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Troubleshooting
Related Manuals for RME Audio Hammerfall Hammerfall DSP System
Summary of Contents for RME Audio Hammerfall Hammerfall DSP System
- Page 1 User's Guide Hammerfall DSP System ® MADI ™ TotalMix 24 Bit / 96 kHz ® ® ® SyncAlign SyncCheck ™ SteadyClock PCI Busmaster Digital I/O Card 64 Channels MADI Interface 24 Bit / 96 kHz Digital Audio Stereo Analog Monitoring 128 x 64 Matrix Router 2 x MIDI I/O MIDI embedded in MADI...
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Page 2: Table Of Contents
General Introduction ...6 Package Contents ...6 System Requirements ...6 Brief Description and Characteristics...6 Hardware Installation...7 Hardware – Connectors External Connectors ...7 Internal Connectors...8 Accessories ...8 Warranty...8 Appendix ...9 Driver Installation and Operation - Windows Driver and Firmware 10.1 Driver Installation ...12 10.2 Driver Update ...12 10.3 Deinstalling the Drivers ...12 10.4 Firmware Update...13... - Page 3 Driver Installation and Operation - Mac OS X Driver and Flash Update 18.1 Driver Installation ... 28 18.2 Driver Update... 28 18.3 Flash Update... 28 Configuring the HDSP MADI 19.1 Settings Dialog... 29 19.2 Settings Dialog – DDS ... 31 19.3 Clock Modes –...
- Page 4 TotalMix: The Matrix 25.1 Overview ...56 25.2 Elements of the Matrix View ...56 25.3 Usage...56 25.4 Advantages of the Matrix ...57 TotalMix Super-Features 26.1 ASIO Direct Monitoring (Windows only) ...57 26.2 Selection and Group based Operation ...58 26.3 Copy Routings to other Channels ...58 26.4 Delete Routings...58 26.5 Recording a Subgroup (Loopback)...59 26.6 Using external Effects Devices ...60...
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Page 5: General
User's Guide HDSP MADI General User's Guide HDSP MADI © RME... -
Page 6: Introduction
1. Introduction Thank you for choosing the Hammerfall DSP MADI. This unique audio system is capable of transferring digital audio data directly into a computer, from any device equipped with a MADI interface. Installation is simple, even for the inexperienced user, thanks to the latest Plug and Play technology. -
Page 7: Hardware Installation
5. Hardware Installation Before installing the PCI card, please make sure the computer is switched off and the power cable is disconnected from the mains supply. Inserting or removing a PCI card while the computer is in operation can cause irreparable damage to both motherboard and card! 1. -
Page 8: Internal Connectors
6.2 Internal Connectors 15-pin connector for the included HDSP MADI Expansion Board. 10-pin connector for a connection of the Time Code Option (TCO). Not functional. No function. Used to program the card in the factory. Blue Jumper The internal blue jumper X4 allows to change the voltage level at the coaxial MADI output. In the lower position, the card generates 600 mVpp, according to the specification. -
Page 9: Appendix
RME Intelligent Audio Solutions. Alesis and ADAT are registered trademarks of Alesis Corp. ADAT optical is a trademark of Alesis Corp. Microsoft, Windows 2000 and Windows XP are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. Steinberg, Cubase and VST are registered trademarks of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. - Page 10 CE / FCC Compliance Statements This device has been tested and found to comply with the EN55022 class B and EN50082-1 norms for digital devices, according to the European Council directive on counterpart laws in the member states relating to electromagnetic compatibility (EMVG). This device has been tested and found to comply with the requirements listed in FCC Regula- tions, part 15 for Class ‘B’...
