User manual

659
Synchronization
Example scenario (Cubase only)
Example scenario (Cubase only)
To better understand how synchronization options can be utilized, an example
scenario is provided.
Personal music studio
In a personal music studio, the user might have the need of synchronizing with an
external recording device such as a portable hard disk recorder used for live remote
recordings.
In this example, MIDI will be used for timecode and machine control while the audio
clock will be handled by Lightpipe digital audio connections.
• When the Sync button is activated, Cubase sends MMC commands to the hard
disk recorder.
Cubase can remotely start playback of the recorder.
• The hard disk recorder is using audio clock from Cubase’s audio interface as the
speed reference.
It is also possible for Cubase to use the audio clock from the recorder. The audio
clock is carried over the Lightpipe digital audio connection that also carries audio
signals.
• The hard disk recorder sends back MTC to Cubase.
When the recorder begins playing, MTC is sent back to Cubase which will sync to
that timecode.
Sync settings for a personal music studio
To synchronize the devices in this example scenario, proceed as follows:
1. Make the connections as shown in the diagram above.
In this simple example, any device that uses MTC can be substituted.
2. Open the Project Synchronization Setup dialog and select “MIDI Timecode” as the
timecode source.
When recording from the hard disk recorder into Cubase, Cubase will be the
machine control master and the timecode slave, locking to incoming MTC.
3. In the “Machine Control Output Destination” section, select the “MIDI Machine
Control” option.
Cubase will now send MMC commands to the hard disk recorder to locate and
start playback.
4. In the “Machine Control Output Settings” section, assign the MIDI input and
output ports that are connected to the hard disk recorder.
Since MMC uses two-way communication, both MIDI ports should be connected.
Be sure the MIDI filter does not echo SysEx data.
5. On the Transport panel, activate the Sync button.
This routes transport commands to the hard disk recorder via MIDI and sets
Cubase as the timecode slave.
6. On the hard disk recorder, enable MMC and MTC.
Follow the instructions on how to set up the unit to receive MMC commands and
transmit MTC.
7. In Cubase, click the Play button.
The hard disk recorder should start playback and send MTC to Cubase. Once
Cubase syncs to MTC, the status on the Transport panel should read “Lock” and
show the current frame rate of incoming MTC.