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Digigram ALP222e User Manual

Professional stereo sound card
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User Manual – ALP222e
User Manual
ALP222e
Professional stereo sound card
September 2022
1

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Summary of Contents for Digigram ALP222e

  • Page 1 User Manual – ALP222e User Manual ALP222e Professional stereo sound card September 2022...

  • Page 2: Introduction

    Digigram and the Digigram logo, and ALP222e are trademarks or brand names of Digigram Digital. All other marks are owned by their respective companies.

  • Page 3: 2- Important Notice

    User Manual – ALP222e 2- IMPORTANT NOTICE Certifications The product is currently being certified. This product has been designed in accordance with the following standards: EMC Directive 2014/30/EU. ● FCC Rules Part 15, Subpart B. ● To ensure compliance with the standards listed above, the following rules must be followed: The cable supplied must not be modified.

  • Page 4: Table Of Contents

    7.3 Updating the firmware 7.4 Verifying the card installation 7.4.1Presence of playback and recording devices 7.4.2 Card detected by the Digigram ALP-X Manager application 7.4.3 Card availability under ASIO 8- UNINSTALLING THE DRIVER UNDER WINDOWS 9- CONFIGURING THE CARD UNDER WINDOWS VIA THE ALP-X MANAGER APPLICATION 9.1 Sampling clock management...
  • Page 5 11.2 Building and installing the driver manually 12- CONFIGURING UNDER LINUX VIA AMIXER 12.1 Diagram of the inputs towards outputs chain 12.2 Description of controls 12.3 Setting of ALP222e parameters from amixer 13- SPECIFICATIONS 13.1 Configuration 13.2 Inputs 13.3 Outputs 13.4 Audio characteristics...

  • Page 6: 3- Box Contents

    Thank you for purchasing a DIGIGRAM sound card in the ALP-X range. The box contains: an ALP222e sound card equipped with a standard height bracket (full height: 120 mm), ● a low-profile bracket (79.2 mm) that can be fitted instead of the full-height bracket, ●...

  • Page 7: 4- General Characteristics

    User Manual – ALP222e 4- GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS ALP222e is a PCI EXPRESS x1 audio card. It can be inserted into and therefore operate in PCIe® x1, x2, x4, x8 or x16 slots. 4.1 Main hardware characteristics 2 balanced analog inputs (can be used unbalanced) with software-adjustable analog gain ●...
  • Page 8 User Manual – ALP222e Principle of the ALP222e on-board mixer Note: the stereo headphone output replicates the analog outputs.

  • Page 9: 5- Required Configuration

    User Manual – ALP222e 5- REQUIRED CONFIGURATION 5.1 Required hardware configuration There are no particular hardware restrictions in terms of PC on using the ALP card and its driver. The PC can have standard height or low profile PCIe card slots. The ALP card can in particular be used in 2U racks or reduced size PC, by using the smaller bracket instead of the standard height bracket that is fitted by default.
  • Page 10 User Manual – ALP222e Select “PCI Express”, “Link State Power Management”, and select “Off” for the setting. Click on Ok to...

  • Page 11: Necessary Software Configuration Under Windows

    User Manual – ALP222e 5.2 Necessary software configuration under Windows ALP222e operates under Windows from 64-bit versions of Windows 10 (from version 20H2). To use your ALP-X card, you must install the driver included in the installation kit “ALP-X Kit”...

  • Page 12: 6- Hardware Installation

    User Manual – ALP222e 6- HARDWARE INSTALLATION Given the shortened length of the PCI EXPRESSTM connector and the resulting lack of mechanical stability, we strongly advise against transporting the cards installed in a computer, unless it has a device for holding the card firmly in place to avoid material damage.

  • Page 13: 7- Software Installation Under Windows

    Should you use a specific application developed or installed by a Digigram partner, this may mean using a specific driver version. In this case, confirm with your application supplier which driver version to use.

  • Page 14: Updating The Driver Version

    User Manual – ALP222e settings. There is no need to install it if no application reliant on the ASIO interface is used. The driver is installed by default in the folder "C:\Program Files (x86)\Digigram\ALP-X". To change this folder, click on Browse and select a new destination.

