SoundCraft DAKOTA 328 User manual

Setup Guide
Setup GuideSetup Guide
Setup Guide
V 2.0
Revised: 04-12-00

Dakota Setup Guide
1
Contents
1
11
1 Connecting The System 2
2
22
2 Digital 328 Setup 4
3
33
3 Dakota Setup 7
4
44
4 Using The Dakota With The 328 14
Digital 328 v2 and Frontier
Digital 328 v2 and FrontierDigital 328 v2 and Frontier
Digital 328 v2 and Frontier
Design Group Dakota Setup Guide
Design Group Dakota Setup GuideDesign Group Dakota Setup Guide
Design Group Dakota Setup Guide

Spirit Digital 328 v2
2
Audio connections should be made as shown in the diagram below. Toslink optical cables must
be connected both from ADAT Out port A of the Dakota card to the ADAT In port A of the 328
and vice versa, and from ADAT Out port B of the Dakota card to the ADAT In port B of the 328
and vice versa. 75ΩCoaxial digital S/PDIF cables must also be connected from the Dakota
S/PDIF output to the 328 S/PDIF input and vice versa.
In this configuration, the ADAT connections allow digital transfer of either direct outputs from the
328’s input channels 1-8 to the Dakota card, or the 328’s 8 Group outputs. The S/PDIF output
from the console can be assigned to either the Mix output or to 1 of 3 stereo auxiliary outputs
(Aux 1/2, Aux 3/4, FX 1/2, Groups 1-8 and Control Room). The 328 S/PDIF Input can be
configured as a digital Stereo Input or as a digital 2 Track Return.
Connecting The System
Connecting The SystemConnecting The System
Connecting The System
1
Audio Connections
Audio ConnectionsAudio Connections
Audio Connections
328 ADAT Out A ÎDakota ADAT In A
Dakota ADAT Out A Î328 ADAT In A
Dakota S/PDIF Out Î328 S/PDIF In
328 S
/
PDIF Out ÎDakota S
/
PDIF In
328 ADAT Out B ÎDakota ADAT In B
Dakota ADAT Out B Î328 ADAT In B

Dakota Setup Guide
3
You may also wish to connect the 328 to the Dakota card via MIDI to allow MIDI
automation/System Exclusive dumps from the 328 to be recorded and played back from your PC.
If you wish to connect the 328 to the Dakota card via MIDI, the following connections must be
made:
Other Connections
Other ConnectionsOther Connections
Other Connections
Dakota MIDI Out 1 Î328 MIDI In
328 MIDI Out ÎDakota MIDI In 1
Either Dakota MIDI port 1 or MIDI port 2 can be used. It would be wise
to use the same number Dakota MIDI port for 328 connection.
NOTE

Spirit Digital 328 v2
4
The Dakota card and the 328 (plus any other devices in the studio setup) must have their
internal clocks synchronized to allow correct transmission and reception of digital information
throughout the system. This is achieved by configuring one of the devices as a wordclock master,
and configuring all other devices in the studio setup to slave to this wordclock, hence
synchronizing all clocks in the studio setup.
In this case, the 328 will be set to wordclock master, and the Dakota will be set to slave to the
328, via the Dakota S/PDIF input. Any other devices interfacing digitally with the 328 within the
studio setup will also be configured to slave to the 328’s wordclock.
To configure the Digital 328 as the wordclock master, enter the 328’s Main Menu page by
pressing the <MENU> button to the right hand side of the LCD display. Using the rotary
encoder beneath the display, scroll up or down until the ‘Clock Source Sel’ menu is highlighted,
and press <ENTER>. Here, either ‘Internal 44.1kHz’ or ‘Internal 48kHz’ clock must be selected
for the 328 to function as wordclock master. Set this to the samplerate you wish to work at then
press <ENTER> to confirm the samplerate setting.
To ensure that the Digital 328 Tape Ports are configured to ‘ADAT’ to work with the Dakota,
enter the 328 Menu pages by pressing the <MENU> button to the right hand side of the LCD
display. Using the rotary encoder beneath the display, scroll up or down until the ‘Tape Port
Select’ menu is highlighted and press <ENTER>.
Now repeatedly press the Up cursor arrow until the ‘<Tape Ch17-24 >’ menu page is displayed.
Using the rotary encoder set the ‘Bank Source’ to ‘ADAT’:
Now press the Down cursor arrow once, to set the wordlength. The Dakota is capable of 24 bit
recording, and so for optimum results, 24 bit wordlength can be selected here. If your sequencer
supports 16 or 20 bit resolution, make this setting here – Check your sequencer manual for more
information.
Tape Ports
Tape PortsTape Ports
Tape Ports
<Wordclock Src.>
Internal:44.1kHz
<Wordclock Src.>
Internal:48.0kHz
or
<T
ape
Ch17
-
>24
>
Bank Source:ADAT
2Digital 328 Setup
Digital 328 SetupDigital 328 Setup
Digital 328 Setup
Wordclock information is automatically embedded into the S/PDIF data
stream output by the 328, allowing the Dakota to slave to the 328’s
S/PDIF output, providing clock synchronization between the 328 and
the Dakota.
NOTE

