Aardvark Direct Pro Q10 (bundle) External Sound System
Contents
1. Pabe i T PRO Q10 F s N DIREC OWNER MANUAL O10 SOFTWARE CAKEWALK PRO AUDIO 97 GUICKSTART Next go to the ADVANCED tab Here s how to set it up On the DEVICE PROFILES tab be sure that Use wave out position for timing is not enabled for any of your Aardvark devices E Caie Pa alaga eile Fla CE e en Ep fa Click OK to exit your audio options You may need to restart Cakewalk for your changes to register Park and PAGE 29 DIRECT PRO O10 OWNERS MANUAL Q1 SOFTWARE CAKEWALK PRO AUDIO 97 QUICKSTART Right click track one in Cakewalk and C L_ select Track Properties ise PSC Pr mt This will bring up a track properties menu E 1 aet a namen that allows you to choose the recording Dem and playback device for the track 8 5 A aH rz Source refers to the recording device If M Ms 1 al you want to record only one input onto a track be sure of have the Left or Right side of the device as opposed to Stereo wam which records two inputs simultaneously Port Refers to your output device In both the source and port menus p your devices may have a wave icon or a note icon assigned to it The Wave icon refers to an audio device and the note icon refers to a wave device The options beneath Source and Port are f2. AGI AG 4 M RITE cd dise inl a buffer size for fine tuning Hamak else Co performance in 8 aiba DirectSound applications gj 4500 Turba mode Map nol ok wh This does not apply to AO sis multitrack software Direct Lined iba routes ed 14er cal pul mie Lire Pinasa Sound is most commonly Na 2 gamma irren used by software SS PAA Frs synthesizers such as Dingi Found Hanga Rebirth Fruityloops Retro aa a a I eee Reality and others ASIO Configuration This is for using the Direct Pro with ASIO compatible programs such as Steinberg Cubase VST Emagic Logic Audio and Native Instruments Reaktor You can choose between 16 bit and 24 bit ASIO operation as well as the ASIO buffer size Lowering your ASIO buffer size will reduce the latency in your ASIO software However if your ASIO buffers are too low you may get unwanted clicks and pops in your audio The ideal ASIO buffer size varies from computer to computer ASIO Turbo Mode works on almost all computers and software but occasionally it will not Simply give it a try if it works great If not don t use it NOTE If ASIO Turbo Mode is enabled the second to lowest ASIO buffer size is the fastest ASIO configuration Provides the option for selecting a master Aardvark Aark card This is for when multiple Aardvark cards are on the same computer It is also possible in this menu to limit the num
3. You can use Aardvark s control panel to adjust the latency in these programs Go to START PROGRAM FILES AARDVARK ASIO CONFIGURATION Here you can adjust the ASIO buffer size Lower buffer means lower latency but if the buffer is too low the system can become unstable pt PAGE 33 DIRECT PRO 010 OWNERS MANUAL NEMESYS GIGASTUDIO NATIVE INSTRUMENTS amp PROPELLERHEAD REASON QUICKSTART NEMESYS GIGASTUDIO Go to the SETTINGS menu On the Hardware Routing Tab the hardware choice is Aardvark Pro 1 Multichannel Sample rate 44 1 or whatever sample rate you prefer and bit depth 24 You can enable as many outputs as you wish Keep in mind though that if you plan on using other software at the same time as Gigastudio they will not be able to use these outputs On the Sampler Tab the buffer is set to 1 meg The optimal buffer size depends a great deal on the computer you are using though NATIVE INSTRUMENTS REAKTOR B4 PRO52 ETC For best performance be sure that these programs are configured to use ASIO Vv ASIO Turbo mode May not work with all 510 applications ASIO Latency 4 milliseconds PROPELLERHEAD REASON For ultra low latency performance you should also try the ASIO Turbo Mode found in the Advanced Tab of the Q10 Control Panel Be sure you use ASIO and that you re on the latest version Previous versions of Reason had some ASIO problem
4. mm 06060099990 The Direct Pro O 10 box should contain all of the following items 1 Direct Pro Q10 PCI host card Connects directly to the motherboard of your computer 1 Direct Pro O10 Interface Box 1 6 shielded 25 pin cable 1 Direct Pro Driver CD ROM 1 Digital Audio Software CD ROM 1 Direct Pro O10 Manual If any items are missing or damaged please contact your dealer or Aardvark Customer Support at E mail Support aardvark pro com Tel 734 665 8899 Fax 734 665 0694 device pursuant to part 15 of the FCC rules These limits are designed to provide a reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment This equipment generates uses and can radiate radio Tis product frequency and if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual may complies with cause harmful interference to radio communications Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference in which case the user will be required to correct the interference at his own expense ce This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a class A digital 10 dil 10 PCI HOST INTERFACE CARD INSTALLING THE DIRECT PRO 010 INTERFACE Please unplug you PC before connecting or disconnecting the Direct Pro Q 10 interface box and PCI host card Connecting or disconnecting the hardware with electricity present
5. a vibrant natural sound quality NOTE Although inputs 1 4 provide phantom power and effects inserts and inputs 7 8 provide direct guitar inputs they do not have to be used this way They can also be used for standard XLR microphone and 1 4 line operation O wv PAGE CI 9 A DIRECT PRO Q10 OWNERS MANUAL O10 FRONT PANEL PHANTOM POWER BUTTON Pressing this button will light its corresponding LED and send phantom power to mics connected to XLR inputs 1 4 Phantom power is needed for powered microphones like condenser mics As long as XLR mics or 1 4 line level devices are connected to inputs 1 4 it is fine to use the Phantom power IMPORTANT The phantom power does not affect any of the 1 4 line inputs O1 FRONT PANEL E FR HI Z GUITAR BUTTONS These enable E F R for inputs 7 and or 8 which allows you to plug a guitar directly into these inputs Inputs 7 and 8 can be used for direct guitar recording by pressing the guitar buttons the two buttons on the right with the little guitar drawings next to them There are separate buttons for inputs 7 and 8 No preamps DI boxes or pedals needed Just plug the guitar right into the O 10 This is done using Aardvark s exclusive E F R Enhanced Frequency Response technology E FR TM optimizes for direct guitar recording by altering the impedance and frequency response of the input The end result is a warm rich tone that will Ly sound great in you
