Standard Horizon 24-96 User Manual

Minimum System: 133 MHz w/ Win 95/98; 32 MB RAM

Options:

AES/EBU I/O: AES/EBU I/O connects to S/PDIF I/O

19” 2U MONO Rack: MONO RACK for 1 DIRECT PRO 24/96

19” 2U DUAL Rack: DUAL RACK for 2 DIRECT PRO 24/96

The Direct Pro 24/96 Package Includes:

• Direct Pro 24/96 Break-Out Box

• Direct Pro 24/96 Host PCI Card with DSP

• Direct Pro 24/96 Manual

• Custom 25-pin Shielded Cable

• Software Control Panel

• Windows 95/98 and ASIO Drivers

• Multichannel Recording Application and Effects**

** For updated software bundle check out our website: www.aardvark-pro.com/DirectPro/software

Phantom Power: 48Vdc, max current: 40mA

Analog Outputs: Four Line Outputs on 1/4" Connectors: +4 dBu/-10 dBv

Headphone Output: Stereo Headphone Jack on front

Digital I/O: 24 Bit S/PDIF In/Out, OPTIONAL: AES/EBU In/Out

MIDI I/O: MIDI In/Out on 5-Pin DIN Connectors

Sync I/O: S/PDIF Digital Clock, MIDI

Modes: Full Duplex Simultaneous Record/Play

Expansion: Up to four (4) cards can be used simultaneously in one PC.

Computer Card Type: PCI Bus Architecture, 5" length

Connectors on Card: 25-Pin Connector to Break-Out Box, S/PDIF Digital In/Out

Powerful DSP: 24 Bit, 80 MIPS

• 1/4" Bal Line Inputs at +4 dBu (w/ 30 dB Level Trim)

Two AUX Outputs on RCA Connectors: -10 dBv

Analog Inputs: Four Combo 1/4" & XLR Connectors:

• Frequency response at -3db: 1.6Hz-200kHz

• EIN at 20-20kHz, 150 Ohm: -130dBu

• 1/4" UnBal Line Inputs at -10 dBv (w/ 30 dB Level Trim)

• XLR MIC Inputs (w/ 60 dB Level Trim) & Phantom Power

• THD at 20db gain: 0.0005%

Direct Pro 24/96 Specifications, Options, & Components

Direct Pro 24/96 Specifications:

Converters: 24 bit, 96 kHz A/D D/A Shielded Converters

THD+N: .002% @ 1 kHz

Dynamic Range: 110 dB D/A, 100 dB A/D

Frequency Response: 7 Hz-44 kHz, +/- .5 dB at 96 kHz

Sample Rates: 32 kHz, 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, or 96 kHz

Mic Preamp: Discrete, 8 transistor/channel design

Direct Pro 24/96 Owner’s Manual

to correct the interference at his own expense.

2

tion!

FCC Statement

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a class A

digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC rules. These limits are designed to

provide a reasonable protection against harmful interference when

the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This

equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency and, if not

installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful

interference to radio communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential

area is likely to cause harmful interference in which case the user will be required

The Philosophy

The All-In-One Direct Pro 24/96 is truly a revolution in PC recording. This Personal Studio System is a

clever combination of hardware and software that provides professional recordings right out of the box, all

while keeping the audio quality and computer performance to the expectations of the world’s top profes-

sional studios.

Because the Direct Pro 24/96 is an all-in-one system, it eliminates the need to purchase an expensive

mixer to record your audio on the PC. The break-out box, software and powerful DSP engine allow you to

have all the meters, faders, pan adjustments, input level trim, EQs and mic pre-amplifiers that expensive

mixers have. In addition, you get the flexibility of presets and one-touch adjustments to make the whole

system more efficient.

We also know that monitoring with effects is crucial in getting good recordings, so the effects delay

doesn’t get in the way of your creative spirit. That’s why we’ve included a powerful DSP engine and three

real-time DSP effects so you can monitor in real-time without the 1/2 second latency that you’ll find in

almost all other PC recording systems. The DSP not only gives you great sounding real-time effects, but it

also completely powers the Direct Pro 24/96 system so it keeps your PC running lightning fast.

