ProjectMix Digital I/O with the Focusrite ISA 428?

[Robbie Hollywood]

Hey guys,
I'm thinking of buying a high quality pre-amp with A/D conversion as the front-end for my ProjectMix I/O. The Focusrite ISA 428 has an optional A/D card with ADAT lightpipe as well as a word clock out. I assume the focusrite wordclock is of high quality so I'd probably sync everything to that.

I'm not really sure how ADAT lightpipe works. Can I send all 4 channels through the lightpipe out to my projectmix?

Anyone know or have other suggestions for pres? I really only need 1-2 pre-amps but the ISA220 doesn't have wordclock out.

http://www.focusrite.com/index.php?p...mageName=front

Thanks.

[riffmachine]

Hey, that looks like a nice pre-amp. I have a project mix i/0 as well, and if you get it, I'd be very curious to hear your review. If you don't find the information your are looking for here, I would suggest you check out the Andy Sneap Forum at ultimatemetal.com . www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/andy-sneap-151/ . There are a lot of knowledgable people there, and I've been able to get some really good opinions on gear and other random questions there. I suggest you get into the "equipment" part of the forum.

Hey guys,
I'm thinking of buying a high quality pre-amp with A/D conversion as the front-end for my ProjectMix I/O. The Focusrite ISA 428 has an optional A/D card with ADAT lightpipe as well as a word clock out. I assume the focusrite wordclock is of high quality so I'd probably sync everything to that.

I'm not really sure how ADAT lightpipe works. Can I send all 4 channels through the lightpipe out to my projectmix?

Anyone know or have other suggestions for pres? I really only need 1-2 pre-amps but the ISA220 doesn't have wordclock out.

http://www.focusrite.com/index.php?p...mageName=front

Thanks.

[bradch00]

Have a projectMix I/O as well and am upgrading the pres and analog stages at Black Lion, Nov. 19th. I think a couple of people at DUC have done the upgrade and are quite pleased with the results.

http://www.blacklionaudio.com/project_mix_mod.html

Something to think about. I mean unless you need all the I/Os.

[Robbie Hollywood]

I've come across some more info. Rumor has it you don't have to have a word clock out to sync to external clock. Apparently if I use an SPDIF out on another device, I can just sync the ProjectMix I/O clock to the SPDIF out while still getting the incoming signal. If this is true it makes me lean more towards the ISA220 because of the added features. Does anyone know if it's true? I don't know anything about SPDIF? Does the single SPDIF channel on my projectmix carry a stereo signal? There's also an input on the ISA220 to bring an external signal into the A/D.

[tash]

You should be able to send all four mic-pres to your projectmix via Lightpipe since ADAT supports 8 channels @ 44.1. For the sync, I think it's the best to use a seperate word clock cable via BNC though ADAT lightpipe can send the word clock signal, too.

To use the focusrite as master via BNC, set the projectmix clock setting to'word clock'.

I've never heard ISA 428 myself, but it seems it's a good pre/converter. For input signal, when ISA is used as the master clock, the A/D and clock of your Projectmix are bypassed and it only works as signal router and D/A.

[tash]

S/PDIF on the back of projectmix provide a 2channel stereo I/O while ADAT lets you use 8 channel. But ISA 220 is a single channel strip, ain't it? If so, probably one channels carries the signal from external input and the other one carries the internal one, but check their website to make sure.

S/PDIF should work fine with Projectmix(as long as it's coax), you just can't use ADAT and S/PDIF simultaneously.

S/PDIF can be used for sending the clock signal at the same time, but the same as the case of ADAT, it's probably better to use word clock I/O than sharing S/PDIF for syncing, too.

You need to buy an optional digital card to be able to SP/DIF, though, right? I know the picture for the ad was taking with the card. Don't be tricked.

ISA 220 maybe better option if you use it for cutting vocals.

[Robbie Hollywood]

Thanks for the tips Tash. Now, I'm also considering the SSL XLogic Alpha channel. I've heard good things. It seems you can't really sync to an internal clock though. The channel has to sync to another clock so I have to go SPDIF into this SSL pre-amp and then SPDIF out of the pre-amp to the projectmix. Can the projectmix send the clock output via SPDIF? There is no BNC connector for a clock.

Here's the link to check out the SSL:
http://www.solid-state-logic.com/mus...nel_specs.html

[spkguitar]

Clock is carried over all of the Digital connections, S/PDIF, ADAT and wordclock. You can sync the clock over any of them.

Because ADAT and S/PDIF also carry audio signal which can at times affect the clock, it is generally preferred to have a distinct clock connection over BNC wordclock, but it is not necessary.

The early LE insterfaces (001, 002/002R, etc) don't even have wordclock connectors.