Please provide some information about using multiple UR824s

Hello Steinberg and fellow steinbergians,

Try as I might I cannot find any Steinberg information about how to physically connect multiple UR 824s. This seems to me to be madness, given the possibility of using three units together. I am hoping to use two units together this coming weekend and I’m resigned to trial and error for however long it takes to get them working. Why???!!?

I think it would be exceptionally helpful for Steinberg to have this information in either the ‘tips and tricks’ section, or as part of the general information about the units.

Steve.

although I agree Steinberg should make this info available, I think these guys figured out how to do what you are trying to do - which might save you some of that “trial and error” phase:

hope that helps.

Cheers.

You did say some information, and that you cannot find any;
I don’t have the 824 but I do know they are connected via the ADAT connectors on the back - I’ve seen a connection diagram somewhere - perhaps it was in a tutorial or other video.
Yes in the promo video http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/audio_interfaces/ur_series/ur824.html?et_cid=15&et_lid=22&et_sub=UR824 at 1:40.
Hope it helps.

Thanks m00t, it does - will give it a go later!

Steve.

Thanks for pointing me to the video Brihar, I’m going to try the connection a this evening and will post back.

Steve.

What are you having difficulty with? I set up an UR 824 and two ADAT 8 channel interfaces to record 24 tracks live into my laptop without looking at any instructions or manual, its very straight forward.

MC

Well, the truth is I haven’t had any problems because I haven’t yet had the opportunity to set things up - I hope to do that later this evening or tomorrow morning.

I’m very familiar with the anxiety and adventure and uncertainty that comes with a new computer self-build - and I completely accept that in these circumstances I’m taking a risk that my new DAW will be functional even though I’m trying to save money by doing it myself. I accept the trade off between peace of mind and saving money. What suddenly got me irritated was that I had spent time over the last two or three months researching interfaces and it was much harder than I had expected to get unambiguous and complete information. I’m not saying that Steinberg are any better or worse than any other company (I was gobsmacked to read the awful experiences of people who had bought Presonus hardware), it’s just that I wasn’t expecting to have to take the same level of risk in buying (to me very expensive) interfaces as I do when sourcing components and putting together a computer.

I acknowledge that part of the risk will be an inevitable consequence of my lack of experience. I haver never had an expensive preamp interface before, and I’ve never had direct experience of ADAT connections, BNC wordclock connections, or software control of DSP effects and routing. So part of what I was looking for was things like: ADAT can handle timecode as well as audio; you don’t need wordclock connections between UR824 units; you need to initially set the routing options of your slave 824 BEFORE connecting it to your first unit; and so on.

But for goodness’ sake, Steinberg should realise I am not alone in making the UR 824 my first hands-on foray into the world of high-quality digitally connectable interfaces. Why on earth would they not make a quick video of all the steps needed to connect their own interfaces? How many potential purchasers will buy something different (see the new Studiocapture from Roland for example) because they simply can’t get the guidance and assurance they need?

Sorry if my initial post was inappropriately scratchy; music is a hobby for me rather than a job and I’m currently finding my time to play very limited and this added to my frustration. But genuinely, I am baffled as to why Steinberg would not be shouting from the rooftops on Youtube or wherever how easy it is to connect their units.

Steve.

steve,

probably because the information you’re asking isn’t specific to Steinberg, it’s just general professional knowledge relevant to any interface.

you’ll get there in the end, like we all have, it’s just part of the learning curve :smiley:

sounds like you know what to do now so have fun.


MC

I evidently do not have a working knowledge of how this works, as I have not gotten the two UR824’s to work together yet. Though, it has only been a couple hours…

I must say, I am surprised that Steiney has not made the steps clear. Maybe I am just stupid…

Please, help if you can. Like the guy in the other thread, I have a session starting tomorrow, and cannot seem to get the 824-connected via ADAT, to work right.

Is the BNC clock cable necessary? I just assumed, that the interfaces would work together, automatically.

Aw shizz… Restarted, and all works perfectly! lol!

Nevermind…

Thanks again!

Blimey, what a palaver!

I managed to get the two units to play nicely together - but I still think that was a lot harder than necessary.

I take Norbury Brook’s points about needing to get familiar with connections that aren’t UR824-specific and so aren’t really Steinberg’s responsibility. The thing is, like Jimmys69, I was reading the handbook which DOES give an example of connecting a second mic pre device to a UR824, and it does specifically say about the wordclock cable. Sheesh!

Anyway, as others have said, what a lovely set of mic pres; beautiful unit. And I’m really impressed with the latency and general stability. Can’t wait to use it again in a less stressed way!

Steve.

I’m using MAC Nuendo and Cubase and don’t have access to dspMIXFx stand alone (as far as I am aware)
DspMIXFx is integrated into Nuendo and Cubase but it’s not entirely clear how to set up the two UR824 units.

  1. I updated tools and USB control panel to the most current version.
  2. I updated to the most current firmware. Doing each UR one at a time by switching the USB cable to the MASTER UR first. Update firmware. Then switch USB cable to the SLAVE unit. update firmware.
  3. **Leave Slave unit connected to USB. Start Nuendo or Cubase. Go to Devices/Audio Harware Setup/ select Output Routing tab. ADAT (A). Set OUT 1/2 to receive from Analog IN 1/2 . Continue with the other OUT puts 3/4 from 3/4 and so on.
  4. With the Slave UR still connected via USB, go into devices/Device Setup and select UR824. change Clock Source to ADAT A IN. Exit DAW.
  5. Connect USB to master UR.
    Connect ADAT cable from master UR ADAT A out to Slave UR ADAT A in.
    And master UR ADAT A in to slave UR ADAT A out.
  6. Start Nuendo/Cubase . Go to device/device setup and change the clock source to internal.
    On the front of the master UR you should steady lights for internal lock. Slave usually takes a few seconds and should lock to ADAT A. close device setup.
  7. Go to VST connections select inputs tab. 1-8 select UR Analog in 1-8
    then 9-16 UR ADAT A in 1-8. make sure to have at least 1 stereo output selected. i.e. UR Mix 1 L and R.
  8. You should now have audio flowing through from slave 1-8 ADAT A into Master ADAT A coming up on mono inputs 9-16.
    Hope that helps! It took me quite a while and lots of reading from helpful posts.
    Cheers
    Julius