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Prism Sound ADA-8XR Operation Manual

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

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Summary of Contents for Prism Sound ADA-8XR

  • Page 1 ADA-8XR 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, Pro Tools 24|MIX, 888|24 I/O, Pro Tools|HD, 192 I/O, 96 I/O, SYNC I/O and DigiLink are trademarks of Digidesign, a division of Avid Technology Inc.
  • Page 3 Prism Sound ADA-8XR 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-8XR ............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-8XR 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-8XR 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-8XR 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-8XR 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-8XR 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-8XR in and out of Standby power mode) and, below, a headphone socket for the two-channel Monitor. © Prism Media Products Limited, 2001-2004...

  • Page 11: Rear Panel

    Operation Manual - Revision 1.00 3.2 Rear Panel The rear panel of the ADA-8XR 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

    - and we couldn’t add new features in later software releases. So the ADA-8XR control surface is based on four panels; from left to right the Monitor, Mimic, Meter and Menu panels (all alliteration absolutely accidental).

  • Page 13: Two-Channel Monitor

    These buttons are used to change the entire setup of the ADA-8XR between preset configurations for different tasks. There are four ‘Banks’ each containing six entire Stores of the ADA-8XR 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: Warning Conditions

    Operation Manual - Revision 1.00 4.6 Warning conditions It is possible to set operating parameters in the ADA-8XR which are mutually conflicting, or which cannot be met for other reasons. For instance if the analogue outputs are assigned to both Paths, or if an external reference sync is specified but is not connected, then the ADA-8XR must deal with the resulting situation.

  • Page 15: Control Panel Operation

    The Mimic panel is the key to understanding and controlling the flow of signals through the ADA-8XR. At any one time, it shows the flow of signals through one of the ADA-8XR’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-8XR. 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-8XR 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-8XR 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-8XR. 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-8XR Multi-channel A/D D/A Converter Operation Manual - Revision 1.00 5.3 Monitor Panel The Monitor Panel controls the ADA-8XR’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-8XR, 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-8XR. 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-8XR 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-8XR. 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-8XR’s two Paths. An unusual feature of the ADA-8XR 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-8XR 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-8XR 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-8Xr

    96kHz sampling. It is also our opinion that one-bit representations would need to operate at bit rates significantly above those presently proposed in order to match the quality of the ADA-8XR’s current 24-bit/96kHz or 192kHz output. As with all Prism Sound products, the ADA-8XR can transact extended rates (88.2kHz and above) in either ‘one-wire’...

  • Page 29: Noise Shaping

    (if at all) to different sample rates. 7.3.3 Wordlength and the ADA-8XR The ADA-8XR 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

    Prism Sound ADA-8XR Multi-channel A/D D/A Converter Operation Manual - Revision 1.00 Note that no wordlength reduction is supported by the ADA-8XR at the ‘4x’ sample-rates (176.4kHz and 192kHz). The wordlength is fixed at 24-bits at these rates. It is uncommon to find ‘4x’...

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

    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-8XR, 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

    1, 3, 5 and 7 should be recorded together, with channels 2, 4, 6 and 8 recorded first to lay down the tag. Note that MR-X is not supported by the ADA-8XR at the ‘4x’ sample-rates (176.4kHz and 192kHz). It is uncommon to find ‘4x’ recorders or channels which do not support full 24-bit operation.

  • Page 34: Prism Sound Overkiller

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

  • Page 35: References

    ‘sound’ in the past. The Prism Sound SSRC is included with the DSD I/O Module, and allows simultaneous rate- conversion of all eight channels between any two PCM sample rates from 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4 and 192kHz.

  • Page 36: Specifications

    Prism Sound ADA-8XR Multi-channel A/D D/A Converter Operation Manual - Revision 1.00 8 Specifications This section contains the specification for the ADA-8XR 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-8XR 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-8XR 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-8XR 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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