VanityPro with TC Electronics Clarity M Meter

Has anyone used the VanityPro with TC Electronics Clarity M meter?

See: https://www.tcelectronic.com/product.html?modelCode=P0D9L

I'm interested in monitoring levels for my home theater and stereo listening setups and I'm wondering if the VanityPro would be good for this. I understand that the VanityPro does not decode any common home theater formats like Dolby and DTS (only linear PCM), but assuming that my processor can output PCM 5.1 does anyone see an issue / incompatibility in this setup?

The Clarity M has 3 BNC connectors that accept digital signals via AES3id or S/PDIF. I was planning to get the VanityPro with the 4 XLR AES/EBU output board and use something like the Neutrik NA2FBNC to connect it to the Clarity M. I need to run about 20 feet between the VinityPro and the Clarity M so I would expect that the higher level AES/EBU signals would be better for this.

thanks,
Chris



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/2023 10:55PM by cgraczyk.

Hi Chris,
Thank you for your question. Simply from the technical specs perspective, I cannot see any reason why the combo of the VanityPRO with the Clarity M meter would not work in your suggested scenario. The only thing that caught my eye was that the digital inputs of the Clarity M meter seem to be limited to 48kHz sampling rate in surround mode and 96kHz in stereo mode. Not sure if this is limiting factor for you or not, but otherwise it should work well together.
Regards,
Pavel

Thanks Pavel. I'll try it out and let you know my experience.

Regarding the use of the VanityPro for home theater and stereo listening, I would recommend looking at other options such as AV receivers or preamplifiers that have built-in support for Dolby and DTS formats. The VanityPro is a high-quality audio interface, but its functionality is limited to linear PCM only. If you have a processor that can output PCM 5.1, then VanityPro will work with that signal without issue. However, you must make sure that your processor can correctly decode Dolby and DTS formats to PCM before outputting the signal to the VanityPro. As for connecting to the Clarity M, using XLR AES/EBU is a good choice for transmitting digital signals up to 20 feet away. But again, make sure that the Clarity M supports the PCM formats to be output from the VanityPro.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/28/2023 11:34AM by ReinaldoAdamo.

Hi ReinaldoAdamo,
You are absolutely right. That should be the first thing to check if your HDMI source can decode all the compressed formats and output raw PCM or DSD. Which is usually the case for most players, streamers, etc. Chris mentioned in his first post that his processor can output PCM, so it should be all good.
Best Regards,
Pavel