Behringer ADA8000 Problem

E

evanlong

New member
I just received a brand new Behringer ADA8000 I/O box and I cannot get it to stop clicking. It seems to click the least when I run it as a slave at 44.1 khz but even then, it still gives me at least two clicks per minute and is therefore unusable.

I am running TOSLink cables on both the in and out ports. The cables are firmly seated. They are of very cheap quality but from what I have read, that might lead them to break more easily but not click; they would either work fine or not at all. So, I am thinking this is a timing issue. I am running it into a Digi 001 PCI card and using Logic as software. Can anyone help?
 
Last edited:
I'm running 3 ADA8000's along with 2 other ADAT 8 channel preamps, for a total of 40 channels into my ADAT interface--so my situation is a little different. I had some clicking and popping too--but since I've got so many units, I couldn't tell which one(s) were the culprit.

I do know that the clicks and pops went away completely when I connect all my external units to the interface with BNC cable for the word clock. So I've got 'em all connected with optical cables (just for audio) and then all linked together, daisy chain style, with BNC cable for the word clock.

A couple caveats:

1) It was my understanding that my solution was only needed with multiple "extra" devices; you've just got the one--so my solution may not apply.

2) I'm not using a Digi PCI card or Logic--so I can't speak to those variables.
 
A Few More Details

Here are the settings I'm using:

ADA8000: switch on back is set to "ADAT In"

CoreAudio Driver (Digi 001): clock source is set to internal, rate is 48 khz, optical format is ADAT

Logic: project settings > audio is set to 48 khz

I have also tried this with CA and Logic set to 44.1. I have also tried setting the ADA8000 to master 44.1 and 48 and CA and Logic to 44.1 and 48, respectively, with CA's clock source as optical. All of these settings produce pops and clicks, some more than others.

Are there other parameters I'm neglecting to set properly?
 
Seems like one of those combos should have the clock right- one or the other must be master.
Are you able to record and/or play from other sources clean on the Digi?
 
Another Clue

The ADA8000 is set as inputs 9-16 with the Digi 001 box (connected via proprietary cable) as 1-8. While playing around with the settings again this morning, I found that in certain configurations I was also getting pops, not quite the same pops but very loud level spikes, on inputs 1 and 2, the Digi 001 mic preamps. All I had changed were the clock settings.
 
evanlong said:
The ADA8000 is set as inputs 9-16 with the Digi 001 box (connected via proprietary cable) as 1-8. While playing around with the settings again this morning, I found that in certain configurations I was also getting pops, not quite the same pops but very loud level spikes, on inputs 1 and 2, the Digi 001 mic preamps. All I had changed were the clock settings.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I was trying to ask/see if the problem could be separated.. (from an 'ADAT in issue' vs just general system prob.
..The old 'divide and conquer troubleshoot ploy... :)
 
A Better Clue

I have never had any problems running the Digi 001 box by itself. It was only this morning on certain settings that I heard those spikes and haven't been able to reproduce it since so it may or may not be relevant after all. I currently have the ADA8000 running as slave at 44.1 again which is producing the best results but still a few clicks here and there.

The ADA8000 is literally 24 hours out of the box so hopefully it's not that. The Digi 001 is obviously much older and I've never used the ADAT ins/outs before but the card is overall in fine shape and the ADAT is working aside from these clicks.

But maybe this will help also. I am running monitors off of the XLR outs on outputs 9 and 10 on the ADA8000. All of the clicks seem to be coming from the "input" side. In other words, I don't seem to be getting any clicks when inputs 9-16 are off.
 
evanlong said:
I have heard that BNC is much easier to work with than ADAT. However, the Digi 001 doesn't have it.
Click to expand...

BNC is a plug, not a protocol. You're mixing metaphors.

BNC connectors are usually used for word clock, but are also used for AES/EBU (and, occasionally, S/PDIF).

The ADAT lightpipe connector is called TOSLINK, and the same connector is also used for optical S/PDIF.