6. faders Because of this Post Fader does not accurately measure your recording volume Just above each meter is a numeric display that measures the incoming signal in dB _ NOTE To get the best recording quality record your incoming signals as loud as you can with out letting them go into the upper red portion of the meters Link Link The Link button is used to link the controls of channel 1 to channel 2 channel 3 to channel 4 channel 5 to channel 6 and channel 7 to channel 8 This button is used for recording devices with individual left right outputs such as a synthesizer or drum machine and is ideal for stereo mics or mic pairs recording the same source You ll notice that if Link is pressed on channel 1 and you adjust the channel 1 volume channel 2 will change as well PAGE U 1g NN DIRECT PRO 010 OWNERS MANUAL O1 O SOFTWARE 010 CONTROL PANEL INPUT CONTROLS Mute The Mute button allows you to remove an incoming signal from the monitor mix You should be aware that Mute does not actually mute the input and the signal can still be recorded Mute simply removes the incoming signals from the monitor This is helpful if you want to record Microphones or other instruments that could potentially feed back Solo Solo will make the selected channel the only audible channel in the monitor mix all other inputs and playback from audio software will be muted Pan At
7. so when one plays or rewinds the other device s follow Work clock is not used to sync the transports of devices nor is it used to send or receive audio It is used to synchronize the sample rates of multiple devices to prevent jitter and other potential digital audio flaws If you are not using multiple O 1Os o other digital devices Word Clock is not necessary NOTE You can run up to 4 1 units in the same computer To keep them synchronized connect the WC output of the first unit to the WC input of the second unit and so on In the first units control panel you will need to set the synchronization to INT On all the slave units you need to set synchronizzation to WC Word Clock 1 REAR PANEL HOST ATTACHMENT amp PCI HOST CARD This is where you connect the O 10 interface box to the O 10 host card pictured below with the included 25 pin cable IMPORTANT Use only the included cable connect the host card to the 1 unit or you may damage your 1 interface host card or computer NOTE The extra shielding on the PCI card is to protect the card and keep out harmful computer interference O p DU 15 DIRECT PRO 010 OWNERS MANUAL 3 P GE 10 REAR PANEL INSERTS As mentioned earlier inputs 1 4 either XLR mic or 1 4 line level on the front of the O10 can be used with these effects inserts Those of you unfamiliar with effects inserts may find the concept a bit odd at first
8. ATTACHMENT AND PCI HOST CARD 15 DENTS cus eet tta ite e esee bet ed be So v o Ut det iL 6 010 SOFTWARE CONTROL CONTROL PANEL PRA etree a HANDA De be RR PUT CONTROLS ele Cerne nr e ee Deren enne tee bene Der et bem n 18 PLAYBACK CONTROLS rote eee reed viene eerie res 2 ROUTING 1t tte kr rm eet e een eee en ee ee ect ena 23 PRESETS ions SUR HUN eR Rut 24 ADVANCED ES E turd au RC Buk de E URN E REL Bek ea ne PO Adds 25 RECORDING SOFTWARE QUICKSTART CAKEWALK PRO AUDID 9 M s ttes Ree etr etie tans 28 CAKEWALK SONARTM secs sims done phis be bride er kx be car lc Fera eds 32 EMAGIC LOGIC AUDIO IM cea cise tree te a br e a Rb oe de ar pes 33 STEINBERG CUBASE VST NUENDO 33 NEMESYS GIGASTUDIO 2 00 a a terete ened 34 NATIVE INSTRUMENTS 34 PROPELLERHEAD REASON GG GG GG 34 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 35 TROUBLESHOOTING 37 Q1 INTRODUCTION WELCOME TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF COMPUTER RECORDING THE AARDVARK STORY Aardvark has over a decade s worth of experience in designing digital audio master clocks that make the world s be
9. but we assure you they re very nice to have around The effects inserts allow you to use our preamps on incoming signals then run them though external hardware effects before they go through the A D converter and are recorded to your computer These effects inserts allow you to use the O 10s high quality mic preamps with outboard effects processors The insert number directly corresponds to the input on the front panel Insert 1 is connected to input 1 insert 2 is connected in input 2 etc Two things are required to use the O 10 inserts First you need to have an external effects device that you want to apply to an incoming signal Also you ll need to use a Y cable with a 1 4 TRS Tip Ring Sleeve connection on one end that splits into two 1 4 mono connections NOTE If you are having trouble telling the difference between a TRS jack and a mono jack a 1 4 TRS plug has two black lines and a 1 4 mono plug has only one black line The 1 4 TRS 2 black lines end of the Y cable plugs into one of the O10 inserts The end of the Y cable that corresponds to the tip of the 1 4 TRS plug should be plugged into the hardware processor s input The end of the Y cable that corresponds to the ring of the 1 4 TRS plug should be plugged into the hardware processor s output NOTE Each 1 4 insert is both the send and the receive So only one cable is needed per channel wang Babes 16 C DIRECT PRO O
10. commonly used to listen to the full mix of your project In the control panel these should be set to Monitor L and Monitor R This way you can use these as the main outputs that allow you to monitor incoming signals as well as previously recorded tracks The volume of these outputs can be adjusted with the Monitor Volume Knob on the front of the O10 discussed earlier Q1 REAR PANEL S PDIF DIGITAL INPUTS OUTPUTS For those of you unfamiliar with S PDIF S PDIF inputs and outputs look like RCA jacks but they process very different information They allow you to transmit and receive audio digitally so it is not subject to the signal degradation and interference that is present in analog transfers S PDIF transfers a stereo audio signal through one cable Standard RCA cable can be used but it is best to work with cable designed specifically for S PDIF Our S PDIF can accept digital information with a bit depth of 16 24 or any in between Our S PDIF inputs and outputs only work with other S PDIF devices To activate the S PDIF input for recording go to the O10 control panel and select ADVANCED then select the General tab In the lower left you will have the option to select the Channels 9 10 recording source Select S PDIF Once this is selected you can record S PDIF by choosing O10 input 9 10 in your audio recording software If you are recording with the S PDIF input you must have the Source Select in the 1 control panel
