PlanetZ forums - scopeusers.com

The A16 Ultra works connected using Z-Link on my XITE-1 but I’m only getting 8 ins and outs. Only the B Z-Link port on the XITE works and it must be connected to the A Z-Link port on the A16 Ultra. I was able to use all 16 ADAT I/O from my Scope PCI cards to the XITE in addition to using those 8 Z-Link I/O. All 16 ins and outs work with my PCI cards, so the A16 works properly. I just got the XITE so I am no expert. Perhaps others will know how to get this to work better? I would like to get all 16 I/O working.

Also a side note… I am running 3 PCI cards and XITE in the same PC. When I have the ADAT cables running from the PCI cards to the XITE I was getting crackles in the audio. I’ve read about this problem here in one of Dante’s posts. He said that he solved this by using the AES/EBU to send audio from his cards to his XITE. What I found is if I sync using AES/EBU I can send the audio to the XITE with all 16 channels of ADAT with no crackles or problems.

Here is a screen shot of the test.

Just to be sure, you use 2 "FireWire"cables to connect both z-link ports, but only B is working on the xite?

Not sure why it has to be connected to the A16 port A, I've used my A16ultra with z-link as all 16 channels (2 cables using both A and B ports), or 8 channels (1 cable using A), or 8channels (1 cable using B). I made sure A16ultra had z-link/slave selected (xite is master clock for me).

Thank you JK for your advice about syncing the PCI cards to the XITE and verifying that all 16 I/O should work with the A16 Ultra connected via Z-Link to the XITE. I think the first thing I need to do is get new firewire cables. I have to say it has been a while since I used the A16. As I’m recalling, I don’t think I bought the best cables. I’ll post my results once I get some new cables.

I forgot how good the A16 Ultra sounded. I use mostly headphones, Beyerdynamic DT 990 (open back) and DT 770 (closed back), both 600 OHM. Through my headphone amp the A16 Ultra sounds much better than the PCI XLR outputs. It definitely sounds better than the XITE’s headphone output, but that’s probably because I don’t think the XITE’s headphone amp is strong enough to drive 600 OHM cans.