  • Page 15: Verifying The Card Installation

    User Manual – ALP222e 7.4 Verifying the card installation Once the driver and card have been installed as per the process described hereinabove, you can verify that the card is installed correctly and working properly. 7.4.1Presence of playback and recording devices The audio devices exposed by the card driver are visible on the Windows sound panel.

  • Page 16: Card Detected By The Digigram Alp-X Manager Application

    This application can be launched from the shortcut created on the desktop or from the start menu, Digigram group. The card must appear as below if it and its driver are installed correctly. Note that a maximum of eight ALP cards can be displayed and handled in ALP-X Manager.
  • Page 17 User Manual – ALP222e All cards present must be listed in the "ACTIVE CARDS GROUP" selection list.

  • Page 18: 8- Uninstalling The Driver Under Windows

    User Manual – ALP222e UNINSTALLING DRIVER UNDER WINDOWS Proceed as follows to uninstall an ALP driver version. Please note that uninstalling a version must be done prior to the installation of another version. From Windows Start menu, open the ”Settings” panel Click on the “Apps”...

  • Page 19: 9- Configuring The Card Under Windows Via The Alp-X Manager Application

    User Manual – ALP222e 9- CONFIGURING THE CARD UNDER WINDOWS VIA THE ALP-X MANAGER APPLICATION This application can be launched from the shortcut created on the desktop or from the start menu, Digigram group. When the application is launched, the window below is displayed and shows all the ALP cards installed in the PC.
  • Page 20 User Manual – ALP222e The ALP card can be configured as an internal clock or external clock (AES11, AES3 input, Word Clock). To select the clock source, click on the "Prioritized source" selection list and select the desired source. A red padlock icon on the right of the clock name means the clock signal is absent.

  • Page 21: Managing Input And Output Levels

    User Manual – ALP222e The clock source used at a given moment is displayed in the "Sync Source" field, and its frequency value is given by the "Sampling Rate" field. 9.2 Managing input and output levels Note that after the first installation of the card, the default gain settings are as follows: Input analog gains are set to 0 dB (+24 dU ->...
  • Page 22 User Manual – ALP222e Software recording outputs. They correspond to the recording devices exposed by the ● driver and captured by the applications Mixer inputs or outputs Windows Audio Devices ASIO devices PLAY 1-2 (stereo view) ALP PLAY 1-2 ALP-1 / ALP-2...
  • Page 23 User Manual – ALP222e steps of 0.5 dB. 2) Press the Ctrl key without releasing and then click on the potentiometer with the mouse. The gain can be adjusted in steps of 1 dB with the mouse wheel as long as the Ctrl key remains pressed.

  • Page 24: Managing The Routing And Mixing Of Input Signals

    User Manual – ALP222e Mute The mute button has an effect on the two channels of a stereo pair. A click on this button sets the two channels in mute mode, and it turns red. Pairing channel strips To set a common level for several input channel strips, validate the button on each channel strip.
  • Page 25 User Manual – ALP222e As in the "I/O Monitor" view, it is possible to select the inputs displayed in this matrix (physical inputs-INPUTS and/or software play inputs-PLAYBACK) and the outputs displayed (physical outputs-OUTPUTS and/or record outputs). There are two possible matrix views: A complete view that shows all the mixing points.

  • Page 26: Display Of Gpios And Control Of Gpos

    User Manual – ALP222e Routing the physical input signals towards the corresponding outputs (ana IN 1 towards ana ● OUT1, ana IN 2 towards ana OUT2, AES 3 IN towards AES3 OUT). As a result, playback signals and input signals are mixed to the outputs.

  • Page 27: Creating, Saving And Loading Setting Sessions

    User Manual – ALP222e 9.5 Creating, saving and loading setting sessions The current configuration of all settings defined in ALP-X Manager can be saved. Go to the File menu and select "Save session as". To load a settings configuration, go to the File menu and select "Open session".

  • Page 28: Keyboard Shortcuts

    User Manual – ALP222e Click on the "Update" button to launch the update. The firmware upload is in progress Once the upload is completed, it is necessary to shut down the computer. Select “Shut down now” for an immediate automatic shutdown, or “Shut down later”...
  • Page 29 User Manual – ALP222e Double click Reset the fader/potentiometer value to 0 Matrix Ctrl + Wheel 1 dB increments on the mixing point Ctrl + Shift + Wheel 0.1 dB increments on the mixing point...

