For sound output, you will need a supported USB or FireWire audio interface, an audio amplifier, and speakers or headphones. To get the most out of your Kyma explorations, we recommend that you plug in a microphone. If your audio interface does not have a microphone input, you may need a preamplifier.

To connect to a MIDI input or output device, you will need a supported USB MIDI interface unless your audio interface has built-in MIDI input and output ports. Alternatively, if you are using Kyma on Mac OS, you can use Delora’s Kyma Connect or Camille Troillard’s OSCulator to send MIDI from the Mac directly to the Paca(rana) via an Ethernet cable.

For audio and MIDI communication, there are two FireWire 800 ports and two USB ports on the back of the Paca(rana).

USB

If you have a supported USB audio and/or USB MIDI interface, connect it to one of the USB ports on the back of the Paca(rana). You can connect 2 (or through a hub, up to 4) USB MIDI input devices to the Paca(rana).

FireWire

In an earlier step, you connected the Paca(rana) to your computer so that Kyma can communicate with the Paca(rana). Since the computer and the Paca(rana) are already connected to the FireWire bus, you can connect the FireWire audio interface anywhere on that bus. For example, you could connect the interface to a second FireWire port on the computer, the Paca(rana), or a FireWire hub.

If you haven’t already read our tips for achieving FireWire bliss, now would be a good time!

When using a FireWire audio interface, we strongly recommend using the interface’s power adapter to supply power to the interface rather than relying on FireWire bus power. Certain combinations of computers, cables, and audio interfaces will not operate reliably using bus power.

Device-specific Installation Instructions

Please review the device-specific installation instructions in the last column of the list of supported audio and MIDI interfaces. You may need to scroll right to see that column.

If you do not see your audio or MIDI interface in the supported interfaces list, it is unlikely to work with the Paca(rana).

A note about sharing a FireWire audio interface between the computer and the Paca(rana)

In the FireWire audio standard, there can only be one “master” controlling a specific audio interface at any given time, either the host computer or the Paca(rana).

Some audio interfaces (notably the MOTU and Apogee FireWire-based interfaces) let you switch “masters” relatively easily, using Audio MIDI Setup on the Mac, or the Device Manager on Windows, so you can be using the audio interface either with Kyma or the host computer audio software (but not both simultaneously).

However, the drivers for most manufacturers’ audio interfaces require installing or removing the driver and restarting the computer in order to make this switch. Because of this, most people choose to dedicate one audio interface to the Paca(rana) and another audio interface to the host computer, and to connect the two interfaces to each other using a digital connection, like ADAT.

For instructions on how to share an audio interface between the Paca(rana) and the computer, please read the device-specific installation instructions in the third column of the list of supported audio and MIDI interfaces.

 

Next, continue to step 4 in the column on the right: Start Kyma.