We hope you notice all the extra effort we put into the Direct Pro 24/96. The hand-crafted mic preamplifi-

ers, perfectly shielded PCI card and our easy to use Control Panel should make using the Direct Pro 24/96

a refreshing beginning to many years of PC recording.

We welcome you to the Aardvark family and hope you enjoy being part of the new PC recording revolu-

• One Available PCI slot

• Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows 98

• Pentium or compatible of running at 200Mhz or higher

• 64 MB RAM

Welcome to the Direct Pro 24/96, the All-in-One professional studio PC interface!

System Requirements

Introduction Troubleshooting Guide (cont'd)

complies with

requirements.

European CE

This product

Direct Pro 24/96 Owner’s Manual

Check your Source Select indicator settings in the Direct Pro 24/96 control panel. When recording S/

PDIF, the Source Select should be set to S/PDIF.

only the Direct Pro 24/96’s monitoring capabilities.

Problem: Jitter is present on digital S/PDIF recordings

Direct Pro 24/96’s input monitoring, so if you combine the signals, echoing will result. To avoid this, use

This can occur if you use the Direct Pro 24/96’s monitoring capabilities at the same time as the monitor

from your audio software. There will be a longer delay with the software monitored tracks than with the

the Direct Pro 24/96 drivers.

Problem: Some of the inputs or outputs aren’t functioning

Make sure that the inputs and outputs are being properly routed in the Direct Pro control panel. Refer to

the Patch Bay section of this manual for more information on how to do this. Also, check the connec-

tions between the Aark interface box and your outboard equipment. If the inputs or outputs are still not

working, contact Aardvark technical support ([e-mail])

Problem: The Direct Pro 24/96 is having or is causing an IRQ conflict.

Although Windows assigns and IRQ position to the Direct Pro 24/96, the IRQ is not actually used. For

this reason, any other peripheral can share the same IRQ without performance problems, even if win-

dows warns of a conflict.

Problem: The Direct Pro 24/96 sample rate switches to 32kHz for no reason.

This problem will occur if the Direct Pro 24/96 is being used by Windows to play system sounds. You

can assign these sounds to another sound card by going to Start Menu/Settings/Control Panel/Multi-

media, and selecting the other card as the Preferred Device for Playback and enabling Use Preferred

devices only. Otherwise, you should disable the sound by going to Start Menu/Settings/Control Panel/

Sounds and selecting No Sounds from the Schemes dropdown menu.

Problem: Echo is present when monitoring tracks

This situation may result if you have previously installed audio hardware from other manufacturers (such

as Event Electronics) that use Motorola chipsets for PCI access. You must remove the previous device

driver by opening the folder C:\Windows\Inf\Other, searching for the file name that matches the previ-

ous audio hardware, and deleting it. Next, in Start Menu/Settings/Control Panel, open the System con-

trol panel and select the Device Manager tab. Open Sound, Video, and game controllers, select the

previous audio hardware and click Remove followed by Refresh. Windows should now begin installing

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Problem: The Direct Pro 24/96 isn’t working after a reboot

Because the Direct Pro 24/96 is directly powered from the computer, there are major advantages such

as reduced ground loop potential and a complete absence of transformer noise. However, this also means

that the Direct Pro 24/96 requires a full PCI bus reset when the computer is rebooted. A complete

restart is needed to achieve this, and some computers may require the power turned off before booting

to do this. If the PCI bus has not properly reset, you may see an error message such as “Direct Pro 24/96

alert- Unable to send software to host card” or “The Aark hardware is not responding”, the direct pro will

not function until you reset the PCI bus by rebooting.

Problem: The Direct Pro 24/96 does not seem to be functioning

Make sure the software is correctly installed by doing to Start Menu/Programs/Aark Manager and se-

lecting Aark Manager. If this software is not installed, please refer to the installation section of this manual.

Otherwise, turn off your computer, unplug the power cable and open the cover. Discharge any static by

touching a bare spot on the metal chassis, then make sure the Direct Pro Host PCI card is firmly in place.