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Page 11: Driver Installation And Operation - Windows
User's Guide HDSP MADI Driver Installation and Operation - Windows User's Guide HDSP MADI © RME... -
Page 12: Driver And Firmware
10. Driver and Firmware 10.1 Driver Installation After the HDSP MADI has been installed correctly (see 5. Hardware Installation), and the com- puter has been switched on, Windows will recognize the new hardware component and start its ‘Hardware Wizard’. Insert the RME Driver CD into your CD-ROM drive, and follow further in- structions which appear on your computer screen. -
Page 13: Firmware Update
10.4 Firmware Update The Flash Update Tool updates the HDSP MADI to the latest firmware version. It requires an already installed driver. Start the program madi_aes_fut.exe. The Flash Update Tool displays the current revision of the HDSP MADI, and whether it needs an update or not. If so, then please press the 'Update' button. - Page 14 Quick Boot All the card's settings described below are stored in a hardware memory, and are loaded im- mediately after a power-on of the computer. In clock mode Master even the last used sample rate is set. Directly after switching on the computer, a stable and predictable clock state is found at the HDSP MADI's outputs.
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Page 15: Settings Dialog - Dds
Input Status Displays the state of the current input signal: • Channel format (64 or 56 channels) • Frame format (48K or 96K) • Sample rate (measured) • Active input (optical or coaxial) Clock Mode The unit can be configured to use its internal clock source (Master), or the clock source pre- defined via Pref. -
Page 16: Clock Modes - Synchronization
Activates all settings of this dialog. Value Shows the sample rate as adjusted in this dialog. The sample rate is defined by the basic setting (frequency), the multiplier, and the position of the acti- vated fader. Frequency Sets a fixed basic sample rate, which can be modified by multiplier and fader. - Page 17 The HDSP MADI's outstanding clock control allows for a synchronization of the output signal to the word clock's input signal not only at identical sample rates, but also at half, quarter, double and quad sample rates. A playback of 96 kHz can easily be synchronized via a 48 kHz word clock signal.
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Page 18: Operation And Usage
12. Operation and Usage 12.1 Playback The HDSP system can play back audio data only in supported modes (channels, PCM) and formats (sample rate, bit resolution). Otherwise an error message appears (for example at 22 kHz and 8 bit). In the audio application being used, HDSP must be selected as output device. This can often be found in the Options, Preferences or Settings menus under Playback Device, Audio Devices, Audio etc. -
Page 19: Dvd-Playback (Ac-3/Dts) Under Mme
12.2 DVD-Playback (AC-3/DTS) under MME AC-3 / DTS When using popular DVD software player like WinDVD and PowerDVD, their audio data stream can be sent to any AC-3/DTS capable receiver via the HDSP MADI. For this to work an output wave device has to be selected in >Control Panel/ Sounds and Multimedia/ Audio<. -
Page 20: Low Latency Under Mme
12.3 Low Latency under MME (Buffer Size Adjustment) Using Windows 95 or 98 the MME buffer size was nothing to worry about. Latencies below 46 ms were not possible. Meanwhile both computers and operating system have become much more powerful, and since Windows ME/2000/XP latencies far lower can be used. SAWStudio and Sonar allowed to use such low settings from the start. -
Page 21: Digital Recording
12.5 Recording Unlike analog soundcards which produce empty wave files (or noise) when no input signal is present, digital I/O cards always need a valid input signal to start recording. To take this into account, RME has included two unique features in the HDSP MADI: a compre- hensive I/O signal status display (showing sample frequency, lock and sync status) in the Set- tings dialog, and the protective Safe Mode / Frequency function. -
Page 22: Operation Under Asio
13. Operation under ASIO 2.0 13.1 General Start the ASIO software and select ASIO Hammerfall DSP as the audio I/O device. The 'ASIO system control' button opens the HDSP's Settings dialog (see chapter 11, Configuration). Hammerfall DSP supports ASIO Direct Monitoring (ADM). -
Page 23: Operation Under Gsif
