Trace 8 - Marian
Contents
1. Deactivate Warning Messages advantages By ac tivating this option all inputs and outputs of the TRACE 8 can be used via the classical MME interface They appear with the suffix MME on recording and playback devices within an audio application Please quit all audio applications prior to activating this option This function is not available for Windows Vista Clock Sample rate Device Conflicts As you can see in chapter Important notes on TRACE 8 and digital clock situations can occur where certain requirements to the TRACE 8 can not be met For example Using the classical MME drivers and encountering a situation which can not be established the driver of the TRACE 8 will inform you about this with an appropriate error message or warning Oftentimes this can be insufficient since some applications test all available devices of the TRACE 8 on system startup This test would certainly lead to an accumulation of such messages You d be busy for quite a while confirming these messages by clicking OK By default error and warning messages are therefore deactivated For diagnostic purposes it is recommended to deactivate this option since it can provide a good hint on searching causes for problems in this direction This function is not available for Windows Vista 32 marian MIDI filter This section gives you many options to optimize and adjust the MIDI inputs and outputs of th2. How to do it Hardware routing Connect your monitoring system to output 1 2 of the TRACE 8 Plug the microphone cable of your artist into the input 1 Into output 3 4 of the TRACE 8 plug the headphone pre amp for your musician Now take care of the effect unit the output 5 6 of the TRACE 8 is plugged to the input of the effect unit Its output goes to the input 5 6 of the TRACE 8 Software routing In the Output Control of the TRACE 8 click Master in the SOURCE section on Analog OUT 1 2 Assign AUX 1 2 to Analog OUT 3 4 On Analog OUT 5 6 under SOURCE push AUX 3 4 gt This article bases on section Mixer and Output Control as well as Sounding Good from the Hands on part gt You will need an external mic preamp for condenser microphones with phantom power and or dynamic microphones with little output level 47 Volume settings Within the TRACE 8 Mixer bring the signal of the microphone up to perfect level using the GAIN knob In order for your musician to hear him herself on the headphones you need to pull up AUX 1 and Aux 2 in his her channel analog input in the TRACE 8 Mixer For a portion of the signal going to the effect unit AUX 3 and AUX 4 have to be pulled up Push the LINK button between the knobs The output signal of the effect unit reaches the Mixer via input 5 and 6 Since this i
3. you wish to recall a snapshot click on the load button situated beneath the previously saved snapshot gt For details on the TDM Bus please read section The TRACE 8 TDM SyncBus gt Important on this one Those channels are not deactivated but simply visually faded out FE v Routing gt Snapshots are independent of setups see chapter Saving and loading Setups Thus they will not be overwritten by a setup Now you should have gained an extensive overview for your daily work with the two most important windows of the TRACE 8 manager For in depth comprehension we recommend you to read the articles of the hands on part which are of interest to you 20 21 The Clock Status Panel T8 States Tria x WC SC SyncBus Internal G kz Om kHzjO kHz BG enor G 441 06 44 1 wiext IN 0 0 kHz What is it all about The TRACE 8 clock status panel quickly reports sample rates and clock sources of every installed TRACE 8 If multiple TRACE 8 have been installed you can bring up the states panel of every sound system using the drop down list in the top bar of the window The lock symbol in the upper right corner of the window prevents coverage by other windows This way the status panel is always on top and accessible Clock status and sample rate The first row of the panel tells you which sample rate is captured on which connector or input WordClock
4. SyncBus or is set up for the internal clock The green LED on each left side shows whether or not the clock has been derived correctly from the corresponding input If no clock source was detected on a connector the red LED lights up Additionally the hint error shows up If this input has been chosen clock source in the settings of the TRACE 8 the corresponding column will appear red The input actually used as clock source will be marked whitely gt Settings for clock source are handled in the settings window of the TRACE 8 manager When using the ASIO interface they are done via the software application P If the option Card is SyncBus master is active the column SyncBus will show an M for Master 22 MIDI Routing States MIDI Route a v In gt Out 1 Settings v In gt Out 2 v In gt Out 3 Load Setup es The TRACE 8 features a routing function for MIDI signals This allows for MIDI input signals to be sent directly to one or several MIDI outputs of the soundcard Due to the hardware implementation this happens thunder fast and without any further software needed This is how you do it For every installed TRACE 8 the manager includes a MIDI Route row in the menu By setting the hook in the submenu you can decide which MIDI output shall carry the signals of the MIDI input Saving and Loading Setups gt Choose very clear and direct names for your setups e
5. channels it regulates the volume relation between left and right channel of the signal If the Solo button is active in one or more channels the mix out of the TRACE 8 provides the signal of these channels only If the Mute button is active in one or more channels the mix out of the TRACE 8 and the affected aux sums do not carry these signals The aux busses of these channels are not muted if their PRE button is active With the help of the fader at the end of the channel strip the portion of volume of the channel on the master sum is regulated Next to it the level meter with clipping LED up and PRE button down are located The clipping LED shows a signal clipping before the A D converter That means you can check here if an input signal overdrives the input stage of the TRAGE 8 before the converter If PRE is active the level of a digital signal is shown before the gain knob the level of an analog input channel is shown after the gain but before the fader If PRE is not active it is measured and shown post that means after the fader 13 This ends our little overview of the input channels of the TRACE 8 Mixer Now you know how to set up the volume of a channel on the master sum or the aux sums The only thing that s missing is a possibility to control the level of all of these sum signals That s what the master channel on the right side of the Mixer is all abou
6. support different input graphic or sound functions with their hardware and thereby accelerate it DirectSound is a part of DirectX A DirectSound driver creates less CPU load and enables faster latency times than a standard MME driver marian 53 Driver DSP GSIF Interface Latency A driver is a package of software consisting of a couple of single programs or a part of a software which ensures communication between a hardware device and other drivers or software applications on standardized level Certain interfaces are used doing this DSP stands for Digital Signal Processing Most times this names an electrical component processing audio signals digitally It calculates for example the sum of two signals or an effect into an audio signal GSIF stands for GigaStudio InterFace and is a driver interface for soundcards developed by the company TASCAM GSIF is mainly used for the Tascam software Giga Sampler and GigaStudio Interface names a part of a device or software which other devices or software applications can communicate and possibly exchange data with Latency is in the field of digital audio signal processing another word for delay time Example if you connect a microphone signal to the TRACE 8 it takes some time until it comes from the TRACE 8input all the way to an audio application e g your recording software Similar it needs some time until a playback signal of
