Fast Track Solo™ Guide
Legal Notices © 2013 Avid Technology, Inc., (“Avid”), all rights reserved. This guide may not be duplicated in whole or in part without the written consent of Avid. Avid, the Avid logo, Fast Track Solo, and Pro Tools are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners. This product may be protected by one or more U.S. and nonU.S. patents. Details are available at www.avid.com/patents.
Contents Chapter 1. Introduction to Fast Track Solo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Fast Track Solo Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 System Requirements and Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Chapter 1: Introduction to Fast Track Solo Welcome to the Fast Track Solo™ audio interface from Avid®. Fast Track Solo provides your iPad or USB 2.0-equipped computer with two channels of analog audio input and output, phantom power, and headphone monitoring. Fast Track Solo includes a professional-quality microphone preamp, an instrument-level input, and 24-bit/48 kHz analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters.
Registration Review the enclosed Registration Information Card and follow the instructions on it to quickly register your purchase online. This is one of the most important steps you can take as a new user.
About www.avid.com The Avid website (www.avid.com) is your best online source for information to help you get the most out of your Avid audio system. The following are just a few of the services and features available. Product Registration Register your purchase online.
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Chapter 2: Controls and Connectors Front Panel 1 2 3 8 8 9 10 9 4 5 1 – Microphone Input Gain Control Adjust this knob to control the input gain for the Microphone input when setting recording levels. 2 – Instrument Input Gain Control Adjust this knob to control the input gain for the Instrument input when setting recording levels. 3 – Output Level Control Adjust this knob to control the Main and Headphone output level.
8 – Clip Indicators The red LED indicates “clipping” or distortion on the input of the corresponding input channel. If the LED lights, reduce the Input Gain control for the channel. 6 10 – Phantom Power Indicator (48V) This red LED illuminates when the Phantom Power switch on the back panel is set to the “on” position. 9 – Signal Indicators 11 – Power Indicator The green LED indicates the presence of an audio signal at the corresponding input.
Back Panel 1 2 3 4 5 1 – Lock Port 4 – USB Port Use this port to secure Fast Track Solo using a Kensington-style security lock. This port is used for connecting Fast Track Solo to your host computer, using the supplied USB cable. If you are using Fast Track Solo with an iPad, use this port to connect a USB power adapter. 2 – 48V Phantom Power Switch When this switch is in the “on” position, 48V phantom power is sent to the front microphone panel input.
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Chapter 3: Installing Drivers and Making Connections Installing Fast Track Solo Drivers Mac OS X Windows Do not start this procedure with your Fast Track Solo connected to your computer. To install the Fast Track Solo driver: Fast Track Solo is a class-compliant device for Mac OS X, so no drivers are required. 1 Ensure that Fast Track Solo is not connected to your computer. iOS 2 Download the Fast Track Solo driver from www.avid.com/drivers.
Hardware Connections Connecting Fast Track Solo to a Computer Once you have installed the driver (Windows only), connect Fast Track Solo to any available USB port on your computer. Fast Track Solo is powered over the USB bus from your computer. When using Fast Track Solo with an iPad, you will need to power Fast Track Solo using the USB power adapter that was included with your iPad (or with a USB power adapter purchased separately).
Chapter 4: Using Fast Track Solo Setting the Output Level Once the Fast Track Solo Line Outputs have been connected to a mixer, amplifier or powered monitors, the overall output volume is controlled by the Output Level control on the front panel. Be sure to turn down all monitoring levels before powering on your Fast Track Solo and using it with headphones or loudspeakers. Recording Microphones Connect a microphone using a standard XLR microphone cable to the front panel XLR input.
Direct Monitoring When recording an audio signal into your audio software, there is often a slight delay before it reaches the outputs of the software and Fast Track Solo. This delay, called latency, is caused by the computer processing required to convert and record audio. Since this delay can be distracting, Fast Track Solo provides a direct monitoring path from the inputs to the outputs, which is activated by pressing the Direct Monitor button.
Choosing a Buffer Size Configuring Settings Use the lowest possible buffer size to minimize latency while recording. However, you may want to increase the buffer size for larger mixes with lots of plug-ins to avoid pops and clicks in the audio output. Mac OS X On Mac OS X, use the Audio MIDI Setup application, or your audio application preferences or settings, to configure the device sample rate, hardware buffer size, and bit depth.
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Appendix A: Compliance Information Environmental Compliance Disposal of Waste Equipment by Users in the European Union Proposition 65 Warning This product contains chemicals, including lead, known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. Wash hands after handling. Perchlorate Notice This product may contain a lithium coin battery.
EMC (Electromagnetic Compliance) Avid declares that this product complies with the following standards regulating emissions and immunity: • FCC Part 15 Class B • EN 55022 Class B • EN 55024 Class B • AS/NZS CISPR 22 Class B • CISPR 22 Class B FCC Compliance for United States Radio and Television Interference This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules.
Safety Compliance 11) Only use attachments/accessories specified by the manufacturer. This equipment has been tested to comply with USA and Canadian safety certification in accordance with the specifications of UL Standards: UL 60950-1, 2nd Edition/IEC 60950-1, 2nd Edition and Canadian CAN/CSA C22.2 No. 60950-1-07, 2007, 2nd Edition. Avid Technology Inc. has been authorized to apply the appropriate NRTL mark on its compliant equipment.
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Avid Technical Support (USA) Product Information 2001 Junipero Serra Boulevard Daly City, CA 94014-3886 USA Visit the Online Support Center at www.avid.com/support For company and product information, visit us on the web at www.avid.
