TOPIC:

I've been using the USBStreamer "B" for ADAT transmission for a couple of weeks now, and it does the job admiringly well. Thanks for making this available!!

I have one request: ADAT is capable of 2X Sample Rate mode, aka SMUX mode. This doesn't require any changes in clocking, but a parsing of the double-rate data along 2 channels, reducing the number of available channels by 2 (normal 8 ch operation turns into 4 ch operation). This is a very useful feature in pro audio.

The implementation details can be found in this document . It doesn't appear complicated at the ADAT end; with the host system I don't know.

For your consideration...

@ Zoomer,

Glad to hear you're having fun with this little box..
We can see in the future if we find some time to implement this feature... A bit busy with other projects these days so will have to wait till we find some spare time.

Thanks for the feedback

DevTeam

I too would want this feature.

This would be great as I would order another USBStreamer...Any chance of a firmware update for this in the not so distant future?

If miniDSP did this, it would be the only box in this price range capable of direct to ADAT with S/MUX. In principle, it really shouldn't be very hard to do... and two boxes would be able to deliver 8 channels at 88.2/96 kHz, 24-bits. Here's to hoping...

No timeline I'm afraid at this point of time as we're quite loaded already with some upgrade/projects/. ASAP we find some magic spare time, we'll put it together. We understand the value, just need to implement it.

DevTeam

devteam wrote:

...ASAP we find some magic spare time...

Yes it's hard enough finding spare time, never mind MAGIC spare time! LOL

Actually, it's currently more useful for me to run at 96kHz than with 8 channels. If I flash USBStreamer with the alternate firmware I could in principle be able to use it as a simple SPDIF optical stereo sound card, right? Can I sync this card to external SPDIF as well? Also, is it possible for me to open the box and add coaxial SPDIF I/O? TIA.

@ Zoomer,

This is a single Toslink connector you're looking at, not a firewire/thunderbolt connection.
Toslink can handle 8 x Channel ADAT @ 48k or 4ch ADAT @ 96k. That's all the bandwidth the connector can handle. If you need more channels, get more USBStreamers.

Not sure what you mean by the "alternate firmware" but we have 2 firmware:
ADAT = multichannel on optical connector
SPDIF(Stereo) + I2S (8ch @ up to 192k) = works out to be 10ch i/o BUT you'll need to build your own IO card for the input/output to fit to the I2S headers.

All this is described in the user manual so please take 2 min to have a look at it. Thanks!

DevTeam

devteam wrote:

This is a single Toslink connector you're looking at, not a firewire/thunderbolt connection.

OK so what you're telling me is that the Toslink connectors in USBStreamer aren't rated for more than 48k operation. I assumed that because USBStreamer was rated for 192kHz operation that the Toslink connectors and their drivers would be rated for that as well, or at least 96k with which I could have used a Toslink to Coax converter I have. Recent Toslink products can handle those speeds.

devteam wrote:

Not sure what you mean by the "alternate firmware" but we have 2 firmware:

Well I was on ADAT so there being two firmwares, the alternate would have to be this:

SPDIF(Stereo) + I2S (8ch @ up to 192k) = works out to be 10ch i/o BUT you'll need to build your own IO card for the input/output to fit to the I2S headers.

Do you have any products I could use to get that Coax SPDIF I/O from USBStreamer? Something like the DIGI-FP would be ideal but it's designed for another series of boards. From what I can see from a cursory review of the documentation (yes I do read manuals... usually quickly... ) the miniDIGI might have the right connections to work but again it's not specifically designed for this. So DIY is my only choice?

If that's the case, then I'll just be patient for your magic free time to come around :

devteam wrote:

Toslink can handle 8 x Channel ADAT @ 48k or 4ch ADAT @ 96k.

Zoomer wrote:

OK so what you're telling me is that the Toslink connectors in USBStreamer aren't rated for more than 48k operation. I assumed that because USBStreamer was rated for 192kHz operation that the Toslink connectors and their drivers would be rated for that as well, or at least 96k with which I could have used a Toslink to Coax converter I have. Recent Toslink products can handle those speeds.

Mmmh, I don't believe that we ever mentioned that the USBStreamer Toslink connector doesn't do 192k..
Toslink connector does handle 192kHz stereo fine, been used many times. It just doesn't handle 8ch @ 96kHz. Bandwidth limitation of such connector. Max baud rate you get out of these toslink connectors is 26Mbps. As mentioned above, ADAT is 8ch @ 48k OR 4ch at 96k. That's how ADAT works.

We don't have boards doing multichannel COAX I'm afraid. You'll have to source that separately.

devteam wrote:

Mmmh, I don't believe that we ever mentioned that the USBStreamer Toslink connector doesn't do 192k..
Toslink connector does handle 192kHz stereo fine, been used many times. It just doesn't handle 8ch @ 96kHz. Bandwidth limitation of such connector.

Confirmed by the web copy and the manual! Clearly we've had a misunderstanding. When I first sidetracked this thread I asked about running in STEREO SPDIF mode at 96 kHz, not in ADAT mode... So I can physically do what I want by running in SPDIF mode using the I2S + Toslink firmware, connecting the Toslink to a Toslink-to-COAX converter and connecting that to my workstation sound card's SPDIF I/O @ 96kHz.

But one question remains: I need to clock the SPDIF externally from my workstation's SPDIF output but the manual states:

Note that the USBStreamer can only operate as an I2S Master (clock being outputs from the device).

So the ADAT firmware allows for external clocking but the I2S + Toslink firmware does not? Or is the manual out of date? Threads on this board seem to suggest that it can, for example this one: www.minidsp.com/forum/usbstreamer/10433-...no-192khz-sync#16474. There's also mention of a new rev of USBStreamer. Can I flash more recent firmware on the one I received earlier this year?

hey I just ordered this card (it's being shipped now..very very excited)

i would also like to have this feature when you guys get around to implementing it.

j

0=0

I'm also interested in this feature!

I have one request: ADAT is capable of 2X Sample Rate mode, aka SMUX mode.

bump / plus one for me.

    First off I love the fact that minidsp creates such projects, I needed this box 10 years ago, I just didn't know it existed. Big thanks to the devs for the fun projects!

Background:
 I have been using these audio IFs with a USBStreamer ADAT [email protected], it works great. I would buy several more if I could get SMUX.
 I have started buying high end ( antiqued firewire ) Audio IFs for 100$, they all do SMUX and old ADAT.  Having SMUX would revive these IFs saving at least $1k US each. Rather than pay 1700$ for a fancy USB card I could use cards that were $2-4k back in the day.

Code:
 Looking at github, I see some projects with the same XMOS chip that have SMUX. If you would opensource the code, people like me could add the smux code.
 Do you have any public repos or ones that registered people can access?

best regards
mp