ADAT with MTRX Studio

[domilik]

Hello everybody,

is anybody successfully using ADAT with MTRX Studio?

Before switching to MTRX my setup was: RME UFX Interface, ADAT out into an external mixer, ADAT back into RME, and from there to the b-chain/speakers.

I want to keep the exact setup, but want to use MTRX instead of RME.

Unfortunately the ADAT connection with MTRX now is very unstable, clicks and pops, sometimes even in DADman there is a yellow triangle warning. I tried several settings, clock via ADAT, clock via wordclock cable, I also tried a bunch of different toslink cables, but without success. Sometimes its getting a bit better, sometimes even worse, but never completely without those dropouts.
Can it be that the ADAT adapter in MTRX is just low qual compared to RME, or is something like this unlikely?

Any thoughts on this?
Thank you!
Dominik

[LDS]

The yellow warning indicates a discrepancy in sync settings, which is most likely why you are getting dropouts. The MTRX stuff is quite powerful in terms of configuration, and operates as a standalone audio router, which may make it a little more involved to set up with your 01V96i compared to the RME.

Personally, I would unplug everything but the BNC word clock cable, and get a solid word clock sync before plugins everything else in. In DADman, try setting the Sync Source to internal, with the sync out to word clock. In the 01V96i's word clock menu, you should be able to see whether it is recieving a proper wordclock sync - the WC IN option shouldn't have an 'X' through it, and it should be selectable as your sync source. If it doesn't work, try checking your sample rate to make sure it is matching across devices.

Once the word clock sync is established, toss in your ADAT cables and give it a spin. Because the MTRX stuff works standalone, you will also need to check how the audio devices that attach it directly to your computer (HDX, HD Native, DVS, Dante PCIe, etc) are configured in terms of sample rates and clock sources.

[domilik]

Originally Posted by LDS

Personally, I would unplug everything but the BNC word clock cable, and get a solid word clock sync before plugins everything else in. In DADman, try setting the Sync Source to internal, with the sync out to word clock. In the 01V96i's word clock menu, you should be able to see whether it is recieving a proper wordclock sync - the WC IN option shouldn't have an 'X' through it, and it should be selectable as your sync source. If it doesn't work, try checking your sample rate to make sure it is matching across devices.

Hi and thank you very much!
That is pretty much what I already tried. The 01V shows proper clock constantly, and also in DADman there's "green light" most of the time. Sometimes it even plays for 10min or so without any drop, then there are just a few drops (without any alert in DADman or 01V), and only on rare occasions the yellow triangle shows up (and only when audio is played back, never in stop mode). It's just not the stable environment which it had been before.
For me tbh it could also be sth like a hardware-issue with the ADAT connectors, they are very(!!) sensitive to movements of the toslink-cables. But I tried many different cables with different jacks.

I should mention that I want to use both ADATs and ADAT 2 seems to be much more of a problem compared to ADAT 1.

[Darryl Ramm]

You may have a faulty ADAT connection on the hardware, can you switch back to the RME to check your ADAT Out is working reliably? Or maybe even better use the RME ADAT out to test drive the ADAT in on the MTRX Studio?

And the longshot... look in the ADAT TOSLINK ports for any crud, I have found clear optical cable caps stuck in TOSLINK ports.

[albee1952]

Since you are on Windows, it may also be worth heeding the usual Windows advice of setting Windows to NOT use the interface(even if it worked fine with the RME). Then, review your clocking method, and try other options(IOW, if you set the Yamaha to be the master, try it as the slave, or vice versa). My gut feeling would be to retire the Yamaha(but that's just my personal preference)

[LDS]

Originally Posted by domilik

Hi and thank you very much!
That is pretty much what I already tried. The 01V shows proper clock constantly, and also in DADman there's "green light" most of the time. Sometimes it even plays for 10min or so without any drop, then there are just a few drops (without any alert in DADman or 01V), and only on rare occasions the yellow triangle shows up (and only when audio is played back, never in stop mode). It's just not the stable environment which it had been before.
For me tbh it could also be sth like a hardware-issue with the ADAT connectors, they are very(!!) sensitive to movements of the toslink-cables. But I tried many different cables with different jacks.

I should mention that I want to use both ADATs and ADAT 2 seems to be much more of a problem compared to ADAT 1.

If you can't get it to work, even after trying it with the 01V as master and the MTRX as slave, I would just cut to the chase and reach out to Avid Support. Some owners of MTRX Studio have had hardware issues with their specific units.

[BScout]

Just a test: loop ADAT out to in. Pass signal through it. See if it stays locked or glitches. If it glitches, change ADAT cables (adat cables can get damaged) and try again. Start/stop signal etc. Drop it into record.

If it glitches even once on both cables, you can firmly say that your MTRX Studio is defective and you need an RMA.

[nsureit]

Is Wordclock correctly configured in DADman? Is it terminated at 75 ohm? I fiddled with these settings when I first got my MTRX Studio. I’m technically challenged and had a difficult time setting everything up at first, but I kinda Forrest Gumped my way to getting it all working.

[creativecontrol]

Termination can be set in DADman under Conf > Sync > Sync Term:
This parameter sets whether the Word Clock input is terminated internally in the MTRX with 75 ohm, or left unterminated. It is strongly recommended that the Word Clock input is terminated in 75 ohm for optimum performance.

Jeff