SPDIF and Blinking light on Audio Interface

  • Kemper Gurus,


    I am now week 2 into my KPA and still loving it. I have been running the KPA via SPDIF into my RME audio interface.


    The SPDIF light on my RME blinks all the time which I believe is a clocking issue...right?


    What needs to happen to get this to stop?


    Is there a setting in the KPA that I need to adjust?


    Denicio


  • No, you need to find the setting in the RME to make it a slave to the profiler.
    KPA is always master .

  • WHAT?? This is nuts. Unless Kemper is boasting of the worlds best word clock I will continue to use the RME as master. I cant imagine having to change the studio clock of super nice converters and nice focusrite pre amps digital out to slave to a guitar amp. Sorry, that's just crazy to me.


    Me thinks the Kemper Gods need to rethink this one.


    D

  • WHAT?? This is nuts. Unless Kemper is boasting of the worlds best word clock I will continue to use the RME as master. I cant imagine having to change the studio clock of super nice converters and nice focusrite pre amps digital out to slave to a guitar amp. Sorry, that's just crazy to me.


    Me thinks the Kemper Gods need to rethink this one.


    D


    You're not alone in wanting this.
    Has been requested several times, and rightfully so.

  • Of course I understand their frustration. And its OK to bitch about it.


    But it is what it is. And eventually people either accept it or move on. After expressing emotions those are the two choices. :)

  • Of course I understand their frustration. And its OK to bitch about it.


    But it is what it is. And eventually people either accept it or move on. After expressing emotions those are the two choices. :)


    The missing part of that equation (if I may be so bold) is whether the setup with the clock (fixed at 44.1 kHz, has to be master) is hardwired, and NOT something that can be updated on existing models.


    I THINK it is. In which case we wont ever see an upgrade to "fix" it. Unless black lion audio makes a mod available :)

  • I wonder how good the clock source in the Kemper is.


    Is there any way to measure this? Or specs to look at?


    I'm not at a level where it matters in the slightest to me, but I'm interested anyway.


    Don't ask me. ;)
    I just did an album with a Focusrite Sapphire Pro 24 as the main interface and when tracking guitar with the profiler the KPA was master.
    The result is nothing but great.


    But if I had a real highend interface and had invested in the best converters I'd be a bit irritated as well.

  • Don't ask me. ;)
    I just did an album with a Focusrite Sapphire Pro 24 as the main interface and when tracking guitar with the profiler the KPA was master.
    The result is nothing but great.


    But if I had a real highend interface and had invested in the best converters I'd be a bit irritated as well.



    Yeah, I get that.


    But at least there are still analogue outs :)

  • Yeah, there are some studios that have spent 1000.00+ bux on a dedicated word clock to keep EVERYTHING in sync.


    Kemper seems to have simply overlooked this fact.


    What I do know if something is improperly clocked is that you can get noises and jacked up audio if the clocks are all not resolved.


    Personally I trust the clock in my RME over most clocks. I suppose I will have to roll the dice and just have the clock unresolved when I track this weekend.


    I don't know how the Kemper Gods could fix this issue. Normally a dedicated BNC connection is needed and the KPA don't have one (I could see the endless bitching about having an extra word cable added to the path too). It seems the KPA is sending the clock signal through SPDIF connection. If it can send...it should be able to receive. Its got SPDIF In ....so maybe....just maybe....


    Denicio

  • Yeah, I get that.


    But at least there are still analogue outs :)


    BUT..what you get is an Amp profiled with a mic pre being run back through yet another mic pre. Some of the charm of the KPA was getting that mic pre sound on the front end.


    Dunno....seems like there could be an easy fix to this with the SPDIF out.....then agan...I am not an electronic engineer...I only play one on TV :)


    D

  • Do you have any other digital gear connected to the RME?



    Yes, my Focusrite ISA 828 is hooked up digitally. So the 828 is slaving to my RME.


    If I KNEW that the clock in the KPA was the clocks used in the Lucid clocks or Apogee gear then I would be more open to using it. But here is the rub. I don't (and wont) turn my KPA on everytime I power up my studio...which means I will always be jacking/toggling the clock settings depending on the KPA being turned on or off. Again, not cool.


    In the perfect world the KPA should be slaving like just about any other gear can do. Its actually quite odd that it can only act as Master Clock.
    D

  • Some information about wordclock and jitter:


    It is virtually not possible to have a bad wordclock generation. If something is a potential problem, it's the digital cables.


    On the other hand any jitter problems are fully filtered out by the PLL of high class DA converters.


    A significant number of digital instruments or digital guitar amps do not provide variable rate or slave capabilities.


    Todays sample rate converters offer a superb audio quality.

    Edited once, last by ckemper ().