Prismatic Ray sync connections

The new Prismatic Ray version (since July 2018) has RCA sync in/out on the rear and mine does not. How do I connect it to Visual Cortex for sync?

Admin note: This topic has been migrated from a question asked by Denis Brillet on the former LZX Knowledgebase

Placing the Prismatic Ray on the same power buss as your sync source (Visual Cortex, Cadet Sync Generator, etc.) will provide sync to the Prismatic Ray via the buss connector.

Admin note: This answer was provided by Phil Baljeu on the former LZX Knowledgebase

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This is probably a dumb question, but assuming they are in an LZX Vessel case does that mean that they have to be on the same row together (e.g. both on the top row or both on the bottom row)?

Not a dumb question as it can be confusing to understand the various sync options in the system when first encountering it. And the answer applies to any eurorack case utilizing the Doepfer power bus standard (basically every case I’ve ever encountered), not just the Vessel case.

My understanding is that there are two different versions of Prismatic Ray as far as sync is concerned, though I’m unsure if the 2nd version is out in the wild yet. The manual and reference cards don’t include details about the 2nd version.

Originally PR worked with the power bus to pass sync information meaning that the PR can be located anywhere in a case as long as it is connected to THE SAME power bus as whichever module is generating sync (like Visual Cortex for instance).

I’ve heard that the newer PRs have RCA connectors on the back to connect to other modules with RCA sync connectors on the back. The RCA connected modules daisy chain their sync by plugging one into the other so your only limit is needing to place modules within reach of whatever length of RCA cable you have to span between them.

What I’m unclear on in regards to the updated PR is whether or not it can do both types of sync. Can it still sync via the power bus sync if so desired?

Last point regarding a unique wrinkle the Vessel cases bring to the party for these sync options … the RCA & 1/8 inch bulkhead connectors on the inside and external side of the cases allow you to connect both the power sync bus and the RCA sync bus from the backplane (inside the case) of one case to the other via the external connectors … practically this means you could have whatever sync generating module you like in one Vessel, and as many PRs as you like spread into as many Vessels as you like, all connected with external cabling on the Vessel bulkhead connectors. This, for me, is the most useful feature of the Vessel design.

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on the vessel bulkhead connectors
this is how I incorporate my vidiot
vessel sync out to the loop through jack on the vidiot
then just plug your video into the 1/8 jack from the vessel case
this allows the vidiot to become more of a sidecar processor
I’ve been using the luma side mostly so far getting on with that before really moving onto the colorization too much

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LZX uses the H and V sync on the CV and Gate lines of the Doepfer-spec eurorack 16 pin bus connector. The Visual Cortex supplies these signals to the bus to which it is attached. Oscillators (VWG or PR) need to be on the same bus as the sync signals from the cortex (or use daisy chain RCA sync as on the latest versions of PR and other Expedition modules). Malekko power boards as supplied with the Cortex were originally designed to have multiple isolated busses on the same board to segregate noisy modules.

You can also sync any of the oscillators via the 1/8" Sync jack on the front panel though this is not as convenient.

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