Topic: Interfacing Grace Lunatec V3 with Macbook Pro

[Labrat]

I want to use the converters in my V3 directly into my Macbook Pro, without having to buy an Mbox or some other piece of hardware full of options that I don't need.The smaller the better. Are there adapters available for changing the digital format of my SPDF or, ultimately AES outputs to Firewire, USB or mini optical?The only product I am aware of is the M-Audio Transit ($100) which has spdf in and optical out, but I would prefer to step up to AES, as it is my understanding that this is a higher quality format. Another option is to send the unit back to Grace to have the back panel replaced with the optical output option. Only thing is, you lose the clock output, plus it costs $200, and doesn't allow for 96k recording. Any advice would be appreciated.

[willndmb]

you could use a hosa box for going spdif to optical
http://www.fullcompass.com/product/236228.html
or aes to optical http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ODL312/

edit i never used one so i don't know how you power it but i know it can be done as others here have used it

[Charlie Miller]

I have a MidiMan Co2 which is powered by a 9 volt battery or AC.

[rowjimmy]

The HOSA coax spdif > optical spdif (ODL-276a) is 9v. It will actually operate on less than that, though.

[ghellquist]

but I would prefer to step up to AES, as it is my understanding that this is a higher quality format.

Nop. AES or SPDIF will be no difference as long as you stay withing design limits. If you want to run long cables AES is better of course. But as it is already digitized inside the V3 all the cable has to do is transfer digital signals.

The Transit will not work though, looking at one right now, it has optical in and out. Midiman co2 might be better.
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/CO2-main.html

Gunnar

[H₂O]

Only thing is, you lose the clock output, plus it costs $200, and doesn't allow for 96k recording. Any advice would be appreciated.

FWIW - The V3 Owners manual states that 96Khz is supported on the Toslink (just not anything above 96Khz):
"The Toslink output supports 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz."  Page 11 V3 Manual Rev E

Has anyone heard otherwise?

[noahbickart]

Another thing to keep in mind: I am pretty sure that the macbook pro's optical input is limited to 16/48.

-Noah

[eclark]

Another thing to keep in mind: I am pretty sure that the macbook pro's optical input is limited to 16/48.

-Noah

i thought the Macbook pro only had optical-out, does it have optical-in too?

[noahbickart]

yup, both the in and out are combine an 1/8th inch analog stereo and a spdif optical jack into a single space. This is labeled as "headphone" and "microphone."

-Noah

[willndmb]

Another thing to keep in mind: I am pretty sure that the macbook pro's optical input is limited to 16/48.

-Noah

Connect your MacBook Pro (15-inch Core 2 Duo) to a line-level microphone or optical digital audio equipment. The Audio In port accommodates both optical digital audio input and analog audio input.

Analog line and optical digital audio input is accepted through a 3.5mm mini phone jack which does not provide power to a connected device, so you must use self-powered peripherals. The sound input jack accepts line-level stereo signals up to 24-bit stereo 44.1-192kHz sampling rate. It also accepts a stereo miniplug-to-RCA cable adapter for connecting stereo equipment to the computer.

Optical digital audio input is S/PDIF format and uses a standard Toslink cable with a Toslink mini-plug adapter, accepting up to 24-bit stereo and 44.1-96kHz sampling rate.

[ArchivalAudio]

I have a Hosa CDL-313  which is a bi-directional Coax (spdif) - AES/EBU  converter
I have only had luck getting it to work one direction at a time
either AES/EBU > Coax SPDIF
or the other way but not together at the same time
 it is powered by 9v dc (wall wart) could be configured to runon a 9v battery.

you might be able to use this and a CO2 but 2 adaptors and converters seems silly and a chance fo missing bits

Optical is ok but not quite as stable as the Coax (rca) Spdif
remember that Coax SPDIF is 75 ohm
and AES/EBU (xlr) is 110 ohm, you'll need a true AES/EBU 110ohm cable... on short runs you can use a regular mic xlr cable but they too are 75 ohms
and it is wiser to run an actual AES/EBU cable

but if it ultimately gonna be converted to mini toslink optical
I would just stick with the coax to optical conversion

in the long run you'd be better off with some kind of Firewire interface and ditch the optical
stay away from USB on your mac, firewire is much faster and more stable , and hey apple invented firewire!

or get another micpre/A-D that has optical out....


Mac-user since 1988

peace

[Nick Graham]

Slight thread hijack, but does anyone know if the Macbook/Macbook Pro resamples the digital input. I'd actually considered using mine a few times (when I had a modSBM1 with an optical output) but never could find a definitive answer.