Art TubeFire 8 manual

TubeFire 8 ™ 8 CHANNEL TUBE MIC-PREAMP SYSTEM USER’S GUIDE[...]

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS – READ FIRST This symbol, wherever it appears, This symbol, wherever it appears, alerts alerts you to the presence of uninsulated you to important operating and maintenance dangerous voltage inside the enclosure. Voltage in structions in the accompanying literature. that may be sufficient to constitute a risk of shoc[...]

The ART TubeFire 8  8 Channel Tube Mic-Pre System IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUC TIONS – READ FIRST ............................................... 1 INTRODUC TION.......................................................................................................... 4 INSTALLATION ..................................................................[...]

List of Figures FIGURE 1 - In put Chan nel ....................................................................................................... .................................................................. 5 FIGURE 2 - Output Mi x/Headphone section........................................................................................ .....[...]

INTRODUCTION The TubeFire 8™ is the answer to your recording and computer interface needs. Eight high quality vacuum tube microphone preamps are packaged in a single rack high package. Our second generation discrete class– A mic preamps provide clean quiet gain while mainta ining incredible transparency. Either the analog mic preamps, or the in[...]

Firewire (IEEE 1394) (Sony iLINK ® ) Connections The TubeFire 8  has two 6 pin Firewire ports located on the rear panel. Both ports are identical, and can be used interchangeably. Use a quality Firewire cable to connect the TubeFire 8  to your computer. NOTE: Make all connectio ns with both the Computer and TubeFire 8  powered off. First [...]

Instrument Input The 1/4” TS jack on the front p anel provides a high impedance unbalanced input, and when used, automatically switches off the mic pre-amp. (The r ear combo jack’s 1/4” TRS balanced input is lower impedance and is part of the mic pre-amp. The rear jack is not intended to be used with high impedance microphones or instruments.[...]

FIGURE 2 - Output Mix/Headphone section Headphone / Line Mixer All of the sources selected for the o utput jacks of t he TubeFire 8™ are mixed together to provide a signal for the Headphone/Line Mixer Output. Use the Output Source switches to select which channels are from the mic preamps and which channels are from the computer in the headphone [...]

REAR PANEL Balanced Input Jacks – XLR & 1/4” TRS Combo Jacks These balanced inputs are used for both microphone and line level signa ls. The gain sensitivity is identical for both the XLR and 1/4” TRS jacks, however the XLR input impedance is 6.4K Ohms and the 1/4” TRS input impedance is 20K Ohms. The front panel Pad switch varies the s[...]

HARDWARE OPERATION How to adjust the controls for the lowest noise Start with the GAIN and OUTPUT knobs centered, and the Pad switch IN. This provides about 20dB of gain. Increase the Gain control until the Clip LED in the meter just barely comes on during the loudest peaks in level, and then back off the control slightly from that point. (The Clip[...]

FIGURE 4 - Block Diagram 10[...]

PC SOFTWARE OPERATION Installing the Windows PC driver (Check at www.artproaudio.com for any driver updates.) Run SETUP.EXE on the driver disk to install the ART Firewire Driver. The installer will prompt for the destination directory. We suggest using the defaults. Connect the TubeFire 8™ to the computer’s Firewire port ONLY when prompted , NO[...]

Changing the sample rate STEP ONE: Open the ART Card Control panel on a PC, to modify the sample rate setting. FIGURE 6 - Control Panel Sample Rate STEP TWO: Change the sample rate setting in the recording software. In Cubase, this is done under the PROJECT tab in the PROJECT SETUP dialog. See FIGURE 7 for an example. FIGURE 7 – Cubase Sample Rat[...]

Changing the sample rate may lead to other issues, including audio dropouts. Monitor the ASIO Drop Outs for 10 - 20 seconds to assure that the number remains at zero. If they are NOT zero, then increase the buffe r length until the ASIO Drop Outs number reduces to zero. NOTE: The front panel Sample Rate display on the TubeFire 8™ is a histogram. [...]

Adjusting system latency with a Windows PC Adjusting the buffer depth varies the latency of the computer system used together with the TubeFire 8™. Typical recording software programs utilize either WDM or ASIO drivers. Adjusting the buffer depth control to the left will reduce the buffer size and therefore reduce the latency. The actual time rea[...]

Using the wordclock input with a Windows PC The TubeFire 8™ can be used in both simple and complex systems. The simplest system would consist of the TubeFire 8™ and a computer. As multiple digital devic es are added to a system, master/slave sample rate timing issues degrade audio performance. Using a single master wordclock to synchronize all [...]

Mac SOFTWARE OPERATION Changing the sample rate with a Mac Run the AUDIO/MIDI setup utility to change the sample rate. Select properties for the device labeled “ART Firewire nnnn” (the “nnnn” refers to a unique serial number for each TubeFire 8™). Under the Audio Input section use the Format pull-down menu to select the desired sample rat[...]

Using the wordclock input with a Mac The TubeFire 8™ can be used in both simple and complex systems. The simplest system would consist of the TubeFire 8™ and a computer. As multiple digital devic es are added to a system, master/slave sample rate timing issues degrade audio performance. Using a single master wordclock to synchronize all of the [...]

Creating an Aggregate Device with a Mac Control of multiple audio devices on a Mac is performed by creating a single Aggregate Device. What follows is an example combining two TubeFire 8™ units into a single Aggregate Device, but it could be two completely different digital audio products. First, run the Audio/MIDI Setup utility. Pull down the Au[...]

APPLIC ATIONS Adding more TubeFire 8™ units to your system The TubeFire 8™ is designed to allow you to expand the number of inputs and outputs on your system by adding more TubeFire 8™ units. The bandwidth of the Firewire buss limits the nu mber of units that can be added to a system. This is further determined by the selected sample rate. 88[...]

Optionally rename the units in the ART Card Control Panel (Windows PC) or create an “Aggregate Device” (Mac) to simplify the ID of each unit. See the Mac Software Operation section for instructions on creating an Aggregate Device. Note that the order of devices listed is arranged by each unit’s SERIAL NUMBER. The order is fixed and cannot be [...]

WARRANTY INFORMATION Limited Warranty: Applied Research and Technology will provide warr anty and service for this unit in acco rdance with the following warrants: Applied Research and Technology, (A R T) warrants to the original purchaser that this product and the components thereof will be free from defects in workmanship and materials for a peri[...]

SERVICE The following information is provided in the unlik ely event that your unit requires service. 1) Be sure that the unit is the cause of the problem. Check to ma ke sure the unit has the proper power supplied, all cables are connected correct ly, and the cables themselves are in working condition. 2) If you find the unit to be at fault, write[...]

TubeFire 8™ SPECIFICATIONS Input Impedance Mic .............................................................................................. 6. 4K Ohm Line ............................................................................................ 20K Ohm Instrum ent ..............................................................................[...]

NOTES 24[...]

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