PlanetZ forums - scopeusers.com

Its just the RCA connector one, I assume it is not optical?

It is the classic/rca

Yes signals within scope, I was testing it out using ProTone. Protone -> SPDIF OUT (from pulsar 2) - SPDIF IN on RME Multiface 2.

And on the RME, the SPDIF LOCK light is blinking green which seems to be mean it' s all good.

RCA is not optical, correct.

Make sure on the RME side you toggle the 'professional' (not 'emphasis') switch on the electrical SPDIF settings. I use it with it set 'off' for normal SPDIF and 'on' for when I go from the SPDIF on the RME Multiface II (electrically an RCA outlet) to AES (via RCA>XLR 75ohm cables) on my Scope with the XLR/AES i/o loom. Depending on your cables, you might even find it works better set to 'on' rather than 'off' (with cheap RCA cables).

Which brings us to the point that it's perhaps a good idea to find some actual SPDIF cables if you're still having digital errors. They tend to be not cheap, running $30+ USD for cables starting at 3' (1meter) in length, on up.

SPDIF is 75ohm, and your typical RCA connector + cable is about 30 ohm when terminated (connected to both ends). "True" spdif is a bnc connection and will have t-bridges connected to gear with terminators on one pole and the cable on the other (and the 'bottom' of the T on the gear), just like our wordclock. Both are typically 75ohm, and note there's also 50ohm bnc used for video rather than audio.

PlanetZaxxon wrote: ↑Wed Apr 07, 2021 11:09 am And on the RME, the SPDIF LOCK light is blinking green which seems to be mean it' s all good.

That might means the SPDIF Input is Locked, but not Sync'd.
Is your RME card slave and P2 master in that case?
If no BNC wordclock connections between the cards, clock travels from output to input destination inside of digital signal (coxial, optical, etc.)
So in that case P2 must be a master and RME must be a slave.
Or if you want that RME always be a master, than you should connect s/p dif out from RME to s/p dif input to one of your Pulsar cards (no matter in which exactly, as all three are linked by STDM in one system) and switch RME as master and Scope as slave from s/p dif sync source settings.
Or you could synced it via available ADAT connection, if there are no free s/p dif's.

The symptoms are similar to the fact that both devices are working in master mode.
Not all devices with such settings scenario can produce sound at all. But RME can do that.

I will admit I made the assumption (or presumption, if correct) that he was correctly setting master/slave. But you're right, the RME will attempt to freewheel via PLL (phase locked loop) and track a clock if possible.

However, it does seem like it's just a clocking issue in general, so check master/slave and then correct any deficiencies in your cabling and settings from there.

which is master?
using both in AND out?

thanks for all suggestions, will go through it all tonight and see if anything changes.

And I have brand new HOSA SPDIF cables, which arent high end but I guess not cheapie amazon ones either.

And yes I believe I have both the RME and SCOPE as master.

Only ONE master

Multiple masters cannot sync. multiple masters means two clocks, two different timestamps. it WILL click.

clock travels from output to input. there must be only one clock, which will work for both devices. that means, the device that is master must have a digital output to transmit clock.

There is a way to make proper digital connection between two devices that work in master modes - SRC (hardware sample rate conversion option in the converter unit). Prism Sound, Lynx, top of Apogee converters/interfaces has this feature.
It's not brilliant to the quality, but sometimes - "it's a necessity" © Interstellar Movie
I use this feature to connect external synth (it has digital output only @ 44.1 kHz) to my system which run 48 or 96 kHz from master clock.
Both (synth and system) are masters in my case and without SRC I wouldn't be able to connect them.
But this is in case the devices fundamentally cannot work in the master-slave mode....

Not relevant to his case though, though it’s unclear If he meant he has tried both as master At separate times, or if both are master at once. Either way in this case both should not be Mastro once.

Sure.
It was said just for information.

Ok all I had to do to resolve was connect the SPDIF IN to RME SPDIF OUT..

I only had it going one way, PULSAR SDPIF OUT to RME SPDIF IN. once I connected it up, the SPDIF light on the RME is solid green now. And I dont hear any audible pops anymore!

So next was to try PULSAR SDPIF OUT to LEXICON SPDIF IN then SPDIF OUT to RME SPDIF IN.

After setting LEXICON to EXTERNAL DIGI CLOCK. RME went solid green and no pops. We off and rollin now!!!