Digigram LX-MADI User manual

LX-MADI
User Manual v1.4 Nov 2016
LX-MADI
Multichannel MADI PCI Express Sound Card
User Manual
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LX-MADI
User Manual v1.4 Nov 2016
Table of contents
1 INFORMATION FOR THE USER
2 IMPORTANT NOTICE
3 FEATURES
Main hardware features
3.2 Main software features
3.3 MADI features
4 REQUIREMENTS
4.1 Minimum hardware requirements
Software requirements
Supported operating systems
5 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION UNDER WINDOWS
5.1 Installation under Windows operating systems
5.2 Microsoft volume mixer panel
5.3 ASIO driver configuration
6 HOW TO CHECK THE INSTALLATION UNDER WINDOWS
7 UNINSTALLING THE DRIVERS UNDER WINDOWS
8 SPECIFICATIONS
8.1 Configuration
8.2 Inputs/Outputs
8.3 Connectors
8.4 Development environments
9 APPENDIX
9.1 LX-IP schematic diagram
9.2 Connectors
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LX-MADI
User Manual v1.4 Nov 2016
1 INFORMATION FOR THE USER
This device complies with part 15 of FCC rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause
harmful interference, and (2) This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired
operation.
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a CLASS B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC
Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This
equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the
instructions contained in this data sheet, may cause harmful interference to radio and television communications. However, there is
no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation.
If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment
off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:
● reorient or relocate the receiving antenna
● increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver
● connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that of the receiver
● consult the dealer or an experienced radio / television technician.
Note: Connecting   this   device   to   peripheral   devices   that   do   not   comply   with   CLASS   B requirements   or   using   an   unshielded
peripheral   data   cable   could   also   result   in harmful   interference   to   radio   or   television   reception.
To   ensure   that   the   use   of   this   product   does   not   contribute   to   interference,   it   is   necessary   to   use   shielded   I/O   cables.
The   user   is   cautioned   that   any   changes   or   modifications   not   expressly   approved   by   Digigram   could   void   the   user’s
authority   to   operate   this   equipment.
Warning:
Electrostatic discharge (ESD) can damage several components on the board. To
avoid   such   damage   in   handling   the   board,   take   the   following   precautions:
Bring the device and everything that contacts it to ground potential by providing
a conductive surface and discharge paths. As a minimum, observe these
precautions:
●Disconnect   all   power   and   signal   sources.
●Place   the   device   on   a   grounded   conductive   work   surface.
●Ground   yourself   via   a   grounding   wrist   strap   or   by   holding   a
grounded   object.
●Ground   any   tool   that   will   contact   the   device.
2 IMPORTANT NOTICE
This card has been tested and found to comply with the following standards:
●International: CISPR22 Class B.
●Europe: EMC 89/336/CEE (1992) specifications.
●United States: FCC Rules-Part 15-Class B (digital device).
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LX-MADI
User Manual v1.4 Nov 2016
3 FEATURES
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Main hardware features
●PCI EXPRESSTM x1 (PCIe®) bus, compatible with PCIe® x1, x4, x8 or x16 slots.
●1 optical connector for MADI I/O
●1 BNC connector for WordClock In or Out
●Sampling frequency:
From internal clock: 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz and 96 kHz
From MADI: 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz and 96 kHz
From Word Clock: 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz and 96 kHz
3.2 Main software features
●Low latency WDM DirectSound, ASIO, and Linux Alsa drivers.
●Card can be used through the following programming interfaces (APIs): DirectSound kernel streaming,
DirectSound, WASAPI, ASIO, Alsa.
●32 stereo DirectSound playback devices / 32 stereo DirectSound recording devices  up to 48 kHz.
16 stereo DirectSound playback devices / 16 stereo DirectSound recording devices  at 88.2 kHz and 96 kHz.
●32 stereo ASIO playback channels / 32 stereo ASIO recording channels up to 48 kHz.
16 stereo ASIO playback devices / 16 stereo ASIO recording devices  at 88.2 kHz and 96 kHz.
●64 mono Alsa playback channels/ 64 mono Alsa recording channels up to 48 kHz.
32 stereo Alsa playback devices / 32 stereo Alsa recording devices  at 88.2 kHz and 96 kHz.
●Real-time, simultaneous record and playback in PCM (16 and 24 bits) of 64 mono I/O channels
3.3 MADI features
●Support of 64 channels mode in the NFS range (Normal Frequency Sampling): 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz
●Support of 32 channels mode in DFS range (Dual Frequency Sampling): 88.2 kHz and 96 kHz sampling
frequency
●Synchronization on the MADI stream
Note about DFS mode
When running at dual sampling frequencies (88.2 kHz and 96 kHz), LX-MADI works in the High Speed mode. High
Speed mode means that the MADI-embedded reference signal has a frequency of 88.2kHz to 96kHz.
SMUX2 mode is not supported (in SMUX2 mode, the frequency is 44.1kHz to 48kHz).
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LX-MADI
User Manual v1.4 Nov 2016
4 REQUIREMENTS
4.1 Minimum hardware requirements
●PC with one free PCI Express slot (x1, x2, x4, x8, x16).
●Required CPU power and memory depend on the operating system and on the software applications used.
●Multi-mode optical fiber
●If necessary, cable with BNC connector for the WordClock input or output