Dakota Setup Guide
5
Set the desired wordlength on the 328 with the rotary encoder.
Press the down cursor to set the port for 328 ADAT port B, as for port A, and again to set the
wordlength for port B. Press <ENTER> to confirm the settings.
The 328 S/PDIF input can be routed to any one of the following inputs:
Stereo Input 1, Stereo Input 2, FX Return 1, FX Return 2, 2 Track Tape Return,
providing that the AES/EBU input or oscillator has not already been assigned to that input.
Commonly the Dakota S/PDIF output would be routed to Stereo Input 2, or the 2 Track Tape
Return input.
Press <MENU> to enter the menu pages, scroll through the pages until the ‘SPDIF I/P Setup’ is
highlighted and press <ENTER>. Using the rotary encoder, select the destination for the
S/PDIF input, and press <ENTER> to confirm the setting:
<
SPDIF
I
npu
t
>
R
oute To: STE-1
<
SPDIF
I
npu
t
>
R
oute To: FX-1
<
SPDIF
I
npu
t
>
R
oute To: 2TRK
<
SPDIF
I
npu
t
>
R
oute To:NOWHERE
<T
ape
Ch17
-
>24
>
Wordlen
g
th: 24
S/PDIF Input
S/PDIF InputS/PDIF Input
S/PDIF Input
<Tape Ch25->32 >
Bank Source:ADAT <Tape Ch25->32 >
Wordlen
g
th: 24
Assigning a digital source to an input will override any analogue signal
present on that input.
NOTE
If the S/PDIF input is not required, NOWHERE should be selected in the
menu.
NOTE

Spirit Digital 328 v2
6
On the 328, the stereo S/PDIF output can be sourced from any of the following busses:
Mix L/R, Aux 1/2, Aux 3/4, FX1/2
This will usually be set to ‘Mix’, to allow a stereo mixdown to be recorded directly into the Dakota
on the playback of a composition.
As the Dakota is a full duplex device, it is possible to playback a composition consisting of all 8
ADAT tracks + 1 Stereo S/PDIF track from the Dakota, recording the mixed signal from the 328
back into the Dakota S/PDIF input as a stereo mixdown.
Press <MENU> to enter the menu pages, scroll through the pages until the ‘SPDIF O/P Setup’ is
highlighted and press <ENTER>. Using the rotary encoder, select the source for the S/PDIF
output
The wordlength of the S/PDIF output must now be set. Press the down cursor to access the
S/PDIF output wordlength setting. Here, the desired wordlength can be set to 16, 20 or 24 bit.
S/PDIF Output
S/PDIF OutputS/PDIF Output
S/PDIF Output
<
SPDIF
O
u
t
pu
t
>
Src From: MIX
<
SPDIF
O
u
t
pu
t
>
Src From: AUX1/2
<
SPDIF
O
u
t
pu
t
>
Src From: FX1/2
<
SPDIF
O
u
t
pu
t
>
Src From: GRP1/2
< SPDIF Output >
Src From: CRM
If the S/PDIF output is not required, NOWHERE should be selected in
the menu. In this case, wordclock will still be transmitted through the
S/PDIF output of the 328, even though no audio signal is being
transmitted.
NOTE
If using the Dakota as an ASIO device, it is important here that the
wordlength set here is the same as the 328 Tape Port wordlength (See
‘Tape Port’ section earlier in this chapter).
NOTE

Dakota Setup Guide
7
The Dakota must be set up to receive the wordclock transmitted by the 328 (via the 328’s S/PDIF
output).
Open the Dakota Control Panel, accessed by double clicking the Dakota icon on the Windows
Taskbar:
Click on the ‘Clock/Device Status’ tab. The following window should open:
Wordclock & S/PDIF Input
Wordclock & S/PDIF InputWordclock & S/PDIF Input
Wordclock & S/PDIF Input
3
Dakota Setup
Dakota SetupDakota Setup
Dakota Setup

Spirit Digital 328 v2
8
Firstly, the Dakota clock source must be set to slave its internal clock to the incoming S/PDIF
wordclock (outputted from the 328). Set ‘Clock Source’ to Dig In: ‘S/PDIF’:
Now the samplerate must be set. In the ‘Sample Rate’ section, select the samplerate you wish to
work at. This should match the samplerate of the internal clock on the 328, which was configured
in section 2 of this Setup Guide:
Alternatively, the Dakota will also successfully clock to either ADAT
output of the 328. The Dakota could also be set as wordclock master,
and the 328 can slave to the Dakota via the S/PDIF connection.
However, the recommended configuration is with the 328 as wordclock
master, with the Dakota slaving via S/PDIF, as outlined in this Setup
Guide.
NOTE

Dakota Setup Guide
9
On the Dakota, the stereo device ‘S 1:2’ (S/PDIF format) can be sourced from any physical input.
In this configuration, it must be set to source from the Dakota coaxial S/PDIF input. With the
‘S 1:2’ input set to ‘Coax’, the Dakota receives the S/PDIF stream from the 328, enabling the
Dakota to slave to the 328 via S/PDIF, and also allows the 328 to send S/PDIF stereo data back
to the Dakota.
To make this setting, select ‘Coax’ from the ‘S 1:2’ pull-down menu.
You can force Windows applications to only playback at the chosen
samplerate by ticking the ‘Lock’ tick box in the ‘Sample Rate’ section.
NOTE