Ezbus And Ez8 Discussion, Continued from other thread... Options

[Levon River]

Or: how efforts at clarification become greater confusion.

First, there is a report from Yukele (in another thread) that BusError wrote some driver or drivers for the Event EZBus and/or the Event EZ8 PCI card for OS X. My efforts to get more information just resulted in greater confusion. So let me lay this out as simply and completely as possible.

Clearly and unequivocally, it's the Event EZBus (digital mixer, audio/MIDI interface, and control surface unit) that has *both* USB and digital (S/PDIF and ADAT Lightpipe) I/O capabilities. The only way to connect it directly to the Mac, though, is via USB, *unless* you have a supported S/PDIF and/or ADAT digital interface to your computer of some sort. Which is where Event's companion EZ8 PCI card comes in.

The EZ8 is a PCI card that has the same two DIGITAL I/O types that the EZBus has, allowing a user to connect the EZBus to the COMPUTER via S/PDIF and/or ADAT Lightpipe, in *addition* to the two-channel USB I/O that the EZBus unit has on board for direct connection to the computer.

So I am and have been all clear on that and don't need any info on what types of I/O either of the two units supports, because I know that going in. That fully established, here are my original questions from the other thread, and hopefully BusError can respond:

Official Request for Clarification: Okay, now, I just got it from what I will describe as "an unimpeachable source" that Event is planning to have Mac support for their EZ8 PCI card, which is the only way I know of that the EZBus can push 8 channels in and out of a computer. It sure ain't going to do it through USB.

So I am aquiver with questions (which I guess only BusError can answer, but probably only within the strictures of a non-disclosure agreement--which probably means not at all.) But of course I'm going to ask anyway.

1. When you [Yukelel] say buserror made "the driver for OS X," uh, what driver is that? Generally, the OS X driver for the EZBus itself, meaning, I guess, for the USB I/O? Or...

2. Is he doing the driver for the EZ8? Or...

3. Is he doing/did he do (sigh) drivers for both? Or...

4. Does it all mean something else altogether that somebody needs to walk me through without using big words?

BTW, these aren't just idle curiosity questions. I am about --><-- that far away from springing for the EZBus on the basis that I *will*, at some point, be able to push and pull 8 channels through the digital I/O, so any specific information would be greatly appreciated.

[BusError]

No, what you are seeing is not the EZBus, it is the EZ8. the top line is the outputs from 1 to 8 (left to right), the bottom line is the inputs from 1 to 8.

In this case the EZBus was configured as "Mixers + Sends" for ADAT output. So I had main mix on 1&2, alternate mix on 3&4, and some music on sends 1&2 (thus on optical 5&6)

So, in the screenshot, I have iTunes playing on output 1&2, and Spark recording the inputs 5&6 and sending them back on optical 7&8.

There are 3 or four way you can send your audio from the EZbus to the EZ8, the "mixes + sends" is a good general one. There is also a "line input" that literaly sends the 8 EZbus channels to the 8 opticals drectly.

What? Whats wrong with my dock? this is a WORKING dock, sir, not one of those pretty-for-the-picture one !