Software requirements
LX-MADI requires installation of the drivers included in the LXMADI-Kit. This kit includes:
●a WDM DirectSound driver
●an ASIO driver, which installation is optional

Supported operating systems
LX-MADI runs under Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 2008 Server, 32-bit and 64-bit versions, and
Windows Server 2012, and Linux.
5 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION UNDER
WINDOWS
The installation of the software requires administrator rights on your computer.
Please visit the Digigram web site at www.digigram.com for the most recent driver.
In case you run a specific application developed or installed by a Digigram Partner, this application might require the
use of a given driver version. In this case, make sure that the updated driver has been approved by your supplier.
5.1 Installation under Windows operating systems
●Shut down your computer, insert the LX-IP card in a free PCI EXPRESSTM slot, and screw it on the frame of the
computer.
●Start the computer.
●Once the Windows session is opened, click on “Cancel” when the “Found New Hardware” Wizard appears.
●Double-click on the LXMADI-Kit   vxx.msi   icon to launch the driver installation.
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LX-MADI
User Manual v1.4 Nov 2016
A “Welcome” message is displayed, click Next   to continue.
The “License Agreement” window appears: read it, and
select
“I accept the terms in the license agreement” to
approve it.
Click Next  .
In the “Custom Setup  ” window, the “Drivers for the LX
board” are displayed.
The WDM driver is always installed.
The ASIO driver installation is optional and can be
selected/unselected. It is selected by default.
Click Next  .
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LX-MADI
User Manual v1.4 Nov 2016
In the “Ready to Install the Program”  window, click on
Install   to start copying the files.
A Windows message may appear asking for the
authorization to install the driver. Confirm the installation.
Once the driver files have been copied to your disk and the
driver has been started, the firmware version of the
LX-MADI card is compared with the firmware version
included in the driver package.
If the firmware of your card requires an update, the
firmware update application starts. You are then prompted
to continue the firmware update.
The update is recommended so that the driver runs with
the appropriate firmware version for optimal performance.
Press ‘Ok’ to continue the firmware update procedure.
The update MUST IN NO CASE BE INTERRUPTED. If
you do so, the card may have to be returned to our After
Sales Service.
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LX-MADI
User Manual v1.4 Nov 2016
The LX-MADI control panel window is displayed during the
driver installation process so that you can configure its
parameters.
Clock settings
●Sample rate:  Sampling frequency value of the internal
clock. In case the clock source is MADI or WordClock,
make sure the selected frequency value matches the
frequency of the external clock (see section Board
Status)
●Clock source:priority 1: Select the clock source that is
to be used in top priority (MADI, Wordclock, internal). If
an external clock is selected (MADI or Wordclock),
another clock source can be defined on a lower priority.
●Clock Source: priority 2  : Select the clock source that is
to be used if the clock defined on the first priority fails
or is not defined.
●Clock Source: priority 3  : Select the clock source that is
to be used if the clock defined on priorities 1 and 2 are
both in failure or not defined.
The following bullet point is displayed in front of the clock
that is in use .
The switching between the clock source priorities is
automatic.
●Word Clock Dir : Allows selecting the direction of the
Word Clock BNC connector. If Word Clock is selected
in a clock source priority, Word Clock Dir is
automatically set to IN; the Word Clock signal received
from this input is decoded and filtered by LX-MADI in
order to synchronize the MADI receiver and transmitter
clock.
Select OUT so that the LX-MADI generates a Word
Clock signal synchronous of the LX-MADI clock source.
Options
●Channel   Mode  : channel mode of the MADI output.
64 / 32 channels or 56/28 channels (at 44.1 & 48 kHz /
88.2 & 96 kHz)
Note that LX-MADI card works at “High Speed” mode
at 88.2 kHz and 96 kHz. “SMUX2” mode is not
supported.
Board Status
This section displays information reported from the card.
●Current clock  : displays the current clock source and its
frequency.
●Word clock  : displays the direction of the Word clock
signal and its sampling frequency.
●MADI   In  : displays the status of the MADI connection.
Locked/Unlocked: means that valid MADI frames are
detected
Frequency: displays the sampling frequency detected
on the MADI input.
Note: parameters displayed in red mean there is a
mismatch between the requested value and the detected
value/status
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Click on “OK” to confirm the parameters.
From the displayed “Digigram drivers” window, you can
select the Stream granularity of the card (number of
1
samples processed at a time). The lower the granularity,
the lower the audio latency. Default value is 32 samples.
When using DirectSound/Wasapi based software
applications, the selection of a lower value may produce
audio dropouts, depending on the PC configuration.
When using the card, if audio dropouts are experienced, it
may be necessary to increase the granularity.
Granularity can be: 8, 16, 32, or 64 samples.
Note: Button “Audio Card Settings” allows displaying the
LX-MADI control panel
Click on Ok  .
Click on the Finish button of the next window to complete
the driver installation.
1
  The   granularity   corresponds   to   the   computing   unit   of   the   card.   It   is   expressed   in   samples.
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Once the driver is installed, the 32 stereo DirectSound
devices are visible from the Windows “Sound” control
panel, by clicking on the “Playback” tab, and “Recording”
tab.
The VU meters are displayed in front of each device.
Note that depending on the Windows flavour, the
DirectSound devices may be displayed disordered.
5.2 Microsoft volume mixer panel
The Windows volume mixer can be displayed from the loudspeaker icon in the Wiindows task bar.
The volume slider associated to the LX-MADI
DirectSound device applies a digital gain to the audio
samples sent to the card.
In case some applications use the device, they appear
in the “Applications” section of the Volume Mixer GUI,
with a volume slider for each application.
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The volume slider associated to an application allows
applying a digital gain to the audio samples played by
the application, right before the Windows DirectSound
mixer.
The volume slider associated to the LX DirectSound
device applies a digital gain to the audio samples
coming from the DirectSound mixer, before they are
sent to the card.

