MOTU 828MKII SPDIF (RCA) jack output

[seemebreakthis]

Anyone having problems with 828MKII SPDIF output?

I want my external gear to synch to the 828MKII digital output. So I connected the SPDIF in port of the external gear to the SPDIF out port of the 828MKII. I know that the optical in/out cannot be set as TOSlink when I use RCA so I turned off both optical in and out.

The external gear however cannot establish any slave connection. The gear synchs normally to another digital source so I don't think that's the issue. I also made sure 828MKII is set to use internal clock.

I went on and do some more experiments that revealed the following:

At 44.1k
Master = Roland VS-880, Slave = 828MKII, digital lock ok
Master = 828MKII, Slave = Roland VS-880, digital lock ok

At 48k
Master = Roland VS-880, Slave = 828MKII, digital lock ok
Master = 828MKII, Slave = Roland VS-880, PROBLEM - cannot establish lock

So the 828MKII actually syncs ok both ways at 44.1k.

The problem is, only when the vs-880 slaves to the 828 clock can I send any sound from 828 to vs-880 (on which there are several effects I use very often).

I think I have a defective unit..... or is it something else?

[seemebreakthis]

AndyH replied with this comment:

"In order to receive from the 828, the other device must use the 828's
clock. If you want to send from the vs-880 to the 828, the reverse is true.
S/PDIF is a one lane street, only one direction at a time."

Yes and since the 880 will not slave with the 828 for some reason (at 48K anyway), the S/PDIF connection from 828 to 880 cannot be established.

If I changed both units to operate at 44.1K, then I don't have any issue. Not that I can hear a major difference, but I am not switching to 44.1k unless there is just no other way.

Anyway thanks for andyh's reply. And if anyone else has seen something similar please let me know!

[AndyH]

Interesting, did you happen to be on-line right when I posted? I almost immediately realized I had mis-read part of your question and deleted my response as irrelevant, but you got it anyway?

[seemebreakthis]

this forums sends e-mails to the originator when there are new replies. THis is how I found out about your (deleted) reply.

Anyway I have since discovered that the optical out of my 828MKII works normally. I am now almost certain that there is something wrong with the coaxial output at 48K.

I am losing my trust on MOTU and its products. This is already the 2nd unit I received from MOTU (the first one had a lot of problems and I had to send it back for a replacement).