TerraTec PHASE 88 Rack User manual

TERRATEC PRODUCER/PHASE 88
English Manual
Version 1.0, last revised: Oktober 2003

CE Declaration
We:
TerraTec Electronic GmbH, Herrenpfad 38, D-41334 Nettetal, Germany
hereby declare that the product:
PHASE 88,
to which this declaration refers is in compliance with the following standards or
standardizing documents:
EN 50013, EN 50022, EN 60065
The following are the stipulated operating and environmental conditions for said
compliance:
residential, business and commercial environments and small-company environments.
This declaration is based on:
Test report(s) of the EMC testing laboratory
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and shall not be deemed as a
warranty by the seller. No warranties, express or implied, are made with regard to the quality,
suitability or accuracy of this document. The manufacturer reserves the right to change the contents
of this document and/or the associated products at any time without the provision of prior notice to
specific persons or organizations. The manufacturer shall not be held liable for damages of any
kind arising from the use, or the inability to use this product or its documentation, even if the
possibility of such damage is known. The information in this document is subject to copyright. All
rights are reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or for any
purpose without the express written permission of the copyright holders. Product and brand names
contained in this document are used for identification purposes only. All registered trademarks,
product designations or brand names used in this document are the registered property of their
respective owners.
©TerraTec®Electronic GmbH, 1994-2003. All rights reserved (17.10.03).
2 PHASE 88 (English)

Contents
Welcome!........................................................................................................................5
From unpacking the PHASE 88 to installing it. ................................................................ 7
Scope of delivery. ........................................................................................................ 7
The setup - Short and simple for busy professionals. .................................................. 8
Notes for Windows users: ........................................................................................ 8
Notes for Macintosh users:....................................................................................... 8
Structure of the PHASE 88 PCI card. ........................................................................ 10
PHASE 88 breakout box ............................................................................................ 11
Installation of the PHASE PCI card - step by step. .................................................... 12
Driver installation in Windows. ................................................................................... 14
Driver installation under Windows 98 SE................................................................ 14
Driver installation under Windows Me. ................................................................... 15
Installation under Windows 2000............................................................................ 15
Installation under Windows XP............................................................................... 16
Driver installation for Macintosh OS X. ...................................................................... 18
The connections of the PHASE 88 audio system. ......................................................... 19
Analog outputs........................................................................................................... 19
Analog inputs............................................................................................................. 20
Digital interface (S/PDIF, RAW, AC3)........................................................................ 21
MIDI interface. ........................................................................................................... 22
The drives (Windows operating system)........................................................................ 23
The Wave driver. ....................................................................................................... 23
The ASIO driver......................................................................................................... 23
The GSIF driver. ........................................................................................................ 24
The MIDI driver. ......................................................................................................... 24
In detail - special properties of the drivers. ................................................................ 25
32-bit data transfer................................................................................................. 25
DirectSound & WDM. ............................................................................................. 25
WDM sample rate (SR) interpolation...................................................................... 26
WDM kernel streaming........................................................................................... 26
PHASE 88 (English) 3

The MAC OS X drivers. .................................................................................................27
The Control Panel..........................................................................................................28
Analog Inputs .............................................................................................................29
Digital Mixer. ..............................................................................................................30
Settings. .....................................................................................................................31
The About page. ........................................................................................................34
The PHASE 88 Control Panel in the Windows taskbar...............................................35
Managing scenes and cascaded cards (Windows only). ............................................36
ASIO Control Panel (Windows only)...........................................................................36
GSIF/ASIO multi-client............................................................................................37
Card(s) used for ASIO. ...........................................................................................37
Colors (Windows only). ..............................................................................................37
Additional tips on using the Control Panel. .................................................................38
Cascading and internal synchronization.........................................................................39
Tips, tricks & things worth knowing................................................................................41
Multiple audio cards in a single system. .....................................................................41
About IRQs and other interrupts.................................................................................42
Always with the beat - digital synchronization.............................................................45
Dolby AC3 and DTS. ..................................................................................................46
Useful information about digital cables (optical waveguides and AES/EBU)...............46
Appendix A - Technical Data .........................................................................................47
4 PHASE 88 (English)

Welcome!
We are pleased that you have chosen a TerraTec Producer Audio Interface for your
musical endeavors and would like to congratulate you on your decision. With the PHASE
88 Audio System, you've purchased a sophisticated product representing the state of the
art of studio technology - and we're convinced this innovative development will prove
extremely useful to you in the coming years and, above all, provide you with a great deal
of entertainment.
We hope that this brochure is helpful to you while using the product. It is designed to
illustrate technical relationships based on practical examples from the studio environment.
However, it is designed not only for beginners, but also for those more advanced in this
complex matter: Ambitious professionals, too, will surely learn something new here and
there.
We hope you find this manual both informative and entertaining to read, and hope you
find lots of pleasure in the PHASE 88 audio system.
Sincerely,Your TerraTec Producer Team
Here's an overview of what you can expect to find when you unpack the box:
Connection options and sound.The PHASE 88 audio system features a range of
professional connection options, which predestine it to become the tonal hub of your
home or project studio. The finest convertor elements and a well-thought-out mother-
board design allow crystal-clear recording and the reproduction of high-resolution 5.1/7.1
Surround productions.
PHASE 88 (English) 5