5.3 ASIO driver configuration
To use the card through an ASIO based application, make sure the ASIO driver option has been checked during the
installation, as describe above. installed, the card’s settings can be adjusted through its ASIO control panel. This
panel can started from <Start>, <Programs>, <Digigram>, <Digigram ASIO MADI Settings>.
It can also be launched directly from the ASIO software applications, as most of them feature a “Preferences” or
equivalent  menu allowing to configure the ASIO devices to be used.
For help on how to use this control panel, please refer to its online help.
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Buffer size
The buffer size determines the size in samples per buffer used by the Asio driver to transfer audio data from/to the
board's Input/Output. The lower the buffer size, the lower the latency.
The range of the buffer size settings depends on the stream granularity defined in the Digigram Control Center.
You can access this parameter by clicking on the "Change   DSP   granularity  " button.
Note that, audio dropouts may be experienced  when using very small buffer size.
It is possible to check if audio dropouts are experienced. First of all start the ASIO based. Allocate the ASIO channels
in this application.  Open this ASIO control panel, and click on the “Test” button.
Click on “Launch test” to start the test. Errors are listed in the window. Stop the test by clicking on “Stop test”.
In case errors are reported, buffer size has to be increased.
Select Activated IO
Clicking on this button allows selecting the channels that are managed by the ASIO driver. By default, all the
channels are enabled.
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6 HOW TO CHECK THE INSTALLATION UNDER WINDOWS
Once the card and the driver are installed according to the procedure described here-beforel, you can check that the
card works correctly as follows.
Start the “Digigram Control Center” panel from the
menu <Start><Programs><Digigram>.
The “General Information” tab lists all the Digigram
driver packages installed on the computer, and their
versions.
The LX-MADI tab displays information about the
LX-MADI cards installed in the computer: card type,
serial number.
If the card is listed in the LX-MADI tab, the driver is
correctly installed and it has found the card.
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You can check that the card plays audio by selecting
the “Diagnostics” tab.
The icon of the installed card is displayed.
Right click on the card icon, and select “Play sine (all
channels)”.
This plays in loop a sine signal on all the outputs of the
card.
The VU meters on the right should indicate a 0dB level.
To stop the playback, right click on the card icon, and
select “stop”.
The presence of the playout DirectSound devices can
be checked from the Windows “Sound” control panel, in
the “Playback” Tab.
Under Windows Seven and 8, the name of a device can
be modified by right clicking on its name and selecting
“Properties”.
The presence of the recording DirectSound devices can
be checked from the Windows “Sound” control panel, in
the “Record” Tab.
Under Windows Seven and 8, the name of a device can
be modified by right clicking on its name, and selecting
“Properties”.
Installation troubleshooting
If the LX-MADI card is not listed in the LX-MADI tab
● Please check from the Windows Device Manager if the card is detected by the operating system.
● Right click on the icon “My computer” (from the Desktop, or from the Windows file browser).
● Select “Manage”, and “Device Manager”.
● The LX-MADI card should be listed in the “Sound, video and game controller” section.
● If there is an exclamation mark in front of the card, this means that the driver is not installed correctly.
Remove the LX-MADI Kit driver from the Windows Control Panel, Add/Remove programs, and install it
again.
● If it is not listed, check in the “Other devices” section of  the “device Manager”.
If the card is not listed at all in the “Device Manager”, proceed as follows:
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● Shut down the computer and remove the LX-MADI card.
Please be careful with electrostatic discharge when handling the card (read   section   “Information   for   the   user”
of   this   document   for   more   information)  .
● Make sure the golden tracks of the LX-MADI card PCI Express interface are clean; if not, you may use a dry
rag to clean them.
● If there is another free PCI Express slot, insert the card in it, and power on the computer.
● Check again if the card is detected as described above.
● If the card is not detected in any PCI Express slot of this computer, you may try it in another computer.
● If the card is not detected, please contact your card supplier.

