User`s guide
INSTALLING THE TRAVELER HARDWARE
34
SYNCING OPTICAL DEVICES
The word optical is our short-hand way of referring 
to any device that connects to the Traveler via an 
optical cable. But we make a further distinction: an 
optical device is also one that doesn’t care about 
sample location. An example is a digital mixer. 
Since a digital mixer is not a recording device, it has 
no sense of sample location like an ADAT does. An 
ADAT can cue to a specific sample number (e.g. 
sample number 43,478, 103) — as can any device 
that supports ADAT sync, but most digital mixers 
simply mix and process audio digitally, with no 
sense of a specific sample location. There are many 
other devices that fall into this category, including 
digital effects processors, synthesizers, A/D 
converters, and many more.
For ADATs or other devices that support ADAT 
sync, synchronize them with the Traveler as 
described in the previous sections of this chapter.
For optical devices, such as digital mixers, all you 
have to do is make sure that their digital audio 
clock is phase-locked (in sync with) the Traveler. 
There are three ways to do this:
■ Slave the optical device to the Traveler
■ Slave the Traveler to the optical device
■ Slave both the optical device and the Traveler to 
a third master clock (such as a Digital Timepiece or 
MIDI Timepiece AV synchronizer)
ADAT Optical IN
ADAT Optical OUT
Digital mixer 
or other optical 
device
Trav eler
Trav eler
Clock Source setting = 
Internal, or any clock source 
setting except Optical. The optical 
device slaves to the Traveler (via its 
optical cable connection).
Digital mixer 
or other optical 
device
ADAT Optical IN
ADAT Optical OUT
Trav eler
With this setup, in the MOTU 
FireWire Audio Console, choose 
the Optical clock source setting. 
The Traveler slaves to the optical 
device via their optical cable 
connection.
Figure 4-17: Three setups for synchronizing an optical device with the Traveler. You can slave the optical device to the Traveler or vice versa
with their optical connections. For more elaborate setups, you can slave both to a digital audio synchronizer like the Digital Timepiece. Don’t
use any of these setups for an ADAT or other optical device that records. Instead, see “Sample-accurate ADAT sync” on page 30.
Word Clock Out
MIDI Timepiece AV
set to Internal
ADAT Sync out
ADAT sync in
Digital mixer 
or other optical 
device
Word Clock IN
Computer with Traveler
bi-directional
optical
Trav el er 
Clock Source setting = 
optical
PC
Trav el er 
Clock Source setting = 
ADAT 9-pin
!Traveler Manual/Win Page 34 Monday, November 29, 2004 3:50 PM










