Nick...and others...

What is Nuendos VST System Link? I read about it but I still don't get what it is...just sounds like hooking the CPUS together as one might anyway, each CPU having an audio card on it.

Is it additional software or something?


I'm thinking of starting with one Mac Mini to go with my host G5.Is there a consensus on the smartest way to do this?

Tom

I hadn't heard of the Gigaport DG (USB->ADAT interface). The only problem (other than the lack of clock input) is that it only passes 16 bits. Gong.

Tom, VST system link carries sync, transport, and MIDI over an audio channel (or is it one bit of the audio stream? I forget). I think it's a little long in the tooth today.

Nick I'll check further into System Link.

Otherwise, as far as free standing firewire interfaces, I guess this little M Audio thing is the cheapest way to go...
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FireWire1814-main.html

You think?

Tom

Probably, although there are others I'd consider as well. If you go to an online retailer you'll see what's out there.

I personally would just buy a used MOTU 828 - the original one - for $250 on ebay.

Hey Nick, you seem to be the man with the sync knowledge.

I've got a single Mac/PC setup now, and I'm thinking of adding in a MacBook to get a little more love going on with the VIs (not to mention having a laptop fot eh first time in my life!). The hardware right now is:

1) Mac G5 dual 1.8: RME DIGI 96/8 PAD
2) PC P4 2.8: older RME DIGI 9636/52

What I'm wondering is whether I could get another optical connection for the MacBook by creating an Aggregate device integrating the built-in toslink on the G5 with the 96/8? If the 96/8 remains Master, will the MacBook get any sync info at all? My guess is "no", because it's not, in any physical way, connected to the Master optical device. Is that right, or can the Aggregate device somehow take care of the sync inside the Mac???

I guess the other option would be to run the MacBook into the ADAT1 SPDIF connection on the 9636/52, but that's a bit of a drag, since the PC is only on for larger arrangements.

Any thoughts?

J.

I'd like to be all puffed about about being The Man, but it's actually very simple. Thanks though. [:)]

Yes, you're on the right track. An aggregate device won't magically provide sync, it'll just make the Mac treat two or more audio systems as one composite device as far as the ins and outs are concerned.

I'm not going to brave that totally unreadable RME site to find out whether it can resync incoming digital audio to its own clock - a feature called "asynchronous" sync - and even if it can accept optical S/PDIF (which is different from ADAT lightpipe even though the cables are the same). But if it can, that's one solution.

A simpler solution would be just to connect TOSlink cables back and forth between the G5 and Mac Mini. On the Mini, go into Audio MIDI Setup and put it on digital sync.

Okay, I'm a little confused.

I'm thinking about how to connect another device, i.e., a MacBook. I can see that making a full "circuit" (for lack of a better word) connecting the MacBook to the G5 would theoretically enable the sync, but I know that in the Aggregate Device setup you need to tell it which device is the sync Master. That's where I'm a little unclear. If the DIGI 96/8 is the Master, will a MacBook connected to the built-in toslink get a sync? I mean, it's not actually the same device.

Don't know if the old 9636/52 supports asynchronous, but I do know that ADAT1 will also support SPDIF. That should do to link the MacBook, shouldn't it? I'll look into asynchronous support.

Thanks for the help.

J.

That's a very interesting question, and I don't know the answer. Maybe the Mac does pass clock from the source to all the other devices.

in any case, the point isn't a "full circle" between the master and slave computers, it's that the master comp is sending the slave digital clock to use so the slave is in sync with the rest of your rig. In this set-up the embedded clock in the datastream coming out of the slave is ignored by the receiving device, whether it's the RME card or the master computer. (All digital audio streams contain clock, but you don't have to use it.)

Also note that this isn't ideal from an audiophile standpoint. Optical cables aren't very good clock carriers - they tend to get audibly jittery, especially over longer runs. But that's the only way you can clock the built-in audio in the Mac Mini.

Thanks Nick,

I noticed today that the Universal Binary version of MaxMSP has been released as a public beta. This is a big factor also in my urge to get a MacBook, so maybe I'll be figuring this whole thing out for real... sooner, rather than later!

I realize it's best to have a dedicated sync. The RME cards can be connected easily, I just need to add-on wordclock card for the 96/8. The MacBook would be a different deal though. I actually don't mind just running analog in for monitoring purposes, then bouncing and importint. Not ideal, but hey, how much time and money do we really have to spend before we reach the "ideal"? [;)]

J.

About an additional $250 for a used MOTU 828. Or maybe about the same if you get a Windows machine with 3GB of RAM and a Frontier Designs Wavecenter PCI card.