TOPIC:

Hey guys

I'm having a strange sound out of DDRC-22D when connected to a TC Impact Twin interface.

Here's the case.
When connected to the Impact Twin, the frequency scan sound sounds strange, a bit mechanic and with echo.
The connection is via spdif coax, impact twin is switched to 24/96 mode.
The music sounds great though, the only case with the strange sound is with the freq scan sound.
If I switch the Impact Twin to another interface, everything is OK.

Some kinda incompatibility? Kind strange though, the communication is via spdif.

Anyone experienced something like that?
Would it make sense to try to record the sound and post it here?

Thanks

@ philosopher

odd and most likely related to a software/firmware configuration specific to your setup rather than hardware (SPDIF).

So we understand, when you have Impact twin in the path, you're getting some odd "frequency scan". You mean in Dirac Live software sweeps?
Do you have any effects under the Impact twin driver?

devteam wrote:

@ philosopher
th, you're getting some odd "frequency scan". You mean in Dirac Live software sweeps?
Do you have any effects under the Impact twin driver?

Yeap, I mean the Dirac Live software sweeps.
There are no effects active in the impact twin mixer, and music (through ddrc-22d) sounds absolutely fine.
The only thing that doesn't is the sweep.
Puzzled me a lot, I can't actually blame one thing or the other.

I will try to connect them though optical and see if anything changes.

Thanks for your time

Oh, just another thing.
The impact twin is not even connected to the pc running the dirac live software.
It's in standalone mode, no pc connection!

Figured it out.
The problem was the clock sync. The impact twin can sync to its own internal clock or sync to connected spdif or optical device.
I had it set to internal clock, which gave that strange sound. Switched it to spdif (thus syncing to dirac via spdif) and problem solved.
Now, why that is required for the measurement only is beyond me.

Switched back to internal clock after measurements.

philosopher wrote:

...Switched back to internal clock after measurements.

Not for nuthin, but: Are you using the Impact Twin in as a standalone DAC for the 22D? [EDIT: Oops! You already said so back up there, sorry] If so, wouldn't external clock sync always be the correct mode with SPDIF input? You mentioned that internal sync sounds OK with music, but test signals can sometimes be more revealing, and that glitchy freq sweep may be trying to tell you something... :o)

-- Jim

Your thought makes sense in general, though it's not the case here.
The 'strange' sound is so intense that would make music unlistenable (2-3 seconds reverb and voices would all sound like robots).
It's not like something I could have missed all this time

As a matter of fact, the manual itself suggests using the internal clock which minimizes jitter, though it does mention that in some cases the setting won't work. I've left it untouched for years with all the various sources I've used. It's the first time I had to change it, and yet only for the measurement :/

Thank you all for your time

philosopher wrote:

Your thought makes sense in general, though it's not the case here.
The 'strange' sound is so intense that would make music unlistenable (2-3 seconds reverb and voices would all sound like robots).
It's not like something I could have missed all this time

Sorry, I shouldn't have been quite so oblique in my reply. I didn't mean to imply that you wouldn't notice this same glitch if it were occurring with music. I thought perhaps there might be a difference in the modulation pattern of the (self-clocking) SPDIF signal between the test sweep and a music waveform, enough to illuminate the lack of sync between the two units.

As a matter of fact, the manual itself suggests using the internal clock which minimizes jitter, though it does mention that in some cases the setting won't work. I've left it untouched for years with all the various sources I've used. It's the first time I had to change it, and yet only for the measurement :/

I didn't think it would be possible for this setup to work properly without external sync, but I'm probably just not understanding something somewhere along the line. (Wouldn't be the first time, heh.)

-- Jim