7. transfer of all audio devices is started and stopped simultaneously What effect does that have Let s suppose you wish to play back two stereo audio tracks from an audio application on different devices of the TRACE 8 TRACE 8 1 2 to TRACE 8 3 4 If all devices would be started and stopped asynchronously it could happen that track one here TRACE 8 1 2 starts first with playing back and track two here TRACE 8 3 4 starts last with playing back This offset can distinctively be hearable But if you choose synchronous start stop the playback start of all tracks will start sample precise There is no offset between TRACE 8 1 2 to TRACE 8 3 4 The same applies in a recording situation This option is only relevant when working with classical MME drivers In case of ASIO or GSIF the synchronization is automatically ensured For WDM DirectSound the start stop synchronization is according to the specifications not possible This function is not available for Windows Vista 30 marian The DMA buffer size is always simul taneously changing the latency for the GSIF interface gt Important hints on how to set up the latency you will find in the hands on part and section DMA bus master technology gt gt When using the ASIO interface the DMA buffer size is set up with the ASIO buffer size in the ASIO device setup Latency DMA Buffer Size
8. value should be around 1 8 ms gt Please note the smaller the latency the higher the system load to the CPU of your computer For many purposes e g audio editing mixing and mastering small delay times are not relevant In case of such application field setting up a higher latency for smaller system load is recommended b For ASIO applications the DMA Latency is set up in the ASIO settings 45 Setting up the audio driver latency Possibly this value has to be readjusted when working with MME or DirectSound applications 1 Open the audio application 3 Start playing back a simple signal e g a stereo track and control it via the TRACE 8 4 Go to the audio setup of the audio application 5 For DirectSound and MME applications there is a setup field for the buffer size defining the latency mostly within the application 6 Decrease the buffer size or latency as far as needed but without causing the playback signal sound distorted 46 marian In a Project Studio Situation Let s imagine the following Producing your brand new chart hit you reach a critical phase you want to record the vocals For a singer to provide a perfect performance it is important that the surrounding conditions are as well most advantageous The first step towards this is a latency free headphone mix in best possible quality For that you use your studio reverb For its latency free integration the TRACE 8
9. 1 PCI Bus Master Technology As opposed to PCI cards with PCI target chip the TRACE 8 is constructed as PCI bus master card The PCI bus master technology offers some important advantages It allows extremely small latencies while keeping the CPU load very small Such qualities are fundamental key functions for a powerful digital audio workstation DAW Unfortunately the PCI bus master technology also has a disadvantage Background The principle of operation allows for a PCI card to independently initiate a data communication with the main board of the computer The parameter for the time wise length of such data transfer is called PCI Latency Timer Problem If this time is very long a PCI card may perfectly and effectively exchange data with the main board but on the other hand it may block other components trying to do the same That s why it could happen that e g a network card or a hard drive controller might hinder the operation of the TRACE 8 if the PCI Latency Timer for this component is set up very high Solution If even with correct driver and DMA latency time digital clicks or distortions appear on a recording or a playback when using the TRACE 8 with a lot of channels on high sample rates it may appear necessary to perform a change of settings of the PCI Latency Timer Some BIOS allows changing the PCI Latency Timer for every PCI slot separately That means if you figure out that e g the latency time fo
10. 10 The Mixer 11 What is it all about 11 The channels 12 The master channel 14 Adaptable changing the view of the TRACE 8 Mixer 15 The number of aux sums 16 Further functions 16 The Output Control 18 What is it all about 19 Adaptable changing the view of the Output Control 20 The Clock Status Panel 22 What is it all about 22 Clock status and sample rate 22 MIDI Routing 23 Saving and Loading Setups 23 The MARIAN TDM SyncBus 24 Principles of the TDM SyncBus 24 Using the TDM SyncBus 25 The Settings 26 General 27 Svnchronization 28 Latencv 31 Audio Options 32 MIDI filter 33 ASIO Device Setup 35 The TRACE 8 in the Connection with Digital Devices 37 Background 37 What is a clock 37 The rules in the digital audio world 38 Important notes on TRACE 8 and digital clock 38 The Channel References 41 Playback line 41 Record line 41 PCI Bus Master Technologv 42 Hands on the TRACE 8 43 Sounding Good 43 Background 43 How to do it 43 Setting up the Latency 44 Background 44 Setting up the DMA Latency 45 Setting up the audio driver latency 46 In a Project Studio 47 Situation 47 Hardware routing 47 Software routing 47 Volume settings 48 Finalizing 48 The TRACE 8 as Hard Disk Recording Svstem 49 Situation 49 What s there to care about 49 The TDM SyncBus Example 1 51 The situation 51 The solution 51 The TDM SyncBus Example 2 52 The situation 52 The solution 52 Glossary 53 Technical
11. 10 Trace 89 10 m Execution priority Buffersize in Samples A nA Cancel Due to small latency time the ASIO interface has become a standard in professional music production The ASIO device setup offers important settings for the TRACE 8 using the ASIO interface It is opened from within an audio application supporting the ASIO standard Most times there is a button called control panel next to the field where the ASIO driver is selected a click on it opens the ASIO device setup In this window you can see all inputs and outputs the TRACE 8 offers If an entry is checked then the corresponding input or output is activated and usable for the audio application With a click on an entry of an input or output in the column name alias you can change its name This name will also appear this way in the ASIO application For example You rename TRACE 8 1 2 to From 35 Mic Preamp Now in the audio software you can see at first glance which signal origins from the Mic Preamp In the bottom left corner of the window the Execution priority slider is situated It can be dragged between high and low In position high the transfer of the audio data between ASIO audio application and TRACE 8 receives the highest priority That means the CPU of the computer processes them preferably In position low the calculation of plug in effects is given the highest priority
12. 16 Within the mixer though only Play 1 to 8 are shown as separate input channel strips The Mixer treats all shown types of channels equally marian 11 The channels All channel strips may be operated in mono or stereo configuration The stereo mode connects 2 channels each to stereo couple e g 1 2 or 5 6 You may switch the mode via the stereo button at the lower end of each channel pair As an example for all types of channels let s take a look at input channel 1 from top to bottom First we have the GAIN knob It is for adjusting the audio level For the analog inputs the level adjustment takes place directly at the input stage before the A D converter of the TRACE 8 This influences the level with which a software application is recording from this input That is why the GAIN knob of the analog inputs is pictured in a different color For the TDM inputs GAIN will only affect the level of a signal within the mixer Beneath GAIN AUX 1 AUX 2 and so on are placed Pulling up knob AUX 1 will result in a volume increase of the signal in the signal sum aux 1 pulling up knob AUX 2 increases the volume of the signal in signal sum aux 2 and so forth Hence the aux knobs have the same function like the fader at the end of the channel except not for the master sum but for each aux signal sum Besides the aux knobs the PRE button is located If it is activated with a mous
13. 8 itself generates the clock The TRACE 8 as clock slave If one of the following two options is chosen the TRACE 8 will work synchronously to connected digital devices and therefore turn into a clock slave When choosing WC SC Input the clock is caught from the optional WordClock input if connected When choosing SyncBus Clock the clock from the SyncBus connector on the TRACE 8 is used For this to work the option Card is SyncBus Master must not be chosen The TRACE 8 as SyncBus master SyncBus Clock If you own two or more MARIAN PCI sound systems and have connected them all in your computer using a SyncBus cable you can now define which card supplies the digital clock in this setup using the option Card is SyncBus Master On the SyncBus Master card any clock source may be chosen All other MARIAN PCI sound systems are running synchronously to this clock if their clock source has been set to SyncBus Card is SyncBus Master 28 marian MME DirectSound Clock Source MIME DirectSound Clock Source By selecting choose automatically the ee TRACE 8 driver will search automatically for a ce valid clock In most cases this will be the O WCISC Input WCx1 internal clock Please pay attention to the Oord specialties dealt with in chapter Important notes on TRACE 8 and digital clock Important The clock settings of the TRACE 8 manager will be ign