  • Page 30: 10- Asio Control Panel For Windows

    User Manual – ALP222e 10- ASIO CONTROL PANEL for Windows This control panel can be started from the menu <Start>, <Programs>, <Digigram>, <ALP-X ASIO Settings> or from the shortcut on the desktop: Active cards group/Asio This section is used to select the input channels and output channels that...
  • Page 31 User Manual – ALP222e Sample size This setting defines the format of samples exchanged between the application and the card driver. Enable Direct Monitoring Control Tick this setting to authorise an ASIO application to drive the zero latency hardware monitoring of inputs towards outputs. If an application monitors software, this causes latency between the input signal and the output signal, linked to the ASIO buffer sizes.

  • Page 32: 11- Software Installation Under Linux

    User Manual – ALP222e 11- SOFTWARE INSTALLATION UNDER LINUX 11.1 Automatic installation This method works on most major distributions, by using the DKMS system. After the initial installation, nothing more is needed to be done as DKMS will take care of re-building the driver every time the kernel is updated, or a new kernel is installed.

  • Page 33: 12- Configuring Under Linux Via Amixer

    User Manual – ALP222e 12- CONFIGURING UNDER LINUX VIA AMIXER 12.1 Diagram of the inputs towards outputs chain The mixer inputs and outputs are numbered 0 to 7. The DAW0, DAW1, DAW2 and DAW3 inputs are the four audio channels from the host machine (play by software on the host machine).

  • Page 34: Description Of Controls

    User Manual – ALP222e 12.2 Description of controls 12.2.1 Managing the clock source and SRCs Description Name of Alsa Read / Write Index NumId Values Detail mixer control Card clock source Clk Src Read Word Clk = Wordclock input AES Syn = AES11 Sync input...
  • Page 35 User Manual – ALP222e +39 dB Digital gain on left analog input Ana Capture Volume Mute Digital gain on right analog input Ana Capture Volume -90 dB Digital gain on left AES3 input AES Capture Volume 0 dB 1021 +12 dB...
  • Page 36 User Manual – ALP222e 12.2.3 Gains on the DAW outputs (recording from software applications) Description Name of Alsa mixer Index NumId Values Gain in dB control Digital gain on DAW0 output DAW Capture Volume Mute -90 dB Digital gain on DAW1 output...
  • Page 37 User Manual – ALP222e Play DAW1 gain towards left analog output Mxr 1/0 Play DAW1 gain towards right analog output Mxr 1/1 Play DAW1 gain towards left AES3 output Mxr 1/2 Play DAW1 gain towards right AES3 output Mxr 1/3...
  • Page 38 User Manual – ALP222e 12.2.8 Gains in the matrix applied to the Play DAW3 input Description Name of Alsa mixer Index NumId Values Gain in dB control Play DAW3 gain towards left analog output Mxr 3/0 Play DAW3 gain towards right analog output...
  • Page 39 User Manual – ALP222e 12.2.9 Gains in the matrix applied to the signal from the left analog input Description Name of Alsa mixer Index NumId Values Gain in dB control Gain on left analog input towards left analog Mxr 4/0...
  • Page 40 User Manual – ALP222e Gain on right analog input towards right AES3 Mxr 5/3 output -90 dB Play gain on right analog input towards record Mxr 5/4 DAW0 output 0 dB Gain on right analog input towards record DAW1 Mxr 5/5...
  • Page 41 User Manual – ALP222e 12.2.12 Gains in the matrix applied to the signal from the right channel digital input Description Name of Alsa mixer Index NumId Values Gain in dB control Gain on right digital input towards left analog Mxr 7/0...

