Prism Sound ADA-8 Operation Manual
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Prism Sound ADA-8 Operation Manual

Multi-channel a/d d/a converter
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ADA-8 Multi-channel A/D D/A Converter
Operation Manual

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  • Page 1 ADA-8 Multi-channel A/D D/A Converter Operation Manual...
  • Page 2 Web: http://www.prismsound.com Or contact your local Prism Sound distributor as detailed on the website. Trademark Acknowledgements Digidesign, Pro Tools and 888|24 I/O are trademarks of Digidesign, a division of Avid Technology Inc. Alesis and ADAT are trademarks of Alesis Studio Electronics TASCAM, TDIF and DA-88 are tradmarks of TEAC Corporation Ltd.
  • Page 3 Prism Sound ADA-8 Multi-channel A/D D/A Converter Operation Manual - Revision 1.00 WARNING! TO PREVENT FIRE OR SHOCK HAZARD DO NOT EXPOSE THIS EQUIPMENT TO RAIN OR MOISTURE. DO NOT REMOVE THE COVER. NO USER-SERICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL.

  • Page 4: Table Of Contents

    What is the use of extended sample rates?............27 7.2.3 Interfacing extended sample rates..............27 7.2.4 Extended sample rates in the ADA-8..............28 Wordlength, dithering and Prism Sound SNS (Super Noise Shaping) ..... 28 7.3.1 Truncation and dithering ..................28 7.3.2 Noise shaping ....................29 7.3.3...
  • Page 5 Prism Sound ADA-8 Multi-channel A/D D/A Converter Operation Manual - Revision 1.00 Sample-rate conversion and Prism Sound SSRC ............ 34 References ........................ 35 8 Specifications............... 36 Physical ........................36 Synchronization......................36 Monitor ........................37 Meters ........................37 DSP ........................... 37 9 Glossary................

  • Page 6: Introduction

    Operation Manual - Revision 1.00 1 Introduction The ADA-8 is the latest in the acclaimed range of Prism Sound ‘Dream’ A/D and D/A converters which have become widely regarded as the world’s best sounding converters. Whilst continuing the tried and trusted ‘no compromise’ design philosophy of previous ‘Dream’...

  • Page 7: Modularity

    Module. 1.3 Firmware Updates The ADA-8 firmware is stored within the unit in a flash memory which can be updated from a floppy disk or from the Internet. Details of how to perform the upgrade are in section 6.3.

  • Page 8: Getting Started

    If your ADA-8 is to be used with a direct workstation interface, such as Pro Tools, please refer to the appropriate ‘Getting Started’ section in the Module Reference (volume 3).
  • Page 9 Menu system manually without the help of the Access buttons. Finally, you should be able to check the correct operation of the ADA-8 in system by using the eight bargraph meters on the Meter Panel, and perhaps also the two-channel Monitor feature, which is controlled from the Monitor Panel at the left-hand side of the unit.

  • Page 10: Layout

    At the extreme left-hand side of the front panel are the ‘Standby’ key (which is used to switch the ADA-8 in and out of Standby power mode) and, below, a headphone socket for the two- channel Monitor. © Prism Media Products Limited, 2002...

  • Page 11: Rear Panel

    Operation Manual - Revision 1.00 3.2 Rear Panel The rear panel of the ADA-8 is arranged, from left to right when viewed from the rear, as follows: The mains inlet comprises an inlet socket for the IEC mains lead (appropriate regional version, provided), mains switch, and two-way voltage selector and fuse holder.

  • Page 12: Philosophy Of Operation

    The Mimic panel shows a diagram of a ‘Path’ through the ADA-8 - each Path is actually eight audio channels in parallel, so the Mimic panel actually only shows one eighth of a Path. The A/D Path, for example, (usually Path 1) shows an analogue input, connected through some processing, past a monitoring and metering point, through some ‘encoding’...

  • Page 13: Two-Channel Monitor

    These buttons are used to change the entire setup of the ADA-8 between preset configurations for different tasks. There are four ‘Banks’ each containing six entire Stores of the ADA-8 state, thus a total of 24 stores are available. Each store can have a name of up to 16 characters to ease identification.
  • Page 14 Prism Sound ADA-8 Multi-channel A/D D/A Converter Operation Manual - Revision 1.00 In these cases, warnings are generated. Warnings are indicated by a flashing LED, and possibly the solid illumination of an additional LED. For example, in the case of an unconnected external reference sync, local sync will be automatically substituted and this state will be shown by the ‘Local’...