14. DIGITAL AUDIO ELECTRONICS TRACE 8 User s Guide The Trace 8 conforms the following standards EN 55022 1998 A1 2000 A2 2003 class A EN 55024 1998 A1 2000 A2 2003 class A In order for an installation of this product maintain compliance with the limits of a class A device shielded audio cables must be used not longer than 50 cm Attention This is a device of the class A and can cause interference to radio or television reception within the residential area The user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by suitable measures June 2007 v1 1 MARIAN Hardware Design by MARIAN All rights reserved No part of this User s Guide may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronically or mechanically including photocopy translation recording or any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from MARIAN All trademarks are the property of the respective owners MARIAN is not liable for any damage to the software hardware and data and costs resulting from it which are caused by improper handling or installation of the hardware Technical changes are reserved marian Table of Contents Welcome 4 Features 6 Installation 7 Scope of Supply 7 System Requirements 7 Installation of Hardware and Software 7 Updating Drivers and Firmware 8 Connectors on the TRACE 8 9 TDM SyncBus 9 The TRACE 8 in Detail 10 The First Contact
15. DMA Buffersize Samples These settings apply to all installed TRACE 8 Changes at these settings are used immediately Thus it is not necessary to click Apply or OK J 64 Bem Play Test Tone at Trace 8 1 2 Samplerate 44 1 kHz 6 dBfs 1536 a Latency depends on eens 22 05 32 441 88 2 96 176 4 192 Pre seo smo 290 zar 200 lis 150 073 0 07 Via the upper slider you can adjust the minimal latency of the TRACE 8 Here the size of the buffer shown in samples is changed for the audio transport between PCI bridge and TRACE 8 If you operate the soundcard with e g 44 1 kHz 88 samples will result in a latency of around 2 ms On 88 2 kHz this number of samples would mean a latency of 1 ms The cart resulting latency shows these connections for some important standard sample rates By activating Play test tone at TRACE 8 1 2 a sine tone is played back at the output 1 2 on the TRACE 8 with 6dbfs Monitor this signal and adjust the value for the DMA buffer to be as small as possible but without receiving distortions when playing back the sine wave marian 31 Audio Options Classical MME Drivers ae ne prven On Windows XP the ctivate Before you change this setting close all audio applications first This MME drivers are run setting can be changed only by users with administrator rights via WDM This may Clock Samplerate Device Conflicts result in certain dis
16. Facts 57 Service and Support 59 Warrantv 59 Contact 59 Welcome Congratulations and thank you very much for your decision in favor of a MARIAN product You have chosen a sophisticated and powerful sound system created according to your needs the needs of our faithful customers We are proud to present to you the TRACE 8 With this fine piece of high technology you are equipped perfectly for the challenges of digital audio signal processing today and in the future That is because the TRACE 8 is not just simply a recording system with professional connections in crystal clear audio quality of 24 bit and 192 kHz once installed it will upgrade your computer to a most flexible digital audio workstation It finally offers you all the possibilities for your studio which had yet been realized with expensive additional equipment only and hardly ever within a computer You can e g mix playback signals of a software and input signals on the TRACE 8 on a comfortable mixer surface without any delay Thanks to the unique Output Control extensive routings of all available signals and mix signals are set up saved and recalled in a jiffy just like at a patchbav High Quality recordings professional workflow with headphone mixes reverb sends and even most complex signal routings with the TRACE 8 from today on this will be an easy task for you As the special feature the TRACE 8 includes the all new TDM SyncBus This amazing and m
17. Latency in The TRACE 6 Settings gt We urgently recommend activating the options Classical MME driver and Start Stop Synchronization within the TRACE 8 manager P Read section Setting up the latency of the TRACE 8 The software You need a multitrack capable software which can reliably record the audio signals of the TRACE 8 The software communicates with the TRACE 8 via the audio driver In our example there are actually two that would apply the classical MME drivers or the ASIO drivers The setup Since when recording the audio data has to be transported between the harddrive of the computer and the TRACE 8 distortion free and error less the audio latency has to be adjusted perfectly Check the corresponding settings Choose bigger values e g 10 20 ms to keep the system load small Start your preferred audio application and choose the ASIO TRACE 8 driver or the Multimedia driver in Audio Settings or Audio Options from within the software The inputs and outputs of the TRACE 8 appear in the format Analog IN MME Using the ASIO driver all wanted inputs and outputs have to be activated via the ASIO device setup Using the multimedia driver all wanted inputs and outputs are commonly activated via the audio software Set up the latency for MME ASIO Again rather enter bigger or more buffers for a more relaxed system load Create the desired number of track
18. OURCE you may adjust its volume with the fader at the bottom of that channel strip The Mute PRE and link buttons as well as the level meter and clipping indicator work just the same way as you learned from the Mixer 19 TDM channels become active with a click on the ON button If two or more TDM capable cards have been installed in a computer system an ON button for a TDM channel may be activated in one Output Control only If a TDM channel is already active on one soundcard and you try to activate the same channel on another soundcard an error message will appear Adaptable changing the view of the Output Control Similar to the Mixer there are two buttons Analog and TDM in the bottom left corner of the Output Control With click on the button the channels of this type can be either hid or shown Furthermore you may hide or display the routing of the Output Control via parts If multiple TRACE 8 have been installed you can bring up the Output Control of every sound system using the drop down list in the top bar of the window The lock symbol in the upper right corner of the window prevents coverage by other windows This way the Output Control is always on top and accessible You may save certain visual configurations along with the current Output Control settings in a snapshot For this click on one of the three buttons beneath snaps on the row save If
19. ailable WordClock Input Signal pie kiri he The optional WordClock SuperClock input can theitonine be operated in different modes Each option will Air ik ites be a certain relation of the input frequency to cad the desired samplerate Termiriatior active If vou operate the TRACE 8 as last unit in a word clock chain you can set the termination for the WordClock input right here Idle Sample Rate ce ingles In the section this sample rate you can type in If no program determines a sample L A rate use the following rate which sample rate the TRACE 8 shall work with last used rate TA ay 3 4 H H i i JI Te if it is not busy with playing back or recording tasks of an audio application For example if you use the TRACE 8 purely as a digital mixer By choosing last used rate the sample rate which was used last by a recording or a playback through a software is kept by the TRACE 8 marian 2 Synchronization When working with digital audio signals a clock is always required The settings listed here define where this clock comes from If no clock is available or a wrong clock setting is made playback errors or even system malfunction can be the result The TRACE 8 can be operated in 3 different clock modes The following section will explain these and sort the different options of clock sources accordingly The TRACE 8 as clock master If Internal Clock is chosen the TRACE
