M O T U I N T E R F A C E F I R M W A R E 1 . 2 . 5 U P D A T E N O T E S

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MOTU Interface Firmware 1.2.5 Update Notes

Firmware 1.2.5 is now available for the 1248, 8M, 16A, 112D, 24Ai, 24Ao, Monitor 8, Stage-B16 and UltraLite AVB. Visit motu.com/avb for instructions on how to update the firmware in your MOTU interface.

WHAT’S NEW IN FIRMWARE 1.2.5

Firmware update 1.2.5 introduces the following significant feature enhancements for your MOTU interface:

Remote control of preamp settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

The ability to remotely control preamp settings for any interface on a network has been added.

Device presets and AVB stream connections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Device presets now save and recall AVB stream connections.

Routing grid lock button. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

A lock button has been added to the web app Routing tab to prevent accidental changes to audio routing.

Pre/post fader level meters for mixer inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Input meters in the web app Mixing tab can now be set to display pre- or post-fader levels.

Password protection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

MOTU interfaces can now be password-protected on a network.

EQ Graph and Compressor Graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Large graphic editors have been added for the multi-band EQ and compressor in the web app on-screen mixer.

SMPTE time code (LTC) clock mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Interfaces can now resolve to SMPTE time code (LTC) from any available analog or digital input channel.

LTC-to-MTC conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Interfaces can convert SMPTE time code (LTC) to MIDI Time Code (MTC) under OS X.

Operation as a Mac audio interface over AVB Ethernet . . . . . . . . . . .5

MOTU interfaces now support Apple OS X 10.11 entity mode, allowing you to connect multiple units directly to the Ethernet port of an AVB-equipped Mac.

Improved support for 3rd-party AVB devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Support has been added for 3rd-party devices that have multiple AVB configurations.

Additional enhancements

■

AVB networking connections no longer reset when the sample rate setting is changed.

■

Support has been added for enterprise-grade AVB switches from Arista and other switch manufacturers.

■

Overall performance has been improved and many bugs have been fixed.

REMOTE CONTROL OF PREAMP SETTINGS

In an AVB network with multiple MOTU interfaces present on the network, it is now possible to control the preamp settings on a device from within the mixer of any other device on the network. If a mixer input is assigned to a preamp on another remote device on the network (via an AVB stream), you can go to the channel settings at the top of the mixer strip to adjust preamp gain, 48V phantom power and pad settings for the remote device’s preamp.

Figure 1: Remote control of preamp settings over the network.

DEVICE PRESETS AND AVB STREAM CONNECTIONS

When you save a preset for a MOTU device, any AVB stream connections that it has established with other devices on the network are now included with the saved preset. When you recall the preset, those saved stream connections are restored, as long as the other devices are still present on the network and broadcasting the same streams. If the other device is not present (or perhaps turned off), its streams will be reported as “offline”.

In general, if you have multiple devices on a network with interconnecting AVB streams, and you wish to preserve the state of the network, it is recommended that you save a device preset for each device on the network. Doing so will allow you to faithfully restore the entire network stream configuration by recalling each device’s saved preset.

M O T U I N T E R F A C E F I R M W A R E 1 . 2 . 5 U P D A T E N O T E S

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ROUTING GRID LOCK BUTTON

Use the new Lock button above the routing grid to prevent accidental changes to the routing grid. Simply unlock to make changes.

Figure 2: The Lock button in the Routing tab.

PRE/POST FADER LEVEL METERS FOR MIXER INPUTS

The level meters on mixer inputs can now display either pre- or post-fader levels. To toggle, click the PRE button in the Legend (which can be shown or hidden in the Controls section of the mixer).

Figure 3: The pre/post fader switch for input metering.

PASSWORD PROTECTION

The Device tab now provides the ability to set a password for a MOTU device:

Figure 4: Setting a device password.

Once the password is set, all settings are blocked, except for aux bus mixing (see below).

To clear the password, log in and then click Clear Password in the Device tab.

If you forget the password, you can clear it using the front panel LCD (by choosing

Settings menu > Clear Password

).

You can also clear the password by doing a factory reset for the device, as explained in the manual for your MOTU device.

Figure 5: Clearing the password in the Device tab.

Aux mixing with password-protected devices

Password protection does not block access to aux bus mixing. To access an aux mix for a password-protected device, select the device in the device list in the web app and then click the desired aux bus, as shown below. You can then work in the Aux Mixing tab as usual, without access to any of the device’s other settings.

Figure 6: Accessing aux bus mixes in a password-protected device.

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EQ GRAPH AND COMPRESSOR GRAPH

The Controls section of the mixer now provides two new items: EQ Graph and Compressor Graph, which expose thumbnails of the 4-band parametric EQ and compressor for each input channel, as shown below.

