RME Audio Micstasy User manual

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Manual is about: Professional Mic/Line/Instrument Preamp and AD-Converter 8-Channel Microphone / Line Preamp with Line Outputs 8-Channel Analog to AES / ADAT Interface Optional 64-Channel MADI Interface 24 Bit / 192 kHz Digital Audio MIDI Remote Control

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User’s Guide

Micstasy

The Professional’s Full Range Solution

Professional Mic/Line/Instrument Preamp and AD-Converter

8-Channel Microphone / Line Preamp with Line Outputs

8-Channel Analog to AES / ADAT Interface

Optional 64-Channel MADI Interface

24 Bit / 192 kHz Digital Audio

MIDI Remote Control

24 Bit Interface

TotalGain

™

I64 Option Slot

™

AutoSet

™

SteadyClock

™

SyncCheck

™

AES-3

AES-10

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Summary of Micstasy

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User’s guide micstasy the professional’s full range solution professional mic/line/instrument preamp and ad-converter 8-channel microphone / line preamp with line outputs 8-channel analog to aes / adat interface optional 64-channel madi interface 24 bit / 192 khz digital audio midi remote control 24...
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2 user’s guide micstasy © rme important safety instructions ..................................4 general 1 introduction ...............................................................6 2 package contents .....................................................6 3 brief description and characteristics......
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 3 inputs and outputs 13 analog inputs / outputs 13.1 mic / line in rear................................................. 30 13.2 instrument / line in front..................................... 30 13.3 line out .................................................................
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4 user’s guide micstasy © rme important safety instructions attention! Do not open chassis – risk of electric shock the unit has non-isolated live parts inside. No user serviceable parts inside. Refer service to qualified service personnel. Mains • the device must be earthed – never use it without p...
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6 user’s guide micstasy © rme 1. Introduction the micstasy's innovative concept allows for amplification and digitization of all analog signal sources. Be it high-level stage signals, typical studio signals, lower level and high-impedance instruments, or dynamic, condenser or ribbon microphones: mic...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 7 4. First usage – quick start 4.1 controls - connectors - displays the front of the micstasy features eight instrument/line inputs, eight led level meter, eight nu- merical led displays, eight select keys, a rotary encoder, further keys for more specific con- figuration ...
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8 user’s guide micstasy © rme the rear panel of the micstasy has eight analog inputs, eight analog outputs, mains power, midi i/o, word clock i/o, the i64 option slot, and all digital inputs and outputs (aes/adat). Microphone / line balanced inputs (xlr): eight balanced full range mic/line inputs wi...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 9 4.2 quick start after connection of all cables and power-on of the device, the configuration of the micstasy be- gins in the clock section. Choose a clock source and a sample rate. The next step is the gain setting. This can be done in two ways: • individually: hit the ...
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10 user’s guide micstasy © rme 6. Warranty each individual micstasy undergoes comprehensive quality control and a complete test at imm before shipping. The usage of high grade components should guarantee a long and trouble-free operation of the unit. If you suspect that your product is faulty, pleas...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 11 ce / fcc compliance ce this device has been tested and found to comply with the limits of the european council direc- tive on the approximation of the laws of the member states relating to electromagnetic compati- bility according to rl2004/108/eg, and european low vol...
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14 user’s guide micstasy © rme 8. Front panel controls 8.1 select key and rotary encoder (set) the rotary encoder set is a highly intuitive multifunctional device. It is used to set the gain, to select the desired function, to deactivate the function of one or all channels, to select a preset, and t...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 15 8.2 clock section the source and frequency of the unit's clock is configured in the clock section. The button clock lets you step through the options external clock (word, aes, option = madi) and inter- nal clock. The button sample rate sets the sample rate for both ex...
