Word Clock Issue - via ADAT and Coax.

Moderator: James Steele

Forum rules
Discussion related to installation, configuration and use of MOTU hardware such as MIDI interfaces, audio interfaces, etc. for Mac OSX
Post Reply
User avatar
dazzjazz
Posts: 293
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:16 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Sydney Australia
Contact:

Word Clock Issue - via ADAT and Coax.

Post by dazzjazz »

Hi all,

I'm having an issue with a random clicks about every 30secs when using my Focusrite Clarett 8Pre together with my MOTU 896MK3. I am using the Clarett 8Pre as the master clock, connected with a coax cable to the Word Clock input of the MOTU unit, and an optical cable to transmit the audio from the MOTU to the 896.

I have the latest drivers for both machines.

The clicks still happen even when I use ADAT clocking (yes I have another ADAT cable connected.) As far as I can tell it SHOULD work...any ideas?

Darren
iMac 27" 2013 24 GB RAM
OSX Catalina. Focusrite Clarett 8Pre. Heritage Audio HA73.
DP10.

Yamaha CP4. 1961 Hammond A100. Too many Leslies.
……………………
Darren Heinrich
BMus (Hons) Jazz Piano
PhD Jazz Organ Improvisation

http://www.dazzjazz.com/
User avatar
HCMarkus
Posts: 9743
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2006 9:01 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Rancho Bohemia, California
Contact:

Re: Word Clock Issue - via ADAT and Coax.

Post by HCMarkus »

Try making the MOTU your master?

You are setting the clock source appropriately in your DAW, right?
User avatar
bayswater
Posts: 11956
Joined: Fri Feb 16, 2007 9:06 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Vancouver

Re: Word Clock Issue - via ADAT and Coax.

Post by bayswater »

HCMarkus wrote:Try making the MOTU your master?

You are setting the clock source appropriately in your DAW, right?
I think that's probably it. I always had this problem with timing clicks with a 2408-2 and 828-3 when ADAT was used for timing. Making sure the timing source was Wordclock always fixed it.
2018 Mini i7 32G 10.14.6, DP 11.3, Mixbus 9, Logic 10.5, Scarlett 18i8
David_Focusrite
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2014 9:15 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS

Re: Word Clock Issue - via ADAT and Coax.

Post by David_Focusrite »

Hi dazzjazz,

Were you able to resolve the issue with clicks in your audio?

If you were not, can you tell me which interface do you have selected as the playback device for the DAW?

Which version of Focusrite Control do you have installed? It will be ideal to confirm your settings in Focusrite Control as well?

With toslink cables running both ways, are you able to get clean audio from the MOTU to the Clarett?

Best regards,
David // Focusrite Technical Support
User avatar
dazzjazz
Posts: 293
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:16 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Sydney Australia
Contact:

Re: Word Clock Issue - via ADAT and Coax.

Post by dazzjazz »

Hi David,

No - I'm still having audio clicks about every 30secs or so.
I have the Focusrite selected in my DAW.

Right now I'm trying to use the MOTU ADAT B input to receive clock, to keep ADAT A channel clean with just audio.

I have the latest version of Focusrite Control installed also.

Argggh!
iMac 27" 2013 24 GB RAM
OSX Catalina. Focusrite Clarett 8Pre. Heritage Audio HA73.
DP10.

Yamaha CP4. 1961 Hammond A100. Too many Leslies.
……………………
Darren Heinrich
BMus (Hons) Jazz Piano
PhD Jazz Organ Improvisation

http://www.dazzjazz.com/
User avatar
dazzjazz
Posts: 293
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:16 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Sydney Australia
Contact:

Re: Word Clock Issue - via ADAT and Coax.

Post by dazzjazz »

I think I have resolved this issue - using ADAT Port A on the MOTU 896 to transmit audio to the Focusrite Clarett and ADAT Port B to receive clock signals seems to work.

Fingers crossed!
iMac 27" 2013 24 GB RAM
OSX Catalina. Focusrite Clarett 8Pre. Heritage Audio HA73.
DP10.

Yamaha CP4. 1961 Hammond A100. Too many Leslies.
……………………
Darren Heinrich
BMus (Hons) Jazz Piano
PhD Jazz Organ Improvisation

http://www.dazzjazz.com/
David_Focusrite
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2014 9:15 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS

Re: Word Clock Issue - via ADAT and Coax.

Post by David_Focusrite »

Hi dazzjazz,

You should not need to utilize a BNC cable for clocking.

What sample rate are you running?

Would you ming opening a support ticket with us so that we can request some more system information to look into all possible causes?

https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/requests/new

Best regards,
David // Focusrite Technical Support
User avatar
dazzjazz
Posts: 293
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:16 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Sydney Australia
Contact:

Re: Word Clock Issue - via ADAT and Coax.

Post by dazzjazz »

Hi David,

I spoke too soon on my previous post, the MOTU is losing sync again.

I'm using 96khz sampling rate.
While I understand I can get clock via either the dedicated word clock or the adapt cable - neither is reliable. I've basically given up and going to take the MOTU 896 out of the equation as I suspect it's the culprit, although why I don't know - it's got very, very few miles on it. I've never used the word clock or adapt connections until this week.

I'm going to borrow an Octopre and use that. I have a really important session soon and need things to work smoothly. Thanks for your input - I might do as you suggest and start a support ticket.
iMac 27" 2013 24 GB RAM
OSX Catalina. Focusrite Clarett 8Pre. Heritage Audio HA73.
DP10.

Yamaha CP4. 1961 Hammond A100. Too many Leslies.
……………………
Darren Heinrich
BMus (Hons) Jazz Piano
PhD Jazz Organ Improvisation

http://www.dazzjazz.com/
User avatar
dazzjazz
Posts: 293
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:16 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Sydney Australia
Contact:

Re: Word Clock Issue - via ADAT and Coax.

Post by dazzjazz »

The latest thing I'm trying is configuring DP to have both audio interfaces attached (Thunderbolt for the Focusrite, Firewire for the Motu). Both are selected in Configure hardware driver, with Host Buffer Multiplier set to 2. Seems to be working okay.
iMac 27" 2013 24 GB RAM
OSX Catalina. Focusrite Clarett 8Pre. Heritage Audio HA73.
DP10.

Yamaha CP4. 1961 Hammond A100. Too many Leslies.
……………………
Darren Heinrich
BMus (Hons) Jazz Piano
PhD Jazz Organ Improvisation

http://www.dazzjazz.com/
User avatar
HCMarkus
Posts: 9743
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2006 9:01 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Rancho Bohemia, California
Contact:

Re: Word Clock Issue - via ADAT and Coax.

Post by HCMarkus »

FYI, I have ben running a PreSonus Digmax FS connected via ADAT Litepipe and slaved via BNC to a MOTU 828mkII (Master Clock connected to Mac via firewire) without issue for years.

The nice thing about this approach is all i/o show up in a single instance of CueMix.

Did you ever try slaving the Focusrite to your MOTU box?
HC Markus
M1 Mac Studio Ultra • 64GB RAM • 828es • macOS 13.6.4 • DP 11.31
kennyatfocusrite
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:46 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS

Re: Word Clock Issue - via ADAT and Coax.

Post by kennyatfocusrite »

Hi All,

For any people still experiencing this problem please feel free to check out the links below which will direct you to the Focusrite Help Centre where you can search more info on Focusrite products and integrating them with other Products. You can also find the links for inquiring with us here in Tech Support.

Thank You!

https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/ ... th-my-iMac - Mac OS

https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/ ... t-OctoPre-

Kenny Henry // Focusrite Technical Support
Post Reply