ProFire 610 English User Guide
ProFire 610 User Guide 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2 What’s in the Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Your ProFire 610 package contains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
ProFire 610 User Guide About Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Additional Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
ProFire 610 1 User Guide 3 Introduction Congratulations on your purchase of the M-Audio ProFire 610 audio interface. ProFire 610 is part of M-Audio’s award winning series of FireWire1-based digital recording systems and features solid hardware design, robust driver technology, and a powerful Control Panel application to help you capture your best performances with the highest possible fidelity.
ProFire 610 3 User Guide ProFire 610 Features • Six-input, ten-output audio configuration • Up to 24-bit/192kHz operation • Two high-quality mic/instrument preamps featuring OctaneTM technology, LED meters, and phantom power • Two front-panel XLR/TS Combo jacks accepting mic or instrument level inputs • Two rear-panel 1/4” TRS balanced line inputs • Eight rear-panel 1/4” TRS balanced line outputs • Two independent 1/4” headphone outputs with volume control knobs for each output • S/PDIF In/Out • MIDI In
ProFire 610 5 User Guide 5 Controls and Connectors Front Panel Descriptions 1. Mic / Inst Input Combo Jack (Mic / Inst) - Balanced mic-level and unbalanced instrument-level combo inputs. These combo connectors will accept a standard three-pin XLR plug or a 1/4” TS connector and will appear as the first pair of inputs (e.g. inputs 1/2) in your audio application. Input levels are controlled by the corresponding Gain knobs. 2.
ProFire 610 User Guide 6 9. Master Volume ( ) - This knob controls the analog output levels of ProFire 610. Turning the knob clockwise will increase the output level while turning it counterclockwise will reduce the output level. By default, this knob is assigned to control analog outputs 1/2, however, the Control Panel application provides the option of setting the Master Volume knob to control any combination of analog output pairs (i.e., 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, or 7/8).
ProFire 610 User Guide 7 Rear Panel Descriptions 10. Power Input ( ) - Connect the 12VDC 2A power supply here when using ProFire 610 with a four-pin FireWire connection, or if your computer does not provide sufficient bus power on a 6-pin connection. If your computer can provide power over a 6-pin connection, it is not necessary to use the included power supply. Use only the power supply provided with the interface or a power supply with equivalent specifications. 11.
ProFire 610 6 User Guide Driver Installation For instructions on installing ProFire 610, please refer to the printed Quick Start Guide.
ProFire 610 User Guide 9 Connecting Microphones and/or Instruments ProFire 610 features two XLR/TS Combo input jacks 1 on its front panel. Microphones or instrument-level sources (electric guitars, basses, etc.) can be connected to these inputs using XLR or 1/4” cables, respectively. If you are using microphone(s) that require phantom power, activate the Phantom Power button microphone(s) have been connected.
ProFire 610 User Guide Connecting the Analog Outputs Connect the rear-panel line outputs 13 to a mixing console, amplifier or powered monitors. By default, analog output pair 1/2 is controlled by the front-panel Master Volume knob 6 , however, this knob can be assigned to control other outputs pairs through the ProFire 610 Control Panel. ! C AUTION: Analog output streams that are not assigned to be controlled by the Master Volume knob will be sent to the analog outputs at maximum level.
ProFire 610 8 User Guide 11 Software Control Panel The ProFire 610 driver software provides a simple but powerful interface to connect with your computer’s Digital Audio Workstation software. The Control Panel provides five independent multi-channel mixers, featuring six input channels sourced from the physical inputs, as well as ten output channels from your audio software.
ProFire 610 User Guide 12 The first six channels (on the left side of the mixer) correspond to the hardware inputs of the interface (i.e., analog inputs 1-4 and S/PDIF L/R). To the right of the hardware inputs are the ten “software return” channels that correspond to the outputs of your audio software. The remaining two channels (on the right side of the mixer) control the mixed output of the selected Monitor Mixer.
