EDIT: Black Lion Audio Revolution is junk - S/PDif does not allow monitoring

S

schneidas

Member
Hi guys, any ideas how I can get this to work?

My newly acquired FM3 SPDif out goes into the SPDif in on my Black Lion Audio Revolution 2x2.
I do get no sound at all.
What do I have to choose in the FM3 menu for it to send sound to the SPDif out?

I'm attaching some pics of the control panel of the Black Lion Audio USB sound card.
Any ideas?

I've been troubleshooting for almost an hour here... and cannot get it to work at all.

I get normal sound and sound through the analog ins. But nothing seems to work via SPdif????!
 

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Edit- I don't see in the menus where it shows spdif input for the interface? But wherever that is, you'll want to make sure it's set to use the FM3 as the clock source. Depending on your hardware that sample rate might be too low as well, but I don't see spdif listed as an input in any of the black lion tabs you're showing.

Make sure that the Out 1 knob on the unit is turned up clockwise and that your interface is selected as the sound source and that the spdif input in it is set up properly.
 
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Hmm, not sure if this is a problem though...I haven't tried it, but I don't believe you can set the FM3 to use an external clock source.

https://gearspace.com/board/product...evolution-2x2-portable-audio-interface-3.html

The revolution can be used as a master clock via it's spdif connection. The spdif input does not receive clock signal however. We are extremely confident in the quality of the Macro-Mmc clock and therefore decided the Revolution should only be used as a master clock and not a slave.
Click to expand...
 
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Holy crap, here's their response:

"When you are recording, the spdif signal should come up when a track is being recorded. Be aware though that the interface is not a standalone convertor so you cannot monitor from the revolution in realtime using the spdif input."

I can't for the life of me understand why a 2021 USB audio interface with "S/Pdif in" would not be able to monitor in realtime??
 
Actually, if I’m understanding correctly, I think that does make sense. They’re not saying you can’t monitor in real time, just that it won’t be zero latency monitoring, and you’ll have to monitor through your DAW because the interface doesn’t have a DSP mixer. The interface is just going to send the digital spidif signal straight into your PC. The question is how much latency you’ll have to deal with due to the signal running through your PC and back out. And of course the annoyance of having to open your DAW and setup a track to monitor from.
 
This is very similar to the Komplete 6 that I have in that you can't direct monitor from the Spdif.
There are a couple ways around this record the spdif signal in the daw but also have a connection from the analog out of the FM3 to the analog input of the Black lion.
The other option on the FM3 is to set the spdif to output 2 - take a feed from chain to output 2 (but before output1) - spdif ouput 2 goes to the Black lion as usual.
take a stereo output from the Black Lion into the fx loop (input 2) of the FM3 - then connect Input 2 to Output 1

hope that makes sense
 
Rane said:
Actually, if I’m understanding correctly, I think that does make sense. They’re not saying you can’t monitor in real time, just that it won’t be zero latency monitoring, and you’ll have to monitor through your DAW because the interface doesn’t have a DSP mixer. The interface is just going to send the digital spidif signal straight into your PC. The question is how much latency you’ll have to deal with due to the signal running through your PC and back out. And of course the annoyance of having to open your DAW and setup a track to monitor from.
Click to expand...
Here's their reply after I made some further questions regarding this issue:

"The only way to hear the FM3 would be through a daw or some type of software that would allow you to access the digital inputs"
 
Aivoryuk said:
This is very similar to the Komplete 6 that I have in that you can't direct monitor from the Spdif.
There are a couple ways around this record the spdif signal in the daw but also have a connection from the analog out of the FM3 to the analog input of the Black lion.
The other option on the FM3 is to set the spdif to output 2 - take a feed from chain to output 2 (but before output1) - spdif ouput 2 goes to the Black lion as usual.
take a stereo output from the Black Lion into the fx loop (input 2) of the FM3 - then connect Input 2 to Output 1

hope that makes sense
Click to expand...
Yikes, actually, I wanted a simple 1-cable solution from the FM3 to the Black Lion, but guess this is impossible.

