AVB interfaces & remote recording - advise needed

[Oddur G]

Hi.

I've had the good fortune for the past few years of having a small, acoustically treated recording space in my home where I've been able to record my band with live drums. Recently my wife and I decided to move to a suburb of the town where we've lived for the past 20 years. My mind has been working overtime for the past few months trying to find a way to be able to record live drums in the new location. Within the apartment there's a 12 m2 space (spare bedroom with 2.8 meter ceiling) where I intend to set up my recording equipment and treat the room to be useable for mixing and record vocals and di'd guitars, bass and keyboards. In the basement (roughly 25 meters from the apartment) I will have a 12 m2 storage space where I'm pretty sure I could set up a drum booth and get useable acoustics and isolation. I've read that it's possible to connect avb interfaces together using cat 5/6 wire. Is there anyone here on the Forum has experience with such a setup and is willing to share their experience?

Best regards
Oddur

[HCMarkus]

I have not needed to network AVB interfaces over ethernet, but know it works based on the reports of many others. If you need only two interfaces, you will not need an AVB Ethernet Switch; you connect one interface to the computer using USB or Thunderbolt (preferred over Ethernet for faster computer thru put), then connect the second interface to the first with Cat 5E or better cable to form an AVB Network. If using MOTU gear and you have a local WiFI network, your drummer can control his monitor mix with his phone or iPad.

Max run for Ethernet is generally 100 meters, so you should be good to go if your Ethernet terminations are solid.

[Oddur G]

Many thanks HCMarkus for your reply. This is definitely reassuring and will enable me to take the next step and tackle the acoustics.

Best regards
Oddur

[AGM]

Hi Oddur,

The MOTU AVB system is very flexible and powerful and I'm sure you will get results if you invest in it. Have a look at my MOTU to Presonus AVB video here - https://youtu.be/vrrH0TtrvUY
and here
https://youtu.be/TgBdiea4Z5g
There are a couple of points to consider. The main audio IP format in pro world is Dante, I don't like that fact but it is true. However MOTU have a large and well supported AVB ecosystem. That works well. But you should be aware of the long term impact that Dante might have. The good news is Presonus and RME are in on the AVB game too.
The bad news is there are some differences in the AVB implementation so mixing gear is not an absolutely guaranteed solution, I haven't as yet tried the RME stuff.
The Presonus switch is the real deal - very well made and has PoE.
https://youtu.be/EKKtw7IPEOo
You can record over an AVB connection to your computer but not realistically on a Windows machine, this is Mac only and only up to 48KHz. Not a problem connect your computer to your nearest interface over USB or Thunderbolt.
Which MOTU boxes were you thinking of buying?
ta AGM

[Oddur G]

Many thanks AGM for your interest and input.

I've been on the Motu bandwagon since 19xx running on Mac computers with the exception of Windows slaves running Vienna Symphonic Library.

I'm planning to sell my Motu 828x and invest in a 828 es as a primary interface and a Motu Ultra Lite AVB for remote for recording live drums. I also have an Audient asp 880 that I've connected to my 828x by ADAT for drum imputes. My plans are to connect the Audient asp 880 to the Ultra Lite by ADAT which should give me all the imputes I need to record live drums.

I'm not sure that this setup will work, I don't fully understand the way in which the Word Clocking is handled over AVB (ethernet) connection. The Audient will serve as a WC master for the Ultra Lite. Will the 828 es be able to sync?

Best regards
Oddur

[AGM]

ASP880 - ADAT to Ultra Lite
Ultra Lite - AVB to 8Pre-es
8Pre-es - USB or TBolt to computer (unless you have an AVB switch, n.b. AVB to Mac is limited to 48KHz max)

The AVB connection is bi-directional over a single cat5 and carries clock in both directions. So you can make the gear at either end the master and then sync the bit at the 'other' end from the AVB stream.

I would be tempted to try and make the 8Pre-es the master clock. Because that way it matters not what else is powered up further down the chain.

This assumes you will connect your computer to the 8Pre-es via USB or T/Bolt - unless you have an AVB switch.

Make sure all the boxes are set to the same sample rate.

Then with the 8Pre-es set to Internal clock go to the routing page set AVB streams in and out, then connect to the Ultra Lite via AVB. Set the Ultra Lite (controlled via a local usb connection if you don't have an AVB switch) to accept the clock from the incoming AVB stream.

Then connect the Ultra Lite to the ASP880 with ADAT in and out - so you can clock the Audient from the Ultra LIte over ADAT.

I've just made a tremendously tedious video about the web app in MOTU Pro interfaces

https://youtu.be/k8le_URMmo8

Make merry.

AGM

[Oddur G]

Hi AGM

Many thanks for your help. It was very helpful to watch your video (as well as the other wealth of info in all the videos on your YouTube channel). I agree the web app looks a bit confusing, but I'm pretty sure I can tinker my way to a useable configuration in the end .

All the best
Oddur