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#65187 - 08/20/01 07:48 AM Re: Hooking Up
Will Shanks Offline
Senior Member

Registered: 01/05/00
Posts: 513
Loc: Santa Cruz, CA
Carl,
I think the greatest piece of advice I could give you as one who also has a similar setup, is to spend as much time now learning how works a Mac. Things like a properly honed down extension set, a lean, mean startup disk with as few non-audio apps and hardware as possible would also be of utmost value. Also, having a partitioned drive with alternate startup volumes has been very helpful to me, when experimenting with new software installations. If you add something that negatively messes with your smooth running system, you can "go back" to how it was before. Did I mention you should reload your OS BEFORE you star adding your apps? The standard installation adds tons of useless stuff to bog down and clutter your computer. Reload the OS with the System Disk as a custom install and just install the bare minimum.

As a DP user, I suggest using 9.04 as your OS. Anyhow, learn your Mac.

[This message has been edited by Will Shanks (edited 08-20-2001).]
_________________________
-Will Shanks
will@eartotheground.com

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#65188 - 08/20/01 10:26 AM Re: Hooking Up
rick Offline
Founding Member

Registered: 04/16/99
Posts: 3155
Loc: Cambria, CA USA
Definitely not MacOS9.0. But if the G4 came with 9.1, you may not have 9.04 available. Might be fine, might not.

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#65189 - 08/20/01 10:44 AM Re: Hooking Up
ricache Offline
Member

Registered: 04/03/01
Posts: 59
Loc: Wylie ,TX US of A
Hi - I just purchased a TRS-80 with 16K on-board and a cassette drive. Have some plug ins and the guy that sold it to me (back of a BMW - but what a deal!) said the machine can talk ADAT! He said he hadn't tried the DA-7 hookup yet but said it shouldn't be to difficult. After he left I realized I didn't get his name. Oh well.....$24,000.00 seemed like a pretty good deal. :0

Did I show my age here or am I just being a jerk?

/Ricache

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#65190 - 08/20/01 03:49 PM Re: Hooking Up
Nick Batzdorf Offline
Founding Member

Registered: 04/15/99
Posts: 12161
Loc: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Okay Carl, here's how you hook it up. I'm not one of those who thinks computers are no good for recording, in fact I think they're pound for pound the best value!

You connect your ADAT to a DA7 lightpipe card using lighptipe both directions.

You connect your 2408 to the DA7 however you want - lightpipe, 8x analog, TDIF - depending on what cards you have. Given a choice, I'd use TDIF or S/PDIF, but lightpipe is the cheapest.

You have to listen to different sync configs to find the one that sounds best. The easiest is to make the Digital Timepiece the master - take word clock out from it to wc in on the DA7, ADAT 9-pin sync to the ADAT, and S/PDIF to the 2408 (because there's only one wc output and you're using it for the DA7; you could just as easily send wc to the 2408 and S/PDIF to the DA7).

You'll need a Griffin G4Port or GeeThree Stealth serial port ($50?) to plug the DTP into the Mac, or you can make it stand-alone and just send MIDI Timecode to the Midi Timepiece, which is of course connected to a USB port on the Mac. That will let Digital Performer see timecode - which you have to set up in FreeMIDI.

You make the Digital Timepiece the sync and address master, in other words. Also, you'll need to send MIDI (for MTC) to the DA7; if you hook up MIDI out from the DA7, you'll be able to use its HUI remote control mode to control Digital Performer.

While I haven't gone into the settings on each device, this is not as complicated as it seems. And with all due respect to Rick and Eric, you haven't made a bad choice of equipment at all. As a matter of fact, I think a DA7 and 2408 system is an excellent choice.

The only reduncancy in your config is the MIDI Timepiece AV and Digital Timepiece. You could get by with just the MTP AV. Send ADAT sync out from the MTP AV to the ADAT, send ADAT sync out from the ADAT to the 2408, and send word clock out from the MTP to the DA7. MIDI gets hooked up the same way as above.

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#65191 - 08/20/01 04:38 PM Re: Hooking Up
rick Offline
Founding Member

Registered: 04/16/99
Posts: 3155
Loc: Cambria, CA USA
Thanks, Nick.

I wasn't indicting Carl's equipment choices; it was his method of acquiring a bunch of equipment and then trying to find out how (or if) it worked together.

Since he'd been corresponding with Envoid via email, he wasn't being foolhardy.

