d8b Forum

Hey, I'm trying to learn as much as possible about the d8b from the
Info and knowledge on this forum, so quick question:

I bought the d8b without any cards--does it need a sync card to boot?
I plan on purchasing an adat card after she finally boots and runs correctly.
Any answers are appreciated, thanx.

Anybody??? Not trying to be a smarty, but any clue??

Hi,
When you say without any cards, do you mean without a clock card also? I do not know if the D8B will boot without a clock card. If you are going to record with this board you will need to find an apogee word clock card for it as the Mackie stock clock card has no BNC connectors on it with which to sync up to your other devices. You can usually find one of these on E-bay.

Have a Blessed Day in Christ,
Mike Whitley

You can sync through light pipe optical instead assuming you have a light pipe interface between computer and d8b

You can sync through light pipe optical instead assuming you have a light pipe interface between computer and d8b

Sorry, but this is very wrong.

When using the D8B as a MIXER (using it with the D8BBridge software is NOT using it as a mixer, but as a MIDI controller), then it HAS to have an Apogee Clock card, in order to have the D8B sync to an external sync source.

Digital I/O cards like an DIO8 or OPT8 (both have ADAT ports) do NOT let you sync the D8B to an external source.

For most computer-audio interfaces, it's true that you can use the ADAT (or other digital ports) to have them sync to incoming clock signal from such ports, but this is FALSE for the D8B. For the D8B, the Apogee Clock card is MANDATORY to be able to sync to external. (Not even the stock clock card that came with the D8B will work, since that has no clock INPUT and can only generate clock internally).

Further, this post is in the "D8BBridge" Forum... digital clock sync doesn't belong here. The (long discontinued) D8BBridge Windows software and adapter cable, allow you to run the D8B console, as a MIDI controller. Digital sync does not play a role, here.

I never had the D8BBridge and am not sure if this is possible, but I have a ProBox (similar concept, but it connects to the computer via USB), and with the ProBox NO CARDS need to be installed into the D8B console AT ALL. Not even a clock card.

The reason why no clock card is needed, when the D8B is used with the ProBox, is because the D8B doesn't handle any (digital) audio in this mode at all. It's just a MIDI controller. And for that, no clock is needed.
(When used in this mode, you can use the Monitor-Section on the D8B as a Monitor Controller... kind of as if you had an analog "Mackie Big Knob" on the side... but the D8B will not "mix" anything from the channels to the monitor section. It will just output signals that are being fed directly into the monitor section.

Anyway... long story short - the last post was misleading, and I felt I needed to clear this up, before anybody buys an ADAT card, thinking they can clock their D8B to external clock with it, even if they have no clock card, or only a "stock" clock card. This doesn't work (I tried years ago, when I first got my D8B).

good summary Y-my-R....I agree it was confusing at first to read