7 UNINSTALLING THE DRIVERS UNDER WINDOWS
●Open the Windows Control Panel and double-click on the Programs and Features icon.
●Select “Digigram   LXMADI   Kit   …”  , and Change/Remove.
●Select Uninstall.
●Follow the instructions to finish removing the driver.
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LX-MADI
User Manual v1.4 Nov 2016
8 SPECIFICATIONS
8.1 Configuration
Bus/Format
PCI EXPRESSTM (PCIe®) x1
(x2, x4, x8, x16 compatible)
Size
169 mm x  99 mm x 20 mm
Power requirements
(+3.3 V / +12 V)
0.4 A / 0.12 A
Operating:
temp / humidity
(non-condensing)
0°C / +50°C • 5% / 90%
Storage: temp / humidity
(non-condensing)
-5°C / +70°C • 0% / 95%
8.2 Inputs/Outputs
MADI
64  I/O (Mono) at 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz
32  I/O (Mono) at  88.2 kHz or 96 kHz, High Speed mode
Optical fiber to be used: multi-mode
External synchronization
MADI input stream
Word clock
Clock sources and
sampling frequencies
Internal clock: 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz
Word Clock:  44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz and 96 kHz
MADI: 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz and 96 kHz
8.3 Connectors
MADI I/O
1 optical connector for MADI I/O
Word Clock IN or OUT
BNC
8.4 Development environments
Audio devices
Up to 64/64 simultaneous Record/Play (Mono) channels to/from PC
Latency
Round trip time down to 1.8 ms
Management
Windows: WDM Kernel Streaming, DirectSound, WASAPI, ASIO,
Linux: Alsa
Supported operating
systems
Windows 7 / Windows 8 / Windows 10 / Windows 2008 Server & 2012 Server
(32-bit and 64-bit versions)
Linux
16

LX-MADI
User Manual v1.4 Nov 2016
9 APPENDIX
9.1 LX-IP schematic diagram

 
17

LX-MADI
User Manual v1.4 Nov 2016
9.2 Connectors
●Optical fiber: MADI in and MADI out
●BNC 75: WordClock in or out (set by software)
Hardware selection through a jumper of the impedance: 75 Ohms or High
impedance.
High impedance:  
75 Ohms:
18

LX-MADI
User Manual v1.4 Nov 2016
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No portion of this manual may be reproduced without prior written consent from Digigram. The copyright protection claimed here includes photocopying, translation and/or reformatting of the
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Digigram S.A.
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60 Albert Street - #19-11OG Albert Complex Singapore 189969, Singapore
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