14. Operation under GSIF (Gigasampler Interface) Windows 2000/XP The GSIF interface of the HDSP MADI allows direct operation with Gigastudio, with up to 32* channels, 96 kHz and 24 bit. The new GSIF 2.0 is also supported with both audio and MIDI. Gigastudio requires a lot of the computer’s calculation power. -
Page 24: Using Multiple Hdsp Madi / Aes-32
15. Using multiple HDSP MADI / AES-32 The current driver supports operation of up to three HDSP MADI. Both HDSP MADI and HDSP AES-32 use the same driver, therefore can be used at the same time. Please note that only one TCO of one card can be used (of course). -
Page 25: Hotline - Troubleshooting
17. Hotline – Troubleshooting 17.1 General The newest information can always be found on our website www.rme-audio.com, section FAQ, Latest Additions. The input signal cannot be monitored in real-time • ASIO Direct Monitoring has not been enabled, and/or monitoring has been disabled globally (for example in TotalMix). -
Page 26: Installation
17.2 Installation Hammerfall DSP is found in the Device Manager (>Settings/ Control Panel/ System<), category 'Sound-, Video- and Gamecontroller'. A double click on 'Hammerfall DSP MADI' starts the prop- erties dialog. Choosing 'Resources' shows Interrupt and Memory Range. The newest information on hardware problems can always be found on our website www.rme- audio.com, section FAQ, Hardware Alert: about incompatible hardware. -
Page 27: Driver Installation And Operation - Mac Os X
User's Guide HDSP MADI Driver Installation and Operation – Mac OS X User's Guide HDSP MADI © RME... -
Page 28: Driver And Flash Update
18. Driver and Flash Update 18.1 Driver Installation First fit the card (see 5. Hardware Installation), then switch on the computer and install the driv- ers from the RME Driver CD. The driver file is located in the folder HDSP MADI AES32. Instal- lation works automatically by a double-click on the file hdsp_madi_aes32.mpkg. -
Page 29: Configuring The Hdsp Madi
19. Configuring the HDSP MADI 19.1 Settings Dialog Configuring the HDSP MADI is done via its own settings dialog. The panel 'Settings' can be opened by clicking on the hammer icon in the dock. The mixer of the HDSP MADI, TotalMix, can be opened by clicking on the mixer icon in the dock. - Page 30 Safe Mode Input activates redundancy operation. If the current input signal fails, the other input will be used immediately, provided a valid signal is found there. Input also works as automatic input selec- tion, in case only optical or coaxial is present as input signal. Clock Mode The unit can be configured to use its internal clock source...
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Page 31: Settings Dialog - Dds
19.2 Settings dialog - DDS Usually soundcards and audio interfaces generate their internal clock (master mode) by a quartz. Therefore the internal clock can be set to 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz, but not to a value in be- tween. SteadyClock, RME's sensational Low Jitter Clock System, is based on a Direct Digital Synthesizer (DDS). -
Page 32: Clock Modes - Synchronization
Application examples DDS allows for a simultaneous change of speed and tune during record and playback. From alignment to other sources up to creative effects – everything is possible.. DDS allows to intentionally de-tune the complete DAW. This way, the DAW can match instru- ments which have a wrong or unchangeable tuning. -
Page 33: Mac Os X Faq
20. Mac OS X FAQ 20.1 Round about Driver Installation The driver with the file suffix gz provided by RME is a compressed TAR archive. TAR bundles multiple files and folders into one file, but does not save memory space nor download time. Both TAR and gz are supported natively by OS X, a double click on the file is all you need to do. -
Page 34: Supported Sample Rates
20.3 Supported Sample Rates RME's Mac OS X driver supports all sampling frequencies provided by the hardware. Besides 96 kHz this also includes 32 kHz and 64 kHz. But not every software will support all the hardware's sample rates. For example Spark does not display 32 kHz and 64 kHz. -
Page 35: Hotline - Troubleshooting
21. Hotline – Troubleshooting The newest information can always be found on our website www.rme-audio.com, section Sup- port, Macintosh OS. Playback works, but record doesn’t: • Check that there is a valid signal at the input. • Check whether the Hammerfall DSP has been selected as recording device in the audio application. - Page 36 User's Guide HDSP MADI © RME...