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16 user’s guide micstasy © rme 8.4 remote remote defines the source of midi remote control commands. Choices are the midi din jack and the madi input of the i64 madi card (option slot). Note: via midi remote control, all front panel controls can be locked (lock keys). An exception is the remote key....
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 17 9.4 phase phase changes the polarity (180°). Phase cancellations and sound changes can be caused by using multiple microphones at different places, or wrongly soldered cables. In such cases phase can eliminate the error by adding an additional phase inversion. The sign...
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18 user’s guide micstasy © rme 9.7 autoset some preamps include limiters in order to prevent clipping, especially of the a/d converter stage. Such a circuitry is not feasible for the micstasy, because it would spoil the mic preamp's excellent technical data. But as the micstasy's gain is controlled ...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 19 9.9 instrument / line the inst/line inputs allow to attach both balanced line signals as well as unbalanced instru- ment signals via 1/4" trs jacks. It handles standard line sources like keyboards, mixing desks, effects devices or consumer-type units perfectly well. Ch...
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20 user’s guide micstasy © rme 11. The setup menu 11.1 general some options and settings are accessed and changed very seldom. These have been collected in the setup menu. The setup menu is entered by pushing save and recall at the same time. All changes are stored automatically. 11.2 auto id (au) d...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 21 delay compensation always uses the worst case, the operation of 8 units, but delays the sig- nals individually. The amount of the respective delay is solely derived from the current id, no matter if it has been assigned manually or by auto id. 11.4 id (id) default: 01 ...
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22 user’s guide micstasy © rme 11.7 follow clock (fc) default: off available settings: on, off the signal at the word clock or aes input can be single, double or quad speed, the micstasy can use it in any case, independent of its current clock range. When activating the option follow clock the micst...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 23 11.10 pro tools midi compatibility (pt) default: off available settings: on, off the micstasy is midi remote compatible to digidesign's pro tools system. The extended func- tionality of the micstasy (e.G. Much smaller gain steps) is not available here, because the digi...
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24 user’s guide micstasy © rme 11.13 display auto dark (dark) default: off available settings: on, off displays and leds on the front panel can be switched off by activating the option display auto dark. Only the decimal points from the 8 numerical led displays will be lit. Such a mode is useful e. ...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 25 12. Remote control 12.1 midi the micstasy can be completely remote controlled via midi. It reacts on special sysex com- mands. Furthermore, upon request it will report the complete device status, including all con- trols and leds on the front plate. Each micstasy can b...
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26 user’s guide micstasy © rme the block diagram shows the signal flow in a hdsp madi-based remote control system. Midi commands from a software on pc or mac travel from the madi out of the hdsp madi to the madi in as well as to the midi out and madi out of the micstasy. Additional to the remote com...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 27 names can be assigned to all channels and all devices. Via midi remote control, all front panel controls of the micstasy can be locked (lock keys). An exception is the remote key. In the off-state the function lock keys is deactivated. Therefore a locking of all the co...
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30 user’s guide micstasy © rme 13. Analog inputs / outputs 13.1 mic / line in rear the micstasy has 8 balanced full range xlr inputs on the back panel. The electronic input stage is built in a servo balanced design which handles unbalanced and balanced signals cor- rectly, automatically adjusting th...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 31 instrument the main difference between a line and an instrument input is its input impedance. The function hi z raises the input impedance from 5.6 kohm to 470 kohm. The input inst/line operates fully servo-balanced even with hi-z activated. The front inputs of the mic...
