Symphony I/O: Connecting to Pro Tools HD PCI Cards

Note: This entry is an excerpt from the SIO User's Guide

Pro Tools HD Audio Interface Mode

Connecting to Pro Tools HD PCI cards   When Symphony I/O's audio interface mode is set to Pro Tools HD, one (1) Symphony I/O with up to 32 channels of input and output may be connected to each HD PCI Core/Accel/Process card or each port of an HDX or HD Native card. The connection of up to 4 Symphony I/Os is currently supported. 

The following Pro Tools HD PCI cards are supported.

  • HD Core
  • HD Process
  • HD Accel PCI
  • HD Accel Core
  • HD Accel PCIe
  • HD Native (requires Symphony I/O Release 4.2 or greater)
  • HDX (requires Symphony I/O Release 4.2 or greater)

Connecting to Pro Tools HD Core, Accel and Process cards   Connect one end of an Apogee PC-32 (or Avid DigiLink) multichannel cable to the Symphony I/O Main port and the other end to a Pro Tools HD PCI Core card, as shown below. Connect additional Symphony I/Os to additional HD PCI cards.    Connecting to Pro Tools HD Native and HDX cards   Connect one end of an Apogee PC-32 (or Avid DigiLink) multichannel cable to the Symphony I/O Main port and the other end to Port 1 of the card using a Digilink to MiniDigilink adaptor. Connect a second Symphony I/O to the HD Native card's Port 2. Connect up to three additional Symphony I/Os to additional HDX cards.      PC-32 cable lengths of up to 30 meters between the Mac and Symphony I/O are supported at sample rates of 44.1-96 kHz. Lengths up to 5 meters are supported at sample rates of 176.4-192 kHz.   To incorporate Avid interfaces (192 I/O, 192 Digital I/O, 96 I/O, HD I/O) with one or more Symphony I/Os in a Pro Tools HD or HD Native system, the following guidelines should be followed:

  1. Connect Symphony I/Os and Avid interfaces to different PCIe card ports.
  2. Connect Symphony I/O's Loop Sync inputs and outputs with Avid interfaces as described in "Making Hardware Clock Connections - Locking Multiple Symphony I/Os with Loop Sync".
  3. It's recommended to connect Symphony I/O to the first PCIe card port and choosing it as the Loop Master, thus making it the clock master of the system.

   

Apogee Maestro Software Control via USB

  A USB connection between Symphony I/O and an Intel Mac provides the link between Apogee Maestro software and Symphony I/O. See Connecting to a Mac's USB Port for details.   Symphony I/O USB