Figure 7: EQ and compressor thumbnails in the mixer.

Click the thumbnail to open a large, fully editable graph, as shown below.

Figure 8: The EQ graph.

For the EQ graph (Figure 8), click the circles to the right of each band (Low, Mid, High) in the right-hand column to enable the filter. The High and Low filters can be toggled between shelf and peak filters. Drag the circles on the graph to change the frequency and gain; drag the colored lines to change the Q setting. You can also click on the numeric settings to edit them numerically.

In the Compressor graph (Figure 9), click the yellow handles to adjust the threshold and ratio.

Figure 9: The compressor graph.

SMPTE TIME CODE (LTC) CLOCK MODE

The Clock Mode menu now provides the ability to resolve to SMPTE time code (

Longitudinal Time Code

, referred to as

LTC

) from any specified analog or digital input.

☛

SMPTE time code sync is not supported in the 112D and 24Ao.

Figure 10: Resolving to LTC (SMPTE time code).

When you choose the LTC clock mode setting, the audio phase lock engine in your MOTU interface resolves to the incoming time code. (See below for how to specify the time code input.) This ensures that audio passing through the interface remains resolved to time code and won’t drift over time, as long as the audio is coming from other sources that are also resolved to the same time code. This also ensures that audio recorded by DAW host software on a connected computer, or audio playing back from the DAW, will remain resolved to time code and won’t drift over time, even when restarting or cueing the source time code.

☛

Depending on the stability of the incoming time code, it may take a few seconds for your interface to lock to the time code. The more stable the incoming time code, the faster the lock-up time.

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SMPTE time code (LTC) settings

There are several settings for the time code features in your MOTU interface. In the web app, go to the Device tab and scroll to the LTC Setup section, shown below.

Figure 11: Settings for SMPTE time code sync.

LTC Input Source

Choose the input on your interface that is receiving the time code (LTC). Any input can be used, including an analog input, digital input or even an AVB network channel.

Computer Channel for LTC-to-MTC Conversion

Choose a computer channel that you aren’t using for anything else here. It will be used to transmit LTC from the interface to the computer. If all of your computer channels are being used, you can add extra channels using the

From device to computer

setting in the Computer Setup section of the Device tab. See below for further info about LTC-to-MTC conversion.

LTC Format

Choose the frame format that matches the incoming time code.

Enable Format Autodetect

If you would like your MOTU interface to automatically detect the frame format of the incoming time code, check this box.

Enable Jam Sync

When this option is checked, your MOTU interface will continue to convert LTC to MTC even after incoming time code stops being received. Once Jam Sync kicks in, it will continue generating until you click Stop Jam Sync.

LTC-to-MTC conversion

When connected to a Mac, your MOTU interface can convert SMPTE time code (LTC) to MIDI Time Code (MTC), allowing any MTC-compatible host audio software to resolve to MTC.

LTC-to-MTC conversion can be done even when the Clock Mode setting for the MOTU interface is set to

Internal

(or any other setting). Note that the Clock Mode setting does NOT have to be set to

LTC

. In other words, the interface can convert LTC to MTC even when it is not resolving its audio engine to the incoming time code. This allows your DAW host software to resolve to time code with fast lockup response.

To set up LTC-to-MTC conversion:

1

Set the interface Clock Mode to

Internal

(or any other desired setting).

2

Set the other LTC settings as needed (as discussed in the previous section), including the

Computer Channel for LTC-to-MTC Conversion

setting.

3

If you would like MIDI Time Code to continue to be generated, even after LTC stops being received, check

Enable Jam Sync

. Otherwise, leave it unchecked.

4

Follow the directions for MTC (SMPTE) sync in your DAW software.

Your MOTU interface driver automatically communicates with OS X, creating a device in the computer’s Audio MIDI Setup configuration that reports its time code port to any MTC-compatible host software. If your host software requires that you specify the port, you should see your MOTU interface SMPTE Sync port as an available option in the list. In Digital Performer, this is the

Sync to port

menu in the Receive Sync settings (Setup menu), which is set to

Any

by default (so it should just work). Here’s a summary for a few popular DAW hosts:

Host software Sync settings

Digital Performer and AudioDesk

Settings menu > Receive Sync > Sync to port menu

Pro Tools Setup > Peripherals > Synchronization

Logic File > Project Settings > Synchronization > General

Live Preferences > MIDI Sync

Cubase Transport > Project Synchronization Setup

M O T U I N T E R F A C E F I R M W A R E 1 . 2 . 5 U P D A T E N O T E S

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OPERATION AS A MAC AUDIO INTERFACE OVER AVB ETHERNET

When operating as an audio interface, your MOTU interface can be connected to a Mac with USB or Thunderbolt (if available). With firmware update 1.2.5 or later, and OS X El Capitan (10.11) or later, a third option is available: AVB Ethernet.

