TerraTec PHASE 88 Manual
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TerraTec PHASE 88 Manual

24 bit/96 khz multi i/o recording interface
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TERRATEC PRODUCER/PHASE 88
English Manual
Version 1.0, last revised: Oktober 2003

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Summary of Contents for TerraTec PHASE 88

  • Page 1 TERRATEC PRODUCER/PHASE 88 English Manual Version 1.0, last revised: Oktober 2003...
  • Page 2 CE Declaration TerraTec Electronic GmbH, Herrenpfad 38, D-41334 Nettetal, Germany hereby declare that the product: PHASE 88, to which this declaration refers is in compliance with the following standards or standardizing documents: EN 50013, EN 50022, EN 60065 The following are the stipulated operating and environmental conditions for said compliance: residential, business and commercial environments and small-company environments.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Contents Welcome! ........................5 From unpacking the PHASE 88 to installing it..............7 Scope of delivery......................7 The setup - Short and simple for busy professionals........... 8 Notes for Windows users: ..................8 Notes for Macintosh users:..................8 Structure of the PHASE 88 PCI card.
  • Page 4 Analog Inputs ......................29 Digital Mixer.......................30 Settings........................31 The About page......................34 The PHASE 88 Control Panel in the Windows taskbar..........35 Managing scenes and cascaded cards (Windows only)..........36 ASIO Control Panel (Windows only)................36 GSIF/ASIO multi-client....................37 Card(s) used for ASIO....................37 Colors (Windows only).

  • Page 5: Welcome

    Welcome! We are pleased that you have chosen a TerraTec Producer Audio Interface for your musical endeavors and would like to congratulate you on your decision. With the PHASE 88 Audio System, you've purchased a sophisticated product representing the state of the...
  • Page 6 96 kHz. This gives the system a signal-noise ratio of as much as 109 dB(A) at the analog outputs! With a really “tight” MIDI interface and a variety of usable digital I/Os the PHASE 88 audio system also has enough connections in all directions.

  • Page 7: From Unpacking The Phase 88 To Installing It

    From unpacking the PHASE 88 to installing it. Before installing the PCI card into your computer and running cables to the PHASE 88 audio system, take note of any special points pertaining to the configuration of your computer. Also refer to the manual of your computer and other studio peripheral devices for their settings.

  • Page 8: The Setup - Short And Simple For Busy Professionals

    PHASE Control Panel. Notes for Macintosh users: The PHASE 88 system is shipped with driver support for MAC OS 10 (OS X). In the OS10 version, we recommend the Apple operating system update called “Jaguar” (current version 10.2.6). A version update, which can be obtained for an extra charge, contains some improvements specially geared towards audio applications.
  • Page 9 The audio and MIDI connection using OS 10(X) is built exclusively on the OS10 core audio/MIDI concept. n Multiple cards cannot be cascaded under the MAC OS at present. PHASE 88 (English)

  • Page 10: Structure Of The Phase 88 Pci Card

    5. Sync-IN connection for cascading (5-pin, the jumper must remain set on the master card!) 6. Sync-OUT connection for cascading (3-pin) 7. Jumper for selection of S/PDIF source (only in connection with a PHASE 88 rack or Mic 2/8 module) PHASE 88 (English)

  • Page 11: Phase 88 Breakout Box

    PHASE 88 breakout box The PHASE 88 audio system includes a module with 8 analog inputs and outputs (I/Os) and two MIDI sockets. It includes high-quality 24-bit A/D-D/A converters and can be installed in the front of your computer or externally. With the metal shielding of the housing you usually don't need to worry about “catching”...

  • Page 12: Installation Of The Phase Pci Card - Step By Step

    Insert the card into the slot. You might have to press the card firmly into the slot to make good contact. Take care to ensure that the contacts are exactly in line. If they are not, you could do damage to the audio card or your computer's motherboard. PHASE 88 (English)
  • Page 13 Fasten the card in place using the screw you removed earlier from the slot cover (if there was one). n After switching the system on and booting it, you can now install the drivers (see Ü page 14 for Windows, Ü page 18 for MAC OS X). PHASE 88 (English)

  • Page 14: Driver Installation In Windows

    4. Check the “Specify a location” box and enter the path to the driver on the CD. <CD>:\PHASE 88\Driver\Windows\. Otherwise you can also select the path to the drivers for your PHASE 88 PCI system with the mouse by clicking on “Browse”. Confirm by clicking “Next”.

  • Page 15: Driver Installation Under Windows Me

    88\Driver\Windows\. Confirm by clicking “Next”. Alternatively, you can change to the respective directory by clicking on “Browse...”. 4. The hardware wizard will now search for the AudioSystem PHASE 88 driver and will display the location of the driver. Confirm by clicking “Next”.

