Delta 66 & SPDIF Question

[rio452001]

I've got a Delta 66 soundcard, which has a break-out box with 4 1/4" inputs, and 2 more inputs through an SPDIF into the soundcard.

I'm currently recording drums and would llike to use all 6 tracks simultaneously (i.e., 4 through the break-out box and 2 through the SPDIF).

I've got a Mindprint DI box that I intended to use to route 2 microphone channels into my soundcard through an SPDIF connection (i.e., analog in and then SPDIF out).

It works fine as far as getting the signal into Cubase etc., but I get a periodic, randomly patterned static sound through the 2 channels (input 3 on Cubase) going through the DI-- it's enough to send the meters jumping. It happens when the mics are in and the DI is on, independently of whether I'm actually recording or playing or whatever.

Any suggestions on what might be causing it, and how to fix it?

[enferno]

sounds like it might be a syncro problem. try to set them at the same latency/sample rates and see where that gets you.

[crankz1]

Yeah, it could be a clock setting as well as sample rate mismatch.
you could try running it on Auto-Sync or set it as Master and the 66 as Slave.

[rio452001]

Thanksz Crankz & Enfernoz,

Adjusting the clock and sample rate solved the problem. So, I've now got six separate tracks for the drums: kick, snare, rack, floor & overheads.

I start my home recording by devoting as many tracks as possible (at one time) to drums. The analog-to-SPDIF converter now gives me 2 tracks in addition to the four in the break-out box, so that's how I get six at once.

Bass and guitar go directly into the monitor mixer (the guitar goes through an amp simulator first) along with the drums, but bass & guitar are not recorded (initially). Because they go direct-in, the bass & guitar are not heard acoustically. If you walk into my basement studio while we're recording, you'll see all three of us playing, but you'll only hear the drums (we hear all instruments on the monitor mix through headphones, right?). Anyway, while it sounds convoluted, it allows us to record 6 tracks of drums without any problem with bleeding of bass or guitar into the drum tracks. We then add bass & guitar later, with the bass still going direct, but the guitar played through an appropriate amp and so forth.

We're a three piece instrumental rock (i.e., "surf") combo, just guitar bass & drums (we play out in clubs maybe once or twice a month). There's no vocals to speak of, and the only effects are reverb and tremolo. We're hobbyists with families & day-jobs, so this is all part-time, after-work activity.

Anyway, our latest recording adventure got off to a shakey start last week: we couldn't use the two SPDIF inputs due to noise, and we were having lots of problems setting recording levels. But we had another session last night that went very well, we managed to record 10 songs (again, that's drum tracks only) in about 2.5 hours. I played around with a rough mix of a couple of songs, and the drums sound great, I'm really happy. Having the toms miked adds real depth to the recording, the floor tom is total Jurassic Park.

We've got another session lined up for next week, then we rehearse for a gig the week after that, and then take a break until the new year. We'll add the bass & guitar during the break, and have a CD done by the time we get back together in January.

Thanks again for your help.