11. installing the Direct Pro O 10 Control Panel software in the next section O10 DRIVER INSTALLATION WINDOWS 98 SOFTWARE SETUP 6 IF the welcome screen does not automatically arcs appear run Setup exe from your CD ROM This can be done from Windows by opening your CD ROM drive usually D in My Computer and double Pug pa Hara Rome Pa a saa qos nd mee Clicking the Setup exe icon Vis aman d etal m Cid Nara ata ir cmi pag Cees Fes 7 Click Next when you see the Welcome Screen eed 8 Setup will allow you to select the Destination Select Destination Dinectary Directory Otherwise it will put the Direct Pro Q10 software and drivers in the C Program Files Aark d aa Me UR Manager Control Panel directory If you would like E UEM the files elsewhere simply type the new destination Viene He doni rg memi De 1 i amo TA y or select Browse to put the files in another directory nee s 9 Click the Next button to continue The Ready to Caper leni Dk Lee xw Install Dialog should now appear Click Next again Bes Led tamaan LUI to begin installation ts 10 When the installation is complete a new folder for the Direct Pro O 10 Control Panel application will reside in the destination directory and a shortcut will automatically appear on the desktop for easy access 11 You must now turn your computer off for the change to take place Instead of restart
12. the bottom of each input is a Pan control Pan does not rs affect how an incoming signal is recorded it only affects the way it is heard in your monitor mix An example of why Pan is helpful if you are monitoring with headphones and recording a guitar with channel 1 it is easiest to hear the guitar in both sides of the headphones even though you are recording a mono track S PDIF input controls This channel strip allows you to adjust the signals entering the S PDIF input on the back of the Q 10 On the top of the strip is a LOCK light This will light if our S PDIF input is receiving valid S PDIF Directly beneath are the S PDIF input meters which measure the dB level of the incoming S PDIF signal 1 PAGE 20 A DIRECT PRO 010 Wa UWNERS MANUAL Q1 SOFTWARE 010 CONTROL PANEL PLAYBACK CONTROLS PLAYBACK CONTROLS Routing Presets Advanced Phantom Brightness Source Select m OS 44 100 kHz Just to the right of the input controls are five groups of faders to control the output channels Although it may seem like it these faders are not hard wired to the hardware outputs on the back of the 1 These faders are used to boost and cut playback in the monitor mix You will hear the adjustments of these faders in your headphones the Monitor L R outputs as well as any other output that has been assigned the monitor bus in the Routing section Mute M amp Solo S Mut
13. will cause physical damage to the Direct Pro O 10 or your computer It is best to disconnect the power cable completely before proceeding If you are unfamiliar with installation of computer peripherals please seek assistance from a qualified computer technician Aardvark will not be held responsible nor liable for damages resulting from improper installation Remove the cover from your computer Most computers have a series of screws on the back of the case that keeps the cover in place Choose an empty PCI slot It will look like the PCI slots shown to the right Remove the small outer cover from the chosen PCI slot This cover will likely be held in place by a screw Ground yourself by touching an empty slot on the computer s metal chassis Gently align the Direct Pro O 10 PCI Host Card with the chosen PCI slot and press it slowly but firmly into place It should be seated tightly with the metal connection bracket matching up perfectly through the hole in the back of the computer Use the screw from the small outer cover to lock the Direct Pro 1 Host Card in place while providing maximum grounding Replace the computer s cover Connect one end of the 6 ft shielded cable to the 25 pin connector on the Direct Pro O10 Host Card and the other end on the back of the Direct Pro O 10 interface box labeled To Aark Host Tighten the screws to assure a firm connection and maximum grounding for the Direct Pro Q10 system Avoid put
14. 10 Wi UWNERS MANUAL SOFTWARE 010 CONTROL PANEL a Pao QUO Cone Pani PN LE 7 mi wi miL PiL CE me The 1 control panel is very powerful and easy to use and While it may initially seem a bit complex You ll find that it becomes user friendly rather quickly This control panel is the cornerstone of the 1 and allows unparalleled flexibility and power All of the knobs and faders on the O 10 control panel are adjusted with the mouse If you want to fine tune a control with more precision than the mouse allows first click it with the mouse then use the arrow keys on your keyboard to fine tune it You will find this control panel works just like any analog mixer used for mixing and monitoring but it also has many cool features that make it easier to use and more powerful O P PAGE 1 17 DIRECT PRO O10 OWNERS MANUAL Q1 SOFTWARE 010 CONTROL PANEL INPUT CONTROLS INPUT GAIN different levels of gain to the corresponding inputs Just beneath these buttons is a trim knob which allows you to fine tune the volume of the Incoming signal NOTE Although M 1 and M2 are typically used with the XLR inputs and L is typically used with the 1 4 inputs these buttons provide gain to both the 1 4 and XLR inputs From Right to left The M2 button provides the highest amount of gain anywhere from 52 dB to 75 dB This is a substantial amount of gain and should not
15. Aardvark USA 202 East Washington Suite 306 Ann Arbor Michigan 48104 Web http www aardvark pro com E mail info aardvark pro com Voice 734 665 8899 Fax 734 665 0694 Aardvark Superior sound Simplified OWNERS MANUAL TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION cate ta der eee eee Sada inh Aue hihi WHAT S INCLUDED 2 INSTALLING THE DIRECT PRO 010 INTERFACE 3 DRIVER INSTALLATION WINDOWS 95 HARDWARE INSTALLATION 4 WINDOWS 95 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION a cece KI 5 WINDOWS 98 HARDWARE INSTALLATION isses t 6 WINDOWS 98 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION lisse HR 7 INTERFACE OVERVIEW FRONT PANEL ANALOG COMBO INPUTS o AR ANA line 8 ADDITIONAL FEATURES OF SPECIFIC INPUTS 9 PHANTOM POWER BUTTON ttt tent Eee tet Rec adie 10 GUITAR BUTTONS 223 paa kaaa er RR RR eer RR ER HERR RT 10 MONITOR VOLUME KNOB tmt nG IANG etudes 11 HEADPHONE VOLUME KNOB 2 23 rte Rv BAGA ANA 11 HEAUPHONE paa KA anan ete cet hale da REAR PANEL ANALOG OUTPUTS et EE rte amie Et 2 MONHOR DUTRUTS ES ei Pbi ct Many 2 S PDIF DIGITAL INPUTS QUTPUTS auta aan maan pa naag a ea bone cie rp e 13 MIDIINPUTS OUTPUTS os Kaman cete e ne ttt t te 14 HOST
