ADAT Sync to an RME 9652 card - PARIS as master, external DAW (in this example, Reaper) as slave
[this mini-tutorial by Matt shows you how to completely bypass SMPTE or MTC and lock the timelines of Reaper and PARIS with sample accuracy - see additional notes at end]
Syncing Reaper to PARIS using a RME 9652.
1. Connect 9 pin male to male cable from PARIS ADAT card to RME card.
2. In Hammerfall DSP settings... Set Clock mode to Auto Sync (note I am using another Master clock so this may differ) Set Pref Sync Ref to ADAT sync. (note: you can also watch this box as PARIS loads to see the ADAT sync taking place and also while playing to watch the time code)
3. In REAPER Preferences under Audio Device make sure that Audio System is set to ASIO and the ASIO driver is set to ASIO Hammerfall DSP (this is what I did not catch at first) Enable your inputs and outputs here as well.
Second...there are a couple ways but if you right click the play button in REAPER go and check "enable sync to timecode" and set "use input" to ASIO Positioning Protocol" Check "start playback ...when stopped" if you desire or make sure the play button is green and says SYNC on it.
Double check that the BPM and time sig in REAPER match PARIS for easier editing...
Now Press Play in PARIS and Reaper should roll with it!
Some additional notes:
1) It makes no difference whether the master (PARIS) DAW is Mac or PC - the ADAT sync out is independent of platform.
2) It makes a *big* difference if the slave (in this case, Reaper) DAW is Mac or PC. ADAT sync can only be achieved when the RME card is running on a PC (with one exception listed below). This is because Apple computers do not use ASIO, they use Core Audio, and Core Audio has chosen to disregard ADAT sync information. Thus Core Audio does not turn the ADAT sync information the RME card receives into anything that an OSX-based DAW can read. Opinions about this to be directed to Apple.
3) A Mac running OSX can slave to PARIS via ADAT sync if using MOTU software with MOTU hardware with appropriate connectors since MOTU appears to have devised a way to let its hardware and software exchange this information directly, bypassing Core Audio.
4) ADAT sync contains digital sync information, but that information is independent of its positional sync. You can use ADAT sync as your digital clock, but you can for example also use your RME as the word clock master for your PARIS system and simultaneously let your RME system be slaved to PARIS' transport. Digital sync master, positional sync slave, both at the same time.
ParisSync back to Syncing PARIS with external hardware
