Audio
DiGiCo SD7 troubleshooting
The DiGiCo SD7 problems live-event techs bring to Ask Roadie most (also called SD7 Quantum). Pick your symptom, or describe your own in plain words, and get the likeliest fix first, with the manual page when there is one.
Common SD7 errors & problems
What techs run into most, and what's usually behind it. The step-by-step fix for your exact unit is in Ask Roadie.
- Step-by-step fixGet the fix →
How to update SD7 software and what is the current version
Likely cause: Mismatched versions between surface, engines and offline editor cause showfile load failures and feature mismatches.
- Step-by-step fixGet the fix →
Lost outputs / no audio on the Optocore loop and cannot regain control
Likely cause: Output cards can be left "owned" by a console that dropped off the loop; clearing frees them for reassignment.
- Step-by-step fixGet the fix →
Optocore loop still shows an error after pressing "Remap Optocore"
Likely cause: Remap only succeeds when the port and output-card map is identical on every device on the loop; duplicate ids or unclaimed/duplicated output cards block it.
- Step-by-step fixGet the fix →
Optocore node LEDs are lit but audio is noisy or intermittent
Likely cause: LEDs show light presence, not link margin; a lossy core passes enough light to illuminate but not enough for clean data.
- Step-by-step fixGet the fix →
Periodic resync, clicks or dropouts between SD7 and an external MADI interface
Likely cause: A dedicated word-clock reference is more stable than recovering clock from the embedded MADI stream, which is sensitive to the desk's slightly off-nominal rate.
- Step-by-step fixGet the fix →
Redundant / mirror engine behaviour and failover on SD7
Likely cause: Failover is only clean when both engines are matched in software and correctly id'd on the loop.
- Step-by-step fixGet the fix →
SD7 fader jumps, sticks or reports the wrong position
Likely cause: Dust on the fader position track corrupts the read-back; recalibration will not fix a dirty track.
- Step-by-step fixGet the fix →
SD7 running at 96kHz has no audio or will not lock over redundant MADI
Likely cause: At double sample rate each MADI stream uses a specific port mapping; only the A/A or B/B pairing carries 96k across the redundant link correctly.
- Step-by-step fixGet the fix →
Showfile moved to a console with a different network ID and Optocore will not connect / no audio
Likely cause: DiGiCo stores the sending port in the showfile; on a different id the Con Send keeps pointing at the wrong node until corrected.
- Step-by-step fixGet the fix →
Third-party MADI device will not accept or validate the SD7 MADI stream
Likely cause: MADI carries channel-count and frame-rate flags; any mismatch makes the receiver treat the stream as invalid.
Not on the list? Describe it your way, or paste the error code off the display. Ask Roadie works the problem with you until it's fixed or you have a clear next move.
How Ask Roadie helps with the SD7
- 1. Pick the DiGiCo SD7. It's already in the list.
- 2. Describe what you're seeing. In your own words, or the error code off the screen.
- 3. Get the likeliest fix first. Steps in order, the manual page when there is one, and a note when other techs have confirmed it.
- 4. Still broken? Tap 👎 and it keeps going from where you left off.