User Manual-Mac

INSTALLING THE PCI-424 HARDWARE
37
SAMPLE-ACCURATE SYNC
Your PCI-424 system provides you with the most
advanced, accurate synchronization possible with
Alesis and Tascam modular digital tape decks and
hard disk recorders—or any device that supports
the sample-accurate ADAT and Tascam sync
formats. Figure 3-18 below shows a few best-case
scenarios. Below is a brief explanation of the
benefits you achieve with these setups.
Sample accurate locating
With sample accurate locating, when you transfer
audio between AudioDesk (or any other sample-
accurate host software) and a sample-accurate
recorder, the audio will not drift in time — even by
as little as one sample. This is the tightest possible
synchronization between digital audio devices.
The timing in your audio will not be affected in any
way by the process of transferring it between the
PCI-424 system and the recorder.
Is your audio software sample-accurate?
Sample-accurate locating is only possible with
software that supports this feature, such as
AudioDesk or Digital Performer. For third-party
software, sample-accurate performance (if it’s
supported) is achieved through the PCI-424’s
ASIO Version 2 driver.
Transport control from your computer
If you have a MIDI Timepiece AV, Digital
Timepiece, Alesis BRC, or any ADAT synchronizer
that also supports MIDI Machine Control (MMC),
you can play, stop, rewind and locate all of your
Alesis recorders (or other ADAT SYNC-compatible
devices) using the transport controls in the audio
software running on your computer. This includes
cueing features like markers, position bars,
playback wipers, time rulers, etc. If you have
Tascam recorders, a Digital Timepiece (or other
MMC-compatible Tascam synchronizer) provides
this feature.
Figure 3-19: AudioDesk and Digital Performer support sample-
accurate transfers with Alesis and Tascam modular digital tape decks
and hard disk recorders.
Sync format Software Synchronizer
Sample
accurate
locating
Transport
control
from computer
Continuous sync
to SMPTE / MTC
ADAT AudioDesk, Cubase,
or Digital Performer
MIDI Timepiece AV Yes Yes Yes
ADAT AudioDesk, Cubase,
or Digital Performer
Digital Timepiece Yes Yes Yes
ADAT AudioDesk, Cubase,
or Digital Performer
BRC (or any MMC capa-
ble ADAT synchronizer)
Yes Yes Yes
Tascam
(and/or ADATs)
AudioDesk, Cubase,
or Digital Performer
Digital Timepiece Yes Yes Yes
Figure 3-18: These recommended combinations of hardware and software offer the tightest sync possible between the PCI-424 system and
digital audio recorders in the form of sample-accurate locating between the software and the hardware. Sample-accurate locating is possible
with Alesis recorders even without a MIDI Timepiece AV or Digital Timepiece, although you give up transport control from the computer.