20. ample rate e g 44 1 kHz Most digital audio formats transmit a clock besides the audio information E g S PDIF AES EBU or ADAT If no synchronization is possible via the audio connection e g TDIF digital audio devices have to be supplied with the WordClock signal Please don t confuse this with MIDI clock or time code synchronization e g SMTPE 56 Technical Facts Analog Inputs 8x 1 4 TRS jacks on breakout cable Balance electronically Max input voltage 15 dBu balanced 21 dBu unbalanced Impedance 10 kOhm AD input leveling from 48 dB to 18 dB SNR AD 192 kHz 105 dB 108 dB A THD N 3 dBfs lt 0 002 lt 94 dB Crosstalk gt 100 dB Analog Outputs 8 x 1 4 TRS jacks on breakout cable Balance electronically Max output voltage 15 dBu balanced 9 dBu unbalanced Output impedance 75 Ohm DA output leveling from 78 dB to 0 dB SNR DA 192 kHz 113 dB A THD N 1dbFS lt 0 001 lt 100 dB crosstalk gt 110 dB Frequency response 48 kHz 0 5 dBfs 20 Hz to 22 kHz Frequency response 96 kHz 0 5 dBfs 20 Hz to 44 kHz Frequency response 192 kHz 1 dBfs 20 Hz to 61 kHz 57 WordClock SuperClock optional 1x BNC Word Balance Galvanically separated Glock input Input impedance 10 kOhm software con
21. an audio application actually can be heard at the TRACE 8 This time is called latency and is specified in milliseconds 54 Metering MIDI Pitch Routing Or level metering Means the visualization of volume relations of an audio signal MIDI stands for Musical instrument digital Interface and is a standard of transmitting control signals for sound expanders It transmits e g note information which request a sound expander to play certain notes In the field of audio techniques this means the difference of a sample rate from a pre defined one If several digital audio devices are present this fluctuation of sample rate has to be supported by all devices This word describes which paths on switches audio signals and clock signals take within a system Sample rate WDM In order to convert analog audio signals into digital audio data they are chopped into a time grid In this rate the volume of the audio signal is measure e g 44100 times a second The smaller the grid the better is the resulting audio quality WDM stands for Windows Driver Model and is an extensive driver model developed by the company Microsoft Other drivers can build upon this A derivation of it is used to handle digital audio data within the computer see Direct X 55 WordClock Is the name for a synchronization signal for digital audio systems It ensures for all devices connected to work with the identical s
22. cordingly Further functions In the lower left corner of the Mixer two function buttons can be found Via Setup the same context menu is opened as when clicking on the TRACE 8 symbol in the task bar Here you will find fast access to important functions and windows of the TRACE 8 sound system Outputs opens the Output Control There again you can quickly switch to the mixer surface using the Mixer button gt In section The TRACE 8 amp 8 settings you get to know how to switch between the modes and what the outcome will be mild Gw am Load Setup l Save Setup States Settings About 17 The Output Control TRACE 8 Outputs Karte 1 v eS as Analog OUT Analog OUT Analog OUT Analog OUT TOM OUT 1 TDM OUT 2 TDM OUT 3 TDM OUT 4 HAME Source awe 2 a Anal ES hew EEEE 4 v So far we have taken a look at signals which either entered the TRACE 8 via a physical input or as a playback signal of a software The Output Control allows controlling all signals leaving the TRACE 8 It is opened with single click on Output Control via e g the TRACE 8 symbol on the Windows taskbar You probably figure that this window looks pretty much like the Mixer window Save it doesn t have gain aux and bal knobs but it has routing buttons instead 18 marian gt Just like aux and master sums the play channels 9 17 are audible
23. e samplerate will be defined by the connected devices Windows Vista only On Windows Vista a certain samplerate is no longer reported to the sound card if the audio application is not using the ASIO interface or WSAPI The samplerate set up in the advanced settings of an audio device in the windows control panel is used instead This leads to the following 1 If the desired samplerate of an audio application is not equal to the current samplerate a samplerate conversion with possibly an audible loss of quality will be the result When using an audio device of the soundsystem with the samplreate x and additionally attempting to use another device but with a samplerate y an error message will appears since the soundcard may only be used with one samplerate at a time In this case no resampling rate conversion is undertaken In order to operate several devices with a certain samplerate this samplerate has to be set up in the advanced settings of an audio device in the windows control panel for each device separately As concluded from 2 no device of the soundsystem should be in use or else a change will be rejected marian 39 Different sample rates on record playback You already work with certain inputs or outputs of the TRACE 8 with a certain sample rate Now you wish to use other inputs or outputs simultaneously but with another sample rate Since the TRACE 8 can be operated with one sample rate only the dri
24. e too is now busy for five minutes The composer could have written two pieces of paper in ten minutes just as well while the musician continues to play one piece of paper in five minutes In order for the musician to continuously play so the music won t stop the composer must not write less then one score in five minutes In this example the piece of paper is the audio buffer Just like it contains notes the buffer contains audio data The composer is the audio application sending buffers via the audio driver The musician is the TRACE 8 which receives these buffers via the PCI Controller The PCI Controller operates with the DMA latency defined by the DMA buffer In order for the continuous data stream to not break up the buffers of the audio application must not be smaller than the DMA latency DMA buffer size 44 marian Setting up the DMA Latency 1 Connect vour monitor to the output l 2 on the TRACE 8 Activate Play Test Tone at TRACE 8 1 2 in the settings window Wait approx 2 to 4 seconds to check if distortions appear during the playback If clicks and distortions appear continuously during the playback of the test tone move the slider one position further to the right If no distortions appear move the slider one position to the left Repeat step 3 and 4 until an optimal playback without distorted playback is steadily ensured Depending on your computers performance the resulting
25. e TRACE 8 Those features are usually found in pretty complex audio applications only Device MIDI Device Device Name Trace 8 Midi Out 1 vj Midi Stream Optimizing active Filters active Choose the MIDI input or output which you would like to edit MIDI Stream Optimizing active filters unneeded data out of the transmitted MIDI data You get shorter processing times of the MIDI signals but without loosing a single MIDI command Filters active enables all configured MIDI filter options For most comfortable editing you can change the look of the section command filters There are 3 viewing modes available Command Filters View by Command View by Channel View by Matrix Note on v Chn 1 Chn 5 Chn 9 Chn 13 Switch Filter for Chn 2 Che chn 10 Echn 14 ee Chn 3 Chn 7 Chn 11 Chn 15 ch 4 Ochs Och 12 Och 16 LOon or On View by Command Command Filters shows the MIDI commands which can now be filtered for each single channel By clicking On or Off the chosen MIDI command is filtered or passed through on all channels marian 33 Command Filters View by Command view by Channel View by Matrix Channel 1 v Cl Note on CI ControljMode change CINote off C Program change C Polyphonic Aftertouch C Pitch Wheel Control C Channel Aftertouch On View by Channel Command Filters shows a
26. e click the fader at the end of the channel looses its influence on the corresponding aux knob Thus the fader can for example be placed on position 60 while still a signal reaches the Output Control of the TRACE 8 via the affected aux knob Between AUX 1 and AUX 2 as well as AUX 3 and AUX 4 and so on a link button is situated If clicked on aux volume and pre buttons for aux 1 and 2 aux 3 and 4 and so on are connected functionally That means when gt Instructions on how to monitor these aux sums on the TRACE 8 you will find in section The Output Control gt Examples on how to use pre buttons and aux sums correctly please refer to the hands on part P The number of shown aux controls depends on the operation mode of the TRACE 8 12 P If you set up different volumes for AUX 1 and AUX 2 without the link button activated this relation remains with the link button pushed gt The solo button has no influence on the aux sums gt Double clicking the field next to the Pre button allows you to enter volumes numerically in dB values opening up AUX 1 AUX 2 is equally pulled up Just like that PRE button of AUX 2 is activated when pushing PRE button of AUX 1 Now the knob BAL follows For monophonic channels it sets up the position of a signal between left and right side on the master sum For stereo
