User`s guide

INSTALLING THE PCI-424 HARDWARE
39
SAMPLE-ACCURATE SYNC
Your PCI-424 system provides you with the most
advanced, accurate synchronization possible with
Alesis and Tascam modular digital tape decks and
hard disk recorders—or any device that supports
the sample-accurate ADAT and Tascam sync
formats. Figure 4-18 below shows a few best-case
scenarios. Below is a brief explanation of the
benefits you achieve with these setups.
Sample accurate locating
With sample accurate locating, when you transfer
audio between any other sample-accurate host
software and a sample-accurate recorder, the audio
will not drift in time — even by as little as one
sample. This is the tightest possible synchroni-
zation between digital audio devices. The timing in
your audio will not be affected in any way by the
process of transferring it between the PCI-424
system and the recorder.
Is your audio software sample-accurate?
Sample-accurate locating is only possible with
software that supports this feature through the
PCI-424’s ASIO Version 2 driver.
Transport control from your computer
If you have a MIDI Timepiece AV, Digital
Timepiece, Alesis BRC, or any ADAT synchronizer
that also supports MIDI Machine Control (MMC),
you can play, stop, rewind and locate all of your
Alesis recorders (or other ADAT SYNC-compatible
devices) using the transport controls in the audio
software running on your computer. This includes
cueing features like markers, position bars,
playback wipers, time rulers, etc. If you have
Tascam recorders, a Digital Timepiece (or other
MMC-compatible Tascam synchronizer) provides
this feature.
Figure 4-19: Cubase and other ASIO-2.0 compliant programs support
sample-accurate transfers with Alesis and Tascam modular digital
tape decks and hard disk recorders.
Sync format Software Synchronizer
Sample
accurate
locating
Transport
control
from computer
Continuous sync
to SMPTE / MTC
ADAT Cubase or other
ASIO 2.0-compliant app
MIDI Timepiece AV Yes Yes Yes
ADAT Cubase or other
ASIO 2.0-compliant app
Digital Timepiece Yes Yes Yes
ADAT Cubase or other
ASIO 2.0-compliant app
BRC (or any MMC capa-
ble ADAT synchronizer)
Yes Yes Yes
Tascam
(and/or ADATs)
Cubase or other
ASIO 2.0-compliant app
Digital Timepiece Yes Yes Yes
ADAT Cubase or other
ASIO 2.0-compliant app
None Yes No No
Figure 4-18: These recommended combinations of hardware and software offer the tightest sync possible between the PCI-424 system and
digital audio recorders in the form of sample-accurate locating between the software and the hardware. Sample-accurate locating is possible
with Alesis recorders even without a MIDI Timepiece AV or Digital Timepiece, although you give up transport control from the computer.