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I've looked around the forum and tried to find some info and can't. Has anyone built up 2 or 3 units together to get 16 or 24 channels of output for DAW use? I know people are using 2 boards in a dual-mono configuration, so I don't think clocking the boards together will be difficult. It seems like it might be difficult to get 16 or 24 channels of AES/EBU input working though based on this excerpt from the documentaion;
"AES/EBU works fine on the S/PDIF-4 Input Board for signals of up to 5Vpp. Signals of more than 5Vpp
have not been tested, they might work. If your signal is hotter than 5Vpp and does not work correctly, cut
the trace between the input transformer and R<Z> and insert a resistor to pad it down.
More than 4 inputs
As stated, the Buffalo III supports 8 inputs. For people who require more than the 4+1 inputs offered by
the S/PDIF-4 Input Board and Sidecar combo, there is also the possibility to use a microcontroller like an
Arduino or AC2, connect it to the Buffalo III module using I2C and set the input by software. This allows
access to all 8 inputs. Please be aware that when you want to connect both DSD or PCM (I2S) and
S/PDIF signals, you also need an off-board switch module to disable one of the signal types."
So my main questions are, has anyone done this? Is it possible? If it is possible would someone mind giving me a breakdown of how many of what boards and what power supply would be needed for say a 24 channel option?
Thanks in advance for any help.
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The ES9018 is an 8 channel DAC chip. For 24 channels you would need at least 3 DAC boards. And you would have to pass 3 8-channel signals to those boards. Since the boards need 350mA each, you would need 2-3 Placid HD's to feed them. And you need 12 stereo I/V stages for output, with 3 Placid HD BP's to power them. That's quite a bit of work to put it all together but not impossible, provided you can separate the signals for the inputs.
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Thanks, I'm going to re-read the documentation a few times and try to get a better understanding of how to get all 8 AES/EBU inputs to work per unit. Has anyone (or is anyone planning) on using this as even an 8 channel DAW DAC?
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So maybe I am getting confused with the difference of using all 8 AES/EBU channels and switching between them. I am thinking of using this as a 16 or 24 channel DAC and will only have one input so will not need to do any switching.
Can't I just connect the 8 AES/EBU inputs directly to DIN 1 of the board using something like this (http://www.lynxstudio.com/product_detail.asp?i=16) in dual wire mode? ( I know I would need 3 of these cards to get 24 channels in dual wire mode and that seems a bit ridiculous...)
Thanks for reading my ramblings, any more input/help would be great.
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The ES9018 only works with AES/SPDIF in stereo or mono mode. Not 8 channel.
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So then how do you get access to all 8 channels?
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For S/PDIF or AES/EBU, there are eight selectable stereo inputs (one of eight). If you use PCM/DSD, you can get eight simultaneous channels of input.
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Ah thanks. Well I don't know of any interface or way to get multichannel PCM (is2) out of a DAW. It looks like it is not really possible to use this as a multichannel DAC for a digital audio work station. Thanks.
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Quote:Ah thanks. Well I don't know of any interface or way to get multichannel PCM (is2) out of a DAW. It looks like it is not really possible to use this as a multichannel DAC for a digital audio work station. As said, DSD is perfectly capable of transporting 8 channels over a single connector. So you just would need to use a different card for the DAW. There certainly are options for 24 channels DSD (3 XLR connectors), like Merging.
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You could also just convert the 8 channel AES to I8S(8 channel I2S).
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thanks Russ, i'll look into that.
i don't think i'm ready to stray from Protools just yet so I think DSD is out of the question for me unfortunately.
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