  • Page 15: Control Panel Operation

    The Mimic panel is the key to understanding and controlling the flow of signals through the ADA-8. At any one time, it shows the flow of signals through one of the ADA-8’s two Paths, from the assigned source ports, through any assigned processing functions, through to the assigned destination ports.

  • Page 16: Decode Box

    For details of these menus, see the Firmware Reference. The ‘MR-X’ LED shows that the input port is being decoded from the Prism Sound MR-X format, which is a word-mapping scheme whereby, for example, a multi-channel digital recorder can be used to record longer wordlengths and/or higher sample rates than its native format by sacrificing tracks.

  • Page 17: Process Box

    Processing Suite activated. The processing Suite is a range of signal processing functions which are available if the DSP Expansion Module is fitted inside the ADA-8. The Process box’s Access button attracts the attention of the Menu panel immediately to the group of menus that control the Processing Suite if it is available (otherwise an explanatory message is displayed).

  • Page 18: Dest Box

    The ‘=Ext’ LED is lit whenever the Path’s nominal sample rate has been set to follow that of the selected external sync source. It is important to note that the ADA-8 does not insist on this: it is possible to select a different sample-rate from that of the designated reference sync.
  • Page 19 If the rate of the Wordclock is, say, close to 44.1kHz then the ADA-8 will assume it to be the ‘house 44.1kHz’ and will use it to sync the Path, BUT THE PATH WILL STILL RUN AT 48kHz or, more precisely, at 480/441 times the reference rate.

  • Page 20: Meter Panel

    Path through the ADA-8. Various peak-hold and overload modes can be selected within the group of menus reached from the blue Access button. Note also that numerical metering of the selected channel or channel pair is normally displayed on the Level Screen (the ‘home’...

  • Page 21: Monitor Panel

    Prism Sound ADA-8 Multi-channel A/D D/A Converter Operation Manual - Revision 1.00 5.3 Monitor Panel The Monitor Panel controls the ADA-8’s two-channel monitor. The Monitor drives both analogue and digital line outputs, which are situated on the Utility Panel on the rear of the unit.

  • Page 22: Menu Panel

    ‘Enter/Accept’ key. The ‘Bank’ button cycles around the four banks of stores. To save (overwrite) a store with the current settings of the ADA-8, press the ‘→’ key, at which point an invitation to save is displayed after which ‘Enter/Accept’ begins the saving sequence of operations, which include the opportunity to enter a 16-character name of your choice, or to abort the operation.

  • Page 23: Adjustments And Upgrades

    The mains (line) fuse and the mains voltage selector are carried within the IEC inlet on the rear of the ADA-8. The required fuse is a 2AT 20x5mm type. The voltage selector has two positions: ‘115V’ covers the range 90VAC to 130VAC, and ‘230V’ covers the range 180VAC to 260VAC.

  • Page 24: Adding I/O Modules

    To decide on the location of a new I/O Module, refer to the diagram of the ADA-8 rear panel in section 3.2. When viewed from the rear, the analogue I/O (AIO) slots are the larger castellated panels on the left (AIO1 above, AIO2 below) and the digital I/O (DIO) slots are the smaller castellated panels on the right (DIO1 above, DIO2 below).

  • Page 25: Technical Background

    Operation Manual - Revision 1.00 7 Technical Background This section provides background information concerning various technical concepts and proprietary Prism Sound processes relevant to the ADA-8. 7.1 Synchronization and jitter 7.1.1 Background Good clock stability is probably the most important issue separating good-quality A/D and D/A converters from the mass.

  • Page 26: Listening Experience

    ADA-8’s two Paths. An unusual feature of the ADA-8 is that a Path can be locked to reference sync sources at different rates from the Path’s desired sample rate. In this case, the ADA-8 maintains a constant ratio between the reference sync and the Path’s sample rate.

  • Page 27: What Is The Use Of Extended Sample Rates

    Prism Sound ADA-8 Multi-channel A/D D/A Converter Operation Manual - Revision 1.00 converted data, up to a maximum just short of half the selected rate. In the case of D/A or D/D Paths, the choice of sample rate is usually made for us since incoming data has already been sampled at a particular rate.

  • Page 28: Extended Sample Rates In The Ada-8

    7.2.4 Extended sample rates in the ADA-8 At the time of its release, the ADA-8 was restricted to operation up to a sample rate of 96kHz. We can justify 24-bit/96kHz operation as being necessary in order that the digital rendition of a signal bears the closest possible resemblance to its analogue source.

