Best way to connect AES/BEU or s/pdif to Mac Pro

Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 8:22 pm

I am thinking about buying an API a2d, which has AES/BEU output, as well as s/pdif coaxial output. I am trying to figure out the best way to get the output into my Mac Pro.

I only need two channels. It would be great if I could save some money here.

The Mac Pro has its own optical inputs, so I could just convert the s/pdif coaxial output into s/pdif optical output. But my fear is that the Mac Pro's optical inputs don't have a way of syncing with a clock. The API a2d doesn't send a clock signal either. So would I need to get an interface that is capable of producing a clock signal so that the output of the API a2d is synced with what's going into the computer?

Any recommendations? Thanks in advance.

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 6:17 am

As with your post about the Rosetta 200, you don't need an external clock if you use S/PDIF - it's a self-clocking bitstream. What you would need in this case is a cheap coax to optical converter. AES/EBU by convention is used with a separate clock connection, although it also carries enough information to reconstruct a clock.

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