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Page 37: Connections And Totalmix
User's Guide HDSP MADI Connections and TotalMix User's Guide HDSP MADI © RME... -
Page 38: Connections
22. Connections 22.1 Headphones HDSP MADI offers a hi-quality analog monitor output. The short circuit protected stereo line output provides high output level, low impedance, and is available via a 6.3 mm (1/4") TRS jack. Therefore it is also suitable for a direct use with headphones. The analog output is directly driven from the channels 63/64, in Double Speed mode with chan- nels 33/34. -
Page 39: Midi
22.3 MIDI The HDSP MADI offers two MIDI I/O via 5-pin DIN connectors. The MIDI ports are added to the system by the driver. Using MIDI capable software, these ports can be accessed under the name MADI MIDI. Using more than one HDSP MADI, a consecutive number is added to the port name, like MADI MIDI In 1 (2) etc. -
Page 40: Technical Description And Background
The received word clock signal can be distributed to other devices by using the word clock out- put. With this the usual T-adapter can be avoided, and the HDSP MADI operates as Signal Refresher. This kind of operation is highly recommended, because •... -
Page 41: Cables And Termination
The actual end of these problems is offered by the SteadyClock technology of the HDSP MADI. Combining the advantages of modern and fastest digital technology with analog filter techniques, re-gaining a low jitter clock signal of 22 MHz from a slow word clock of 44.1 kHz is no problem anymore. -
Page 42: General Operation
23.4 Operation The HDSP MADI's word clock input is active when Pref. Sync Ref in the Settings dialog has been set to Word Clock, the clock mode AutoSync has been activated, and a valid word clock signal is present. The signal at the BNC input can be Single, Double or Quad Speed, the HDSP automatically adapts to it. -
Page 43: Totalmix: Routing And Monitoring
24. TotalMix: Routing and Monitoring 24.1 Overview The HDSP MADI includes a powerful digital real-time mixer, the Hammerfall DSP mixer, based on RME’s unique, sample-rate independent TotalMix technology. It allows for practically unlim- ited mixing and routing operations, with all inputs and playback channels simultaneously, to any hardware outputs. - Page 44 User's Guide HDSP MADI © RME...
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Page 45: The User Interface
24.2 The User Interface The visual design of the TotalMix mixer is a result of its capability to route hardware inputs and software playback channels to any hardware output. The HDSP MADI provides 64 input chan- nels, 64 software playback channels, and 64 hardware output channels: 128 channels don't fit on the screen side by side, neither does such an arrangement provide a useful overview. -
Page 46: Elements Of A Channel
24.3 Elements of a Channel A single channel consists of various elements: Input channels and playback channels each have a mute and solo button. Below there is the panpot, realized as indicator bar (L/R) in order to save space. In the field below, the present level is displayed in RMS or Peak, being updated about every half a second. - Page 47 As shown it is very easy to set up a specific submix for whatever output: select output channel, set up fader and pans of inputs and playbacks – ready! For advanced users sometimes it makes sense to work without Submix View.
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Page 48: Submix View
You will certainly have noticed that the signal at the outputs 7/8 did not change while you were routing channel 4 to other outputs and setting different gain values for those. With all analog and most digital mixing desks, the fader setting would affect the level for every routed bus - not so for TotalMix. -
Page 49: Quick Access Panel
24.7 The Quick Access Panel This section includes additional options, further improving the handling of TotalMix. The Master buttons for Mute and Solo have already been described, they allow for group-based working with these functions. In the View section the single mixer rows can be made visible or invisible. If the inputs are not needed for a pristine playback mix, the whole upper row falls out of the picture after a click on the Input button. - Page 50 Mouse: The original factory presets can be reloaded by holding down the Ctrl- key and clicking on any preset button. Alternatively the files described above can be renamed, moved to a different directory, or being deleted. Keyboard: Using Ctrl and any number between 1 and 8 (not on the numeric keypad!) will load the corresponding factory default preset.