16. Shut Down from the Start Menu Shut down menu If you choose restart the installation will not be compete and you will have to repeat this process NOTE Always turn off your monitors or speakers when rebooting Often the speakers will pop during startup causing potential damage O P GE 5 A DIRECT PRO 010 OWNERS MANUAL Kan LI E 4 Lena of alere eau E Dm oen D po J DIRECT PRO 010 OWNERS MANUAL 10 DRIVER INSTALLATION WINDOWS 98 HARDWARE SETUP 1 When Windows restarts it should automatically detect the card you installed Since it is a PCI card it will identify itself as a Plug and Play device Windows will indicate detecting the new hardware with these dialogs 2 Click Next then select the option Search for the best driver for your device then click Next again 3 Insert the driver CD ROM that came with the Direct Pro 1 Place a check mark beside CD ROM drive by clicking on it All other boxes must be cleared Click Next 4 Windows will now locate the Direct Pro O10 driver software Click Next to begin installation Windows will copy the files from the Direct Pro 1 driver CD ROM 5 When the installation is complete you must press Finish to exit the setup Windows will ask to restart the computer This is because the files you just installed will not take effect until the next time Windows is loaded Click NO since you will restart the computer after
17. be necessary for most applications Unless you are recording a very quiet signal or the microphone is not very responsive M2 should rarely be necessary The M1 button provides the second highest level of gain 32 to 55 This is used for most microphone applications or for quieter line level devices that require a bit more gain The L button provides the lowest amount of gain and can reduce the volume of the incoming signal as well It provides up to 15 dB of gain to 8 dB volume reduction The Trim Knob located beneath these buttons allows you to fine tune the applied gain Directly to the left of each trim know is a numeric display of how much gain is applied to the signal measured in dB NOTE All the gain applied with MC2 MC 1 L and the trim knob is done in the analog stage before the A D converter This lets you monitor your audio levels and ultimately get better sound Babes 18 C DIRECT PRO 1 4 OWNERS MANUAL Q1 SOFTWARE 010 CONTROL PANEL INPUT CONTROLS INPUT METERS These meters operate two different ways If you click Advanced go to the Meters section and choose Pre Fader the meters will respond to the exact aB level of the incoming signal If you choose Post Fader in the Meters section the meter will measure the level of the incoming signal as well as the gain or attenuation applied to the signal with the channel
18. ber of ASIO inputs and outputs a program can see Some programs like Logic Audio use all ASIO inputs and outputs even if they are not currently in use Limiting the number of inputs and outputs the program sees allows you to conserve the computer s resources Ignore this menu unless you are using an ASIO compatible program Programs such as Cakewalk Cool Edit Pro Vegas Samplitude Sound Forge are among the programs that are not ASIO compatible O LJ p PAGE 27 DIRECT PRO 010 OWNERS MANUAL CAKEWALK PRO AUDIO 9 QUICKSTART Before setting up Cakewalk keep in mind that many of the demo songs on the Cakewalk CD are MIDI tracks the O 10 is an audio card Playing a Cakewalk Demo song is not a good way to verify that hardware and software are working properly When you open Cakewalk for the first time it s best to optimize your audio settings for use with the O10 Once these are set you will not have to do it again Go to OPTIONS AUDIO Here have 24 bit and a sampling rate of 44100 chosen You may choose different sample rates and bit depths if desired al Dai Dana Fed Also you can attempt to lower your mixing latency by reducing the buffer size and the number of buffers in the playback queue If the mixing latency is too low you may get glitches in your audio On the DRIVERS tab just be sure that you have all of your desired Aardvark devices activated
19. d No need to adjust the DMA buffer sizes EMAGIC LOGIC AUDIO amp STEINBERG CUBASE VST V NUENDO QUICKSTART EMAGIC LOGIC AUDIO Due to the fact that Logic Audio has different ASIO engines in some versions of the program Open Logic go to AUDIO AUDIO HARDWARE AND DRIVERS Next select the AUDIO DRIVER tab Make sure none of the drivers on this tab are activated Next go to the AUDIO DRIVER 2 tab ASIO should be the only driver selected and MONITORING should NOT be enabled On the lower right you ll notice an ASIO buffer delay option It may not be necessary to adjust this but you may need to if audio tracks do not synchronize properly You can adjust the Aardvark ASIO drivers to provide optimal latency in Logic Audio Go to START PROGRAM FILES AARDVARK ASIO CONFIGURATION Here you can adjust the ASIO buffer size Lower buffer means lower latency but if the buffer is too low the system can become unstable There is also an option in ASIO configuration for Logic audio users be sure to put a checkmark in there to enable it STEINBERG CUBASE VST amp NUENDO The defaults of these programs are fairly Aardvark friendly so there is not a huge amount of setup required In both programs be sure that the Aardvark ASIO drivers are selected and that monitoring is disabled We do support ASIO direct monitoring but our hardware can perform the same task without using the computer s resources
