Connecting and Setting up and external preamp

[lew742man]

I am trying to connect and setup a Mackie Onyx 800R preamp to my Digi 003 Factory. I have Pro Tools LE 7.3 running on Windows.

I am confused on why Pro Tools isn't finding my new inputs. I have the optical cable running from the optical Out of the Mackie into the optical In of the Digi 003. When I go to setup > session it isn't showing the new inputs. Any ideas how to make this work. I want to play with my new toys but can't because of this frustrating hang up.

I have both the session and the preamp set at 96 kHz and 26 bits.

(Also I fully admit I am a newbie when it comes to external devices and connecting them to the Digi 003)

[77pro]

The adat optical transmits/receives at 48khz /24 bits maximum.

[lew742man]

Okay I've tried every setting and it's still not reading the Mackie. I was under the impression you plug in the Mackie with an optical cord and boom Pro Tools instantly reads it. Is this an incorrect assumption?

Does that mean my sessions should be set to 48 kHz when I create new session?

[77pro]

I would set the session to 44khz unless it's soundtrack on video.

[spkguitar]

I was under the impression you plug in the Mackie with an optical cord and boom Pro Tools instantly reads it. Is this an incorrect assumption?

Yes.

Does that mean my sessions should be set to 48 kHz when I create new session?

Yes, if that the sample rate you choose to work at.

You might want to try reading my tutorial.

[lew742man]

I actually was working off of that tutorial...but it's still not working. What more do I have to do other than plug in the optical cord? If you have one device you don't need an external clock right?

What I'm really looking for is a step by step walkthrough of how to hook this up, knowing what I'm dealing with. Anyone who has the Digi 003 and Mack Onyx 800R out there that can tell me a step by step walkthrough of how to hook it up.

Or anyone who has a preamp using an optical connection...what you do inside Pro Tools after the preamp is connected. That was what I was hoping for when I created this post.

[spkguitar]

That's covered in my tutorial:

In Pro Tools, go to Setup->Hardware and under the “Clock Source” dropdown, you would select which device you have decided to be the master clock, either ADAT or S/PDIF. Make sure the Optical input selection is set to ADAT. Now you need to make sure the external devices are clocked correctly. On the device that you have chosen to be the master clock, make sure that it’s clock is set to “internal”, and on the other device, set the clock to “external”.

[darrylnb]

I may be stating something obvious, and I apologize if so, but PT doesn't show you that it's connected to a digital device... as far as I recall. I've used the Focusrite Octopre unit a few times. You simply select "ADAT 1" as your input if you're using channel one on the 800R. (You can rename all this stuff in the Setup-> I/O menu.)

In my experience, the clock source doesn't have to be correct to get a signal through... however you will get digital clicks and noises that would ruin your recording.

Is it possible that the 800R has to have the optical out enabled somehow?

darryl