Neve 1073 DPX digital card / AES problem!

Ernie Echo

Ernie Echo

Member
Hi,

When I connect my Neve 1073 DPX Digital Card to my Axe FX 3 I receive approx. every 30 seconds a loud digital pop or click.
Why is this and what do I have to do to get rid of this?
The Axe works with a fixed rate of 48k and so I have set the DPX card to 48k.
The AES IN of the card is connected to the AES OUT of the Axe and vice versa.
In the AXE I/O Settings I set word clock to AES In and the digital input source to AES.
Then I set the Input of the Axe (I tried all from 1 to 4) to digital.
How do I have to set the AES Out source?
The connection works, but I can‘t get rid of the loud pops.
In my DAW Cubase 11 Pro I select USB Audio Inputs 7 & 8 as Stereo Inputs for the AES stereo signal coming from the Axe as my audio interface.
I use two 110ohm AES cables.
Attached I send a picture of the DPX card.
Description of the card: https://studiocare.com/products/neve-1073dpx-digital-i-o-option
Can someone please help me?

Thank you very much,
Gernot
 

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I think it is a sync problem. What are the sync source leds on the Neve showing? I think the should show AES so the Axe is master and the Neve is slave.
 
In your original post you said:
"In the AXE I/O Settings I set word clock to AES In and the digital input source to AES."
This means that the Axe FX III is set to word clock slave from its AES input. If you want the Axe-FX III to be master this should be set to "INTERNAL."
 
Thank you for your comments.

What I want to do is record signals from the NEVE preamp (vocals and keyboards) to my DAW (via the Axe as my audio interface).

1. Analog:

When I use analog XLR Line Outs from the NEVE to the analog XLR Axe Inputs 2, everything works fine.
And the A/D D/A-conversion of the Axe sounds great by the way…:)

But what I am trying to do (as a comparison) is to use the digital AES output of the Neve (digital card) and send the digital signal via AES to the Axe (and from there via USB to my DAW).

2. Digital:

I use USB outputs 7 & 8 from the Axe to USB inputs 7 & 8 in my DAW for stereo signals (such as keyboards) and USB output 7 of the Axe / input 7 of the DAW only for mono signals (such as vocals).

I set the I/O-settings in the Axe as follows:
  • Input 2: digital
  • Word clock: AES in (otherwise I don‘t get any signal in the DAW)
  • Digital input source: AES
  • AES Output Source: Output 1 (my DAW output to monitors)
  • USB Output 7,8 Source: Input 2.
  • Input 2 Mode: Stereo (when recording keyboards), Left only (when recording mono vocals)
To me these settings would make sense, but I don‘t get rid of the pops.
What I don‘t know anyway, is if the A/D - D/A conversion of the NEVE is better than the one in the AXE, but I would like to try this out to be able to compare…:)
Any further help is very much appreciated!
 
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slipstream said:
In your original post you said:
"In the AXE I/O Settings I set word clock to AES In and the digital input source to AES."
This means that the Axe FX III is set to word clock slave from its AES input. If you want the Axe-FX III to be master this should be set to "INTERNAL."
Click to expand...
But this is the problem I and others are having. Regardless if I'm using a two notes rack or an eventide rack connected into the fx loop of the Axe fX3 via the Aes connection.
The only way to get either of these two scenarios to work is by setting the Axe FX3 as the slave and the other device as the master.
In the case of the eventide I can find this acceptable if the eventide is doing time-based effects, but when I use more afx3 effects and time based ones, it is unacceptable that I am unable to set the axe fx3 as the internal master and the other device as the slave. It simply does not work. Is this because of some proprietary thing that the fractal unit does not sign up to in licencing in the AES org the way some plug-in companies do not pay into the industry standard Avid Pro Tools AAX protocol for running plug-ins?

I can see how it's nasty to have to but this is the world we live in where industry standards are industry standards.

So I am asking again as before I have not had any evidence presented to me, who has successfully proven to be able to have the fractal unit as the master over a digital Aes connection?

Because I cannot accept my two notes rack to be only working as a digital master in the the aes-connected scenario. As unbelievably amazing as the two notes is at cab modeling, why in the world would I want to set the clock from that unit? It doesn't have any time based effects! LOL. I don't even know if the machine has a tap function to set that clock when I do get a successful two notes master connection to the afx 3.
I have tried repeatedly to set the afx3 as the internal master and the two notes as the slave. To no avail. Ive tried it with my eventide rack too. No sound. Flip that master to slave thing and I get sound.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
sean.e said:
Axe FX III can't be master if it is in an AES loop. You should contact FAS if you need to know more than that.
Click to expand...
It's certainly giving the option to be the master.
I'll have to try a spdif cable though but I find spdif locking in general with anything out there to be glitchy.
 
Axe FX III can be master if it is not in an AES loop.
Axe FX III can't be master if it is in an AES loop.
Axe FX III does not know if it is in an AES loop.
 
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