ProFire 610 User Guide 13 Level Fader The Level Fader controls the output level for its corresponding channel. Double-clicking or Alt/Option-Clicking on a channel fader will set the fader to unity gain. Channel Name The name displayed at the bottom of each channel strip can be changed by clicking on the field. Once you have entered a new name, press the enter/return key to confirm the new channel name.
ProFire 610 User Guide 14 AHosted Mode – Sample Rate his drop-down menu sets the sample rate of ProFire 610. Note that when using the interface with an ASIO T or CoreAudio application, the sample rate can also be determined by your audio application. This parameter may not be editable from within the ProFire 610 Control Panel if your audio application is running. In this case, any changes to the sample rate must be made through the audio application itself.
ProFire 610 User Guide 15 Mixers Active at Sample Rates Above 96 kHz When operating at sampling rates of 176.4 or 192 kHz, ProFire 610 can use two of its available Monitor Mixers. These two drop-down menus allow you to select which two mixers will remain active at sampling rates above 96 kHz. For example, if you would like to use the “Analog Out 1/2” and “S/PDIF Out L/R” Monitor Mixer tabs, select them from the “Mixer 1” and “Mixer 2” drop-down menus. Note that when operating at sampling rates of 176.
ProFire 610 User Guide 16 About Tab This tab contains information on your hardware and current driver software versions. This information may be helpful, should you ever have the occasion to call for technical support. Clicking the buttons at the bottom of the panel will take you to useful links on the M-Audio website, if you are currently online. Additional Functions ProFire 610 also features a variety of functions accessible through its File, View, and Help menus.
ProFire 610 User Guide 17 Edit This menu lets you cut, copy and paste track names or entire mixer settings. This menu will appear in one of two ways: 1. If a mixer tab name or track name is selected for editing: the Edit menu displays “Cut,” “Copy,” and “Paste.” These options let you cut, copy, and paste selected text just like a text editor. 2. If no text field is selected for editing, the items in this menu appear as “Copy Mixer Settings” and “Paste Mixer Settings.
ProFire 610 User Guide 18 Peak Hold The meters of the ProFire 610 monitor mixers feature a “peak hold” function designed to assist in finding the loudest transients of a signal.
ProFire 610 9 User Guide 19 Using ProFire 610 Setting Input Levels Mic/Inst Inputs To set gain levels for an analog input, begin by turning the Gain Knob 3 for that channel fully counterclockwise. While the sound source is playing at its loudest levels, slowly turn the knob clockwise until the red clip indicator 2 begins to illuminate. Then, turn the knob counter-clockwise until the clip indicator no longer illuminates. At this point, you should be ready to record with the optimum gain setting.
ProFire 610 User Guide 20 Configuring your Audio Software Once the ProFire 610 drivers are installed, you may need to configure your audio software before you can begin recording and mixing. This configuration process varies from one application to another, but in general, there are three things you may need to do: Selecting ProFire 610 as the audio device You must make sure that your software is configured to use ProFire 610 as its audio input and output device.
ProFire 610 User Guide 21 In most cases, you can set the sample rate and bit depth of your project from within the audio application itself. This configuration varies from program to program, but these settings are usually found in the “Setup” or “Project Setup” menus of your program. If your audio application does not have a configuration page or does not have provisions for changing sample rates, use the ProFire 610 Control Panel to make these changes.
ProFire 610 User Guide 22 Using the Monitor Mixer To use the ProFire 610 Monitor Mixer: 1. Select the tab that corresponds to the hardware outputs to which you would like to send your monitor mix. For example, if you wish to create a mix that routes to analog outputs 7/8, select the “Analog Out 7/8” tab. ✓T IP: Keep in mind that the first and second headphone outputs are hardwired to analog outputs 1/2 and 3/4.