Put the cover on and start your system. If the Direct Pro 24/96 is still not working, try putting the Direct

Pro Host PCI card in another slot, swapping cards if necessar y. Firmly reseat the card and screw it into

place, then reattach the interface cable, replace the cover, and boot the computer, following the instruc-

tions from the installation section.

Problem: Windows won’t install the Direct Pro 24/96 Driver

feature and Office Startup Assistant. Any of these tasks can interfere with playback or recording.

8. Deactivate any background tasks such as screensavers, crash protectors,

DirectCD discs may not read correctly while this setting is disabled.

virus scanners and disk compression agents. If Microsoft Office is installed, disable the Fast Find

7. In the System control Panel, Click on the Device Manager tab. double-click the CDROM header,

select your CD-ROM drives. Click on Properties, select the Settings tab, and disable Auto Insert

Notification. This can prevent problems with playback and recording. Please note that Adaptec

6. CD-ROM drives and older hard drives should be located on the secondary IDE channel, away from

specialist to resolve this situation.

your newer hard drives on the Primary channel. Mixing fast and slow drives on the same channel

can lower performance.

5. At the bottom of the performance tab, you should see Your system is configured for optimal perfor-

Troubleshooting Guide (cont'd) Table of Contents

mance. Any other messages will alert you that there is an underlying problem with your system

configuration, potentially causing performance problems. If this is the case, consult a computer

Direct Pro 24/96 Owner’s Manual

Direct Pro 24/96 Troubleshooting Guide ............................................................................... 33

Direct Pro 24/96 Specifications.... ........................................................................................... 36

Cubase ............................................................................................................................... 30

Cakewalk .......................................................................................................................... 31

Direct Pro 24/96 Quick Start Guides ....................................................................................... 30

Samplitude Basic ............................................................................................................ 29

Patch Bay .......................................................................................................................... 27

Advanced Menu .............................................................................................................. 26

Presets ............................................................................................................................... 26

Monitor Controls ............................................................................................................. 25

Playback Channel Controls ........................................................................................... 24

Direct Pro 24/96 Control Panel................................................................................................. 16

Rear Panel............................................................................................ ............................. 15

PCI Card............................................................................................................................. 15

Input Strips.......................................................................................... ............................. 16

Effects ................................................................................................................................ 19

Direct Pro 24/96 Interface Box ................................................................................................. 14

Front Panel........................................................................................................................ 14

Software Setup ............................................................................................................... 12

Windows 98 Setup Guide ..........................................................................................................10

Hardware Setup .............................................................................................................. 10

Software Setup ................................................................................................................. 8

Windows 95 Setup Guide ............................................................................................................ 6

Hardware Setup ................................................................................................................ 6

Table of Contents

Introduction. .................................................................................................................................... 2

Contents ........................................................................................................................................... 3

Direct Pro 24/96 Components .................................................................................................... 4

Installing the Direct Pro 24/96 Hardware ................................................................................ 5

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4

Fax: [phone]

THE DIRECT PRO 24/96 SYSTEM

The Direct Pro 24/96 box should contain all of the following items:

• 1 Direct Pro 24/96 PCI host card

Connects directly to the motherboard of your computer

• 1 Direct Pro 24/96 Interface Box

• 1 6’ shielded 25-pin cable

• 1 Direct Pro Driver CD-ROM

• 1 Digital Audio Software CD-ROM

• 1 Direct Pro 24/96 Manual

If any items are missing or damaged, please contact your dealer or Aardvark Customer Support.

Email: [e-mail]

Tel: [phone]

Direct Pro 24/96 Components Troubleshooting Guide

Direct Pro 24/96 Owner’s Manual

greatly reduce “swap file thrashing”, and improve overall system performance.

my own virtual memory settings. Choose the hard disk with the best performance, set the minimum

to 50 MB (making sure there is at least 75 MB available), leaving the maximum alone. This will

4. Still in the System Performance area, click the Virtual Memory button and activate Let me specify

3. If you are using a Matrox PCI graphics card, click the Graphics button and set Hardware Accelera-

drives with a check mark and click OK. This will reduce the possibility of data corruption following a

crash.

tion to the third setting (Most accelerator functions). This will reduce the potential loss of PCI through-

put to the graphics card.

