Z-link Card 1, ADAT card 2. Any known latency / phase issues?

[auntybiotic]

Hello,

Firstly sorry if this question has been answered elesewhere. I did search but can't find anything.


I am using a pulsar 2 and a luna 2 connected via stdm.

I seem to have an issue with my pulsar 2 which has 2 x z-link ports and 1 x adat in/out. The z-link sockets (both a & b) intermittently lose connection with my a-16 ultra. I am 100% positive that the problem is the z-link connectors on the card as if i push and jiggle the cables i see the red lights flickering in 'samplerate Settings'

I am using the pulsar 2's adat port to connect to another pc for vst's / daw, etc.

The cascaded luna 2 has 1 x z-link port.

So my question is as follows.

If i use i/o from both cards at the same time (8 channels from a16 into z-link on the luna and another 8 channels from my motu into adat on the pulsar 2) is there potential for latency or phase issues between the 2 cards and their respective i/o's, Or is it safe to assume scope compensates for latency / phase between the inputs from the two cards?

I know this may an unbelievably silly question btw


Thanks for your thoughts on this.

Mark

[t_tangent]

No question is silly if you dont know the answer.

First of all, re your issue with the z-link ports. I would first try another pair of firewire cables to see if they work any better. Let us know if that works or not. Also check that the daughterboard connector is firmly seated onto the Pulsar board. The daughterboard is the little board that sits on top of the main pulsar 2 card. Try reseating that and see if that helps.

Regarding phase between the z-link and adat, I am no expert but I havent noticed any issues on my system. But perhaps someone else with Pulsar 2 and Luna 2 cards, or perhaps Gary can help with that. Sorry I cant help more.

Cheers

[auntybiotic]

I have 'fixed' the problem. It was late and I was being dumb. The cause was my 'new' pc casing - it didn't allow me to fully seat the cables into the sockets properly as the gap in the casing was too small for the plastic end of the connector to properly pass through.
To fix it, rather than take a metal file to the pc case, using a craft knife I have shaved off ~1mm of the plastic surrounding the connectors so that the connectors can now be pushed into the sockets properly. Both ports have resumed full service
A bit of a cowboy fix but working a treat now. Even wobbling the cables causes no issues

[t_tangent]

Thats great to hear. Yes sometimes it is something really simple that fixes it. I had a feeling it might be someting like that, as I had a similar issue once with some ADAT cables that were too fat around the end after the actual connector part, so they didnt fit properly. Anyway, glad its working for you. Cheers for now.

[auntybiotic]

Thats great to hear. Yes sometimes it is something really simple that fixes it. I had a feeling it might be someting like that, as I had a similar issue once with some ADAT cables that were too fat around the end after the actual connector part, so they didnt fit properly. Anyway, glad its working for you. Cheers for now.

Thank you for your help anyway !!!!!!

[t_tangent]

I didnt really do anything, but just glad you figured out what the problem was and have sorted it out now

[auntybiotic]

I would still be grateful for any views on if using i/o from 2 cards (z-link on luna2 and adat on pulsar2) would introduce any latency or phase issues. Both cards are connected via STDM cable. I would route both sources to ASIO ( my DAW).

ps- Mr Tangent, i was just thanking you for your willingness to help greatly appreciated !

[garyb]

no, you should not experience any problems with that.