20. d you have MONITOR LR assigned to the output you are listening through PROBLEM The O 10 display does not look right SOLUTION You may need to increase the screen size your monitor accepts and the color scheme it uses Go to the Windows control panel and select DISPLAY Then select the SETTINGS tab Your SCREEN AREA should be set to 800 x 600 pixels or larger Colors should be set to High Color 16bit or more PROBLEM The Audio software am using says that the Q10 does not support 24 bit SOLUTION There are several ways for a program to interpret 24 bit audio data The O10 does this by left justifying 24 bit data in a 32 bit word In some audio programs you will have to specify this particular 24 bit format in order for itto work Depending on the program it may also be referred to as 24 bit unpacked 24 bit left justified or 24 bit alternate po 1 Na 38 J DIRECT PRO O10 S OWNERS MANUAL O10 SUPPOR TROUBLESHOOTING PROBLEM am recording an instrument microphone and it s only coming out of one side when it plays back SOLUTION Keep in mind that each input of the O 10 is mono In order to record a stereo signal you must record two inputs at the same time It is also possible to record a mono track then send it to the left and right channels in equal amounts PROBLEM can t record S PDIF SOLUTION In order to record S PDIF be sure that you have instructed your recording software to use i
21. e silences a channel in the monitor mix while solo will solo an output channel and will mute all other channels both input and output O PAGE 21 Vu DIRECT PRO 010 OWNERS MANUAL O1 O SOFTWARE 010 CONTROL PANEL PLAYBACK CONTROLS Monitor On the far right there are faders labeled MONITOR This allows you to boost and cut the main monitor mix These faders typically affect the headphone output and the Monitor L R outputs The Monitor fader can affect the other 1 4 outputs if MONITOR L R is connected to them the Routing menu The Peak button if activated will take note of the highest volume that has gone through the monitor measured in dB The Reset button will reset the peak volume to zero Phantom Phantom If this light is on it means you have activated Phantom Power by pressing the Phantom button on the front of the 1 Brightness Brightness This knob allows you to control the brightness of the appealing Aardvark logo on the front of the Q10 Turn it up high to show off your 1 or dim it down to make the O10 less noticeable in darker studios Source Select This lets you select what sample rate you want to use the Q10 at You can select 32 kHz 44 1 kHz 48 kHz or slave to S PDIF This automatically sets the source of the O 10 s clock as well as the word clock output NOTE If you are recording S PDIF you must have Source Select set t
22. etermine the cause of various problems Due to the variety of computer components currently available a low PCI BUS EFFICIENCY percentage reading does not necessarily mean that the O 10 is operating poorly Disregard this reading unless you are running into other problems METERS If you select Post Fader the O 10 input meters to measure the Incoming signal and any changes applied to that signal by the channel faders If you select Pre Fader the meters will measure the unaltered input signal which is also the level that your multitrack software records SOFTWARE TAB This tab lets you know which Q10 input and output channels are currently in use by a software application Some low latency programs especially software synthesizers will report a device In use simply by having the program open even if it is not playing audio If a device says IDLE it simply means that a program is not using that device It does not mean that inputs or playback are having problems OUTPUT LEVELS TAB This lets you select between 10dBV unbalanced or 4dBu balanced for the eight 1 4 channel outputs on the back of the Q10 This is not required for the inputs because the adjustments can be made by using the trim knob po 1 PAGE 26 A DIRECT PRO O10 S OWNERS MANUAL Q1 SOFTWARE 010 CONTROL PANEL ADVANCED ASIO AND DIRECTX TAB Kasa AID ond Diet Direct Sound Buffer Size This lets you choose
23. features GENERAL TAB Registration You may be asked for this number if you contact tech support Other than that you do not need to be concerned with it Issue Warnings On Sample Rate Errors If activated the O10 will provide a warning if you are trying to play an unsupported sample rate or if your multitrack software is set to a different sample rate than what is set in the SOURCE SELECT of the O10 Control Panel or if you are trying to record S PDIF with out changing SOURCE SELECT to S PDIF Channels 9 10 Recording Source In your multitrack software inputs 9 10 are among the available O 10 recording devices Here you can choose what inputs 9 10 actually record If S PDIF is selected software inputs 9 10 will record the S PDIF input on the back of the O10 If Monitor is selected software inputs 9 10 will record the full 1 monitor mix which consists of all inputs and playback O PAGE C 25 DIRECT PRO 010 OWNERS MANUAL Q1 SOFTWARE 010 CONTROL PANEL ADVANCED S PDIF output channel status This allows you to pick between consumer and professional S PDIF output This does not change the quality of the S PDIF signal Rather it allows the O 10 to be compatible with devices that have different S PDIF formats If the S PDIF output does not seem to communicate with other devices properly try changing this setting PCI Bus Efficiency This reading is a tool used by tech support to help d
24. ing select Shut Down from the Start Menu Shut down menu If you choose restart the installation will not be compete and you will have to repeat this process NOTE Always turn off your monitors or speakers when rebooting Often the speakers will pop during startup causing potential damage O P GE 7 A DIRECT PRO 010 OWNERS MANUAL Q1 FRONT PANEL ANALOG COMBO INPUTS 060000000 The O10 has eight analog inputs located on the front of the interface box An additional S PDIF digital input is located on the back we ll get to that later The inputs are designed to accept either 1 4 line level signals such as the output of mixers synthesizer and drum machine or direct connection of XLR Microphones IMPORTANT Do not connect XLR line level or 1 4 microphones The 1 4 inputs accept both balanced 4dBu and unbalanced 10dBv signals The Q10 control panel allows you to configure each input to accomodate balanced or unbalanced allowing use of balanced and unbalanced gear at the same time The XLR inputs are designed specifically for use with microphones Some line level devices such as mixers or synthesizers have XLR outputs The O10 XLR inputs are not intended for use with these devices and potential damage can occur The XLR inputs will work with any microphone NOTE You may use any combination of 1 4 line level or XLR mic for any of the 8 inputs Each DIRECT PRO 010 input
