Clarett S/PDIF Question

B

bmg

Member
I have a Clarett+ interface and have run out of ins and outs for my outboard gear.
I was going to buy an Octopre for the added inputs, which will include a Bricasti M7 unit.

I was told I can hook the unit up digitally, but the Bricasti uses an EBU connector while the Clarett uses an S/PDIF connector.

Is there a way these can be made to work with each other?
 
S/PDIF can be carried over many physical connector types but it's a stereo digital interface/format.
It can carry compressed 6 channel, mostly useful in home theatre (5.1) but for our purposes it's stereo.

Adat optical interface, most commonly carried over fibre optic with Toslink connectors is capable of 8 discrete channels at 48k/24bit or, in many cases, fewer channels at higher rates.
You sometimes see spdif over optical but it's still spdif. 2 channels discrete/6 channels encoded.


The clarett 2, 4 and 8 pre units all have ADAT ins for 8 inputs, an the 4 and 8 models have spdif in too for 2 inputs.

@bmg - You could certainly add 8 extra analog inputs by connecting an octopre or similar.
The simplest way to hook up your M7 would be to take its analog outputs to two of the octopre inputs leaving you with 6 over.

If you really need to squeeze all the IO you can out of it and connect the M7 to SPDIF then you'd need a digital format converter.
I've read that you can make a passive adapter without any actual conversion in many cases but you might want to google that for more information
on whether or not it's a good idea.
 
Thanks - the problem is the outs are unbalanced on the Octopre, and Bricasti recommends balanced ins and outs for best performance.
The ins are balanced, but instead of balanced outs, it has insert points, which are not.
(You can get balanced outs using the DSub connector, though I'm not quite sure why they didn't include this option in the first place.)

I'm trying to hook the unit up without having to buy another interface, so am looking for a way to get 2 more balanced channels through the digital realm.
 
The outputs on the octopre analog outputs don't matter, since you'll be using its digital output. (y)

If your preferences is to connect M7 to your interface without buying more gear, definitely look into AES/EBU to SPDIF passive adapter.
Some info here...
 
What's the deal with Hosa anyway?
Are they a reputable company?
It's been many years, but I remember Whirlwind was the go-to cable company, and it seemed like overnight, their products were overtaken by Hosa.
It was at a point where you couldn't buy a cable if it wasn't their brand (which never sat right with me.)
 
Hosa makes good cables, but you're right, Hosa seemed* to have wormed their way into the top slot.
*I haven't bought a cable in a few years now, because I've got tons of cables from previous and current set-ups. My God, I'll bet I've got two hundred cables in use right now, between two rigs! And that's not counting the extras I've got stored away.
 
For an interconnect, you’re falling into the trap. You simply don’t need physically stronger cabling, and gold. On the floor, with people and flightcase wheels, substantial ones are more important. In a loom, never unplugged, not vital. You can also not worry about the balanced unbalanced thing. Decent mixers have always had insert sockets that were unbalanced it’s perfectly normal. Hosa are very quiet on their product’s origin, by the way. I know for certain that many of their products are made for them in China and carry their logo. I suspect the moulded cables fall into this category. Personally, if I buy a loom style cable for laziness, they will either work, or rarely, not work. Impedance wise, digital cables standardised at 110ohm impedance, but 20 feet of random audio cable will work fine 99% of the time and best of all, either works or doesn’t work. Excellent quality or silence.

For info, an EBU digital signal is sent down 3 pin XLR connectors, which is the standard. If it’s not on XLR it’s not EBU but probable SP/DIF if unbalanced on phono RCA connectors.
 
Last edited:
rob aylestone said:
For an interconnect, you’re falling into the trap. You simply don’t need physically stronger cabling, and gold. On the floor, with people and flightcase wheels, substantial ones are more important. In a loom, never unplugged, not vital. You can also not worry about the balanced unbalanced thing. Decent mixers have always had insert sockets that were unbalanced it’s perfectly normal. Hosa are very quiet on their product’s origin, by the way. I know for certain that many of their products are made for them in China and carry their logo. I suspect the moulded cables fall into this category. Personally, if I buy a loom style cable for laziness, they will either work, or rarely, not work. Impedance wise, digital cables standardised at 110ohm impedance, but 20 feet of random audio cable will work fine 99% of the time and best of all, either works or doesn’t work. Excellent quality or silence.

For info, an EBU digital signal is sent down 3 pin XLR connectors, which is the standard. If it’s not on XLR it’s not EBU but probable SP/DIF if unbalanced on phono RCA connectors.
Click to expand...
Oh this brings back memories of the early days of digital. It really was a mix of 110 and 75 ohm AES/EBU. Our surround sound processor was 75 ohm along with some other gear.

I used a lot of these to connect gear together.

IMG_1444.JPG
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top