HOW TO INSTALL MULTIPLE STUDI/O BOARDS

This application note show how to install two STUDI/O cards in to an Apple Macintosh Yosemite (Blue G3). Our Mac drivers, as well as our Win95/98/NT drivers, support up to four boards. Hopefully you can see from this app. note how to extend this to three or four boards from the two shown. We are using the Yosemite here, but the same principles apply to any Mac or PC. Once you install the boards correctly, our software detects the boards automatically and configures to the total number of channels.

The basic idea is we use a 10-conductor ribbon cable to distribute the sample clock from a master board to the slave boards in a daisy-chain fashion.

This 10-pin IDC ribbon cable allows multiple STUDI/O boards to be sample-locked together for fully synchronous operation. The basic idea is that one board is the clock master and the other boards slave to it. The clock master can then either run from its internal oscillators or lock to any of the normal sources. The clock master can also have a Sync Backplate connected to it, providing ADAT sync for the system (only one Backplate needed per computer).

MACINTOSH INSTALLATION

  1. Theres no way to specify the master board in the mac, the ASIO driver always uses the first board. So installation is a little trial and error for some models. For the Yosemite, the lowest numbered board is the one next to the Video card, so we know that's the master board:
  2. Put sync ribbon cable(s) from Sync In of one board to Sync Out of the next, making sure to connect pin-1 to pin-1:
  3. Connect an ADAT input to input A of the master board (which has Sync Out connected to a ribbon cable and no Sync In connected), and run Cubase. Select 'optical A' as the clock source. (or you can use the ADAT+SPDIF mode and use an SPDIF source and optical B.) If the clock rate changes to the correct value, you have connected the sync cable correctly. If not, you have them backwards. In which case, power down your system, and change the ribbon cable(s) in to out, etc. and the other end is actually your master. The boards are numbered consecutively with the slots, so there's only two possibilities. Also, double-check that you connected pin-1 to pin-1.
  4. The slave board(s) follows the master (via the ribbon cable) so is sample-locked regardless of the master's clock source. The channels are numbered starting at the master board.
  5. Youre done! Now you have a ton of channels to play with! Enjoy!

WINDOWS INSTALLTION INSTRUCTIONS

For Windows users, the procedure is slightly different.

  1. Determine which board is the master
    Usually you will pick board #1. You can find out which board is board #1 by clicking the     Identify This Board button in the Formats tab of the STUDI/O Control Panel (see the STUDI/O users manual for more information). The LEDs on the board (as well as the optical outputs) will flash so you can easily tell which board is which.
  2. Select this board as master (in the "Setups" tab of the STUDI/O Control Panel).
  3. Set the clock source of all the slave boards (not the master) to Lock to External Word Clock.
  4. Now, remembering which board is master, power down your computer.
  5. Making sure to connect pin-1 to pin-1, connect a sync ribbon cable from the SYNC OUT of the master board to the SYNC IN of the first slave. Then another sync cable from the SYNC OUT of that slave to the SYNC IN of the next slave, daisy-chain style (just like MIDI).
  6. Double check the pin-1 orientation and all connections, then power up your computer.
  7. Select the appropriate clock source for your master board.
  8. In the status/errors panel, check the measured sample rate of each board, to make sure they match within 0.02KHz. If theyre way off, retrace your steps, because someone isnt locked.
  9. Thats it! Now you have a lot more channels to play with! Enjoy!

Download a PDF of the Sync Cable instructions HERE: sync-cable.PDF

You can obtain a sync cable from your local distributor or from us directly, free of charge.

Questions? Comments? Email us at techsup@sonorus.com.
 
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Macintosh is a trademark of Apple Computers, Inc. Windows 95, Windows MM System are trademarks of Microsoft Inc. Studi/o is a trademark of Sonorus, Inc. Copyright © 1997 Sonorus, Inc. All rights reserved