ProFire 610 User Guide 23 4. If you are routing signals to Headphone Outputs 1 and 2, make sure the Headphone Level Knobs 4 are set properly. Alternatively, if you are routing monitor mixes to external headphone amplifiers, make sure those amplifiers are set properly. 3 hen selecting output channels 1/2 from your audio application, the signal is not W sent directly to the physical hardware outputs on the rear-panel of ProFire 610; The signal is first sent to the Analog 1/2 tab of the Control Panel.
ProFire 610 10 User Guide 24 Standalone Operation In addition to operating as an audio interface for your computer, ProFire 610 can also operate without a computer in “standalone mode.” In Standalone mode, ProFire 610 functions as an analog-to-digital (A/D) and digital-to-analog (D/A) converter. Analog inputs 1-2 are “passed through” to analog outputs 1-2 while simultaneously being converted to digital and sent out of the S/PDIF output.
ProFire 610 11 User Guide 25 Digital Clocking Your computer-based DAW stores and manipulates music as digital samples. Those samples are sent to and from your DAW as “snapshots” of data. These snapshots are all the same size—16-bit or 24-bit, depending on your selected resolution—each with a beginning and an end, and are sent in sequential order (i.e., one after the other) as a stream of data. Think of this data stream as a sentence, made up of a series of words of identical length.
ProFire 610 User Guide 26 Scenario 1: ProFire 610 as Clock Master By selecting “internal” as the sync source in the Control Panel, you designate ProFire 610 as the clock master. You will then need to select “external” (or “slave” on certain devices) mode on your digitally connected device(s). This is usually an internal menu setting on the external device. In Figure 1 below, a DAT machine is connected to the coaxial S/PDIF I/O.
ProFire 610 User Guide 27 Scenario 2: ProFire 610 Slaved to S/PDIF Input Certain digital devices, such as consumer CD players, must be used as a clock master and cannot be synchronized to any other devices. This is due to a lack of digital inputs on the CD player (i.e., the device has no way to synchronize to an incoming signal). In this scenario, ProFire 610 can be configured to lock to the CD player (or other external device) through the S/PDIF input.
ProFire 610 User Guide 28 Scenario 3: Creating a Synchronized “Digital Loop” In certain scenarios, you may need to send digital signals to an external device while simultaneously receiving signals from that device. For example, if you have connected an external A/D – D/A converter or digital effects processor to your ProFire 610, you will need to simultaneously send and receive digital audio through the S/PDIF ports. In this case, either device (i.e.
ProFire 610 12 User Guide 29 MIDI ProFire 610 provides 16 channels of MIDI I/O over standard 5-pin DIN connectors 12 on the rear panel of the interface. These I/O ports can be used to connect MIDI-compatible devices to your computer such as controller keyboards, drum machines, or sound modules. Alternatively, these ports can be used to send and receive MIDI Time Code (MTC) and other synchronization formats for locking to a hardware or software sequencer.
ProFire 610 13 User Guide 30 Troubleshooting ProFire 610 has been designed to give you high performance and professional-quality audio on a wide range of systems and operating conditions. However, there are a virtually limitless number of operating scenarios, any of which could affect your system’s performance. While this section cannot cover all possible issues you may encounter, we would like to offer you some suggestions for dealing with common problems.
ProFire 610 User Guide 31 If you are experiencing clicks and pops in your recordings: • hen clocking to an external digital device, make sure the input source on the Settings tab of the Control W Panel is set to “External - S/PDIF.” See the section about Word Clock for more information. • ake sure your input levels are not too high, as this can cause distortion and clipping. Check the input M level meters in your audio application.
ProFire 610 14 User Guide 32 Warranty Warranty Terms M-Audio warrants products to be free from defects in materials and workmanship, under normal use and provided that the product is owned by the original, registered user. Visit www.m-audio.com/warranty for terms and limitations applying to your specific product. Warranty Registration Immediately registering your new M-Audio product entitles you to full warranty coverage and helps M-Audio develop and manufacture the finest quality products available.
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