Thanks for your comments, I'll see if I can make this work this way
 
I wouldn't try too hard...not being able to set the FM3 as master clock will likely yield some crap results anyway. You'll likely end up with lots of pops/clicks/artifacts from that.

Agreed with those that said Black Lion missed the boat on that one...most devices that you'd want to send in via spdif are not meant to be slave clocked.
 
vetteboy79 said:
I wouldn't try too hard...not being able to set the FM3 as master clock will likely yield some crap results anyway. You'll likely end up with lots of pops/clicks/artifacts from that.

Agreed with those that said Black Lion missed the boat on that one...most devices that you'd want to send in via spdif are not meant to be slave clocked.
Click to expand...
True, I already decided to sell the Black Lion interface. What a piece of crap!

Will just get one of these brand new MOTU Ultralite MK5 and be done with it...

Note: Thread title changed to warn others!
 
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schneidas said:
True, I already decided to sell the Black Lion interface. What a piece of crap!

Will just get one of these brand new MOTU Ultralite MK5 and be done with it...

Note: Thread title changed to warn others!
Click to expand...

I definitely wouldn’t say the Black Lion interface is crap. Most interfaces of it’s size don’t have onboard DSP. Based on what I’ve read about it, it’s converter and preamp quality are most likely better than the MOTU (and a lot of others). That said, it’s I/O and feature set is limited to keep it’s price point low. It doesn’t have DSP mixing and I wouldn’t have expected it to.

EDIT: See below.
 
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schneidas said:
True, I already decided to sell the Black Lion interface. What a piece of crap!

Will just get one of these brand new MOTU Ultralite MK5 and be done with it...

Note: Thread title changed to warn others!
Click to expand...

Oh, I didn't realize that there was an Mk5 now... I kind of wish I didn't since I don't "need" it.

Uh, you mind shooting me a message if you get one? I have the MK4 and I'd be curious about a few things especially if you use Windows.
 
Rane said:
Dang, that's super disappointing considering how the interface was hyped. I guess the thing is just a piece of crap. lol

Thanks for sharing. I expect I'll be referencing those reviews in the future. Really nice to see actual data instead of a bunch of hyperbolic rhetoric.
Click to expand...
Rane said:
I definitely wouldn’t say the Black Lion interface is crap. Most interfaces of it’s size don’t have onboard DSP. Based on what I’ve read about it, it’s converter and preamp quality are most likely better than the MOTU (and a lot of others). That said, it’s I/O and feature set is limited to keep it’s price point low. It doesn’t have DSP mixing and I wouldn’t have expected it to.

EDIT: See below.
Click to expand...

rjones5766 said:
Just another data point on how bad this interface measures objectively:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-revolution-2x2-review-audio-interface.22141/
Click to expand...

I can actually confirm the high noise floor of this interface. I now switched to temporarily using the FM3 as a sound interface, and the hissing on my monitors went away completely. The difference is night and day.
When the Black Lion Audio Revolution was connected to the speakers, there was some serious noise/hiss coming from the speakers (and I'm using balanced, very high quality cables). Now with the FM3, the hiss/noise is completely gone.

I can't believe I paid €450+ for this piece of noise generating interface. I can only warn others - don't even bother!
For the life of me, I can't understand how they would choose such noisy converters for sound quality... this thing was so hyped up...
 
Becoming said:
Oh, I didn't realize that there was an Mk5 now... I kind of wish I didn't since I don't "need" it.

Uh, you mind shooting me a message if you get one? I have the MK4 and I'd be curious about a few things especially if you use Windows.
Click to expand...
I will. It's going to be a couple of months though, as I have to get a few paychecks again first. The FM3 was my most recent purchase, and I'm super happy with this one! Best investment I did in years!
 
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