connecting presonus firebox and POD X3 (SPDIF)

[eternally_gutted]

hey, i am going to buy this week PRESONUS FIREBOX firewire interface and now, i have a doubt.
i´d like to connect my SPDIF OUT (pod x3) to spdif IN in presonus interface to make records.
but...IN/Out spdif in PODX3/FIREBOX are differents:

http://images4.thomann.de/pics/bdb/179421/767847_800.jpg
http://es.line6.com/podx3/images/specs01.jpg

some method to connect them???
i´m a beginner in this, sorry.

 

[eternally_gutted]

sorry, i think presonus firebox include breakout cable to connect two midi inputs and two spdif inputs.

 

[ElektricEyez]

Sorry bro, it's not possible to connect them via S/PDIF. What you can do however is hook up a TRS Cable (or Pair of them for stereo sound) to the line inputs of the Firebox. I own a POD X3 and a Firepod (the firebox's big brother). And even with the Pod, it's not possible, despite the fact that they have the same S/PDIF cable.

 

[ahjteam]

Sorry bro, it's not possible to connect them via S/PDIF. What you can do however is hook up a TRS Cable (or Pair of them for stereo sound) to the line inputs of the Firebox. I own a POD X3 and a Firepod (the firebox's big brother). And even with the Pod, it's not possible, despite the fact that they have the same S/PDIF cable.

I think that you just need an adapter, nothing more.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

I thought the firebox came with the DB-9 breakout cable.

If you didn't get one then I think you may have to order one from presonus.

Anyhow, the ends on the breakout cable are the RCA connection, so all you need is a s/pdif cable and your good to go.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

Sorry bro, it's not possible to connect them via S/PDIF. What you can do however is hook up a TRS Cable (or Pair of them for stereo sound) to the line inputs of the Firebox. I own a POD X3 and a Firepod (the firebox's big brother). And even with the Pod, it's not possible, despite the fact that they have the same S/PDIF cable.

Really? Are you sure you were doing it right? No offense intended but I connect a toneport UX2 (same digital out, that connection is the same on all audio devices, including DVD players and the like, ports being the changing factor) to my firepod and it works great!

When you plug in your X3 via s/pdif to the firepod you have to set the firepod to clock with the X3. The nice thing about the firepod is it indicates when it is syncing by flashing red then blue a couple times. My guess is the firebox is going to work in the same manner.

If your on mac you just need the FP10 control panel app (and if your on mac, the right firmware). The app only does one thing, sets the clock sync.

If your on windows then you just open the hardware control panel on your start bar (or what the fuck ever it's called) and set the clock setting to "SPDIF" and it should do the same blue red sync deal.


The reason for doing this is because your not eating up your 8 mic preamps with the stupid pod!

 

[eternally_gutted]

Sorry bro, it's not possible to connect them via S/PDIF. What you can do however is hook up a TRS Cable (or Pair of them for stereo sound) to the line inputs of the Firebox. I own a POD X3 and a Firepod (the firebox's big brother). And even with the Pod, it's not possible, despite the fact that they have the same S/PDIF cable.

man, you can connect your pod via spdif with breakout cable.
http://www.inta-audio.com/images/FIREBOXhookupbig.jpg

 

[ElektricEyez]

Sorry guys, maybe I'm wrong, but I always thought that the S/PDIF input on the firepod. was to simply daisy chain 2 Firepods together. I remember trying to run the Mbox into a firepod for an additional 2 channels with no success. I did get 2 Firepods running for 16 channels though. Other than that I've never had any luck with S/PDIF.

 

[Metaltastic]

Well I can definitely say the SPDIF ports aren't for daisy-chaining, since the standard only allows 2 channels of audio to pass!

 

[ElektricEyez]

Well I can definitely say the SPDIF ports aren't for daisy-chaining, since the standard only allows 2 channels of audio to pass!

Not to sound like a jerk, but I ran a pair of Firepods like that for over a year. That is the only way daisy chain them for an additional 8 inputs is to use the S/PDIF connection. In most cases however, you are correct, the S/PDIF is only available for 2 channels. See below.

http://presonus.com/media/manuals/multiFPhowtoXP.pdf

How to use up to three FIREPOD’s with Windows XP
You can use up to three Firepods on the same system over a single Firewire connection. In order to use multiple Firepods
together you must first download and install the latest driver, and run the firmware updater included with that driver for
each Firepod. Once the drivers and firmware are up to date, using multiple Firepod’s is easy.
Control Panel:
The control panel includes drop down menus to select
samplerate, latency, and clock source, as well as an Active
Units Panel.
Which Unit is Which?:
To determine which position each Firepod is in, you will
need to switch the clock source to SPDIF 1, SPDIF 2, or
SPDIF 3 and look at the Firepods to see which one has a
sync light that is flashing red/blue, indicating that it is
searching for SPDIF sync (make sure no SPDIF
connections are made yet). The number behind each
SPDIF selection refers to the position of the unit in the
Active Units Panel. The position of each unit will
determine which set of inputs/outputs the unit provides in
your DAW software (ex; position #1 = inputs/outputs 1-
10).

See bro, I know what I'm talking about some of the time

 

[Metaltastic]

Ok, fair enough, though if it was sending 8 channels through, then it almost certainly wasn't using the SPDIF standard (most likely some proprietary Presonus bitstream)

 

[ElektricEyez]

Ok, fair enough, though if it was sending 8 channels through, then it almost certainly wasn't using the SPDIF standard (most likely some proprietary Presonus bitstream)

Exactly! That's why I was saying it wasn't possible in the first place. I can't find it anywhere now, but I remember seeing in various places that the S/PDIF in the Firepods were strickly for daisy chaining the units proprietary to the Firepods. Maybe it was a bad dream or something I dunno, but I'm almost certain I saw it somewhere. Oh well, my bad!

Just make sure that if you do connect anything to the S/PDIF input of your firebox that you get an actual S/PDIF cable and no some RCA cable. The reason is the Ohm resistance is difference. Don't quote me on this, but I think that the resistance on S/PDIF is the same as a coaxal cable which is right around 75 Ohms, where as an RCA is much much lower.