TubeFire 8™ 8 CHANNEL TUBE MIC-PREAMP SYSTEM USER’S GUIDE
IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS – READ FIRST This symbol, wherever it appears, alerts you to the presence of uninsulated dangerous voltage inside the enclosure. Voltage that may be sufficient to constitute a risk of shock. This symbol, wherever it appears, alerts you to important operating and maintenance instructions in the accompanying literature. Please read manual. Read instructions: Retain these safety and operating instructions for future reference.
The ART TubeFire 8 8 Channel Tube Mic-Pre System IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS – READ FIRST ...............................................1 INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................4 INSTALLATION...........................................................................................................4 AC Power Hookup..................................................................................................................
List of Figures FIGURE 1 - Input Channel ......................................................................................................................................................................... 5 FIGURE 2 - Output Mix/Headphone section............................................................................................................................................... 7 FIGURE 3 - Rear Panel.............................................................................................
INTRODUCTION The TubeFire 8™ is the answer to your recording and computer interface needs. Eight high quality vacuum tube microphone preamps are packaged in a single rack high package. Our second generation discrete class– A mic preamps provide clean quiet gain while maintaining incredible transparency. Either the analog mic preamps, or the internal high quality D/A converters can drive the eight balanced outputs, selectable in banks of two channels at a time.
Firewire (IEEE 1394) (Sony iLINK®) Connections The TubeFire 8 has two 6 pin Firewire ports located on the rear panel. Both ports are identical, and can be used interchangeably. Use a quality Firewire cable to connect the TubeFire 8 to your computer. NOTE: Make all connections with both the Computer and TubeFire 8 powered off. First power on the computer, and after the system OS has fully loaded, then power on the TubeFire 8.
Instrument Input The 1/4” TS jack on the front panel provides a high impedance unbalanced input, and when used, automatically switches off the mic pre-amp. (The rear combo jack’s 1/4” TRS balanced input is lower impedance and is part of the mic pre-amp. The rear jack is not intended to be used with high impedance microphones or instruments.) NOTE: The PAD switch is disabled and does NOT affect the gain when using the Instrument input.
FIGURE 2 - Output Mix/Headphone section Headphone / Line Mixer All of the sources selected for the output jacks of the TubeFire 8™ are mixed together to provide a signal for the Headphone/Line Mixer Output. Use the Output Source switches to select which channels are from the mic preamps and which channels are from the computer in the headphone output mix. You can use this function to check the operation of the input channels as well as for multi-tracking punch-ins.
REAR PANEL Balanced Input Jacks – XLR & 1/4” TRS Combo Jacks These balanced inputs are used for both microphone and line level signals. The gain sensitivity is identical for both the XLR and 1/4” TRS jacks, however the XLR input impedance is 6.4K Ohms and the 1/4” TRS input impedance is 20K Ohms. The front panel Pad switch varies the sensitivity of both inputs. Balanced Output Jacks Each channel has a low impedance 1/4” TRS balanced jack.
HARDWARE OPERATION How to adjust the controls for the lowest noise Start with the GAIN and OUTPUT knobs centered, and the Pad switch IN. This provides about 20dB of gain. Increase the Gain control until the Clip LED in the meter just barely comes on during the loudest peaks in level, and then back off the control slightly from that point. (The Clip LED can come on occasionally at most.
FIGURE 4 - Block Diagram 10
PC SOFTWARE OPERATION Installing the Windows PC driver (Check at www.artproaudio.com for any driver updates.) Run SETUP.EXE on the driver disk to install the ART Firewire Driver. The installer will prompt for the destination directory. We suggest using the defaults. Connect the TubeFire 8™ to the computer’s Firewire port ONLY when prompted, NOT before. An icon will be placed on your desktop as well as in your STARTUP folder.
Changing the sample rate STEP ONE: Open the ART Card Control panel on a PC, to modify the sample rate setting. FIGURE 6 - Control Panel Sample Rate STEP TWO: Change the sample rate setting in the recording software. In Cubase, this is done under the PROJECT tab in the PROJECT SETUP dialog. See FIGURE 7 for an example.
