Avid System 5 preamp i/o

Recording, Mixing and Producing
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#1

I’m uploading these photos to answer an inquiry I received over Facebook regarding the console. I need to post the photos here because Facebook won’t let me upload them to a private chat :smiley:

Tony, I hope you make it to this site…if you’re reading this, and you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. May be easier to take the questions here because I can upload photos and videos.

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The first picture above ^^ the word clock card. You need one of these in both the DF66 unit AND the SC computer in order for the DSP cards to be of any use. So if the computer does not have an internal clock card, it does not matter how many DSP cards you have, you simply can not use these. Brandon Cammack (Senior product specialist at avid) told me 2 months ago that avid is not selling their remaining cards. Be careful not to buy a DF66 or 263/264 without checking to see if this card is in it.

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This cable plugs into the PCI-e card which I circled in the back. This is what controls the gain, pad, phase, and phantom power on all 96 preamps. You can only have one of these installed. You can not expand beyond 96 preamps by adding a second card. If you don’t have that card, the system will not control the preamps, and they do not work in standalone.

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The other side of the card fan-tails out into these db15 things. And those go into the back of the ML530 preamp units. No sound travels through these. All audio passes through the Elco 38 ports on the back of the 530’s. But on the plus side, do note that the System 5 preamps are fully recallable, including gain staging.

#2

Some were and weren’t. I traded him back the 254 box for an extra set of preamps and a 714. I didn’t have a use for the 254 at the time because I use a Cranesong Avocet 2A, and all my monitoring is digital. I also bought an extra 703/713 off of him, because I needed the extra analog i/o for outboard gear. Gary at G sharp in California is blowing out some SH612’s right now. Those are the expansion hubs. One $200 unit can ramp your channel count into the hundreds, and they’re MADI compatible with any other converter (RME, or SSL) on the market.

Go ahead and sign into this forum, and tell me a little more about what you need this thing to do. I’ll give you my thoughts on the best way to make it happen with i/o.

Also, let me know which interfaces you’re using with your DAW. This makes a difference in which boxes you’ll need. And if you have a studio master word clock, which one?