27. e or between several office buildings Imagine this Ms Smith from the press department sends out a press report on channel 1 of the tube system It arrives at the distribution central If Mr Mayer from the financial department wishes to read the report he needs to call for it at the central He will then receive it in the inbox of channel 1 The same way as Ms Smith uses a tube channel to send out a document within the building you can use a TDM channel to send out a signal to the TDM SyncBus via the Output Control The same way as Mr Mayer receives the document in the inbox the audio signal of the TDM SyncBus lands up in the input of the TRACE 8 Mixer and as recording signal This is also possible Mr Miller from the neighboring building may also request the message of Ms Smith For this the distribution central simply copies the document and sends it out a second time to Mr Miller That means If several MARIAN sound cards with TDM SyncBus are installed in a computer the signals of the TDM channel are available to all the other sound cards as well BUT The capacities of the pneumatic dispatch are limited E g if Mr Miller from the neighboring building also wishes to send a document he must not use channel 1 since Ms Smith from the press department is already sending out her stuff here All in all there are 8 channels that s why Mr Miller must decide for channel 2 to 8 For the TDM SyncBus this means only one signal
28. g the date of a session like recording 2006 11 01 Also memorize this location well so you will find this setup quickly next time you need it gt For quick and separate saving of certain settings of the Mixer or the Output Control snapshots are a good tool Within the TRACE 8 manager the options Save Setup and Load Setup can be found With those you can save all current settings the setup of the TRACE 8 Mixer and the Output Control into one single file and recall it when needed Clicking Save Setup opens the Windows file browser where location and file name of a setup are to be assigned You can save many many different setups Clicking on Load Setup opens the Windows file browser where the location of an already saved setup is to be selected If a file is chosen clicking open will delete all current settings of Mixer and Output Control and overwrite them with the settings of the new setup file 23 The MARIAN TDM SyncBus Principles of the TDM SyncBus The TDM SyncBus is a collective transport bus for digital audio and synchronization signals With the help of the TDM SyncBus all signals of an audio system featuring the TDM SyncBus may be send out to other Marian sound cards with TDM SyncBus or returned to an audio application again The principle of operation of the TDM SyncBus may be compared quite well with the pneumatic dispatch or tube system within on
29. g or falsifying the level meter 2 Carefully turn up or turn down the GAIN knob of the channel strip but only as far as the red overload indicator will never light up Hint If you are about to record a guitarist let him play a real song while you do the leveling This often comes off bit louder and with much bigger dynamic range That really shows you how far you can go pulling up the gain knob marian 43 Setting up the Latency In digital systems the processing of audio data always comes along with a certain delay time Here is where you get to know how to set up and optimize this delay time latency for the TRACE 8 Background Within a computer digital audio data is transported in small packages so called buffers Thus an audio signal is split up in little portions data packages and is send away piece by piece Looking at the TRACE 8 these buffers have to be send from audio application to the driver of the TRACE 8 This one takes care that the buffers find their way via the PCI socket PCI Controller to the TRACE 8 If a recording is to be managed with the TRACE 8 all of the mentioned happens in reverse Let s make this a little clearer with an example A composer wants to write a little piece for a piano player So in just five minutes he fills the first piece of paper with lots of notes He then hands the paper to the musician who instantly starts to transform these notes into beautiful melodies H
30. gn the input TRACE 8 9 10 to a stereo channel in you preferred recording software This channel includes the signal of TDM channel 1 All you have to do then is to feed TDM channel 1 with the mixing sum For this click on Master in the TDM Out 1 in the Output Control and activate the bus with the On button Now the master sum is fed to the TDM channel 1 52 marian Glossary ASIO ASIO stands for Audio Streaming Input Output and is a driver interface for soundcards developed by the company Steinberg With ASIO very small latency times can be achieved The ASIO driver is not multi client capable That means different audio applications may not use the same audio device simultaneously Audio Device In the field of digital audio processing this mostly names an input or output of an audio system the way it appears in an audio application Aux In the audio world Aux or Auxiliary names an additional input or output That means a physical input or output or a mix signal besides the main mix signal Buffersize Buffer When transporting audio data within a computer e g recording or playing back a signal they are chopped in equal blocks called buffer That means they are a certain time frame out of a complete signal The number and size of the buffer defines the delay time latency Direct Sound Direct X DirectX is a Windows system software which allows hardware manufacturers to
31. ifferent ways of contacting us Updating Drivers and Firmware Sometimes we offer a driver update for the TRACE 8 in the download area of the MARIAN homepage This may include functional improvements of the driver and or the manager adjustments to new operating systems and or their new components updates and service packs improvements of compatibility towards other audio applications In case of a driver update please follow the instructions of the readme htm file This file is included in the packed folder of the new driver files Important Along with a driver update it might be necessary to update the firmware of the TRACE 8 It can only be determined after the installation of the new driver if a firmware update is needed If that is the case the update will then be performed automatically and will have to be finished with a restart of the PC system The MARIAN fail safe firmware update technology will prevent the TRACE 8 of errors resulting from an interruption of the update process caused by e g a power disruption Would this usually lead to a complete unavailability of the soundcard the fail safe technology now takes care that with the next initialization of the TRACE 8 a root firmware is loaded ensuring correct recognition of the soundcard by the Windows system Please note Subsequently to a successful firmware update Microsoft Windows 2000 XP 2003 Server Vista will find a new hardware after reboot s
32. ighty tool of digital signal processing is integrated directly within the powerful DSP mixer With the help of the TDM SyncBus all available signals can easily be directed to the input of a TRACE 8 or other Marian Soundcards with TDM SyncBus option and are available there like real physical input signals The resulting routing and mixing capabilities are virtually unlimited Please take your time to go through the next pages of this manual also Besides helpful explanations for the installation it offers many valuable hints on how to use the Mixer and the Output Control effectively and profitably If you run in on technical terms while reading which are unknown to you the glossary at the end of this manual will helpfully serve you for their clearance Now we do wish you lots of success in working with the TRACE 8 We hope it will bring you just as much fun as we had developing it Your MARIAN Team Features Your TRACE 8 ships with a lot of great functions Here you can find a small list of properties and capabilities v VN N NN NNN NNN lt PCI Busmaster card full duplex support 8 analog balanced in and outputs 1 MIDI input 3 MIDI outputs 24 channel DSP Mixer hardware based latency free Flexible and extensive mix monitor and routing possibilities Hardware Routing for MIDI channels MARIAN SyncBus compatible Optional WordClock input with software switch able termination Synchronization as clock ma