Changing the sample rate may lead to other issues, including audio dropouts. Monitor the ASIO Drop Outs for 10 - 20 seconds to assure that the number remains at zero. If they are NOT zero, then increase the buffer length until the ASIO Drop Outs number reduces to zero. NOTE: The front panel Sample Rate display on the TubeFire 8™ is a histogram. FIGURE 8 shows the display lit for a 48KHz sample rate. This makes reading the display much easier at a distance.
Adjusting system latency with a Windows PC Adjusting the buffer depth varies the latency of the computer system used together with the TubeFire 8™. Typical recording software programs utilize either WDM or ASIO drivers. Adjusting the buffer depth control to the left will reduce the buffer size and therefore reduce the latency. The actual time readout is for one buffer.
Using the wordclock input with a Windows PC The TubeFire 8™ can be used in both simple and complex systems. The simplest system would consist of the TubeFire 8™ and a computer. As multiple digital devices are added to a system, master/slave sample rate timing issues degrade audio performance. Using a single master wordclock to synchronize all of the digital processing units reduces timing offset, and eliminates any time drift between the units thereby improving audio quality and reliability.
Mac SOFTWARE OPERATION Changing the sample rate with a Mac Run the AUDIO/MIDI setup utility to change the sample rate. Select properties for the device labeled “ART Firewire nnnn” (the “nnnn” refers to a unique serial number for each TubeFire 8™). Under the Audio Input section use the Format pull-down menu to select the desired sample rate. Note that the Audio Input and Audio Output Format settings track each other. (The various volume sliders, mutes, and thru radio buttons are all grayed out and disabled.
Using the wordclock input with a Mac The TubeFire 8™ can be used in both simple and complex systems. The simplest system would consist of the TubeFire 8™ and a computer. As multiple digital devices are added to a system, master/slave sample rate timing issues degrade audio performance. Using a single master wordclock to synchronize all of the digital processing units reduces timing offset, and eliminates any time drift between the units thereby improving audio quality and reliability.
Creating an Aggregate Device with a Mac Control of multiple audio devices on a Mac is performed by creating a single Aggregate Device. What follows is an example combining two TubeFire 8™ units into a single Aggregate Device, but it could be two completely different digital audio products. First, run the Audio/MIDI Setup utility. Pull down the Audio menu and run the Aggregate Device Editor. FIGURE 13 - Audio/MIDI Setup - Audio pull-down menu Next, Click the “+” (Add) button to create a new device.
APPLICATIONS Adding more TubeFire 8™ units to your system The TubeFire 8™ is designed to allow you to expand the number of inputs and outputs on your system by adding more TubeFire 8™ units. The bandwidth of the Firewire buss limits the number of units that can be added to a system. This is further determined by the selected sample rate. 88.2KHz or 96KHz sample rates – maximum of two TubeFire 8™ units (16 channels). 44.1KHz or 48KHz sample rates – maximum of four TubeFire 8™ units (32 channels).
Optionally rename the units in the ART Card Control Panel (Windows PC) or create an “Aggregate Device” (Mac) to simplify the ID of each unit. See the Mac Software Operation section for instructions on creating an Aggregate Device. Note that the order of devices listed is arranged by each unit’s SERIAL NUMBER. The order is fixed and cannot be changed. We recommend using external wordclock to maintain the highest audio quality when using multiple devices.
WARRANTY INFORMATION Limited Warranty: Applied Research and Technology will provide warranty and service for this unit in accordance with the following warrants: Applied Research and Technology, (A R T) warrants to the original purchaser that this product and the components thereof will be free from defects in workmanship and materials for a period of three years from the date of purchase.
SERVICE The following information is provided in the unlikely event that your unit requires service. 1) Be sure that the unit is the cause of the problem. Check to make sure the unit has the proper power supplied, all cables are connected correctly, and the cables themselves are in working condition. 2) If you find the unit to be at fault, write down a complete description of the problem, including how and when the problem occurs.
TubeFire 8™ SPECIFICATIONS Input Impedance Mic..............................................................................................6.4K Ohm Line ............................................................................................20K Ohm Instrument ..................................................................................2.5M Ohm Output Impedance Balanced outputs........................................................................200 Ohm balanced Headphone output.................
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