25. is mono If you want to connect a stereo device such as a synthesizer or CD player you must use two inputs TA Bake 8 C DIRECT PRO 1 4 OWNERS MANUAL Q1 FRONT PANEL ADDITIONAL FEATURES OF SPECIFIC INPUTS 066066 epee Analog inputs 1 4 are equipped to provide 48v phantom power Phantom power is activated by pressing the Phantom button on the front panel Phantom power is used with condensers and other powered microphones If you are not sure your microphone needs phantom power simply try the microphone with and without the phantom enabled A powered microphone will become more responsive while a non powered mic will not be affected There is no risk of damage if a non powered mic is plugged into an XLR jack with phantom power Inputs 1 4 also have independent effects inserts Effects inserts allow outboard effects to be applied to signals that have already gone through our preamp This is especially useful for applying compression limiting or EO to a pre amplified mic prior to it being recorded More on using these inserts later in the manual Inputs 7 and 8 can be used for direct guitar recording By pressing in either one of the Hi Z guitar buttons you enable input 7 and or 8 as a direct guitar input This allows you to connect a guitar bass or other Hi Z sound source without the need for a DI direct box or preamp Armed with Aardvarks exclusive E F R technology these inputs yield
26. it takes for a software synthesizer to respond to an incoming MIDI command such as pressing the key on a controller keyboard Most Software Synthesizers are ASIO compatible so youre likely to encounter 4ms to 12ms latency on a decent machine Some programs use DirectSound instead of ASIO which creates slightly higher latency but is still tolerable QUESTION have a SoundBlaster or similar sound card Can keep this on my computer if install the O 10 ANSWER Yes the 1 will co exist with SoundBlaster and other consumer sound cards po 1 PAGE 36 A DIRECT PRO 010 S OWNERS MANUAL O TROUBLESHOOTING PROBLEM My inputs outputs don t seem to be working SOLUTION With all of the variables involved with audio software and instruments its tough to figure out what is at fault if something is not working correctly Here s a way to test your inputs and outputs simultaneously First go to ROUTING and assign Tone to all the O 10 outputs Next with 1 4 cables plug the Q10 output 1 into input 1 output 2 into input 2 output 3 into input 3 etc Doing this generates a tone from the O10 1 4 outputs that will be picked up by the Q10 inputs You can find out if the inputs see the tone by checking the input meters at the bottom of each input channel If you are short on cables you do not need to test all eight inputs at the same time PROBLEM can t hear an audio CD through the O 10 output
27. l change considerably when Aardvark s WDM drivers become available Check our websaite for updates Go to OPTIONS AUDIO On the GENERAL tab Playback and Record Timing Master should be 5 6 Direct Pro O10 Aux Bus Virtual Mains Sampling rate Audio Driver and File bit Depth can be whatever you prefer Under Mixing latency the default settings should be fine Slowly increase them if Sonar is unstable Lower them if you want to reduce latency The wave profiler is not necessary for Aardvark Hardware On the ADVANCED tab The Data Directory and Picture Directory must be different directories regardless of where they are No Checkmarks in Enable Read Caching or Enable write Caching checkmark should be in Copy and Manage Imported Files checkmark should be in Always use MME interface checkmark in Apply Dither o checkmark in Share Drivers with other programs Play effect tails after stopping can be whatever you prefer On the INPUT MONITORING tab o Aardvark device should be highlighted since we already have zero latency hardware monitoring of inputs On the DRIVERS tab Make sure all your Aardvark Devices are highlighted On the DRIVER PROFILES tab Use the dropdown menu to show the Profile for the Direct Pro There should be no checkmark in Access Driver in Mono There should be a checkmark in Wave Pipe Acceleration Stream 516 bit data should be set to 32 bit PCM left justifie
28. nputs 9 10 In addition you must go to the ADVANCED menu of the O 10 control panel and verify that the Channels 9 10 recording source is set to S PDIF Finally you should make sure that the O10 Source Select is set to S PDIF PROBLEM The 1 sync selection keeps switching to 32kHz SOLUTION This is usually due to Windows attempting to play a 32 kHz system sound through the 10 It s best to simply disable system sounds You can do this by going to START SETTINGS CONTROL PANEL select SOUNDS O y 39 DIRECT PRO O10 OWNERS MANUAL
29. o S PDIF wang an 22 4 DIRECT PRO O10 4 UWNERS MANUAL SOFTWARE 010 CONTROL PANEL ROUTING ROUTING The routing section allows Output Routing you to control what signal is sent to which output on the back of the 1 picture of the O10 outputs is provided with a dropdown menu beneath each output Use the dropdown menu to choose what signal is routed to that output NOTE Whatever is routed to outputs 7 amp 8 will be routed to the S PDIF output as well If Analog Input 1 8 is selected the output will only monitor the incoming signal of the input assigned to it If Playback 1 8 is selected the output will only monitor playback tracks from audio software routed to that playback channel If Monitor L or Monitor R is selected the output will monitor all playback tracks and all inputs If Tone is selected the output will generate a 1khz test tone allowing you to verify your hardware is working IMPORTANT This tone is rather loud avoid nasty surprise Turn down your speaker volume before assigning tone to an output If Silence is selected nothing but digital silence will come out of the output This is useful for system calibration and other diagnostics NOTE Most users will have output L R set to monitor L R This is the output of the Control Panel Mixer and will always be monitoring the 10 physical inputs and the 1O playback channels Additi
30. onally itis common to have Outputs 1 8 assigned to playback 1 8 respectively This directly links these tracks in the recording software to the physical outputs of the O 10 allowing you to send the signals from these outputs to any outboard analog gear for processing or mixing MGA UJ PAGE 23 DIRECT PRO O10 OWNERS MANUAL sor 010 CONTROL PANEL PRESETS The Q10 is very flexible allowing you to have multiple configurations for different situations You can load and save these various configurations by using the Presets menu The Presets menu saves and loads the entire O 10 software configuration including fader levels volume sample rate 10 4 and routing settings It s like taking a screenshot of all your settings so you can save and recall them at a later time When you open a Presets menu either for the entire ng control panel or for a specific effect you have the magisa option to load a saved configuration or save your rreran mar merepi waas current settings To save a preset type a new name in the text box in the upper right click add then close the window To recall a preset double click a name from the box on the left and it should appear on the upper right click recall then close the window SOFTWARE 010 CONTROL PANEL ADVANCED ADVANCED Clicking the Advanced button on the Q10 control panel brings up a menu that provides access to additional
