34-in/36-out FireWire Lightpipe Interface User Guide English
Table of Contents English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 What’s in the Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 About ProFire Lightbridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
M-Audio ProFire Lightbridge User Guide | 2 Introduction 1 T hank you for purchasing M-Audio’s ProFire Lightbridge interface. ProFire Lightbridge uses the ADAT optical I/O standard to bring extensive digital connectivity to your studio. With its four ADAT optical inputs, four ADAT optical outputs, S/PDIF coaxial input and output, and stereo analog outputs, ProFire Lightbridge lets you connect a variety of devices to your FireWire-equipped digital audio workstation.
ProFire Lightbridge User Guide | 3 About ProFire Lightbridge 3 P roFire Lightbridge is a 1U, half-rack audio interface designed to greatly expand the power of your digital studio. It provides a total of 34 digital inputs and outputs plus two analog outputs over a single FireWire connection.
M-Audio ProFire Lightbridge User Guide | 4 ProFire Lightbridge Features 4 < Four ADAT optical Lightpipe inputs and outputs < Two channels of coaxial S/PDIF I/O < Stereo balanced 1/4” analog outputs with dedicated level control < All 34 inputs and 36 outputs can be used simultaneously < Front-panel stereo headphone output with dedicated level control < Optical ports are S/MUX capable for high-resolution audio < Supports sample rates of 44.1, 48, 88.
ProFire Lightbridge User Guide | 5 System Requirements 5 Minimum System Requirements 16 channels of ADAT Lightpipe at 16-bit/44.1kHz Windows: Macintosh: Pentium IV 1.8 GHz Power Mac G4 1 GHz (G4 accelerator cards not supported) 512 MB RAM 7200 rpm HD (8 MB buffer) Available FireWire port or FireWire expansion card Windows XP (SP2) 512 MB RAM 7200 rpm HD (8 MB buffer) Native FireWire port Mac OS X 10.3.9 / 10.4.
M-Audio ProFire Lightbridge User Guide | 6 Controls and Connectors Front Panel 6 1. Headphone Output – Accepts a standard 1/4” stereo headphone connector. This output always mirrors the analog line output. The headphone level is independent of the line output level, and is controlled by the headphone level knob (2). 2. Headphone Level – Controls the volume level of the Headphone Output jack (1). 3. Output Level – Controls the output level of the rear panel analog Line Outputs (16). 4.
ProFire Lightbridge User Guide | 7 Rear Panel 11. Power Supply Connector – Connect the 12V DC 1A power supply here. Use only the power supply provided with the interface or an equivalent power supply with the same rating and polarity. If you are using the six-pin-to-six-pin FireWire cable to attach ProFire Lightbridge to your computer, the interface will draw power from your host computer.
M-Audio ProFire Lightbridge User Guide | 8 Driver Installation F 7 or detailed instructions on installing ProFire Lightbridge drivers, please refer to the printed Quick Start Guide. IMPORTANT: Do not connect ProFire Lightbridge to your computer until you have installed the driver files. If you have already connected the interface to your computer, please disconnect it and follow the driver installation instructions as detailed in the Quick Start Guide.
ProFire Lightbridge User Guide | 9 MIDI Connect a MIDI device to the MIDI I/O connectors on the breakout cable. The interface’s MIDI connection appears as a standard MIDI data port in your audio workstation software. This connection can be used to connect any MIDI compatible synthesizer, drum machine, or controller to your computer. Alternatively, this connection can be used to input and output MIDI Time Code (MTC) and other synchronization formats for locking to a hardware or software sequencer.
M-Audio ProFire Lightbridge User Guide | 10 The Software Control Panel A 10 fter installing the ProFire Lightbridge drivers, you can use the control panel software to configure various parameters of the interface. To access the control panel in Windows, click the red M-Audio icon in the system tray, or click Start > Control Panel and select the ProFire Lightbridge control panel icon.
ProFire Lightbridge User Guide | 11 Macintosh Sample Rate Detected This window displays the incoming sample rate of the sync master source. This is an information-only display–the incoming sample rate must be changed through your audio software (if the sync source is set to internal), or by changing the sample rate output of the designated master device (if your sync source is set to any of the external options).
M-Audio ProFire Lightbridge User Guide | 12 ASIO/WDM Buffer Size (Windows Only) In this field you can select the buffer size you wish to work with. Lowering the buffer size will result in lower latency (“latency” refers to the time it takes for your input signal to pass through your audio software and appear at the outputs). However, this may cause slower systems to become unstable or to generate clicks and pops in its audio streams.
ProFire Lightbridge User Guide | 13 Channel Ordering < spdif channels first – If this box is active, the interface’s S/PDIF port will appear in your DAW first, followed by the optical, and then the analog outputs. That is, the S/PDIF port will be assigned to audio channels 1-2, while the optical ports are assigned to 3-10, 11-18, 19-26 and 27-34. By default, the analog outputs are configured to mirror the S/PDIF output and will carry signals sent from your DAW’s output channels 1-2.
M-Audio ProFire Lightbridge User Guide | 14 Word Clock Synchronization Understanding Word Clock 11 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- or 24-bit, depending on your selected resolution—with a beginning and an end, and are sent 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 Lightbridge User Guide | 15 Scenario 2: ProFire Lightbridge Slaved to an Optical Input If you prefer to use another device as word clock master, you will need to configure that device to act as master and select that device’s input on ProFire Lightbridge as the sync source. This slaves ProFire Lightbridge (and any other devices connected to the ProFire Lightbridge) to that master device.
M-Audio ProFire Lightbridge User Guide | 16 Scenario 3: ProFire Lightbridge Slaved to S/PDIF Input You may need to use a two-track device as word clock master. This is because many two-track digital devices, such as consumer CD players, are not designed to be slaved to other devices and must be selected as the word clock master when inputting a digital audio signal. In Figure 3 below, the digital two-track is configured as the clock master, with ProFire Lightbridge and other devices configured as slaves.
ProFire Lightbridge User Guide | 17 Scenario 4: ProFire Lightbridge Slaved to Word Clock BNC Input In many larger digital setups, a master word clock generator is employed to provide an accurate timing reference to the entire setup. In this case, ProFire Lightbridge can be slaved to the word clock generator’s BNC output, with other devices configured as slaves and receiving their word clock distribution via ProFire Lightbridge.
M-Audio ProFire Lightbridge User Guide | 18 Specifications 12 D/A Converters 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96kHz Supported Bit Rates 16-bit, 24-bit Digital Inputs 4 optical Lightpipe stereo coaxial S/PDIF Digital Audio Outputs 4 optical Lightpipe stereo coaxial S/PDIF Line Outputs 1/4” TRS balanced/unbalanced Output Impedance 300 Ohm balanced/150 Ohm unbalanced Maximum Output Level +10.2 dBu (2.5 Vrms) balanced +2.0 dBV (1.
ProFire Lightbridge User Guide | 19 Warranty Warranty Terms 13 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 Thank you for registering your new M-Audio product.
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