PlanetZ forums - scopeusers.com

Hi,

I've got one Fostex VC8 breakout box (8 in and 8 out). The Pulsar can take two of these giving a total of 16 in and out. I know there is the A16 Ultra which is very pricey but very good with it. The question is can the Pulsar 2 handle two of these A16 ultra units? giving a total of 32 ins and outs or is the ADAT limited to just the one A16 Ultra?

Thx in advance

Hoi,

If your Pulsar2 has the Classic IO daughterboard, there's 2 ADAT IO pairs - you should have an extra pair available with the Fostex connected. Max. samplerate over ADAT is 48kHz, or 96 using demux (?) which halves the amount of available channels.

If your Pulsar2 has the Z-Link card, you can keep the Fostex connected and connect the A16u to the Z-Link ports. They use Firewire type connectors and each port can handle 8 IO at 96kHz - 96 without the Fostex then of course. You need an A16ultra for this, the old one has no Z-Link.

Have fun,

at0m.

Hi,

Thx for the reply. What is demux as I've not heard of it?

Hi 10,

My P2 is the 20 in 20 out which is a standard P2, so I'll have to check up on whether it has a z link connector or not.

Regards

S-Mux or de mux is when you put two eight tracks of adat at 48Khz to make one eight track in S-mux at 96Khz by doubling useful if your recording at 96Khz of course.I'm not that far yet The A16 Ultra goes up to 16 tracks at 96Khz via the Z-link,If I'm not mistaken.

On 2006-03-27 08:34, fraz wrote:

The question is can the Pulsar 2 handle two of these A16 ultra units? giving a total of 32 ins and outs or is the ADAT limited to just the one A16 Ultra?

Each Pulsar2 z-link / Scope Home Card with adat expansion can handle 16 channels z-link and 8/16 channels of ADAT. This means you could have 3 of these cards running 3x A16 ultras giving 48 channels z-link while still leaving 24/48 channels of ADAT...yep, 96 digital I/O's ('scuse me, 102 if you count the SPDIF's)...Now were talking!!

At the moment I'm using 2x Scope Home (only one has the adat expansion) and a pulsar2, so this gives me 32 adat channels and 24 z-link channels + 3x spdif = 62 digital I/O and despite having a few niggles setting up initially it all works great and I haven't had a single problem with it in the past year.

Wow that's cooking with gas and all those I/O's...(where's the smiley faces?) How many of those do you use? I have a number of hardware synths and I was worried about not being able to connect enough of them at any one time but now I can see how that would work.

Is one sync plate enough for all your cards?-I hope it is...Just looked at the P2 and it has a digital I/O...I presume this is the SPDIF...right?

Have you had any IRQ issues with all your cards? I'm currently on 98SE but will probably upgrade to XP.

Currently I have the P2,Powersampler, and SW1K in the PC so there's not much room left for more cards (maybe one more) but another 16 I/O from a z-link card connected to P2 would be handy.

If you wish to use 96Khz recording halving the amount of I/O's which set is used? (I think maybe the right hand side pair but I'm not sure)

Apart from the A16U which other breakout boxes can be used? Mine is the Fostex VC8 which isn't too bad at all (apart from the unbalanced connectors but that's not a major problem at present).

Thax for the info Mr Sharc...(where are those smiley faces)your thread has been most useful.

Thx.

Hi,

The powersampler has a z-link connector on it as well which is handy option for the Luna box which records eight tracks (I think). I don't have a firewire card but would one be needed if that route was taken?

z-link and firewire are not related. the CABLE used by z-link is a firewire cable, but plugging a z-link device into a firewire device would be destruction.

so....the short answer is you don't need a firewire card to use the luna box.

For the Z-link/ADAT expansion - Is this just for the Powersampler/Luna cards? or will it also attach to the P2? If it doesen't then I can attach it to the powersampler but just to make absolutely sure will the Z-link/ADAT expansion fit onto the Powersampler bearing in mind that there is already a P2 attached to the powersampler. This shouldn't be a problem but I thought I'd ask the more seasoned users about this to avoid any mistakes that could cost ££££$$$$. When I can afford it I'll buy then I'll have 32 I/O which is very useable.

Thx.

yes, the expansion is for the luna/powersampler card. yes, you could use it.

Thx garyb,

So this is how I get the extra I/O...OK I understand....

In terms of connections etc...is the Scope Home card the same as the Powersampler?

Hi Folks,

I've seen something about a 24 ADAT daughterboard. Is this supposed to attach to the Pulsar 2?

I'm just trying to get a real feel for the various permutations on offer from Creamware but I do only have room to fill two plates on this current PC.

In terms of I/O capabilities, yes.

Hey Sharc,

For the z link I thought it was 8 channels only, is this correct? also I don't see any room on the Pulsar 2 classic for z link, is this also correct?

Does the A16U require Z link then?

I'm not Sharc dude. Sharc is another user here on Z. He's a good friend of mine, that's all

the 24adat option replaces the zlink,classic and plus plates. it eliminates the whip. it's not offered anymore but there are still some around.

the luna and powersampler cards are the same.

the a16 uses zlink OR adat.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: garyb on 2006-04-06 09:28 ]</font>