Onyx Firewire

[Schniapereli]

My dad is trying to hook up a mixer to a surround sound receiver with a distance of 200 feet, while using the least cables possible.

He has an Onyx 1620 from which the signal will be sent to a Denon AVR 2807. He has the optional firewire cord, but the Denon surround sound reciever does not have a Firewire input.

There are other surround sound recievers with Firewire input, but these are $4k, and we would like to find an alternative.

Are there any good Firewire to analog converters out there? I have found a lot that convert Firewire video, but none that convert Firewire audio.

Also, since the Onyx has only a Firewire 400 (6-pin) output, would we have to use a FW400-FW800 adaptor to let the signal travel 200 feet?
(FW400 has a limit of about 5 Meters, and FW800 has a limit of 100 Meters...right? Correct me if I am wrong.)

Or, is firewire the best way to do this? The speaker sytem is basically like a movie theater, but he is using a mixer with CD, and Microphone inputs.

[mbenonis]

I don't know if this would work, but you might look into one of the many FireWire computer interfaces out there by MOTU, et. al.

As far as distance goes, just converting the connector won't work to extend range. That said, I bet if you used decent cable, you could get more than 5m out of your FIreWire connection.

[koncept]

i thought the firewire interface on the onyx was only for connections to computers and not other audio equipment???

[SHARYNF]

I think you will find that what you are trying to do simply will not work. There is a lot of confusion re firewire etc.

The most common firewire, is from camcorders it is either 4 or 6 pin, with the 6 pin version simply adding power, it sends a block of compressed date which has audio video timecode and control, it can either connect to another camcorder or to a device that has a firewire interface and can decode the blocks, typically this is a pc with a fire wire interface and video capture software.

the next most common firewire connection is a data device connection, this is for a hard drive or a dvd drive where instead of a paralled disk drive interface the system uses a firewire and connects the device as a peripheral, this is typically limited hard drives/cd/dvd etc

the next most common firewire connection is for networking, this was probably supposed to be more common, never really took off, but Windows etc will show our firewire connection as a net work connection, this is for data transmission between two network devices

The other firewire connection is for audio, where the system sends an audio packet with the imbedded tracks, RME was one of the early people to do this, and now more and more devices use this BUT and this is the BIG BUT you need to have their software on the other end to decode it, so for instance if you use RME you need their drivers for your audio ap, or if you use the Mbox or Digidesign or Onyx etc you need to have their software driver interface

Firewire is distance sensitive, there are long distance cables,but they typically ONLY work for video 100 meg version are very expensive and only work up to about 120 feet. The audio interfaces and the higher end data interfaces are typically 400 and up and cannot work over the distance youa re looking at

I do not believe that Mackie makes a device that can take the firewire output from the Onyx and convert it to analog line that you could use to transmit the signal.

Sharyn

[soundlight]

I also disagree with the idea that FireWire will work for this project. Unless you have a computer with a very good audio interface card to output the audio on the other end, and you decrease the distance significantly, you're not going to be able to make it work. FireWire is basically just a way to get the audio from the mixer to the computer, not from the mixer to anywhere else. I don't know if an AES/EBU or S/PDIF system would work due to distance limitations, but if so, you could get an AES/EBU interface, run it down that, and then break out through another AES/EBU box at the other end. Or Cobranet, but that's getting really pricey...

[Eboy87]

If you're dead set on using the mixer, run your inputs there, mix it down however you like, then get something to convert the analog signal to fiber-optic. I'm not sure if the Denon would accept the optical from a piece of pro audio gear, but I know ours does from a PS2 and the cable box, but if it does, it does, but it ain't practical.

No offence intended, but I really don't see this working out too well. Why is he adamit (sp?) about using the ONYX for this purpose? What is the purpose for the room? Is it a home theater? Movie theater that can be used for performances too? If you still want to use the mixer, there are surround sound encoders on the market that might work, but they are fabulously expensive. This might do what you want http://www.dolby.com/assets/pdf/tech...X_EU4_Spec.pdf I must confess that I don't know much about this sort of thing. I just read an article a few years ago about using these encoders for surround sound in a theater (read, plays), and have no idea how they'd stack up in the home market.

But like I said, I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to accomplish or why.

[koncept]

i would have to agree with eboy. fiber optics are the way to go. it will give you the distance you need with out any problems. but you may need some converters as mentioned above.

[soundlight]

You've got a third for optical fibers. They're really the way to do things these days, and you can run them for very long distances without signal loss.

[Schniapereli]

...ya, I was thinking that the firewire was not really the way to go, but my dad doesn't take my opinion that seriously... it's nice to have professional backup...

But, I will talk to him about the fiber optics.

If others like Eboy are wondering, he is basically trying to make a space ship. Their website is iWorlds.com The footage is from an elementary school that started the program, called the Christa McAuliffe SPace Education Center (CMSEC). My dad has helped out a lot there, and is now starting up a business with it. (the fieldtrip video is like the only good video on there...)

[Schniapereli]

...and so what's the best way to do this fiber optics thing? What are some good encoders, and decoders... etc. ?