  • Page 29: Noise Shaping

    (if at all) to different sample rates. 7.3.3 Wordlength and the ADA-8 The ADA-8 provides a comprehensive choice of processes to optimally generate a reduced output wordlength from an analogue or digital source. It also includes encoding processes which allow extended wordlengths to be recorded on or transmitted via shorter wordlength equipment, as described in section 7.4.
  • Page 30 (using, for example, the ‘microscope’ feature on Prism Sound test equipment). Using this method it is easy to hear that the noise floor of more extreme shapers is clearly not white – switching, say, from SNS1 to SNS4 sounds like shhhhh..ssssss as the noise is shifted towards the higher frequencies.

  • Page 31: Prism Sound Mr-X And Dre Encoding Processes

    16-bit or a 20-bit medium. The first, Prism Sound MR-X, is a ‘word-mapping’ or ‘bit splitting’ system which allows tracks on a multi-track medium to be sacrificed in order to make up the extra wordlength. The second, Prism Sound DRE, requires no track sacrifice and so can be used on stereo media;...

  • Page 32: Using Prism Sound Mr-X With The Ada-8

    MR-X applies indivisibly to an entire bank of eight channels on the target medium. This is because audio extension data and format identification data are passed on the ‘sacrificed’ channels. In the case of the ADA-8, this means that MR-X encoding or decoding must be applied to the entire eight-channel Digital Output or Input Modules.

  • Page 33: Prism Sound Dre: 'Dynamic Range Enhancement

    16-bit media (such as DAT or CD-R) to be used to make recordings indistinguishable from 20-bit recordings. The ADA-8 also features an extended version of DRE, optimised for use with 20-bit media. In view of this extension to the format, the original DRE for 16-bit media is now referred to as , and the new extension for 20-bit media is known as DRE 7.4.4 Using Prism Sound DRE with the ADA-8...

  • Page 34: Sample-Rate Conversion And Prism Sound Ssrc

    A/D converter from overmodulation. There is no need for the Overkillers’ thresholds to be manually adjusted; the ADA-8’s software automatically adjusts the thresholds according to the selected analogue line-up level and trim.

  • Page 35: References

    Prism Sound ADA-8 Multi-channel A/D D/A Converter Operation Manual - Revision 1.00 7.7 References The following references provide additional information about the technical background topics: J.Watkinson – “The Art of Digital Audio” 3 Edition, Focal Press, ISBN 0 240 51587 0.

  • Page 36: Specifications

    Prism Sound ADA-8 Multi-channel A/D D/A Converter Operation Manual - Revision 1.00 8 Specifications This section contains the specification for the ADA-8 Mainframe; specifications for Analogue and Digital I/O Modules are contained in the Module Reference. Unless otherwise stated, all performance specifications are rms, unweighted, band-limited 20Hz-20kHz, sampling at 96kHz, wordlength 24-bits, analogue I/O line-up at 0dBFS=+18dBu.

  • Page 37: Monitor

    Prism Sound ADA-8 Multi-channel A/D D/A Converter Operation Manual - Revision 1.00 8.3 Monitor Two-channel, analogue and digital, assignable to either Path, by channel pair or mixed Function keys for volume, mute, mono, channel-swap and phase-invert Analogue outputs: Electronically balanced on RCA/phono connectors Output impedance 50Ω...

  • Page 38: Glossary

    Prism Sound ADA-8 Multi-channel A/D D/A Converter Operation Manual - Revision 1.00 9 Glossary ADAT An optical eight-channel digital audio interface format first used in Alesis ADAT recorders. AES3 A two-channel digital audio interface format complying with the AES3 standard.
  • Page 39 Higher sample rates allow a wider range of input frequencies to be represented in the digital signal. ‘Super Noise Shaping’ – a family of Prism Sound noise shapers providing optimal A/D conversion or wordlength reduction. See also Noise Shaping.
  • Page 40 Prism Sound ADA-8 Multi-channel A/D D/A Converter Operation Manual - Revision 1.00 Index =Ext LED, 18 Modularity, 7 Access buttons, 12, 22 Monitor, 13, 21 AES/EBU, 38 Monitor connectors, 21 AES3, 38 Monitor 'Mixed' mode, 21 Alert LEDs, 20 Monitor 'Pairs' mode, 21...

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