  • Page 42: Setting Of Alp222E Parameters From Amixer

    User Manual – ALP222e 12.3 Setting of ALP222e parameters from amixer 12.3.1 Analog gains on the analog inputs Analog gain on left track input IN1 Simple mixer control 'Codec Analog Capture',0 Capabilities: cvolume cvolume-joined Capture channels: Mono Limits: Capture 0 - 255 Mono: Capture 193 [76%] [0.50 dB]...
  • Page 43 User Manual – ALP222e 12.3.3 Digital gains on AES3 digital input/output (AES/EBU IN/OUT) Digital gain on AES3 digital input/output, left channel Simple mixer control 'AES',0 Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined cvolume cvolume-joined Playback channels: Mono Capture channels: Mono Limits: Playback 0 - 1021 Capture 0 - 1021 Mono: Playback 969 [95%] [6.80 dB] Capture 899 [88%] [-0.20 dB]...
  • Page 44 User Manual – ALP222e Simple mixer control 'DAW',0 Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined cvolume cvolume-joined Playback channels: Mono Capture channels: Mono Limits: Playback 0 - 1021 Capture 0 - 1021 Mono: Playback 963 [94%] [6.20 dB] Capture 901 [88%] [0.00 dB] Digital gain on DAW1 input channel...
  • Page 45 User Manual – ALP222e Limits: Playback 0 - 1021 Mono: Playback 0 [0%] [-99999.99 dB] Digital gain on DAW0 input channel towards mixing bus for left AES3 output) Simple mixer control 'Mxr 0/2',0 Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined Playback channels: Mono Limits: Playback 0 - 1021 Mono: Playback 0 [0%] [-99999.99 dB]...
  • Page 46 User Manual – ALP222e Simple mixer control 'Mxr 1/0',0 Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined Playback channels: Mono Limits: Playback 0 - 1021 Mono: Playback 0 [0%] [-99999.99 dB] Digital gain on DAW1 input channel towards mixing bus for analog output 2 (OUT2)
  • Page 47 User Manual – ALP222e Limits: Playback 0 - 1021 Mono: Playback 0 [0%] [-99999.99 dB] Digital gain on DAW1 input channel towards mixing bus for record DAW3 output) Simple mixer control 'Mxr 1/7',0 Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined Playback channels: Mono Limits: Playback 0 - 1021 Mono: Playback 0 [0%] [-99999.99 dB]...
  • Page 48 User Manual – ALP222e Simple mixer control 'Mxr 2/5',0 Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined Playback channels: Mono Limits: Playback 0 - 1021 Mono: Playback 0 [0%] [-99999.99 dB] Digital gain on DAW2 input channel towards mixing bus for record DAW2 output) Simple mixer control 'Mxr 2/6',0...
  • Page 49 User Manual – ALP222e Limits: Playback 0 - 1021 Mono: Playback 901 [88%] [0.00 dB] Digital gain on DAW3 input channel towards mixing bus for record DAW0 output) Simple mixer control 'Mxr 3/4',0 Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined Playback channels: Mono Limits: Playback 0 - 1021 Mono: Playback 0 [0%] [-99999.99 dB]...
  • Page 50 User Manual – ALP222e Simple mixer control 'Mxr 4/2',0 Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined Playback channels: Mono Limits: Playback 0 - 1021 Mono: Playback 0 [0%] [-99999.99dB] Digital gain on ANA0 (IN1) input channel towards mixing bus for right AES3 output) Simple mixer control 'Mxr 4/3',0...
  • Page 51 User Manual – ALP222e Limits: Playback 0 - 1021 Mono: Playback 0 [0%] [-99999.99dB] Digital gain on ANA1 (IN2) input channel towards mixing bus for analog output 2 (OUT2) Simple mixer control 'Mxr 5/1',0 Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined Playback channels: Mono Limits: Playback 0 - 1021 Mono: Playback 0 [0%] [-99999.99dB]...
  • Page 52 User Manual – ALP222e Digital gain on ANA1 (IN2) input channel towards mixing bus for record DAW3 output) Simple mixer control 'Mxr 5/7',0 Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined Playback channels: Mono Limits: Playback 0 - 1021 Mono: Playback 0 [0%] [-99999.99dB] Digital gain on AES3 input left channel towards mixing bus for analog output 1 (OUT1)
  • Page 53 User Manual – ALP222e Limits: Playback 0 - 1021 Mono: Playback 0 [0%] [-99999.99dB] Digital gain on AES3 input left channel towards mixing bus for record DAW2 output) Simple mixer control 'Mxr 6/6',0 Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined Playback channels: Mono Limits: Playback 0 - 1021 Mono: Playback 901 [88%] [0.00dB]...
  • Page 54 User Manual – ALP222e Simple mixer control 'Mxr 7/4',0 Capabilities: pvolume pvolume-joined Playback channels: Mono Limits: Playback 0 - 1021 Mono: Playback 0 [0%] [-99999.99dB] Digital gain AES3 input right channel towards mixing bus for record DAW1 output Simple mixer control 'Mxr 7/5',0...