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#65192 - 08/20/01 04:42 PM Re: Hooking Up
Eric Seaberg Offline
Veteran Member

Registered: 04/15/99
Posts: 1836
Loc: San Diego, CA USA
You know, Nick, you're absolutely right... he HASN'T made a bad choice of gear. In fact, I've written Carl several times offline with recommendations.

I guess I had read Rick's reply and it extended the weird frame I was in... like I said, I deleted the original post I had made!

I'd still recommend keeping the DTP for sync to EVERYTHING. The only reason he needs the MTP is to get USB from the Mac to MIDI. Doesn't the MTP-AV still have issues with MMC?


... can't we all just get along?

------------------
ERIC SEABERG • San Diego, CA
eseaberg@home.com

[This message has been edited by Eric Seaberg (edited 08-20-2001).]
_________________________
ERIC SEABERG • San Diego, CA
A.E.S., I.E.E.E., S.M.P.T.E., S.P.A.R.S.

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#65193 - 08/20/01 09:37 PM Re: Hooking Up
Nick Batzdorf Offline
Founding Member

Registered: 04/15/99
Posts: 12161
Loc: Los Angeles, CA, USA
I'm not swinging at you guys! Sorry if it sounded like that.

Anyway, I wasn't aware of the problems with MMC that the MTP AV had. Mine always worked fine, although I rarely used it that way. The only thing is that you don't really need all its "AV" features if you have a DTP - which of course is a fuller featured box.

So I'd say that if Carl has a DTP, he may as well save $200 and get a MIDI Express interface instead of the MTP AV. It still has their MTS (MIDI Time Stamping) system to improve MIDI timing.

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#65194 - 08/21/01 06:08 AM Re: Hooking Up
psychoduck Offline
Member

Registered: 06/11/01
Posts: 40
 Quote:
Originally posted by Will Shanks:
Carl,
I think the greatest piece of advice I could give you as one who also has a similar setup, is to spend as much time now learning how works a Mac. Things like a properly honed down extension set, a lean, mean startup disk with as few non-audio apps and hardware as possible would also be of utmost value. Also, having a partitioned drive with alternate startup volumes has been very helpful to me, when experimenting with new software installations. If you add something that negatively messes with your smooth running system, you can "go back" to how it was before. Did I mention you should reload your OS BEFORE you star adding your apps? The standard installation adds tons of useless stuff to bog down and clutter your computer. Reload the OS with the System Disk as a custom install and just install the bare minimum.

As a DP user, I suggest using 9.04 as your OS. Anyhow, learn your Mac.

[This message has been edited by Will Shanks (edited 08-20-2001).]


Will, I currently have a 450 Mhz G4 running DP with Mac Os 9.04. I will soon get my 733 delivered,(a day or two) and it will probably have 9.1 or possibly 9.2 on it. Have you tried running DP with either of these OS's? Why do you recommend 9.04?

Steve (aka psychoduck)
_________________________
Steve

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#65195 - 08/21/01 06:34 AM Re: Hooking Up
Dan Weiss Offline
Founding Member

Registered: 07/20/99
Posts: 3650
Loc: New York NY USA
I've had no problems with system 9.1 running DP, in fact it may be more stable than ever. I believe that whether or not you have stability problems with your system will be affected more by your 3rd party plugs and other system extensions.
So don't worry about it. Use the system that comes with your Mac, unless it's OSX of course.---Dan

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#65196 - 08/21/01 07:57 AM Re: Hooking Up
Anonymous
Unregistered


You guys are great; thanks for the info. Rick, I know communication is the key, but I tried to avoid overwhelming everyone from the start and left out some important stuff, so it seems. I should have said that I have had contact and emails from many of the "heavies" on this list: Eric, Evoid, Nick and others who are always helpful. AND I am trying to keep the equipment as "similar" as possible to a friend's successful setup. And as Nick just said about the MTP vs the Midi Express, my friend thinks Midi Express XT might be better than the MidiTimepiece, at least for my purpose. DTP will be used for clock since I have it anyway. By the way the OS system in my used G4 is 9.4 and I'm hoping that will work. I'm taking my time and trying to do more research before I buy the final pieces although the Motu 2408 is a must so I may as well go out to the money tree in the backyard. Nick, I'm going to diagram what you said because that was what I was wondering. Now, I'll reread what everyone said. What would we do without this site? Thanks again.
CB

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