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32 user’s guide micstasy © rme 14. Digital outputs 14.1 aes/ebu the four aes/ebu outputs are provided on the rear of the micstasy via a 25 pin d-sub connec- tor with tascam pinout (also used by digidesign). A digital breakout cable will provide 4 male (and 4 female) xlr connectors. Every output is t...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 33 aes/ebu sync the input aes 1 (channel 1/2) found on the d-sub connector can not be used for audio with the micstasy, but as clock source. The input is transformer-balanced and ground-free. Thanks to a highly sensitive input stage, a spdif signal can also be fed by usin...
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34 user’s guide micstasy © rme 14.3 i64 madi card the i64 madi card provides the micstasy with a 64-channel madi input and output. Coaxial and optical output operate simultaneously and deliver the same data. The id determines which madi channels the micstasy will use (see chapter 11.4, id). The madi...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 35 delay compensation has to be manually activated in each unit! 14.4 differences serial madi with i64 madi card and adi-642 i64 madi card: activate auto id in the first unit (id of the master can be changed). All following units become slave, get a consecutive id, and wi...
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36 user’s guide micstasy © rme 15. Word clock 15.1 word clock input and output steadyclock guarantees an excellent performance in all clock modes. Its highly efficient jitter suppression refreshes and cleans up any clock signal, and provides it as reference clock at the bnc output (see section 17.10...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 37 15.2 operation and technical background in the analog domain one can connect any device to another device, a synchronization is not necessary. Digital audio is different. It uses a clock, the sample frequency. The signal can only be processed and transmitted when all p...
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38 user’s guide micstasy © rme 15.3 cabling and termination word clock signals are usually distributed in the form of a network, split with bnc t-adapters and terminated with resistors. We recommend using off-the-shelf bnc cables to connect all devices, as this type of cable is used for most compute...
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40 user’s guide micstasy © rme 17. Technical specifications 17.1 analog microphone/line 1-8, rear • input: xlr, electronically balanced • input impedance: 2 kohm • frequency response –0.1 db: 20 hz – 100 khz • frequency response –0.3 db: 10 hz – 150 khz • thd @ 30 db gain: • thd+n @ 30 db gain: • ch...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 41 ad-conversion • resolution: 24 bit • signal to noise ratio (snr) @ +30 dbu: 115.0 db rms unweighted, 118 dba • signal to noise ratio (snr) @ +21 dbu: 112.4 db rms unweighted, 116 dba • signal to noise ratio (snr) @ +13 dbu: 110 db rms unweighted, 113 dba • frequency re...
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42 user’s guide micstasy © rme 17.3 digital outputs aes/ebu • 4 x, transformer-balanced, galvanically isolated, according to aes3-1992 • output voltage professional 4.5 vpp • format professional according to aes3-1992 amendment 4 • single wire: 4 x 2 channels 24 bit, up to 192 khz adat • 2 x toslink...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 43 17.6 general • power supply: internal switching psu, 100 - 240 v ac, 60 watts • typical power consumption: 24 watts • maximum power consumption: • dimensions including rack ears (wxhxd): 483 x 88 x 242 mm (19" x 3.46" x 9.5") • dimensions without rack ears/handles (wxh...
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44 user’s guide micstasy © rme 17.9 connector pinouts the 25 pin d-sub connector provides four aes inputs and outputs. The pinout uses the widely spread tascam scheme, which is also used by digidesign. Tascam / digidesign: signal in 1/2+ in 1/2- in 3/4+ in 3/4- in 5/6+ in 5/6- in 7/8+ in 7/8- d-sub ...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 45 xlr sockets analog input and output the xlr connectors of the analog inputs and outputs are wired according to international stan- dards: 1 = gnd (shield) 2 = + (hot) 3 = - (cold) the servo balanced input and output circuitry allows to use unbalanced connections with n...
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46 user’s guide micstasy © rme 18. Technical background 18.1 terminology single speed sample rate range originally used in digital audio. Typical applications are 32 khz (digital radio broadcast), 44.1 khz (cd), and 48 khz (dat). Double speed doubles the original sample rate range, in order to achie...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 47 18.2 lock and synccheck digital signals consist of a carrier and the data. If a digital signal is applied to an input, the re- ceiver has to synchronize to the carrier clock in order to read the data correctly. To achieve this, the receiver uses a pll (phase locked loo...