2. In Start Menu/Settings/Control Panel, select System and click on the Performance tab. Click the

File System button and set Typical Role of This Machine to Network Sever. Read ahead optimization

should be set to Full. Click the Troubleshooting tab, activate Disable write-behind caching for all

defragment them. This procedure should be repeated at least once a week for optimal disk perfor-

mance

64 MB of RAM and a Mode 4 EIDE hard drive. In addition, your motherboard should be PCI 2.1 compli-

ant, and your graphics card should be AGP or PCI with a minimum of 2MB DRAM, VRAM or WRAM.

Many performance problems can be attributed to poor throughput stemming from an older motherboard

or standard IDE hard drive. If your system does not exceed the minimum recommended requirements,

consider upgrading as soon as you can. Audio software requires a great deal of power, and many older

machines simply cannot handle it.

Another possible cause of poor performance is using your system for a wide variety of applications. It is

best to dedicate your system to audio as much as possible, avoiding shell extensions such as Internet

Explorer, Microsoft Office, Norton Navigator, and background virus scanners. These, and many other

programs, have elements running at all times, taking up valuable resources. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to see

what programs are running in the background. You may be surprised!

Here are some tips for optimizing your workstation:

1. In Start Menu/Programs/Accessories/System Tools, select Disk Defragmenter (unless you have

another defragmentation program such as Norton SpeedDisk). Select all of your hard drives and

DIRECT PRO TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE

Should you run into any difficulties with your Direct Pro 24/96, please consult this section. Although most

problems are easily rectified this way, do not hesitate to contact Aardvark Technical Support, or check our

website for up to date information.

Problem: Unable to achieve full 4 input/6 output performance.

In order to get the most out of the Direct Pro 24/96, you should have at least a 166 MHz processor with

33

click the Stop button and save the file with Save As from the file menu. Clicking the play button will play the

sound file back through the stereo output set in the Preferences dialog.

stereo file at a time, you will only utilize one input and one output pair with these programs. In sound

Forge/ WaveLab, click the red Record button. Enable Monitor in Sound Forge or Meter in WaveLab with a

check mark to view the input level meter, hit record then play your audio. When the recording is complete,

stereo pair for playback and recording. Since Sound Forge and WaveLab can only record or play one

To prepare Sound Forge or Wavelab for recording, open the Preferences dialog from the Options menu.

Click on the Wave tab in Sound Forge, or the AudioCard tab in WaveLab, and select a Direct Pro 24/96

Sound Forge and WaveLab

circle in it.

lar. The correct button has a black box with a red

record mixer automation button, which looks simi-

the top of the screen. Do not confuse this with the

5. Initiate recording by clicking the record button near

click the R button above a track’s volume slider.

record that track. To change inputs, simply click

that button. To arm a track for recording, simply

button that indicates what inputs are used to

you add. At the bottom of each strip, there is a

until you have your desired number of tracks. A

new strip will appear on the mixer for each track

mixer will bring up a menu that provides the op-

tion to add an audio track. Repeat this command

Sound Forge and Wave Lab Installing the Direct Pro 24/96 Hardware

Direct Pro 24/96 Owner’s Manual

the back of the Direct Pro 24/96

interface box labeled To Aark

Host. Tighten the screws to as-

sure a firm connection and maxi-

mum grounding for the Direct Pro

24/96 system.

Host Card, and the other end on

shielded cable to the 25 pin con-

nector on the Direct Pro 24/96

8. Connect one end of the 6-ft

outer cover to lock the Direct Pro

24/96 Host Card in place while

6. Use the screw from the small

seated tightly, with the metal con-

nection bracket matching up per-

fectly through the hole in the back

of the computer.

