Problems with Digital input from DAT to Mbox

[ddotbach]

I recently tried to load in audio using the digital in of the MBox from a Panasonic SV-3800 DAT player. When I tried it I get a huge distorted hiss that accompanies the audio in Pro Tools. I tried all the basic troubleshoots - unplug Mbox, change spdif cable from DAT to Mbox, restart machine - but the problem continues. When I listen to the sound directly from the DAT it sounds fine. The weirdest thing of all is this setup has worked in the past. For some reason it just started happening. I'm guessing it must be from the mismatch of the digital signal of the Panasonic unit and the Mbox. Eventhough it worked before it was always kind of buggy.

Help!


Todd
Pro Tools 6.4 on Mac OSX 10.3.5

[Ultraslide]

Sounds like a possible sync issue? That'd be the first thing I'd check. And also depending on the quality of the Dat do a *gasp* analogue dump ;-)

the 'slide

[DigiTechSupt]

If this was working before, it could be a corrupt preference file. Try trashing preferences files (info on how to do this is in the 'General Troubleshooting' sticky at the top of this forum), restart and test it again.

Are you making sure to select the digital input in Hardware Setups? Is the clock source set to SPDIF?

[ddotbach]

I just tried trashing the preferences ( I used your very handy troublshooting guide) and I'm still having the same problem. Weirdly it only seems to be the left channel that creates distortion. If I just sent audio to the right channel and it was fine. But when I do I have the left channel recording it creates distortion in both channels.

I have made sure that I chose spdif as my clock source in the hardware setup.

[DigiTechSupt]

Have you tried recording from your DAT to another digital device? It is possible at this point, that either the DAT's digital outs or the Mbox's digital inputs are defective in some way. Testing with another device should reveal which is the culprit.