S/PDIF SPDIF Connectivity options with AudioFuse 8pre

[JoshP]

I have an AudioFuse 8pre but really miss having the SPDIF in/out connectivity for my Kemper Profiler.  Has anyone found an alternate device for SPDIF that could be used alongside the 8pre? My primary concern is that ASIO only allows one device to be used at a time so I'm not sure what exactly I need to look for in terms of an interface that could be use at the same time.  I use Cakewalk by Bandlab as my my DAW.

[JoshP]

Bump.... it's uncomfortably quiet at this forum. Doesn't Arturia have anyone answering questions when there is a lull in the conversation?

[amonti]

Bump.... it's uncomfortably quiet at this forum. Doesn't Arturia have anyone answering questions when there is a lull in the conversation?

I guess it's a tricky proposition; I tried to think of a solution using USB, but as you mention, your ASIO driver will prevent you from pulling from multiple inputs (and you don't have a way to create an aggregate device). There are converters that will convert USB-C to S/PDIF, but that doesn't help you, since you can't 'split' the 8pre USB signal.

From an ADAT perspective, there's an outside chance that using a converter will work, but it's unlikely. You can convert your Kemper output from S/PDIF to ADAT and use that as input into the 8pre, but then the 8pre has to be in ADAT mode and USB recording won't be possible. In the other direction, your Kemper will accept a S/PDIF input, which means that you can convert the 8pre output to S/PDIF and feed it into the Kemper, but I don't think the Kemper will combine it with guitar input and send it out via S/PDIF (even in a reamping configuration).

Sounds like you have a great setup - love Cakewalk and the 8pre is super quiet, but you may have to record your Kemper digitally to an off-board device (I've used an old PC with a coax S/PDIF input in the past) and add it to Cakewalk as an extra step. It may be easier to send the analog output from the Kemper to the 8pre and digitally (to a separate PC/device) simultaneously - then you can just replace the analog track in Cakewalk with the identical digital one when you're happy with the mix.

You've likely seen these, but here's an ADAT to S/PDIF converter: https://reverb.com/item/1028430-midiman-sam-s-pdif-adat-24-bit-converter-blue

The best solution would be if Arturia said that there's a 'secret' mode that enables S/PDIF on the SYNC BNCs, but that would encroach into AudioFuse territory...I'm going to assume the requisite components to enable that functionality aren't even on the board.

Also, I'm assuming I've understood your requirements - if you were trying to accomplish something else interface- or recording-wise, please let me now (I'm not associated with Arturia, but did work on programming DSP farms for DigiDesign long ago).

Best of luck - please let the forum know if you have any success.

[JoshP]

Thanks for your response. Adding another PC and extra steps is not something I'm willing to get into. I want everything to be as simple as possible. For now I'm simply using all analog outputs from the Kemper, four in all, but am basically losing inputs due to the lack of SPDIF.

Wouldn't a solution be to add another interface in ADAT mode that does have SPDIF inputs? That way I'm running the current 8pre in USB mode and connect another device to it via ADAT.  Is that supported?

[amonti]

I hear you on the additional PC - not really a clean solution. I didn't know the Kemper used four inputs, which is half your capacity - no kidding you'd rather save some inputs by using a digital interface.

Re-reading the 8pre guide (p26), it looks like (as you mention) adding an S/PDIF to ADAT converter from your Kemper to the 8pre and using that as input into one of the ADAT ins in the 8pre may work. In 8pre USB mode, ADAT in #1 routes to USB channels 9-16, and all 8 analog inputs would appear as channels 1-8, freeing up 4 inputs. S/PDIF has just two channels; I would imagine the S/PDIF to ADAT interface would just place the Kemper stereo signal on the first two ADAT channels, which would appear as USB channels 9 and 10. Not sure what you'll miss from the Kemper by dropping two analog channels, but if the digital mix works for your purposes, so much the better. This solution also doesn't send anything back to the Kemper - I'm assuming you don't need to play anything back to the Kemper from your computer via USB.

So, you'd still need a "box" to convert S/PDIF from the Kemper to ADAT plus cables, but it looks promising. It certainly isn't as straightforward as just a cable, but it likely beats having to purchase yet another audio DSP.

Not sure I helped at all other than agreeing with you - unless someone from Arturia can say that this will conclusively work, you may have to take a risk on a converter box.

[JoshP]

So based on this conversation I realized that the Saffire Pro 40 interface that I just replaced with the Arturia 8pre has an ADAT output. After some fussing around I got it to work as an ADAT expander. The nice thing is that you can choose which inputs are mapped to the ADAT outputs so I was able to configure it for both channels of SPDIF and 6 additional mic preamps should I need them.

I would recommend this as a solution for others as you can pick these devices up for around $200 and are still good sounding units. The only issue is that you will need to connect to it via Firewire initially to set up the configuration. However, I think I should be able to leave it disconnected after that unless I need to change the configuration later.

[JoshP]

To address the other issues you raised regarding number of channels available from the Kemper;  in addition to the two channels over SPDIF i'm still utilizing two analog outputs as well (into Arturia line inputs). That way I can do Wet-Dry-Wet + DI as an example.  I do have a return back to the Kemper for re-amping but I'm using an analog reamp box for that (Torpedo Reload); line out of Arturia into Torpedo Reload and then back into the main Kemper input.

But the good new is that I reclaimed two channels on the Arturia which is prime real estate now. Plus I'm running two analog line outs from the Arturia back into the Saffire Pro 40 to feed an additional headphone output.

This is a simple and inexpensive solution and gets me two additional channels of pristine digital plus an additional 6 mic/line preamps off the Saffire should I ever need them. I'm a happy camper now.

[amonti]

Sound like a great solution; I would imagine that you were replacing the Saffire Pro 40 with the 8pre to lessen the number of Firewire devices you have hanging around (I know I am), but the 'static' configuration mode is pretty sweet. I wouldn't have expected to be able to map S/PDIF inputs to ADAT outputs, but it looks like that box has a very flexible router - it's almost like having another 8pre chained, since the remaining 6 Pro 40 analog inputs can likely be mapped to the remaining ADAT channels, which are just passed through the 8pre USB interface to Cakewalk (very nice!).

Is there a downside to connecting the two Kemper analog channels to the Pro 40 and passing those signals through ADAT? I think you can still do Wet-Dry-Wet + DI that way and still not have to connect the Pro 40 to Firewire to change configuration, no? That would free up two more 8pre inputs, but maybe you don't have a need for that many inputs, or want the Kemper to have "premium" 8pre quality processing. The Pro 40 seems to be very flexible unit, but I don't know what AD/DAC chips it uses - possibly a bit outdated by now. Not sure if we can discuss Focusrite in-depth here since they are the "competition" - especially after purchasing DSI 

I figured you'd use have a solution for reamping, and assumed it would have to remain in the analog domain - never heard of Torpedo Reload - looks like an elegant (and powerful) way to replace a mic in front of an amp!

Glad that you posted the question - hopefully, your solution makes other people happy campers too

[JoshP]

I upgraded to the AudioFuse 8pre due to it's superior sounding preamps. So yeah, there is a downside to capturing analog from the Saffire pro 40 and sending it over ADAT because it won't sound as good. But the digital from the Kemper is pristine so that's worth doing and I can have the extra pre-amps on the Saffire pro 40 as extras if I ever need them down the road.