31. or MIDI only Click OK once you have chosen your recording and playback device E 30 DIRECT PRO 4 OWNERS MANUAL PAGE i SOFTWARE CAKEWALK PRO AUDIO 97 QUICKSTART Click the R on your track to arm it for recording To verify that Cakewalk is getting a signal go to VIEW CONSOLE and the Cakewalk mixing console will appear If Cakewalk is receiving signal from your Aardvark card the meters should respond on your armed track If you re getting signal great Hit Record located in the upper right and lay down a track If you want to overdub disarm your first track and repeat the steps above for another track And that s how to get started recording in Cakewalk O pas PAGE L9 DIRECT PRO 010 OWNERS MANUAL po 1 PAGE 32 J DIRECT PRO O10 OWNERS MANUAL Q1 SOFTWARE CAKEWALK SONAR QUICKSTART SETUP INFORMATION FOR ADDITIONAL AUDIO SOFTWARE Here are guides to configuring some of the more common software programs used with the O 10 Don t worry if you re favorite program is not listed here it probably works fine There are a couple of reasons that a program might not be included First there are countless audio software packages available it s tough to cover them all Also many programs integrate with our hardware immediately without requiring any additional setup CAKEWALK SONAR M NOTE The optimal SONAR settings wil
32. r mix accompanied by the convenience of direct recording TA a PAGE 7 10 DIRECT PRO 010 he OWNERS MANUAL Q1 FRONT PAN MONITOR VOLUME KNOB HEADPHONE VOLUME KNOB HEADPHONE JACK The monitor Volume Knob This controls the volume of the Monitor L and Monitor R outputs on the back of the O 10 Allowing you to adjust the monitor levels from the front of the O10 Headphone Volume Knob This controls the volume of the headphone jack Headphone Jack This is where to plug in your headphones We recommend using headphones with an impedance of 160 Ohms or less The headphone jack also comes in handy if the only speakers you have are PC speakers with one 1 8 connection Simply connect a stereo 1 8 to 1 4 adapter and plug the speakers into the headphone jack O PAGE DIRECT PRO 010 OWNERS MANUAL E amp PAGE 12 DIRECT PRO Q10 OWNERS MANUAL J Q1 REAR PANEL ANALOG OUTPUTS The 1 has eight stereo output pairs on the back of the interface box Although these outputs can be used in many ways by tweaking the O10 software Outputs 1 8 are typically used if you want to send tracks to separate outputs allowing you to use a hardware mixer or add external effects O10 REAR PANEL MONITOR OUTPUTS The O 10 also has a monitor output pair on the back of the interface box Although the monitor outputs can be used in many ways Monitor L and Monitor R are
33. s SOLUTION Here s why the O10 does not have a dedicated connection to your CD ROM You can play wav or other audio files off of a CD but one of two things need to be done If you download and use the latest Windows Media Player to play Audio CDs it will automatically convert CD audio into a format that can be played by the Q10 Or you can install an alternate CDFS vxd file in windows This file is available on several websites simply search for alternate cdfs vxd to find a site that provides it It converts CD audio in to wav files in real time allowing the Q10 to play audio CDs in any program that platys wav files It will not work with programs that ONLY play audio CDs PAGE 3 7 DIRECT PRO 010 OWNERS MANUAL Q1 SUPPORT TROUBLESHOOTING PROBLEM can t see the pan controls on the bottom of the O10 control panel SOLUTION You need to increase the screen size your monitor accepts Go to the Windows control panel and select DISPLAY Then select the SETTINGS tab Your SCREEN AREA should be set to 800 x 600 pixels or larger Otherwise you will not be able to see the entire Direct Pro control panel PROBLEM can t load a PRESET SOLUTION Once you have selected the preset you want to load be sure you click RECALL before returning to the O 10 control panel PROBLEM My input meters are responding but don t hear anything from the outputs SOLUTION Be sure the volume knob on the front is up an
34. s but they re fixed and the program runs great E PAGE 34 CJ DIRECT PRO O10 W 4 OWNERS MANUAL SUPPORT FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Presented below are answers to some common questions about the 010 and soundcards in general that may come up Well try to cover as many as possible here QUESTION How many tracks can record with the O 10 ANSWER The amount of tracks you can record with the 1 depends on the audio software you use and how powerful your computer is The only limitation of the O10 is that 10 8 analog and 2 digital tracks can be recorded simultaneously The total number of tracks available depends on a number of factors Bit depth sample rate higher ones mean less tracks installed RAM hard drive speed and processor speed are among the most significant QUESTION Can put multiple Q10 units in the same computer or can use the O10 with another Aardvark card ANSWER Up to four 4 Aardvark products Q10 or otherwise can be used in the same computer In order for them to be synchronized you must choose one of the cards as the master and the other cards as slaves Use the WC 1 0 on the Q10 to lock multiple units together QUESTION When have multiple cards on the same system how does the Aardvark control panel recognize them ANSWER Each card has its own control panel When multiple 105 or other Aardvark cards are on the same system a card select menu will be available in