7. Replace the computer’s cover.

providing maximum grounding.

firmly into place. It should be

PCI Host Card with the chosen

PCI slot and press it slowly but

INSTALLING THE DIRECT PRO 24/96 HARDWARE

PCI host card . Connecting or disconnecting the hardware with electricity present will cause physi-

cal damage to the Direct Pro 24/96 or your computer. It is best to disconnect the power cable

1. Please unplug you PC before connecting or disconnecting the Direct Pro 24/96 interface box and

2. Remove the cover from your computer. Most computers have a series of screws on the back of the

3. Choose an empty PCI slot, it will look like the PCI slots show below.

4. Remove the small outer cover from the chosen PCI slot. This cover will likely be held in place by a

5. Gently align the Direct Pro 24/96

completely before proceeding. If you are unfamiliar with installation of computer peripherals, please

seek assistance from qualified computer technician. Aardvark will not be held responsible nor liable

for damages resulting from improper installation.

screw. Ground yourself by touching an empty slot on the computer’s metal chassis.

case that keeps the cover in place.

532

6

Windows will indicate detecting the hardware with these dialogs:

will identify itself as a “Plug and Play” device.

WINDOWS 95 HARDWARE SETUP

1. When windows restarts, it will automatically detect the card you installed. Since it is a PCI card, it

11. Reconnect the computer’s power supply, then turn on the computer. The Direct Pro 24/96 system

is completely powered by your computer. Because of this, you must never detach the shielded inter-

face cable without first turning off the computer. Otherwise, damage will occur.

interference and degrade the quality of the audio.

Windows 95 Hardware Setup Cakewalk Pro Audio

9. Avoid putting the Direct Pro 24/96 interface box near your computer or TV screen. This may cause

10. Keep analog cables connected to the Direct Pro 24/96 away from power cords and monitors.

Direct Pro 24/96 Owner’s Manual

4. Go to VIEW | CONSOLE. This will open up the Cakewalk mixer. Right clicking a blank area of the

(Direct Show 5.1) is selected.

3. Go to TOOLS | AUDIO HARDWARE. Make sure Windows Sound Cards

Aark drivers are enabled. On the Advanced tab, make sure Enable Simultaneous Record/Playback

is checked off. Depending on your setup, other settings may need to be changed for optimal perfor-

mance. Click OK to save your settings

and Playback Timing Master should be set to 1,2 Aark24. On the Drivers tab, make sure all of the

2. Open Cakewalk, go to TOOLS | AUDIO OPTIONS. Enter these settings: On the General tab Record

L,R to Output 1,2..

Cakewalk Pro Audio 8.0 +

This is an example of a typical setup for recording multitrack in Cakewalk Pro audio. Cakewalk and the

Direct Pro 24/96 are not limited to this configuration. These instructions pertain specifically to Cakewalk

8.x; steps will vary slightly for other versions.

1. Plug outputs 1-2 into your amplifier/mixer. In the Direct Pro 24/96 patch panel, connect Monitor

play back, while you add more tracks to the project.

11. To add more tracks, disable the tracks just recorded, and enable new ones. The previous tracks will

though, that it is unwise to have it written at the hard drive’s root directory.

begin. (If the Cubase transport controls are not on screen, hit the F12 button to reveal them.) Also,

Cubase may bring up a window asking where it should write the audio. This is up to you. Be aware,

9. Minimize the mixer, and activate the desired audio tracks for recording. Activate a track by highlight-

10. Place the left locator at the desired starting point for recording, and click the red record button to

ing it, and clicking the Enable button on the left.

right clicking it.

and can be changed by

This is located on the

lower portion of the strip,

output is set to Aark 1,2.

8. Go to AUDIO | MASTER

and make sure the master

Channel 1 to IN 1 L, Channel 2 to IN 1 R, Channel 3 to IN 2 R and so on. If you click the IN button on

each channel, you can see the Cubase mixer metering the corresponding input on the Direct Pro

24/96 .

7. Go to AUDIO | MONITOR. This will bring up your monitor mixer. To change inputs for each channel,

hold the CTRL key while clicking the input channel button at the top of each channel strip. Set

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