[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

Hi Barchen,

Connecting an Avantis SLink port to a gigaACE card in a dLive DM MixRack will give you a 128x128ch link but no Ethernet tunnelling and no control of the DM preamps from the Avantis.
With two gigaACE cards (one in the Avantis, one in the DM MixRack) you would get a 128x128ch link AND Ethernet tunnelling, but still no control of the DM preamps from the Avantis.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

You can think of the Network ports on the Surface and MixRack as being ports on the same network. Ports are provided at both ends simply for convenience, for example, a laptop at FOH for wired control and a wi-fi router on stage for wireless iPad control.

The gigaACE connection links the control network automatically so it doesn’t matter where you physically connect to, just pick the location that works best for you. A common mistake is to patch both MixRack and Surface to the same switch – this will create a network loop.

gigaACE can also run third party control data, so for example, a laptop at the Surface position will be able to ‘see’ and control Ethernet devices connected to the MixRack on stage, such as wireless receivers or remote amplifiers. Provided they are all on the same IP subnet!

For more in-depth information on network ports which might be of interest to your IT guy, have a look at this white paper:
https://www.allen-heath.com/media/AH-dLive-for-IT-managers.pdf

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

Dave is correct, when Record Send is active, the patch to the Dante I/O Port is overwritten by the Virtual Soundcheck patch (by default, 1:1 of all Inputs, straight from their preamps). Does disabling Virtual Soundcheck (set to Inactive) fix your Matrix patch to Dante?
If not, the next step would be to send your show file with a ticket to support.allen-heath.com to see if the team can reproduce it here.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

Hi Rombout,

You are correct that Custom Control simply displays the Room Combiner layout as configured in AHM System Manager.

In AHM, ‘Zones’ are actual processing output channels and can be patched to outputs.
‘Rooms’ are a more abstract concept, they are a visual representation of the floor plan of the building / multifunction hall or space that requires the audio to be combined or divided.
Each Room is assigned to a Zone. When Rooms are combined, the output of the Zone assigned to the Primary Room (lowest-numbered Room) becomes the only source fed to the Zone/s of any combined room.
See the Room Combiner section in the AHM System Manager Help for more information.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

Hi Seth,

Are the QLX-D receivers connected directly to the Avantis network port, or via Dante? There is a known issue with current Dante V3 card firmware that stops Shure control data going through the Control Network bridge.

Also some very recent Shure receivers have a new hardware ID which is not read correctly by Avantis or dLive firmware. If your QLX-D receivers are new, please get in touch with our Support team at support.allen-heath.com so we can verify the device IDs.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

The Rooms widget will present a room-combining visual interface for the AHM Room Combiner, which is configured in AHM System Manager (Assign screen). An example of its application with Custom Control is shown in this V1.4 video with Samantha Potter: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7074762475916652545

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

@chris and @minheb
Sorry to hear you have not heard back from A&H support. If you have a ticket reference number I will follow up with our distribution partners and request that they respond.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

Can you reproduce the same with a template Show file? If you back up your Show, load a template Show, and route a sine wave out to I/O Port 4 (Dante) ch 50, does it reach the intended destination and register as signal present in Dante Controller?

If not, please get in touch with our Support team at support.allen-heath.com with the link to the screenshots, a copy of your Show file, and references to this thread. We’d definitely be interested in looking into this.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

I’m sure there’s other options, but Qlab can send program changes based on real time clock, and is widely used in the show industry.
You will need to run it with the A&H MIDI Control driver.

To answer your other question: Director, the dLive Surface, dLive MixPad and Custom Control all use our proprietary AH-Net protocol to communicate with the MixRack. However, program changes and many other parameters can be controlled via the public MIDI/TCP protocol available on our website.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

Hi Seth,

Most pro audio equipment historically used +4dBu as a nominal output reference (with meters at 0) for better noise performance over analogue cables. +4dBu is also the nominal output level for SQ mixers. When connected to an analogue input with 0dB gain, this will translate to +4dB of gain in the system, so what you are observing is expected behaviour.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

Thanks Adam,

A possible DT variant was very much part of the design considerations for DX88. It will of course be subject to demand and commercial feasibility, but thank you for starting the thread!

As for GPIO, I realise it’s less convenient, but you can mount a DX88 and our 8×8 networkable GPIO unit in a 1U rack with the optional rack kits.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

FX sends are essentially a mix bus, so in your case, the FX1 reverb processes a mix of the two vocals, and the FX Return channel will have the stereo reverb output so routing this to Aux monitors will lead to the result you’re describing. Typically for monitor applications where artists want ‘their own reverb’, separate FX slots are used. If running out of FX sends, SQ allows you to patch a channel Direct Out to an FX so it is used ‘exclusively’ for that channel only.

So for example, use FX 1-4 as system FX fed by the default FX send buses (where you can mix channels for drums, guitars, BVs…) but use FX 5-8 fed by Direct Outs for any FX you want exclusively for a single channel.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

Hi Latham,

Have a look at this recent topic which discussed a similar question: https://community.allen-heath.com/forums/topic/dante-or-xlr-what-is-the-win-for-one-mic

Latency differences are negligible if running Dante at the lowest latency setting. Arguably there is an advantage in keeping the signal digital rather than going through unnecessary DA/AD conversions. AES would have the same advantage, and ultimately lower latency than Dante, but you cannot send AES to the GX4816 preamps.
As other users have suggested in the linked topic, it is primarily a question of convenience and preferred topology.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

All our transport protocols are Ethernet Layer 2 compliant and tested to work with 100m CAT5e (or higher) STP cables.
To the best of my knowledge AES50 (as used by Midas) uses the Physical Layer only, not Ethernet packets, which might explain different cable spec or performance.

[Nicola A&HKeymaster]

Convert mode on the fibreACE card was designed for use between a dLive MixRack and Surface, with both ends equipped with fibreACE. Theoretically, you can have a fibreACE card on one side only, and a third party converter on the other (for example for connecting to a GX4816 or an SLink port), like suggested above, but you would need to match the transfer rate and fibre mode of the fibreACE card as not all converters and SFP modules work the same way.
Typically for these applications, converters are always bought in pairs, with the same specs and performance on both sides of the fibre. So I would say that a pair of third party CAT-fibre converters is the way to go for the scenarios described above.

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