  • Page 16: Installation Under Windows Xp

    Windows extensions have to be installed. Please have your Windows CD ready for this purpose. After successful driver installation, the PHASE 88 control panel can be installed easily using the autorun option (<CD>:\autorun.exe). Follow the instructions on the screen to install the various bundled software programs.
  • Page 17 Windows extensions have to be installed. Please have your Windows CD ready for this purpose. After successful driver installation, the PHASE 88 control panel can be installed easily using the autorun option (<CD>:\autorun.exe). Follow the instructions on the screen to install the various bundled software programs.

  • Page 18: Driver Installation For Macintosh Os X

    OS10.1 or higher. Furthermore, in order to install the drivers, you must have administrator rights on the system. To install the PHASE 88 MAC OS X-driver and the Control Panel application, start the install program from the directory <CD>:\PHASE 88\Driver\MAC\ of the PHASE 88 product CD.

  • Page 19: The Connections Of The Phase 88 Audio System

    +4dBu (typically 2.1Vrms). Here, you can connect a mixing card, active speakers, or amplifiers. The PHASE 88 system has eight high-quality analog outputs (labeled on the breakout box as OUTPUTS), which can be independently addressed. The terminals are cinch connec- tors and are always shown in pairs on the driver side and in the PHASE Control Panel (i.e.

  • Page 20: Analog Inputs

    24-bit con- verter. The PHASE 88 system has eight high-quality analog inputs (labeled on the breakout box as INPUTS), which can be independently addressed. The terminals are cinch connectors and are always shown in pairs on the driver side (i.e. 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8).

  • Page 21: Digital Interface (S/Pdif, Raw, Ac3)

    (VST System Link). Use the digital interface of your PHASE 88 PCI card to transfer music digitally from your computer to other devices, or to record audio data with your computer. There are two separate coaxial jacks (RCA / cinch) for recording and playback.

  • Page 22: Midi Interface

    MIDI interface. The MIDI interface of the PHASE 88 audio system allows you to connect the device with properly equipped peripherals such as MIDI keyboards, DAW controllers and countless other devices. The cables for MIDI connections are always connected “crosswise”, meaning OUT to IN and vice-versa.

  • Page 23: The Drives (Windows Operating System)

    The drives (Windows operating system). The PHASE 88 audio interface features a range of drivers for a variety of applications. The drivers support all bit rates between 8 and 32 bits with all common sample rates between 8 and 96 kHz. As a rule, the sample rates are not “interpolated”. In other words, the system always automatically sets itself to the sample rate with which an application is recording or playing back.

  • Page 24: The Gsif Driver

    GigaStudio sampler application and other Tascam / Nemesys products can also access the hardware in a very fast and direct manner. The outputs available in each program are called here “PHASE 88 GSIF (n)” and lead directly to the outputs of the PHASE 88 audio system.

  • Page 25: In Detail - Special Properties Of The Drivers

    DirectSound & WDM. It goes without saying that the drivers of the PHASE 88 system also support Microsoft's DirectSound or DirectSound 3D interface. What's more, the software complies strictly with Microsoft's WDM specification. WDM (Windows Driver Model) is a recent driver concept...

  • Page 26: Wdm Sample Rate (Sr) Interpolation

    For example, the drivers are able to play back audio data streams from multiple applications in parallel (multi-client, a “luxury” that faithful TerraTec customers have enjoyed since 1997). WDM sample rate (SR) interpolation. The multi-client capability of the WDM architecture also permits the simultaneous playback of multiple audio data streams with differing sample rates.

  • Page 27: The Mac Os X Drivers

    Steinberg company allow direct ASIO connection to the hardware, the development of corresponding PHASE 88 PCI card support is planned. Under System Settings -> Sound, the PHASE 88 system can be set up as the default audio device in OS X. PHASE 88 (English)

  • Page 28: The Control Panel

    The Phase Control Panel and the routing (signal flow within the card) is very easy to understand. You still want to know what it is all about? Very well: the following are the individual function blocks, from left to right: PHASE 88 (English)

  • Page 29: Analog Inputs

    From left to right you first set the input level at which an audio signal enters the PHASE 88 system. -10 dBV is very common in home studios (at this level the signals are relatively quiet and the input compensates for this with a higher sensitivity). +4 dBu is generally used professionally (the devices have enough power and therefore the system input is less sensitive).

  • Page 30: Digital Mixer

    Mixer´ entry in the routing dialog (settings page) can be used to send the signals to the analog outputs 1+2 and to Digital Out. If you want to use the PHASE 88 audio system and an “in-out card” only for your au- dio/MIDI sequencer, you don't really need the Digital Mixer. As described in several places above, in this case the software that you use controls the volume and panorama settings.