To use AVB Ethernet, all you need is a recent Mac (any Mac that has a Thunderbolt port on it) with OS X El Capitan installed. Connect the network port on your MOTU interface to the Ethernet port on the Mac using a standard, high-grade (CAT-5e or CAT-6) network cable up to 100 meters in length. You can then use your MOTU interface as a standard multi-channel audio interface with any Core Audio compatible host software running on the Mac.

☛

If your Mac doesn’t have an Ethernet port, you can connect your MOTU interface via Ethernet using a Thunderbolt-to-Ethernet adapter. Ethernet might be preferable over Thunderbolt because the Ethernet cable can be up to 100 meters long, using standard Ethernet cabling (which is very affordable).

☛

USB-to-Ethernet adapters cannot be used because the Mac’s USB chip set does not support AVB Ethernet.

To set up your MOTU device as an AVB Ethernet audio interface:

1

Connect your MOTU AVB interface Network port to the Mac’s Ethernet port, or connect both devices to an AVB Switch and power it on.

2

Launch the MOTU AVB Discovery app. From the Settings menu (circled in red below), choose

Launch Mac Virtual Entity

, and from the sub-menu choose the Ethernet port to which your MOTU AVB interface is connected. It should now be checked.

Figure 12: Enabling AVB connectivity to the Mac.

3

After completing step #2 above, the Mac will appear in the AVB device list in the MOTU AVB web app, as shown below. PLEASE NOTE: it may take several minutes for the Mac to appear in the list, the first time you set this up. After the first time, though, you won’t experience any delays.

Figure 13: Accessing the AVB settings for the Mac in the MOTU web app.

4

From the Configuration menu (Figure 13), choose the channel mode for the Mac that best fits your workflow.

☛

MOTU interfaces currently only support 8-channel streams (or less) so be sure to avoid configurations with streams that have more than 8 channels.

Figure 14: Choosing an AVB configuration for the Mac.

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From the

Sample Rate

menu (Figure 13), choose the desired sample rate. Currently, the Mac only supports 48, 96 and 192 kHz sample rates.

6

For Playback from the Mac, go to the Device tab for your MOTU interface (the 1248 in the example below), and connect the input streams to the Mac’s output streams.

M O T U I N T E R F A C E F I R M W A R E 1 . 2 . 5 U P D A T E N O T E S

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Figure 15: Routing computer streams to the interface for playback from the Mac.

7

In the Routing tab, route the Mac’s output streams to desired physical outputs on your MOTU interface.

Figure 16: Routing Mac channels to physical outputs.

8

For Recording to the Mac, route desired physical inputs on your MOTU interface to output streams.

Figure 17: Routing physical inputs to the Mac.

9

On the Mac’s Device tab, connect the Mac’s input streams to the MOTU interface’s output streams.

Figure 18: Routing streams from your MOTU interface to the Mac.

☛

Leave

Media Clock Input Stream

set to

None

. (This setting can be used to sync the Mac to certain 3rd-party AVB devices that support Media Clock. This setting is not needed for MOTU devices.)

Clocking

In the example in Figure 18, the 1248 is the clock master and the Mac is clocking to the 1248’s Output Stream 1. You can also reverse this scenario, where the Mac becomes the master and the 1248 clocks to Mac’s Output Stream 1. The Mac does not follow the web app’s

Become Clock Master

button, so you must set the Mac’s Clock Mode manually.

AVB stream and channel counts

Each MOTU AVB stream is a group of 8 audio channels. While testing is on-going, OS X AVB performance varies with different Mac models. Models such as the Mac Pro (late 2013) are able to handle 8 streams (64 channels) in and out simultaneously, for MOTU interface models that support 8 streams. (Check motu.com/avb for a summary of supported stream counts for each MOTU interface model.) For older Macs, we recommend one or two streams in each direction. Generally speaking, it is best to enable only as many streams as you need.

If you need to change the number of audio channels or streams, we recommend that you temporarily disable the device in the Network Device Browser first, before making any stream or channel count changes. This is because some host software applications have trouble if you change the channel count while the device is still enabled.

IMPROVED SUPPORT FOR 3RD-PARTY AVB DEVICES

Some 3rd-party AVB devices support multiple operational configurations, similar to the Mac, as demonstrated in Step #4 (page 5). As of firmware 1.2.5, your MOTU interface will display these configuration options in the web app Device tab and allow you to choose the configuration for the device.

©2016 MOTU, INC.