33. in one channel but eight channels at the maximum can be distributed simultaneously That s another way to say that a certain TDM channel may only be active in once Output Control 24 marian Using the TDM SyncBus As already described the TRACE 8 offers 8 stereo playback channels These can be used with one or more software applications Where these signals are actually played back or where they are send to is completely up to you E g in order to send the playback signal of a software to the TDM SyncBus all you need to do is to push Play of the desired TDM channel 1 to in the Output Control and choose the playback signal from the drop down list By activating the ON button this input signal will be available in the TRACE 8 mixer in every connected MARIAN soundcard with TDM SyncBus option In order to record the signal of this TDM channel you need to choose the input TRACE 8 9 10 in the software application whereas TRACE 8 9 10 to TRACE 8 15 16 correspond to the stereo TDM channels 1 to ear For using the TDM SyncBus please note the necessary settings as described in the section The TRACE 8 as SyncBus master marian 25 The Settings TRACE 8 Settings Karte 1 General Sync Latency Audio Opt Midi Firmware Operation Mode Sample Rate up to 48 kHz Mixer with 6 AUX Sums Sample Rate up to 96 kHz Mixer with 2 AUX Sums O Sample Rate up to 192 kHz Mixer withou
34. ince the hardware ID of the TRACE 8 will have changed due to the firmware update Since the driver files have already been installed you only need to choose install software automatically in the appearing windows hardware wizard Connectors on the TRACE 8 Connector breakout cable for MIDI inputs and outputs Connector breakout cable for audio inputs and outputs TDM WordClock SyncBus_ SuperClock input ooo og o oo og oa P aa o a a o a o o o ooon TDM SyncBus If other MARIAN sound systems with TDM SyncBus option are installed they may be connected here using a TDM SyncBus cable Other MARIAN sound systems with SyncBus option only can be connected using an a a a o a o 0o00 0 00 o omm J o a adapter cable Both cables can be ordered at the MARIAN web shop The TRACE 8 in Detail The First Contact After the successful installation the symbol of the TRACE 8 manager will appear in the Windows taskbar of your computer It offers direct access to important driver settings the clock status display the DSP based 24 channel Mixer and the Output Control of the TRACE 8 Furthermore you can save and load the setups for Mixer and Output C
35. le we would like to show you how to set up and optimize the TRACE 8 as a reliable hard disk recorder Situation Let s recall the example of producing a chart hit The setup has advanced so far that your musician is ready to produce the best takes ever Now it is all about not letting him her wait to long and guarantee the best possible recording quality What s there to care about Amount of data Digital audio data requires memory space quite a lot It heavily depends on the used sample rate That means double the sample rate and you will need the double of memory space Suppose the whole recording session produces one hour of audio material You are recording the voice monophonic and the reverb unit in stereo Here we have a little example 24 bit 192 000Hz 4608000 bit per second 4608000 bit s 562 Kbytes second 60 seconds 60 minutes 3 tracks 10800 seconds 562Kbyte 10800 seconds approx 6 Gbytes Depending on the audio software there is mostly more data stored Always plan about 1 3 more memory than calculated That means you need quite a modern hard drive with at least 10 GB of memory and a high saving rate Needless to say the affected computer should be of a newer date to reliably process that amount of data in the given time marian 49 gt This could be e g Emagic Logic Audio Magix Samplitude Cakewalk Sonar Steinberg Cubase Adobe Audition P See section Audio
36. ll MIDI channels on which the MIDI commands can now be filtered Command Filters view by Command view by Channel view by Matrix 1 2 4 5 67 8 1112 13 1415 16 Note on oo000 oooooooo Note off BOOOC OO OO Poly Aftertouch OOOO OOOO OO Chn Aftertouch Mode change JOOOOOO s Program change Pitch Weel Control 0000000 poooooo l O000000 000 000 OOOOOOO OOOOOOO On View by Matrix all MIDI channels and the MIDI command filters are shown in form of a matrix System Data Filter System Data Filter Cl System Exclusive C Tune Request C Stop C Midi Time Code Cl Time Clock active Sensing C Song Position Pointer C Start Cl System Reset C Song Select C Continue The command filters offered here are MIDI channel independent but concern the chosen MIDI port 34 narian gt Please consult the manual of your audio application to get to know where exactly the configuration of the ASIO driver is made ASIO Device Setup ASIO device setup Name Alias Name Alias Record device selection Device name Playback device selection Device name M Trace81 2 Trace 81 2 Trace 83 4 Trace 83 4 Trace 85 6 Trace 85 6 Trace 87 8 Trace 87 8 DTrace 89 10 Trace 89 10 p MTrace81 2 Trace 81 2 Trace 83 4 Trace 83 4 Trace 85 6 Trace 85 6 Trace 87 8 Trace 87 8 DTrace 89
37. ock S PDIF ADAT or AES EBU Besides that the synchronization can be ensured using WordClock or SuperClock connections But within a compound of digital audio devices the clock has to be the same everywhere Important notes on TRACE 8 and digital clock Clock settings when using ASIO If you work with an audio application using the ASIO interface of the TRACE 8 all clock settings will be managed by that program and overwrite the current settings in the manager Which clock source is used can still be read in the clock settings within the TRACE 8 manager The manual of the application should give you report about which clock source the audio application chooses under which circumstance If the audio application is closed communication with the ASIO driver is terminated all previous clock settings are being reset Level metering in the TRACE 8 Mixer In order for the TRACE 8 Mixer to show the levels of a digital input signal the TDM channels it has to use the clock of this input That means If the clock source is not read from this input no digital input signal can be used or shown In that case the affected input channel will have a small red square in the level meter 38 marian Samplerate on record playback Please note that a certain samplerate for the TRACE 8 can only be set if the used clock source is the internal clock If synchronized externally Clock is being read from WordClock input or from SyncBus th
38. on the output of the TRACE 68 only when assigned in the Output Control P Aux l and aux 2 aux 3 and aux 4 and so on are grouped to stereo couples gt The routing of input signals of the TRACE 8 takes place directly within the hardware of the soundcard and is thereby latency free What is it all about This window shows the analog outputs as well as the four TDM outputs of the TRACE 8 as stereo channel strips with the name Analog OUT and TDM OUT In the Output Control the signals of the TRACE 8 can be routed completely free to an available output or a TDM Bus channel This applies to any analog input signal any TDM input signal any play signal and all stereo aux sums This Example shows how to do it you wish to monitor the sum AUX 1 2 at the analog output 1 2 of the TRACE 8 Thus push the AUX 1 2 knob in the output channel with the title Analog OUT 1 2 That s easy isn t it The same works for input signals Example you wish to route the signal of the input 3 4 of the TRACE 8 to the output 7 8 No problem Just push the Input knob on the channel strip Analog OUT 7 8 In the drop down menu below Input choose Analog IN 3 4 DONE For a playback signal of an audio application push Play in the appropriate output channel strip After that choose the desired channel in the drop down menu If you choose a signal for an output channel under S