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Page 51: Monitor Panel
24.9 The Monitor Panel The Monitor panel provides several options usually found on analog mixing desks. It offers quick access to monitoring functions which are needed all the time in typical studio work. Monitor Main Use the drop down menu to select the hardware outputs where your main monitors are con- nected to. -
Page 52: Editing The Names
Main Monitor Dim: Amount of attenuation of the Main Monitor output in dB. Activated by the Dim button in the Monitor panel. Stereo Pan Law The Pan Law can be set to -6 dB, -4.5 dB, -3 dB and 0 dB. The value chosen defines the level attenuation in pan center position. -
Page 53: Hotkeys
24.12 Hotkeys In many situations TotalMix can be controlled quickly and comfortably by the keyboard, making the mixer setup considerably easier and faster. The Shift-key for the fine mode for faders and panpots has already been mentioned. The Ctrl-key can do far more than changing the routing pairwise: •... -
Page 54: Menu Options
24.13 Menu Options Always on Top: When active (checked) the TotalMix window will always be on top of the Win- dows desktop. Note: This function may result in problems with windows containing help text, as the TotalMix window will even be on top of those windows, so the help text isn't readable. Deactivate Screensaver: When active (checked) any activated Windows screensaver will be disabled temporarily. -
Page 55: Level Meter
24.14 Level Meter The HDSP MADI calculates all the display values Peak, Over and RMS in hardware, in order to be capable of using them independent of the software in use, and to significantly reduce the CPU load. Tip: This feature, the Hardware Level Meter, is used by DIGICheck (Windows only, see chap- ter 16) to display Peak/RMS level meters of all channels, nearly without any CPU load. -
Page 56: Totalmix: The Matrix
25. TotalMix: The Matrix 25.1 Overview The mixer window of TotalMix looks and operates similar to mixing desks, as it is based on a conventional stereo design. The matrix display presents a different method of assigning and routing channels, based on a single channel or monaural design. The matrix view of the HDSP looks and works like a conventional patchbay, adding functionality way beyond comparable hardware and software soutions. -
Page 57: Advantages Of The Matrix
25.4 Advantages of the Matrix The Matrix not always replaces the mixer view, but it significantly enhances the routing capabili- ties and - more important - is a brilliant way to get a fast overview of all active routings. It shows you in a glance what's going on. -
Page 58: Selection And Group Based Operation
26.2 Selection and Group-based Operation Click on the white name label of channel 1 and 2 in TotalMix. Be sure to have channel 3's fader set to a different position and click on its label too. All three labels have changed to the colour orange, which means they are selected. -
Page 59: Recording A Subgroup (Loopback)
26.5 Recording a Subgroup (Loopback) The HDSP series uses TotalMix also for a routings of the subgroup outputs (=hardware outputs, bottom row) to the recording software. Unfortunately this feature is not available with the HDSP MADI, as the FPGA of the card has no resources left. Therefore this chapter describes the loopback mode when used with an external cable loop. -
Page 60: Using External Effects Devices
26.6 Using external Effects Devices With TotalMix a usage of external hardware - like effects devices - is easy and flexible. Example 1: The singer (microphone input channel 1) shall have some reverb on his head- phones (outputs 11/12). A direct routing In 1 to Out 11/12 for monitoring had been set up al- ready. -
Page 61: Totalmix Midi Remote Control
27. TotalMix MIDI Remote Control 27.1 Overview TotalMix can be remote controlled via MIDI. It is compatible to the widely spread Mackie Control protocol, so TotalMix can be controlled with all hardware controllers supporting this standard. Examples are the Mackie Control, Tascam US-2400 or Behringer BCF 2000. Additionally, the stereo output faders (lowest row) which are set up as Monitor Main outputs in the Monitor panel can also be controlled by the standard Control Change Volume via MIDI channel 1. -
Page 62: Mapping
When Full LC Display Support is turned off, only a brief information about the first fader of the block (channel and row) is sent. This brief information is also available on the LED display of the Behringer BCF2000. Tip for Mac OS X users: LC Xview (www.opuslocus.com) provides an on-screen display emulating the hardware displays of a Logic/Mackie Control, for use with controllers that can emulate a Logic/Mackie Control but do not have a display. -
Page 63: Simple Midi Control
27.5 Simple MIDI Control The stereo output faders (lowest row) which are set up as Monitor Main outputs in the Monitor panel can also be controlled by the standard Control Change Volume via MIDI channel 1. With this, the main volume of the HDSP MADI is controlable from nearly any MIDI equipped hardware device. - Page 64 User's Guide HDSP MADI © RME...
