Suddenly cracks in adat [SOLVED]

[Interference]

Hi guys,
Suddenly I got crackles in my adat inputs (pulsar2) usually I Can get rid of them clicking on spdif then adat. But now I just get crackles or white noise. Cables look ok.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Interference]

Looks like a clock issue, but I suspect something wrong within the pulsar.

[valis]

The card that I had that started off exhibiting clock issues failed completely about 2 years later, even with a recap and reflow (I think the mosfet or transistor or w/e is in the corner was replaced too, bit sleep deprived so I would have to look at the card again to recall what component that is). Used cards are more common now, good to invest in backups imho.

[Interference]

Thanks Valis!

I'll try to find another one...

[astroman]

That part is a voltage regulator, imho they are fairly robust.
Most common sources of trouble are the caps indeed, the SMD versions quite often fall off and are sensitive to mechanical stress (hit) when plugging the card into the slot.

viewtopic.php?t=36946
shows a pic with all caps in place

[Interference]

Thanks Astroman, i'll look into this and maybe contact Dynamixii, but from what I understood recap may not help in that case...

[Interference]

Just one more precision I cannot have something good at 44.1 kHz whereas at 48 it looks ok.

[valis]

As slave or master? That should have been my first question, apologies for sleep deprivation here…

[astroman]

Just one more precision I cannot have something good at 44.1 kHz whereas at 48 it looks ok.

That reminds me on my Digidesign 882/20 that would fail on 44.1khz, too (with Scope), regardless if set as master or slave.
It just couldn‘t do it... while 48khz was ok.
You might loopback the Adat ports locally and monitor the receiving part. Failure would at least narrow the area to be examined.

[valis]

Tbh, when my board was failing it made me think another soundcard was entirely at fault, even though both the Scope and that card would sync fine with other devices.

Be concerned if the card starts throwing up DSP errors, tho recapping and a reflow can help in that case most of the time. Clock issues and dsp errors has resulted in cards failing on me twice, even after reconditioning.

Fix the master/slave issues before assuming failed card!

[nebelfuerst]

You could also try:
Swapping cables. ( I hunted crackles for long time, but at the end it was bad optical cables)

Change the load of the pulsar. (generate high/low DSP load). If the behaviour changes, it might be a voltage/cap issue.

Change the ADDA. In my case, an A16 crackled,but an A16ultra didn't. The A16 had bad caps.

[Interference]

As slave or master? That should have been my first question, apologies for sleep deprivation here…

I set scope as master and Ada8200 as slave.
I tried of course the opposite without success.

I'll try a few more test. The faulty could be the ada8200 but I can't believe it.

[astroman]

Iirc the manufacturer of the ADA8200 had a solid list of sync issues in the past - at least more extensive than Scope...

[Interference]

You know a way to test it to try to know if it comes from the Adda of course I dont have another one in stock....
Just to be sure.

[astroman]

As written above: you can send Adat data from Scope port A to B of the card via lightpipe cable.
It‘s just a 1st step to test the internal transmission, but of course it excludes the cables.
(if you don‘t have another pair available)
There can also be dirt inside the connectors (of card and external box) and the plugs may be worn/torn.
A multitude of variations of that connector type exists, but essentially it‘s an extremely simple thing.

[Interference]

I'll try this thanks

One clue: from Time to Time I can see th spdif of the Luna blinking in the samplerate settings.
Do you think I should try to disconnect the stdm cable?

[Interference]

In 48 the pulsar adat light is rock solide
Luna spdif blinking

In44.1 adat blinking
Luna spdif blinking less

[valis]

Do you have the right spdif cable? Impedance is not the same as an RCA cable.

[Interference]

What is strange is nothing is plugged to the spdif in the Luna (as in the pulsar)

[astroman]

I remember occasional blinking or even full light of the s/pdif indicator with nothing connected.
Didn‘t seem to have any influence.

Your case of increased activity at 44.1khz may indicate the system is trying to sync, but gets a weak connection on the main line and tries alternate paths, too.
Consider that 44.1 isn‘t the standard Adat frequency, which points to the ADA8200.
As mentioned at least one of my 882/20 couldn‘t sync to 44.1, too, but I don‘t remember if it ran in 48k as master or slave.
(it was only a test, so I just frowned and went on)

Check if there‘s dirt in the TosLink sockets and get a set of quality cables. Imho it’s the cheapest/safe approach before opening the unit. Clock isn‘t the most easy thing to check technically and an extra pair of cables is useful anyway.