35. set to S PDIF otherwise unwanted digital noise will occur You can designate what comes from this output in the O 10 Routing menu However S PDIF is not listed as a choice in Routing Instead the S PDIF output will carry the same signal as Analog outputs 7 amp 8 NOTE The S PDIF output is changeable in the Control Panel Patchbay It is always the same as Analog Outputs 7 8 O PAGE 13 A DIRECT PRO Q10 OWNERS MANUAL T Q10 REAR PANEL tA MIDI INPUTS AND OUTPUTS a The MIDI inputs and outputs are provided for interfacing with other MIDI products and producing MIDI time code MTC These are standard MIDI ports that will be recognized by any MIDI software Don t look for any MIDI controls in the O 10 s software these MIDI ports our controlled by whatever audio software you choose to use NOTE The 010 does not have a built in synthesizer These ports can be used to trigger MIDI sounds in a separate sound module but the ports themselves do not create sound in any way 010 REAR PANEL WORD CLOCK 1 0 l s s Bake 14 C DIRECT PRO O10 OWNERS MANUAL This allows the O 10 to send or receive clock from other word clock enabled devices Word clock is used to synchronize the clocks of multiple digital devices so they all share the same sample rate Because word clock deals with synchronization a common misconception is that word clock is used to synchronize the transports of devices
36. st recording studios sound even better We ve incorporated that expertise into the new Direct Pro Series to give you all the quality of a professional studio at a fraction of the cost Our premium sound quality and user friendly features will change the way you make music and will give you the easy to use professional studio you ve always wanted We know you ll enjoy being a part of the Direct Pro Series revolution THE 1 REVOLUTION The powerful Q10 is the pinnacle of the Direct Pro Series and brings a fresh new approach to computer recording Its unique 8 XLR mic inputs and mixer like monitoring features allow you to professionally record 10 channels direct to disk without needing a mixer Even if you don t need all 8 mic preamps at once the flexible XLR 1 4 connectors can be cleverly used as 1 4 line inputs This allows studios with analog mixers to easily take advantage of Aardvark s legendary low jitter clocks and premium A D converters for enhanced stereo imaging and sonic clarity As an added bonus for guitarists we added 2 warm sounding proprietary E F R M guitar preamps With the Q10 Aardvark continues to break down the barriers of traditional audio interfaces It will elegantly integrate your audio software with your studio and dramatically expand the capabilities of your workstation O Cy PAGE pr 1 DIRECT PRO 1 OWNERS MANUAL Q1 BOX CONTENTS WHAT S INCLUDED SiG FOR Bide eee TT
37. tallation in the next section O10 DRIVER INSTALLATION WINDOWS 95 SOFTWARE SETUP 5 Once Windows has finished loading the Direct Pro 1 Control Panel installation program may appear automatically If not go to My Computer find your CD ROM arive and click the setup exe icon LL edel comique Ord Pes Parr Fu Hara kuma mum acm mum Veniam 2 Y ta 6 Click Next when you see the welcome screen Du DD xe 7 Setup will allow you to select the Destination Select Nrectary Directory Otherwise it will put the Direct Pro O10 software and drivers in the C Program Files Aark edd manager directory If you would like the files i inan ES aae elsewhere simply type the new destination or select Viene Won oti rg meii s D Fel rund ta EN Browse to put the files in another directory Crewe 8 Click the Next button to continue The Ready to Eu Leer emm Install Dialog should now appear Click Next again to begin installation 7 _ 9 When the installation is complete a new folder for the Direct Pro O 10 Control Panel application will reside in the destination directory and a shortcut will automatically appear on the desktop for easy access 10 You must now turn your computer off for the changes to take place Instead of restarting select
38. ting the Direct Pro Q 10 interface box near your computer or TV screen This may cause interference and degrade the quality of the audio Keep analog cables connected to the Direct Pro 10 away from power cords and monitors Reconnect the computer s power supply then turn on the computer The Direct Pro O 10 system is completely powered by your computer Because of this you must never detach the shielded interface cable without first turning off the computer otherwise damage will occur eB PAGE 3 DIRECT PRO O10 OWNERS MANUAL 1 DRIVER INSTALLATION WINDOWS 95 HARDWARE SETUP 1 When Windows restarts it will automatically detect the card you installed Since it is a PCI card it will identify itself as a Plug and Play device Windows will indicate detecting the hardware with these dialogs 2 Insert the Driver CD ROM packaged with the Direct Pro Q10 and click Next The Following dialog should appear 3 Click Next Windows may now ask for the location of the drivers If this is the case specify the CD ROM drive usually D Otherwise simply click Next again Windows will copy the files from the Direct Pro 1 CD ROM 4 When the files have been copied Windows will ask to restart the computer This is because the files just installed will not take effect until the next time Windows is loaded Click NO since you will restart the computer after completing the Direct Pro Q10 software ins
39. your control panel software to select which control panel you want to configure QUESTION Can potentially damage non powered microphones by using the phantom power ANSWER Your microphones will not be damaged Phantom power is designed to go to only microphones that need it OUESTION Is the Direct Pro O10 full duplex can it record audio while playing previously recorded tracks back ANSWER Yes the Direct Pro O10 is a full duplex device el PAGE 3 5 DIRECT PRO 010 OWNERS MANUAL SUPPORT FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS QUESTION What is the Latency of the Direct Pro 1 ANSWER This is not as simple a question as it seems There are different types of latency that can occur on a system and latency itself can vary a great deal depending on what audio software is used and how powerful the computer is Here is a simple breakdown of the different latencies you need to be concerned with Monitoring Latency This is the ability to listen to the incoming signal through the outputs of the O10 and overdub tracks so they are in sync with one another The Q10 provides zero Monitoring latency Mixing Latency Mixing latency refers to how long it takes for audio software to respond to commands such as volume changes and transport controls In ASIO programs such as Cubase it can get as low as 4ms Non ASIO programs may experience anywhere from 5O to 300ms latency SoftSynth Latency This refers to the time
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search