So are you complaining about the lack of word clock, the lack of S/PDIF, or about the TOSLINK connector being awkward?
 
evanlong said:
The ADA8000 is set as inputs 9-16 with the Digi 001 box (connected via proprietary cable) as 1-8. While playing around with the settings again this morning, I found that in certain configurations I was also getting pops, not quite the same pops but very loud level spikes, on inputs 1 and 2, the Digi 001 mic preamps. All I had changed were the clock settings.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the Digi isn't happy with the clock that the ADA8000 is providing. Have you tried clocking the ADA8000 to the Digi instead? IIRC, the ADA8000 has an ADAT input that can be used for clocking purposes. Feed it with an ADAT out from the 001.
 
The thing I am "complaining" about is that something in the chain is producing loud clicks and pops which I can't seem to totally get rid of, despite setting things in every configuration I can think of, as you can read above. The Digi 001 card only has a TOSlink in and out, not coax. That is what I meant by it not having BNC. There are S/PDIF connectors on the Digi 001 box but I haven't used them.
 
Last edited:
Okay. Looks like I missed a few things buried in the thread. Let me make sure I understand what you have set up.

* Cables from the output of the 001 to the input of the ADA8000
* Cables from the output of the ADA8000 to the input of the 001

* Tried with 001 set to internal clock and ADA8000 set to external
* Tried with 001 set to external clock and ADA8000 set to internal

* Regardless of which one you set as the master; you still get pops and clicks when getting sound from the ADA8000.

Questions:

1. When the 001 is the master, do you get pops from both devices or just from the ADA8000's inputs?

2. Are both devices set to the same clock rate (44.1 vs. 48)? Yes, they should switch correctly based on the incoming clock, but I've seen some dumb devices over the years....

3. When you have the 001 set as the master, are its ADAT outputs enabled? (I'm assuming that it's possible to disable them.)
 
1) The pops are just coming from inputs 9-16 (the ADA8000).

2) The clock rate is set manually in the CoreAudio driver. I have been switching it appropriately and even listening to the sound of mismatched rates just to be thorough.

3) The clock source is also set manually in the CoreAudio driver. I am not aware of a way to disable the ADAT ports on the ADA8000 except for the switch on the back which toggles it between BNC, ADAT in, and ADAT out (master) 44.1 or 48, which I have been using as described in answer #2 above.

I want to re-emphasize also that I get by far the least clicks when the Digi 001 is set as master at 44.1 khz. The clicks are much more frequent at 48 khz.
 
Ins Only?

Also, the clicks seem to be coming only from the input side and are recorded into the audio files from ins 9-16 on the Behringer. I am running monitors through outs 9 and 10, also on the Behringer, and there are no clicks from the outbound audio.
 
Well, assuming you're not doing something insane like using a pair of hundred-foot optical cables, it sounds to me like the clock circuit of either the Digi 001 or the ADA8000 is way, way out of spec to the point that neither device can successfully lock to the signal from the other. As for which device is bad, I couldn't guess. You'd pretty much have to have a third ADAT-capable device to determine that.
 
evanlong said:
Also, the clicks seem to be coming only from the input side and are recorded into the audio files from ins 9-16 on the Behringer. I am running monitors through outs 9 and 10, also on the Behringer, and there are no clicks from the outbound audio.
Click to expand...

Really? Hmm. That suggests that the Behringer is locking to its ADAT input, but only for its output. Might be bad hardware in the Behri. Or the 001's inputs might be dodgy. I don't suppose the 001 comes with any sort of debug software that would show the ADAT error rate, does it?
 
I'm using 2m cables and there no sharp bends them. Also, I switched the in cable with the out cable and the outbound audio was fine each time, so it's definitely not a question of bad cables, either.

I agree that it's a clocking issue with either the ADA8000 or the Digi 001. I know of no error checking software for the Digi 001 but agree that would definitely be helpful. However, having heard of Behringer's reputation for poor quality control, I'm leaning toward the ADA8000. I'll call their support line when I get a chance and post the results.
 
Behringer Support

I just got off the phone with Behringer technical support and they said that it's probably defective and that I should return it. I'll post my results with the new device on the same settings when I hook it up.
 
Mmm. The true cost ;)
The box
Then the downtime
The lost.. what ever, this or that
etc...

10 years with Fronteer, RME, ADAT, +/- some Alesis even, never a glitch.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top