39. ontrol and define a MIDI routing Info shows the current driver version of the TRACE 8 This is needed when consulting our support service with certain questions The menu is opened with a single mouse click with another on the corresponding entry the window of it is being opened Via clicking the option Always on Top it is prevented that any other window is allowed to cover the Mixer or the Output Control This option is helpful when working simultaneous with other windows while wanting constant direct access on Mixer and Output Control TRACE 6 Mixer Output Control States MIDI Route gt Settings Load Setup Save Setup Always on Top About Exit gt If several TRACE 8 have been installed the entries for Mixer and Output Control will appear accordingly with the extension 2 3 and so on The settings of the sound systems are managed via one window The Mixer TRACE 8 Mixer Card DAME Analog IH Analog IH Analog IK TOM IN 2 TDM IH 3 Il TDM IH 4 PLAY PLAY rue ft 7 os Gain What is it all about This window shows all input channels and the master section of the TRACE 8 Mixer You can see the analog inputs on the TRACE 8 Analog 1 to 8 the channels of the TDM SyncBus TDM In 1 to 8 and the playback channels of an audio application Play 1 to 8 The TRACE 8 offers any application 16 playback channels as devices Play 1 2 to 15
40. ored and overwritten if an audio application accesses the card via the ASIO driver The settings will be done by this application Commonly there is a drop down list showing all available clock sources of the TRACE 8 besides the field where the ASIO TRACE 8 driver is chosen After quitting the ASIO application the clock settings of the TRACE 8 manager will be restored ASIO ASIO For most audio applications using the ASIO interface the clock source for the TRACE 8 may be chosen directly in the application But some applications do not support this This is why the TRACE 8 Manager allows with Initial clock source to set up a certain clock source in the drop down list which will be used after the start of such application Initial Clock Source v With respect on the multi client capabilities of the TRACE 8 it is not possible to change the clock source for running ASIO applications here GigaStudio GigaStudio This section is available only if a Tascam GigaStudio application is installed In the drop down list Clock Source you can define to which clock signal GigaStudio is to be synchronously operated to Clock Source v marian 29 Classic MME Start Stop Sync Classic MME Start Stop Sync gt The start stop synchronization can be turned on Independent Start Stop L a O Synchronous Start Stop or off for all audio devices If this option is Formene Syne OrOLS Station active the audio data
41. r the network card of the computer is set up quite high 64 or more and thereby hinders the TRACE 8 the PCI Latency Timer for this component has to be reduced Some other BIOS allow only global changes of the PCI Latency Timer parameter In that case the time frame may only be changed for all components equally But also on the Internet several programs are offered that allow adjustments of the PCI Latency Timer for different components 42 marian Hands on the TRACE 8 Sounding Good Background Surely at least once in your life you have recorded something with a cassette recorder You also probably noticed that the signal can let the overload lamps flash in the bottom parts once in a while without the music instantly sounding distorted and unpleasant On digital audio systems the level meter must never reach the overload status In that case distortions would appear instantly On the other hand you try to get the signal as loud as possible in order to keep the noise floor caused by an A D converter on small levels as low as possible For every analog signal vou d like to record with the TRACE 8 you have to start with adjusting the level This happens within the TRACE 8 Mixer with the help of the gain knob How to do it 1 Turn on the PRE button in the lower part of the concerning channel strip Now the level meter is independent of the fader position That means you hear the signal at the desired volume without affectin
42. r to adjust the look of the Mixer according to your needs single rows of control elements may be hid or shown with the help of Parts This applies to all gain aux or bal knobs All these functions can be very handy for saving precious space on your computer screen But they re also useful if you wish to secure certain setups of faders or knobs from accidentally being changed Of course apart from all these functions the window can be sized horizontally If multiple TRACE 8 have been installed you can bring up the Mixer of every sound system using the drop down list in the top bar of the window The lock symbol in the upper right corner of the window prevents coverage by other windows This way the Mixer is always on top and accessible You may save certain visual configurations along with the current mixer settings in a snapshot For this click on one of the three buttons beneath snaps on the row save If you wish to recall a snapshot click on the load button situated beneath the previously saved snapshot 15 The number of aux sums The TRACE 8 can be operated in 3 different modes Depending on the mode only a limited number of aux sums will be available On sample rates up to 48 kHz 6 aux sums will be available On 96 kHz there will be 2 aux sums On 192 kHz no aux sum will be available That s why the drop down list of Mixer and Output Control will be automatically adjusted ac
43. s in the software and assign them to the different inputs of the TRACE 8 Put the tracks to record ready push record and there you go 50 The TDM SyncBus Example 1 The situation You have created a pretty large setup using Mixer and Output Control via all physical outputs single signals are playing back the outputs are all occupied Additionally you created a stereo master sum and several aux sums The question arises where and how could those mix signals be monitored even though all physical outputs of the card are already in use The solution Use another TRACE 8 and the TDM SyncBus In the Output Control of card 1 click on Master in the TDM Out 1 and activate the bus with the On button The master sum is now led to TDM channel 1 In the Output Control of the card 2 click on Input and choose TDM IN 1 in the channel where you wish the signal to appear finished Now the master sum is monitored on the second TRACE 8 You may proceed similar with the aux sums using the remaining TDM channels marian 51 The TDM SyncBus Example 2 The situation You have created a nice mix down of input and playback signal using the TRACE 8 You wish to record this mix but you don t own a second recording the system with the required analog inputs The solution Again the solution is TDM SyncBus TDM channel are available as input signals to any audio recording application Just assi
44. s mostly a stereo signal you can switch channel Sand 6 into stereo mode In order for your musician to hear this reverb effect you need to pull up Aux 1 2 in this channel as well Push the LINK button between the knobs The same can be done with a playback signal form an audio application e g a sequencing program This will run into a channel in the Mixer on e g Play 1 2 This is where you also pull up AUX 1 2 so your musician can hear the playback Finalizing Now you are able to regulate your monitor volume independently of the musician You wish to hear the signal solo or want to let the musician be louder than the playback No problem the headphone mix is not affected Important for that for all aux knobs the pre button has to be active Please take care When pulling up aux3 aux4 on channel 5 6 you will get a feedback Because Aux 3 4 according to their assignment go via the output to the effect unit Best would be you save this setup using a clear and direct name This way it can always be recalled in a similar situation With this setup you have complete control of what the musician hears You can increase the vocals completely and quickly mute the reverb if needed or even put reverb to the playback Do everything possible so your musician feels just fine he she will thank you with some sensational takes 48 marian The TRACE 8 as Hard Disk Recording System With the following examp
45. ster output of internal clock SyncBus Synchronization as clock slave using external clock on WordClock input or SyncBus Fail safe Firmware update technology automatic recovery of firmware highly developed multi client driver for Windows 2000 XP 2003 Server Vista each in the 32 Bit Version MME ASIO 2 0 GSIF 2 0 WDM Audio DirectSound Installation Scope of Supply After opening the package of the TRACE 8 please check if the following components are included and undamaged Y 1x TRACE 8 PCI slot card 1 x Audio connection cable 1 x MIDI connection cable 1 x CD ROM with driver software 1 x CD ROM with bundle software this manual with quick installation guide KSSS System Requirements For successful and orderly operation of the TRACE 8 the following basic requirements have to be met v Intel Pentium or AMD CPU with at least 1 GHz clock and 256 MB RAM v Operating system Windows 2000 XP 2003 Server Vista each in the 32 Bit Version v Direct X 9c v One free PCI slot Please note that depending on the operating system and audio application used the system requirements might increase Installation of Hardware and Software On the quick start guide and in the interactive tutorial on the driver CD you will find all important installation steps explained graphically If you have any further questions concerning the installation please contact our support service At the end of this manual you will find the d