  • Page 55: 13- Specifications

    User Manual – ALP222e 13- SPECIFICATIONS 13.1 Configuration ® Bus/Format PCI EXPRESS (PCIe ) x1/Low profile (compatible x2, x4, x8, x16) Dimensions 168 mm × 69 mm x 20 mm Consumption (+3.3 V/+12 V) 1 A/0.35 A In operation: temperature/humidity 0°C/+50°C •...

  • Page 56: Inputs

    User Manual – ALP222e 13.2 Inputs Line analog inputs 2 mono symmetrical (can be used asymmetrically) Maximum input level/impedance +24 dBu/>10 kΩ Digital input (stereo) 1 AES3 stereo, 110 Ohms, with hardware frequency converter Programmable analog input gains -88 dB to +39 dB, 0.5 dB increments Max.

  • Page 57: Outputs

    User Manual – ALP222e 13.3 Outputs Line analog outputs 2 electronically balanced mono (can be used asymmetrically without loss of level) Maximum output level/impedance +24 dBu/<100 kΩ Digital output 1 AES3 stereo, up to 192 kHz Programmable digital output gain -90 dB to +12 dB, 0.1 dB increments...

  • Page 58: Audio Characteristics

    User Manual – ALP222e 13.4 Audio characteristics Sampling frequency Programmable from 8 to 192 kHz CAN/CNA resolutions 24 bits/192 kHz Audio formats supported PCM: 16, 24, 32 bits, Float IEEE754 13.5 Analog performances Measurements taken at Fs=48 kHz, with filter on band 22 Hz-22 kHz.

  • Page 59: Development Environment

    User Manual – ALP222e External connectors D-Sub Micro-D 36 points for the audio and clock I/O Mini jack (female TRS 3.5 mm) for the stereo headphones output 13.8 Development environment Drivers DirectSound/WASAPI, ASIO From Windows 10 & Windows Server 2016 and Linux Operating systems supported from kernel 5.10...

  • Page 60: 14- Appendices

    User Manual – ALP222e 14- APPENDICES 14.1 ALP222e functional diagram...

  • Page 61: Led

    User Manual – ALP222e 14.2 LED The ALP card has four green LED: 2 LED on the PCB (only visible when the PC is open) and two LED on the bracket as illustrated in the diagram below. Description Behaviour LED 1...

  • Page 62: Connectors And Switches

    User Manual – ALP222e 14.3 Connectors and switches J1: Headphones socket Female 3.5 mm TRS (mini-jack) J2: Connector for the breakout cable Female D-Sub Micro-D 36P. J3: Connector for inter-card synchronisation...

  • Page 63: Breakout Cable Diagram

    User Manual – ALP222e 14.5 Breakout cable diagram Diagram of the breakout cable provided by Digigram (optional).

  • Page 64: Pinout Of The Breakout Cable Connector

    User Manual – ALP222e 14.4 Pinout of the breakout cable connector Male D-Sub Micro-D 36P GPIO (male D-Sub 9P) Female XLR: Left analog input BNC: Word Clock input Female XLR: Right analog input BNC: Word Clock input Male XLR: Left analog output...
  • Page 65 User Manual – ALP222e Pinout of connector J1 ( Male D-Sub Micro-D 36 pins) Row 1 Row 2 Pin# Pin # AES/EBU SYNC IN + AES/EBU SYNC IN - AES/EBU OUT + AES/EBU OUT - AES/EBU IN - AES/EBU IN +...

  • Page 66: How To Use Gpi's And Gpo's

    User Manual – ALP222e 14.5 How to use GPI’s and GPO’s The two GPI’s are dry contacts. When the GPI X pin is not connected, the GPI status is OPEN. When the GPI X pin is connected to the ground, the GPI status is CLOSED.
  • Page 67 E-mail: info_asia@digigram.com Copyright 2022 Digigram. All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced without the prior consent of Digigram. This reservation includes photocopying, translating and/or reformatting the information contained in this manual. Everything possible has been done to ensure the greatest accuracy, however Diagram cannot be held liable for any typing error, error or omission and reserves the right to make modifications and improvements without prior notice.

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