Stadium XL glitches when recording

[LP59]

I'm getting some nasty glitching when recording the spdif output of my Stadium. It sounds like a clocking problem. I need it to slave to an external clock and I'm sending it a valid clock, but I can't find anything in the global settings to set the clock to external. How do I do that?

 

[Digital Igloo]

S/PDIF automatically clocks (or at least it's supposed to). You can always try another S/PDIF cable and run from your device back to Stadium's S/DPIF In.

What is Stadium connected to? What sample rate are you trying to send? Stadium is 48kHz by default but it can be changed from Global Settings > Ins/Outs > S/PDIF Sample Rate.

If you're still running into pops and clicks, definitely open a ticket with CS.

 

[Gary_W]

Early days (my stadium arrived yesterday) but I had a few issues yesterday where Stadium lost sync with my interface. I haven’t had pops or clicks - that’s been flawless. It’s been a good old fashioned ‘no sound till it finds itself again’.

In my case, I’m going into a Focusrite Clarett that I’ve had for several years with a proper SPDIF cable I’ve also had for several years. I’m letting the Stadium be the master and have the interface set up to accept an external sync. It worked perfectly but on a few random occasions I got the click and silence for a second which is what happens when the Focusrite loses sync…. It then works fine again.

I didn’t have this issue with my Kemper - that’s not me moaning and saying ‘stadium sucks vs what I’m used to’ - this thing is awesome and it’s day one so there will be teething problems. My reason for mentioning the Kemper is simply to say ‘the rest of the previously working system is unchanged so I’m thinking it’s the Stadium giving the spdif issue’.

Having said that, I’ve just ordered a new SPDIF cable that is the same brand / specs as I’m using in the living room for one of the digital connections in there. I’m aware that spdif can be a picky bugger and ‘you never know, this might help for £8’.

I’ll report back after playing some more and, if it turns out that it’s been me doing something silly, I’ll hold my hands up :)

 

[LP59]

What is Stadium connected to? What sample rate are you trying to send? Stadium is 48kHz by default but it can be changed from Global Settings > Ins/Outs > S/PDIF Sample Rate.

48K to a Scarlett. If I set the Scarlett to external clock, it works fine, so the Stadium seems to be acting like it's set to internal clock. (my setup depends on the Scarlett being the clock master).

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

48K to a Scarlett. If I set the Scarlett to external clock, it works fine, so the Stadium seems to be acting like it's set to internal clock. (my setup depends on the Scarlett being the clock master).

That‘s what I suspected. But @Digital Igloo said that Stadium automatically syncs to an external clock when connected.

 

[LP59]

That‘s what I suspected. But Eric said that Stadium automatically syncs to an external clock when connected.

I don't see how that could be. What if the other device is set to external clock? Anyway, I've opened a support ticket.

 

[LP59]

I haven't heard back from support, but I can see the problem is definitely due to the clocking. Constant glitches when the other device is clocked internally. I'm using high quality 75 ohm cables which work fine with other devices and the input audio is fine. There is no clocking option available in the Stadium settings and changing the other device to clock externally fixes the glitches 100%, which seems like pretty conclusive evidence that the Stadium is clocking internally and, unless there's a hidden setting that I can't find, that can't be changed.

It's a little surprising to find this oversight, but hopefully this is something that can be fixed in 1.2.

 

[AZG]

In my case, I’m going into a Focusrite Clarett that I’ve had for several years with a proper SPDIF cable I’ve also had for several years. I’m letting the Stadium be the master and have the interface set up to accept an external sync. It worked perfectly but on a few random occasions I got the click and silence for a second which is what happens when the Focusrite loses sync…. It then works fine again.

I’ve also had some SPDIF dropouts to my Presonus Quantum interface. Never had it happen with FM3.

 

[EOengineer]

I’ve also had some SPDIF dropouts to my Presonus Quantum interface. Never had it happen with FM3.

I use a Quantum interface as well because low RTL latency is extremely important in my setup. Just curious, are you finding running Stadium SPDIF adding any appreciable latency on top of the Quantum?

 

[AZG]

I use a Quantum interface as well because low RTL latency is extremely important in my setup. Just curious, are you finding running Stadium SPDIF adding any appreciable latency on top of the Quantum?

It seems the same as FM3, which is to say I’ve not noticed any. I’m actually running SPIDIF from the FM3 into the Stadium and then to Quantum and even that seems fine. But I’ve not done an actual latency test.

 

[LP59]

It seems the same as FM3, which is to say I’ve not noticed any. I’m actually running SPIDIF from the FM3 into the Stadium and then to Quantum and even that seems fine. But I’ve not done an actual latency test.

That would explain the dropouts you're getting. If you use that setup, you'll get the problem I described above. You're using two devices that both insist on being clock master. With the FM3, that's understandable since it has no SPDIF in. The Stadium should be able to clock externally though.

 

[Gary_W]

I’ve currently only allowed the Stadium to be the master and have had dropouts albeit not many - I only managed an hour on the Stadium yesterday and got one dropout during that time….. bizarrely it was when I was dragging the focus slider on one of the reverbs and it changed between room sizes. I think that’s also when I got a dropout before but I’m probably making 2+2=5 here and it’s a coincidence. As mentioned before, the Focusrite makes a click and clunk sound when you change the sample rate and that’s what it’s doing when I get the dropout so, from everything I can see, it’s a sync issue of some kind.

From the replies here it seems like most people with the same issue are using another device (or their interface) as clock master and expecting the Stadium to sync? I don’t need to do this (mine is a very simple setup with stadium to interface and nothing else) but, for the sake of science, I’ll try the interface on master duty to see if it makes the issue appear more frequently,

As mentioned previously on the thread, I’ve got a new cable showing up today which is clearly sold as a 75 ohm SPDIF cable - although my current cable gave no issues with my previous device, I’ve had it so long that I can’t 100% vouch for its credentials (other than stating it’s always been fine before). It’s a cheap thing to try and see if a cable swap makes a difference; to be fair to support, I want to rule out it being a ‘me’ problem as much as I can before contacting them and, if I have tried a brand new properly spec’d cable, that’s helpful fault finding information for them.

 

[LP59]

From the replies here it seems like most people with the same issue are using another device (or their interface) as clock master and expecting the Stadium to sync?

Yes, this thread is about a problem that occurs when trying to use the Stadium as clock slave.

 

[Gary_W]

Yes, this thread is about a problem that occurs when trying to use the Stadium as clock slave.

Fair enough but I’ve had it lose sync when the stadium is master hence me mentioning it

 

[nightlight]

Thanks for making mention of this issue. Hopefully if it is not user error, this bug can be worked out soon.