looks like I'm gonna have to do some extensive testing before next week.
as far as going unbalanced > rca.... don't the xlr inputs on the the P2 set to line in have more headroom?
and of course going digi would be the better option, but I'm not sure I can do that if I'm synced to the cameras clock. I think this would cause lots of ticking because the spidf clock from the V3 wouldn't be synced to the cameras. Unfortunately the V3 has no clock input, and my camera only has clock output. So the camera must be the host, and the audio must be the slave (audio chase video). So I think analog out of V3 may be the only way to go.
If you sync a device (camera) to the P2 but the P2 is sync'ed to the V3, what clock is the camera sync'ed to - the P2 or the V3?
Neither, the camera can only generate a clock, it can't slave to one. That's why I have to have the audio chase the video, not the other way around.
I don't have a wordclock out on my V3, and it wouldn't matter either way, as the camera couldn't sync to it. The P2 could, but it could just as easily sync to the spidf, that carries the audio as well. And since the cam can't sync to the p2 (only vice versa), it puts me back looking at my analog options.
Is that true, that even in XLR balanced line in mode, the P2 doesn't by-pass the preamp? Well okay, maybe it goes through it but if it's set to line in, wouldn't that mean it's basically just passing the signal through (not raising it), and therefor the coloration is minimal?
edit to add: it appears the P2 can take up to 13.8 dBu on it's XLR's at minimum trim. So that would be the fourth green light, just before the amber (amber would mean I'm clipping). I wonder if the 20dBs pad would effect this, and give me even more headroom. Gonna have to test this tonight. Would it make sense to go XLR unbalanced to get more headroom?