Not to beat the dead horse, but...

[Eric L]

So I did my due diligence by searching the DUC, reading a few posts regarding TDIF connections between a DA-88 and a 192, and finally printing up the answerbase article found here, and bringing it to work so I can't possibly mess it up.

All cables routed correctly, and TDIF wordclock set in the hardware setup. Sync I/O and 192 in Loopsync. 192 Ext wordclock connected to DA-88 wordclock input with a BNC T and 75 ohm terminator, as per the answerbase article.

All stations go...but wait. Noise. Distortion. Clipping. Bad Clock. Hmmm?

Just for giggles, I take out the BNC T, connect directly to DA-88 wordclock in, put the 75ohm terminator on the DA-88 wordclock output and...

Voila! Success. Clean audio. No distortion. Perfect! Moving on now. Let's lay this sucker down.

And yet an uneasy feeling comes over me immediately. This should not be working. Not if everything I have read is correct.

So what gives? Any ideas?

PT 6.9.1
DA-88 Ver. 4.01
SY 88 Ver 4.01
192
Sync I/O

[CPettigrew]

Hey Eric-

Yeah, there's something weird going on with the DA-88/192 setup. I had set it up the way instructed some time ago, with the terminator, etc., and it worked fine. Dismantled the Tascam behemoths (I was just testing it) put them away, and when I actually needed to use the machines, I brought them out, wired it all back up, and got the result you did. Now I know I had moved on to a different version of PT (I don't know from what to what) but I thought, "WTF." But rather than do what you did, I said "screw it," and used the IF-88AEs, which I own, rendering the whole 192/DA-88 wiring scheme moot.

But it did work once, and then it didn't. But glad you found the solution.

Craig

[Eric L]

Craig,
Thanks for confirming that this is not an isolated case. I think we too will be using the IF-88AE once we have the machine room all squared away. Mostly so we can patch AES/EBU pairs between devices. Can't do that with TDIF.

In the meantime, this was the cheapest, and quickest way to get the laydown accomplished. I just want to understand why this works for some and not others. I hate audio black magic.

[sleadley]

I remember wasting many days trying to get this to work then ultimately went analog as it is easy to setup and frankly for the purpose I was using it for (achiving TV animated series as M&E and Mix and Dialog and SFX stems) Life is too short to spend stuffing around when it is so finnicky, and 1 generation of D/A/A/D come on!
I blame Tascam!
Rant Over
Simon L.