  • Page 31: Settings

    Settings. Master Clock. Here we're dealing with the sample rate used by the PHASE 88 System. This is a very important point, as the card can be clocked by an external signal (External, e.g. from a DAT recorder) or it can set a sampler rate itself and provide this signal to other devices.
  • Page 32 The I/O card. An extremely simple range of the PHASE 88 Control Panel. If the breakout box is disconnected from the PCI card (how can this occur if it is screwed in place?), the converter should be recalibrated. This process takes exactly 250 ms and doesn't hurt a bit.
  • Page 33 Lower the DMA buffer transfer latency step-by-step in the PHASE 88 Control Panel. The drivers are cleanly programmed and have been designed for speed. This should yield reasonable values that will be a pleasure to work with on appropriately configured systems.

  • Page 34: The About Page

    - as well as a picture of our company headquarters in Nettetal on the lower Rhine that looks like a potato stamp (unfortunately only Windows …). Hover over the info area with the mouse cursor for additional information. PHASE 88 (English)

  • Page 35: The Phase 88 Control Panel In The Windows Taskbar

    Instead the relevant input signals are sent directly through the digital mixer to the output 1/2 and/or Digital Out (if the routing of the PHASE 88 system has been appropriately set in the setting window of the Control Panel). Because the signals are sent directly to the hardware of the PHASE 88 without a detour, absolutely latency- free monitoring is possible.

  • Page 36: Managing Scenes And Cascaded Cards (Windows Only)

    “loading” and “saving”: Under the “Scene” button on the right edge of the PHASE 88 Control Panel you have the option of saving all card settings (Save), loading (Load) or deleting previously saved scenes (Delete). Use “Cancel” to exit the dialog without saving.

  • Page 37: Gsif/Asio Multi-Client

    Once saved, you can find your personal color settings in the dropdown menu, which already contains a number of examples. The “Windows System” color set uses only colors that display correctly at an 8-bit color depth. PHASE 88 (English)

  • Page 38: Additional Tips On Using The Control Panel

    A mute switch silences the relevant signal completely, whereas it can still be heard faintly when the fader has been pulled all the way down. The stereo link function (enabled by default) permits the left and right signals to be adjusted simultaneously. PHASE 88 (English)

  • Page 39: Cascading And Internal Synchronization

    Cascading and internal synchronization. Up to 4 audio interfaces from TerraTec Producer (PHASE 88, EWS 88 MT/D and Mic2/8) can be installed in a computer and run together as a closed system. You can therefore conveniently increase the number of input and output channels which can also access directly from most Windows applications.
  • Page 40 All interfaces will now run using the sampler frequency set on the master. If you would like to also use an external clock for the first card (using a DAT recorder, for example), set its master clock to “External” as well. The sync information are transmitted accordingly. PHASE 88 (English)

  • Page 41: Tips, Tricks & Things Worth Knowing

    You have numerous connection options when using multiple audio systems from Ter- raTec. In short, all PCI cards of the TerraTec family can be operated together in a computer without any problems. This also applies for consumer products such as DMX 6fire 24/96 and others.

  • Page 42: About Irqs And Other Interrupts

    Please disable all devices that are not required (e.g. the COM ports are only rarely used) in the computer BIOS. See the documentation for your motherboard to do this. The “free” IRQs can now be used in the PCI bus. PHASE 88 (English)
  • Page 43 PCI slot 1 and AGP slot share an IRQ · PCI slot 2 and 3 share an IRQ · PCI slot 4, 6 and USB controller share an IRQ · PCI slot 5 and Raid controller share an IRQ PHASE 88 (English)
  • Page 44 PCI slot 4 and onboard LAN share an IRQ. · PCI slot 1 and 5 share an IRQ. · the IDE controller has its own IRQ. · the USB controllers have their own IRQ. · the AC97 sound chip has its own IRQ. PHASE 88 (English)

  • Page 45: Always With The Beat - Digital Synchronization

    To ensure correct synchronization of the devices, you must switch the MasterClock to “External” in the PHASE 88 Control Panel (see also Ü page 31). If you forget this step, audible errors such as dropouts and clicks may occur during recording - and already when monitoring the signal.

  • Page 46: Dolby Ac3 And Dts

    The digital interface of the PHASE 88 audio system transfers all bit resolutions between 8 and 24 bits and all sampling rates between 8 and 96 kHz. Please note that not all devices can process sample rates higher than 48 kHz. To transfer a signal recorded at 96 kHz to a DAT recorder, it's necessary to use suitable software to convert the file(s) to 44.1 kHz...

  • Page 47: Appendix A - Technical Data

    EWS Connect connection for synchronized cascading of additional PCI systems** *) This information depends on the technical data of the convertor used **) You can cascade and synchronize PHASE 88, EWS 88 MT/D and Mic 2/8 audio ® systems with an EWS Connect connection.
  • Page 48 PHASE 88 (English)

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