Delta 1010 incombatability

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abechap024

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Joined
Aug 8, 2009
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Location
Provo, UT
So I recently was fortunate enough to finally upgrade my studio computer. I got a new AMD quad core Phenom x4.
So excited because it is insanely fast. ProTools sessions that would choke up on every little edit I made are now stream of consciousness fast.

BUT only one problem...there is intermittent digital distortion on all the ODD numbered channels. I guess this isn't such a rare problem. Very disappointing I must say. The system is not even close to being maxed out (5% cpu/drives) but yet its totally unusable.

I've tried disabling the CPU throttling, not using SATA drives, changing the PCI latency. changed about ever setting I can change.

Just seems rather backwards that this day in age, when we have the technology to do this stuff, hardware engineers haven't got it together.

If anyone has had similar experiences and managed to fix it I would be most grateful.
 
I assume the distortion is heard on each 1010 odd numbered output, not Protools odd numbered output...

My thoughts are that its not so much incompatibility, as I would expect distortion to appear on all channels. I would expect the problem to be related to how the 1010 Pci card talks to the breakout box.

You upgraded your PC, so you would have had to remove the cable and reinstalled the PCI card. Check the cable us seated correctly just to rule out the obvious. Did you have to bend the cable or twist it when re connecting it? Could it have sustained damage? Do you have a spare cable to try out?

Did you modify the clock circuit on the 1010? I think I remember you were thinking of doing it. I have a hunch it is something like the communications between the card and breakout box going just a little out of sync. I think the audio is piped down the cable in stereo pairs a bit like spdif (there are 4 DAC chips), so if it mangled say the start or end of each stereo sample, you might get that effect of distortion on just the odd, or 'left's channels.

Just my theory, take with a pinch of salt!

ps Love my 1010s!
 
Thanks Guys.

I went into the bios and disabled everything I don't need : Built in sound card, lan, serial, com etc etc etc. and then reinstalled windows....so far so good...but honestly too worried to do indepth testing cause there is lots of other stuff I should be doing!
haha! Just a quick 10 second test and I'm gone!
 
ok nope no go.

My motherboard *shouldn't* have any bandwidth problems, and I think the fact that I've done anything and everything my little brain can conjure up to alleviate any bandwidth problems, I think now I can rule them out.

If I disable one, I can use the other with not problems what so ever, so I am going to turn my attention to the clocking/syncing of both cards. I haven't modded the clocks yet. But I'm using s/pdif to sync them.

Is it possible to have ground interference etc on clock signals?? Maybe because the units are both racked together on the same metal rack... or something else beyond what I can think of.

I'm getting a BNC cable to try and sync them through wordclock to see if that helps things...
 
Ah you have multiple cards.

How good and how short is your Spdif cable? Spdif is not a good method of syncing clocks. I have had trouble with that myself.

Have you set the 1010s to work as one unit in the Delta control panel, and sync source as Spdif?
 
Yes,
I have them set with one slaved to the s/pdif through the master panel and changing accordingly. The problem is strange, it effects both cards. I thought I had it fixed last night, but eventually it came back.
I have a longer digital cable I was using to connect the cards, but jimmy rigged an extremely short cable but that didn't get rid of the problem.

I might try syncing both cards to an external clock. to see if that fixes it.
 

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