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Page 65: Technical Reference
User's Guide HDSP MADI Technical Reference User's Guide HDSP MADI © RME... -
Page 66: Tech Info
28. Tech Info Not all information to and around our products fit in a manual. Therefore RME offers a lot more and detailed information in the Tech Infos. The very latest Tech Infos can be found on our website, section News & Infos, or the directory \rmeaudio.web\techinfo on the RME Driver CD. -
Page 67: Technical Specifications
29. Technical Specifications 29.1 Inputs MADI • Coaxial via BNC, 75 Ohm, according to AES10-1991 • High-sensitivity input stage (< 0.2 Vpp) • Optical via FDDI duplex SC connector • 62.5/125 and 50/125 compatible • Accepts 56 channel and 64 channel mode, plus 96k Frame •... -
Page 68: Digital
Stereo Monitor Output (Phones) • Signal to Noise ratio (SNR): 110 dB RMS unweighted, 112 dBA @ 44.1 kHz (unmuted) • THD: < - 100 dB, < 0.001 % • THD+N: < -98 dB, < 0.0015 % • Crosstalk: > 100 dB •... -
Page 69: Technical Background
30. Technical Background 30.1 MADI Basics MADI, the serial Multichannel Audio Digital Interface, has been defined already in 1989 as an extension of the existing AES3 standard following several manufacturers' wish. The format also known as AES/EBU, a balanced bi-phase signal, is limited to two channels. Simply put, MADI contains 28 of those AES/EBU signals in serial, i. -
Page 70: Lock And Synccheck
30.2 Lock and SyncCheck Digital signals consist of a carrier and the data. If a digital signal is applied to an input, the re- ceiver has to synchronize to the carrier clock in order to read the data correctly. To achieve this, the receiver uses a PLL (Phase Locked Loop). -
Page 71: Latency And Monitoring
30.3 Latency and Monitoring The term Zero Latency Monitoring has been introduced by RME in 1998 for the DIGI96 series of audio cards. It stands for the ability to pass-through the computer's input signal at the inter- face directly to the output. Since then, the idea behind has become one of the most important features of modern hard disk recording. -
Page 72: Ds - Double Speed
Note: Cubase and Nuendo display the latency values signalled from the driver separately for record and playback. While with our digital cards these values equal exactly the buffer size (for example 3 ms at 128 samples), the HDSP MADI displays an additional millisecond – the time needed for the AD/DA-conversion. -
Page 73: Qs - Quad Speed
30.5 QS – Quad Speed Due to the small number of available devices that use sample rates up to 192 kHz, but even more due to a missing real world application (CD...), Quad Speed has had no broad success so far. -
Page 74: Steadyclock
30.6 SteadyClock The SteadyClock technology of the HDSP MADI guarantees an excellent performance in all clock modes. Its highly efficient jitter suppression refreshes and cleans up any clock signal, and provides it as reference clock at the word clock output. Usually a clock section consists of an analog PLL for external synchronization and several quartz oscillators for internal synchronisation. -
Page 75: Pci Performance
30.7 PCI Performance The HDSP MADI card's sheer number of audio channels makes it more demanding for a com- puter's PCI bus performance than any other audio card. Furthermore, measurements of pure data throughput are not sufficient for measuring realtime audio performance or compatibility. Large amounts of data may be transferred in short and fast bursts with small interruptions, which will result in a relatively high data rate when measured averaged, but audio signals will suffer clicks and dropouts because of the interruptions. -
Page 76: Terminology
30.8 Terminology Single Speed Sample rate range originally used in Digital Audio. Typical applications are 32 kHz (digital radio broadcast), 44.1 kHz (CD), and 48 kHz (DAT). Double Speed Doubles the original sample rate range, in order to achieve higher audio quality and improved audio processing. - Page 77 96K Frame Frame format for up to 32 channels at up to 96 kHz. The advantage of this format against 48K Frame using S/MUX: the receiver can detect the real (double) sample rate on its own and im- mediately. With 48K Frame and S/MUX, the user has to set up the correct sample rate in all involved devices manually.