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48 user’s guide micstasy © rme 18.3 level references and gain the analog output levels of the micstasy are designed to maintain a problem-free operation with most other devices. The headroom of the micstasy reaches 9 to 20 db, depending on the refer- ence level. Reference micstasy 0 dbfs @ headroom ...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 49 18.4 latency and monitoring the term zero latency monitoring has been introduced by rme in 1998 for the digi96 series and describes the ability to pass-through the computer's input signal at the interface directly to the output. Since then, the idea behind has become o...
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50 user’s guide micstasy © rme 18.5 ds - double speed when activating the double speed mode the micstasy operates at double sample rate. The internal clock 44.1 khz turns to 88.2 khz, 48 khz to 96 khz. The internal resolution is still 24 bit. Sample rates above 48 khz were not always taken for grant...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 51 18.7 aes/ebu - spdif the most important electrical properties of 'aes' and 'spdif' can be seen in the table below. Aes/ebu is the professional balanced connection using xlr plugs. The standard is being set by the audio engineering society based on the aes3-1992. For th...
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52 user’s guide micstasy © rme 18.8 signal to noise ratio in ds- / qs-operation the outstanding signal to noise ratio of the micstasy's ad-converters can be verified even with- out expensive test equipment, by using record level meters of various software. But when acti- vating the ds and qs mode, t...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 53 18.9 madi basics madi, the serial multichannel audio digital interface, has been defined already in 1989 as an extension of the existing aes3 standard following several manufacturers' wish. The format also known as aes/ebu, a balanced bi-phase signal, is limited to two...
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54 user’s guide micstasy © rme 18.10 steadyclock the steadyclock technology of the micstasy guarantees an excellent performance in all clock modes. Its highly efficient jitter suppression refreshes and cleans up any clock signal, and pro- vides it as reference clock at the word clock output. Usually...
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56 user’s guide micstasy © rme 20. Midi implementation micstasy 20.1 basic sysex format value name f0h sysex header 00h 20h 0dh miditemp manufacturer id 68h model id (micstasy) 00h..7eh, 7fh bank number / device id (7fh = broadcast, all ids) mm message type nn parameter number (see table 1) oo data ...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 57 20.3 table no. No. Name set val. Val. Resp. Data bytes 00h 0 ch. 1 gain coarse x x 0..85 = -9..+76db, 1db steps 01h 1 ch. 1 gain fine x x (see gain fine settings table) 02h 2 ch. 1 settings x x (see channel settings table) 03h 3 ch. 2 gain coarse x x 0..85 = -9..+76db,...
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58 user’s guide micstasy © rme channel settings msb / 7 0 6 p48: 0 = off, 1 = on 5 phase: 0 = normal, 1 = inverted 4 m/s: 0 = off, 1 = on (set only ch. 1, 3, 5, 7) 3 lo cut: 0 = off, 1 = on 2 autoset: 0 = off, 1 = on 1 hi z: 0 = off, 1 = on lsb / 0 input: 0 = rear, 1 = front 18h setup 1 msb / 7 0 6 ...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 59 20.4 pro tools midi compatibility the micstasy is midi remote compatible to digidesign's pro tools system. The extended func- tionality of the micstasy (e.G. Much smaller gain steps) is not available here, because the digidesign protocol does not support those features...
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60 user’s guide micstasy © rme 20.5 yamaha midi compatibility since firmware 2.0 the micstasy is directly compatible to yamaha's mixing desk pm5d. It reacts on the sysex commands. Adjustable are: input gain in steps of 1 db (gain range -9 up to +63 db) and phantom power per channel. The yamaha dm100...
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User’s guide micstasy © rme 61 dm2000 on the ‘setup – midi/host’ page, choose ‘midi’ for the remote layer that is going to be used. Don’t forget to confirm your choice with ‘enter’! On the remote pages 1 to 4, enter the sysex commands described below for each channel. In the ‘layer’ section, select ...
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62 user’s guide micstasy © rme the ‘channel gain coarse’ and ‘channel gain fine’ bytes have to be set according to the following table: channel coarse fine 1 00 01 2 03 04 3 06 07 4 09 0a 5 0c 0d 6 0f 10 7 12 13 8 15 16 note: setting the ‘channel gain fine’ byte to 00 as described above also deactiv...