46. t The master channel The upper knobs regulate the volume of the aux sums Between AUX 1 and AUX 2 as well as AUX 3 and AUX 4 and so forth a link button is situated If clicked on the concerning Aux knobs are connected functionally That means when opening up AUX 1 AUX 2 is equally pulled up If the Solo button has been switched on in any channel the master channel will indicate this with a lit Solo LED Using the X button next to Solo you can deactivate all solo buttons of all channels simultaneously The master faders serve as regulators for the volume of the main sum They are assigned either to the left or the right channel As long as the link button is pushed they are moved synchronously P If you set up different volumes for AUX 1 and AUX 2 or the right and the left fader without the link button activated this relation remains with the link button pushed E Analog ETDM Play Note Hidden channels are still active just like they were shown gt Snapshots are independent of setups see chapter Saving and loading Setups Thus they will not be overwritten by a setup Adaptable changing the view of the TRACE 8 Mixer In the bottom left corner of the Mixer you can find three buttons Analog TDM and PLAY These allow with a click on the button to hide or show the affected channels In orde
47. t AUX Sums WC SC Input Signal Idle Sample Rate Owe x1 The TRACE 8 doubles If no program determines a sample Owe x2 the incoming rate use the Following rate OWC x4 frequency to get the last used rate Osc 256 ook lai tobe O this Samplerate 44100 He Osc 128 Osc 64 Termination active The following chapter is all about the system settings of the TRACE 8 You open the corresponding window via the TRACE 8 symbol on the taskbar Should questions remain we recommend taking a look at the hands on part of this manual Especially the section The TRACE 8 in connection with digital devices contains simple examples for right handling of the clock settings 26 narian General Operation Mode ae oe The TRACE 8 can be ample Rate up to 48 kHz Mixer with 6 AUX Sums ample Rate up to 96 kHz Mixer with 2 AUX Sums operated in three modes 2 Sample Rate up to 192 kHz Mixer without AUX Sums Bv choosing one of these options you define which maximum sample rate the TRACE 8 can be operated with This also affects the number of aux sums available besides the master sum In 192 kHz Mode no additional mixing sum besides the master sum is available Therefore in this mode the mixer and the Output Control do not offer any aux knobs or buttons When choosing the option Sample rate up to 48 kHz there will be 6 aux sums available When choosing the option Sample rate up to 96 kHz there will be 2 aux sums av
48. te defines Example having a sample rate returning one value a second you can t measure a value at half a second What is a clock As you can see there has to be something governing at which moment of time a digital value is to be measured This is exactly the task of the clock It is the impulse or rate generator The rate given by the clock defines the sample rate Let s make this a little clearer with an example Imagine an orchestra with a conductor The maestro lifts and lowers the baton he gives the beat Depending on the beat the musicians play either fast or slow The conductor is thereby the clock and the speed the orchestra plays with that is the sample rate What happens if an orchestra plays without a conductor complete chaos Every musician plays just like he wants in a different speed The same happens if you connect digital audio devices Just like in the orchestra example there has to be defined who is maestro the master and who are the musicians the slaves marian 37 The rules in the digital audio world Connecting digital audio devices the following three simple rules have to be maintained 1 All devices have to be synchronized with each other Using the clock 2 There can only be one That is the device the master governing the rate All other devices have to lock in on this rate the clock of the master and are thereby slaves 3 Digital audio connections mostly include a cl
49. the audio data transfer is cared about secondarily In the bottom right corner of the window the Buffersize in samples field is situated This value defines the delay time latency of the audio data transfer for ASIO Example When working with a sample rate of 44 1 kHz a buffer size of 176 samples will give you a delay time of 4 ms Working with a sample rate of 88 2 kHz 176 samples will give 2 ms delay gt Hint some audio applications require additional steps of activation so the inputs or outputs of the TRACE can actually be used For further details please take a look at the manual of the audio application gt Changing the Execution Priority and the ASIO Buffersize might be helpful when encountering distortion noise such as digital errors while playing back or recording Please read chapter Setting up the Latency in the hands on part 36 The TRACE 8 in the Connection with Digital Devices Background As you probably already know there is one big difference between analog and digital audio signals analog audio signals are continuous That means at any given time you can measure this signal and retrieve a defined measuring value As opposed to digital audio signals They consist of many single values samples which follow each other in a certain frequency sample rate Here it is not possible to receive a measuring value at any time but only as often as the sample ra
50. trolled termination to 75 Ohm Input sensitivitv 1 Vss 5 6 Vss Other DC Offset free Schmitt Trigger input Over voltage protection 58 Marian Service and Support Warranty Each TRACE 8 leaving us is put under extensive functionality checks We allow full 5 years of warranty A copy of the receipt or bill serves as proof of purchase If there is a deficiency occurring during the time of warranty you can exchange the unit at your dealer Damages originating in inappropriate handling or false operation are excluded from warranty You can still send the unit in to us for repair after the warranty has expired You can decide to have it repaired after receiving a calculation of the approximate repair costs For this please get in contact with our support service Contact If you have any questions or problems when installing or operating the TRACE 8 please proceed as follows 1 Make sure the newest driver is installed The current driver files can be found on www marian de en downloads 2 Ifstill any questions remain you can contact us via the internet using our support form at www marian de en support 3 Or talk to us personally Dial 49 347 589 32 22 Interesting news information as well as information about our products and authorized dealers can be found on www marian de marian 59
51. ver will inhibit the usage of the additional inputs or outputs The simultaneous operation of the TRACE 8 with different sample rates is possible using the standard MME or DirectSound driver only Simultaneous playback on one channel Example You are playing back on a certain device e g TRACE 8 1 2 of the TRACE 8 Now you wish to playback another signal of another software application via the same device The TRACE 8 driver will inhibit this except if the simultaneous playback of several audio programs via the same device happens using the standard MME or DirectSound drivers 40 marian The Channel References The following charts show you the different physical input and output channels of the TRACE 8 and how they are assigned to devices available to an audio application Playback line Software Playback device Mixer Output Control TRACE 8 1 2 to TRACE 8 7 8 Available as PLAY 1 2 to PLAY 7 8 Routable to any output via the Play button and the drop down list TRACE 8 9 10 to Routable to any output i Not available via the Play button TRACE Gizeli and the drop down list Record line Physical inputs on the Mixer Software recording TRACE 8 device Analog IN 1 to TRACE 8 1 2 to Anae input Pig Analog IN 8 TRACE 8 7 8 TDM IN 1 to TDM TRACE 8 9 10 to o aad IN 8 TRACE 8 15 16 4
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