Recording with synced Mixpre 10 ii and Tascam? DR680 Mk ii

dgpretzel 🎙️ · 24th January 2022

I have a Sound Devices MixPre 10 II and a Tascam DR-680 Mk II.

The Mixpre has BNC Wordclock IN and OUT.

The DR-680 as S/PDIF IN and OUT.

Is there a way to sync the two together so I can get precisely synchronized recordings using microphones plugged into both recorders?

Thank you.

Regards,

DG

David Spearritt · 24th January 2022

Clapper board?

Why so precisely? Do you have one half of a stereo pair on one recorder and the other half on the other?

If you mix spots or other pairs and you keep pairs on one recorder you don't really need to be sample or frame precise.

dgpretzel 🎙️ · 24th January 2022

I just like having all my tracks perfectly lined up.

So, I guess it isn't critical...

...But, if there is an easy way to get wordclock from SPDIF, and I can just plug the the two recorders together, why not?

DG

studer58 · 25th January 2022

This Tascam description page suggests that using two 680's linked together in Cascade mode should extract sufficient timing/sync info from the SPDIF connections shared to allow the designated master unit to transport-control the slave:

https://tascam.com/us/product/dr-680mkii/feature

That's going to be your main problem...getting the 2 transports synced ? Buying a second 680 unit would apparently fix this immediately...

jimjazzdad · 25th January 2022

Quote:

Originally Posted by dgpretzel ➡️

I just like having all my tracks perfectly lined up.

So, I guess it isn't critical...

...But, if there is an easy way to get wordclock from SPDIF, and I can just plug the the two recorders together, why not?

DG

So are you asking for two different things here? Having the machine transports operate in lockstep is one issue; have the two recordings synced and sample-accurate is another. The former is best done with two machines from the same manufacturer that are designed to be cascaded. The latter (BNC to SPDIF) may be possible but I haven't tried nor have I found anyone who has done it successfully...
Here's a thread for further reading: BNC signal to SPDIF?

studer58 · 25th January 2022

There may be some sort of geeky black-box that will somehow speak all the right languages and synchronize SPDIF to wordclock/BNC for you. Scott Dorsey would probably know if it exists or is possible.

Be prepared to give up your last available virgin as sacrifice to the gods of synchronicity and electricity for the key to this one, however....

dgpretzel 🎙️ · 25th January 2022

Quote:

Originally Posted by studer58 ➡️

This Tascam description page suggests that using two 680's linked together in Cascade mode should extract sufficient timing/sync info from the SPDIF connections shared to allow the designated master unit to transport-control the slave:

https://tascam.com/us/product/dr-680mkii/feature

That's going to be your main problem...getting the 2 transports synced ? Buying a second 680 unit would apparently fix this immediately...

Good observation!

In fact, I do have two dr-680s, and when I have the SPDIF out from one connected to the SPDIF in on the other, they do work together just fine, and I can get data into my DAW that is (essentially) one big polywave of all the tracks. That is, I have all the tracks from both recorders lined up perfectly.

But, now that I have a MixPre 10 II, I was wondering if there were a way to use the MixPre and a DR-680 together (instead of two DR-680s).

DG

dgpretzel 🎙️ · 25th January 2022

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimjazzdad ➡️

So are you asking for two different things here? Having the machine transports operate in lockstep is one issue; have the two recordings synced and sample-accurate is another. The former is best done with two machines from the same manufacturer that are designed to be cascaded. The latter (BNC to SPDIF) may be possible but I haven't tried nor have I found anyone who has done it successfully...
Here's a thread for further reading: BNC signal to SPDIF?

Thank you.

A lot of discussion there. But, in my alleged mind, it suggests that I might try a (75 ohm) cable with a BNC connector on one end, and an RCA connector on the other end, and plug the BNC end to the wordclock out of my MixPre, and the RCA end to the SPDIF in of one of my DR-680s.

At any rate, it would be a cheap and quick experiment to try, no?

I'll see if I can find a 75 ohm cable with BNC on one end, and RCA on the other.

DG

jimjazzdad · 25th January 2022

Quote:

Originally Posted by dgpretzel ➡️

Thank you.

A lot of discussion there. But, in my alleged mind, it suggests that I might try a (75 ohm) cable with a BNC connector on one end, and an RCA connector on the other end, and plug the BNC end to the wordclock out of my MixPre, and the RCA end to the SPDIF in of one of my DR-680s.

At any rate, it would be a cheap and quick experiment to try, no?

I'll see if I can find a 75 ohm cable with BNC on one end, and RCA on the other.

DG

Please report back with the results of your experiment! BNC to RCA one-piece adapters are readily available - I got some from Monoprice to facilitate hooking up my reel-to-reel to my oscilloscope (for alignments).

philper · 25th January 2022

SPDIF audio and word clock are pretty different animals.... I think you need a way of translating one to the other, not a simple task. Some MOTU boxes can do this (my 828es will) as well as a recorder that has both SPDIF and WC connections (I use an old 744T for this).

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