold me I need to hook up the wordclock from the mixer to the convertor to send the lightpipe signal. I don't have it hooked up now, hence the stuttering effect I guess when I play back from PT to the mixer. Is that the cause of the stuttering lack of the wordclock? [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

[archtop]

If my clock is not set to optical I get clicks and pops( not stutter ?)
operation>hardware>word clock >optical
should do it

[DodgyDave]

Hi.
The "stuttering" you are hearing is a classic Wordclock mismatch symptom. Somewhere in the mixer will be a page that lets you set the wordclock source from the TDIF input. I'm guessing that both ADAT lightpipes and both TDIF connections are made to the mixer, 001 and Converter. A rule of thumb if you don't have a central wordclock * (see later),
is that you decide on a word clock master, say the 001, and then all the other slaved devices connected need to receive their "clock" from the master. So in this example The Digi001 is set to internal clock, and the mixer is set to receive clock from the TDIF inputs. It would work the other way round, with mixer as master and digi 001 as "slave". In both these examples if you were taking a digital output to a DAT machine, the DAT should be set to get it's clock from the incoming digital signal. In a Tascam DA 20 for example, this happens automatically when you select input=coax (digital)

Simply put, unlike analogue audio devices, digital devices need to know how "fast" each other"s digital engines (clocks) are running, if they are to communicate with each other. Wordclock is a digital signal that is a continuously running clock pulse (typically at 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz). If it is fed to all devices being used - say from a central wordclock generator, and all devices are set to receive Wordclock ( or W/C) then all devices will know when each digital word starts and ends and can run in time. However, most cheaper devices don't have a W/C in or out, so they will get their clock from the incoming digital signal
I
Hope this helps.

Peace.

Dave k

[underground]

Thanks Dave, that helps so I guess it's kinda like midi timecode. So I guess I'll set my mixer as the slave, and hook up the cable to my convertor, set PT to internal. Now will that work both when I rec and playback?

[DodgyDave]

Hi.

Once the connections are made properly, the system is "locked" and you should be able to playback record edit etc. with no hitch.
With any luck there won't be a setting on your converter box for W/C!

It wouldn't hurt to experiment with the settings the other way round - mixer as master, and 001 as slave. There may be a time when you need to do this - for example when using the mixer without the PT computer switched on.

Peace.

Dave K

[The Mighty Burner]

Underground -

Wordclock is not the same as MTC. There are two types of sync - timing sync (how fast am I going?) and postional sync (where am I?). Wordclock is akin to a timing sync signal, and MTC is a positional reference. If you check out the section on sync and timecode in the PT manual, there is a very good, detailed explanation of these concepts.

If I understand your question correctly, I would say that you need to select "optical" in PT, and change the protocol to "ADAT". Let your Tascam be the sync source, so set the sync mode to "optical". Be sure the sample rate of the mixer matches the sample rate of the session, and you should be in business.

Good luck,

[underground]

Convertor has no settings for wordclock, just the bnc connection. I'll try it out.
Thanks to all that responded. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Rail Jon Rogut]

Which TDIF to ADAT converter do you have? If you have an IF-TAD, the WC out is only derived from the ADAT signal.

Remember that if you make the Mixer the clock master and you keep PT in external digital clock.. the sample rate will always be controlled by the Tascam no matter what you set it to in Pro Tools.

BTW generally you want the digital device with the better clock (more stable, less jitter) to be your clock master.. between the 001 and the Tascam mixer.. I have no idea which that is.. you may want to experiment once you get this working to decide which clock you prefer the sound of.

Rail

[underground]

Yes, IF-TAD is what I have.

[underground]

Success!!!!!!! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] It took a while,but I finally got it to work. Anyone need advice on hooking up the complicated setup, just let me know.