MOTU 24Ai User Manual Download

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24Ai

User Guide

1280 Massachusetts Avenue

Cambridge, MA 02138

Business voice: (617) 576-2760

Business fax: (617) 576-3609

Web site: www.motu.com

Tech support: www.motu.com/support

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24Ao

Title Page

Summary of Contents for 24Ai

Page 1: ...24Ai User Guide 1280 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge MA 02138 Business voice 617 576 2760 Business fax 617 576 3609 Web site www motu com Tech support www motu com support 24Ao Title Page...

Page 2: ...orgrounding typeplug Apolarizedplughastwobladeswithonewiderthantheother Agrounding typeplughastwobladesandathirdgroundingprong Thewideblade orthethirdprongareprovidedforyoursafety Iftheprovidedplugdoe...

Page 3: ...Interface 27 Packing List and System Requirements 29 Software Installation 33 Hardware Installation Part2 UsingyourMOTUinterface 47 Presets 53 The Front Panel LCD 55 Working with Host Audio Software 6...

Page 4: ...pforaperiodofTWO 2 YEARSfrom thedateoforiginalretailpurchase Thiswarrantyappliesonlytohardwareproducts MOTUsoftwareislicensedandwarrantedpursuanttoseparatewrittenstatements Ifyoudiscoveradefect firstw...

Page 5: ...Part1 GettingStarted...

Page 6: ......

Page 7: ...ndows desktop or in Start menu All Programs MOTU From your iPad or iPhone launch the MOTU AVB Discovery app and tap your interface You should now see the MOTU AVB Control web app in your browser as sh...

Page 8: ...8...

Page 9: ...4 POWERSWITCH AVBandUSBare plug and play proto cols That means you can turn the 24Ai off and back on without restarting your computer 5 Push SEL select to enter the LCD menu Push the ARROW buttons to...

Page 10: ...D sub for channels 1 8andPhoenixforchannels9 16 Thepin outsforthe Phoenix connectors are indicated on the label of the connector fortheD subpinouts seeAppendixD D sub Connector Specifications page 85...

Page 11: ...4 POWERSWITCH AVBandUSBare plug and play proto cols That means you can turn the 24Ao off and back on without restarting your computer 5 Push SEL select to enter the LCD menu Push the ARROW buttons to...

Page 12: ...for channels 1 8 and Phoenix for channels 9 16 The pin outs for the Phoenix connectors are indicated on the label of the connector for the D sub pinouts see Appendix D D sub Connector Specifications p...

Page 13: ...com avb to get the latest MOTU AVB installer and run it on your computer to install the MOTU AVB Discovery app Mac or MOTU AVB WebUI Setup Windows and other software elements Visit the Apple App Stor...

Page 14: ...controlling with the web app software ThefrontpanelLCDonthe hardware itself will flash the name of the device and its name will also flash in the Device list 1 12 If an update is available for your d...

Page 15: ...ableto stream to and from your computer up to 24 channels each way simul taneously Map them as desired in the Routing tab page 16 22 Usethesebuttonstomanuallycheck for and install updates for your MOT...

Page 16: ...e audio to or from otherdevicesontheAVBnetwork if any are connected to local hardware inputs and outputs Use the Device tab page 15 to config urehowmanyAVBstreamsyouwish to work with If you aren t wor...

Page 17: ...letronix LA 2A leveling amplifier 11 The reverb channel strip provides controlsforthereverbprocessor Use thereverbsendonindividualinputs or groups to route them to the reverbbus whichcanthenbemixed in...

Page 18: ...e mixer inputs aux sends fromeachmixerchannel Toinclude an input in the aux bus mix simply bring up its fader 6 These are group bus faders 7 This is the mixer s reverb bus fader 8 This is the master f...

Page 19: ...lly the compressor operates in Peak mode where signal peaks determine the inputlevel EngagetheRMSbuttonto uses RMS values a computational method for determining overall loudness to measure the input l...

Page 20: ...ou can also make this setting directly on the Routing grid page 16 5 Use the preset menus to create save recall and otherwise manage channel strip presets for the Monitor bus and Main Mix bus 6 Indica...

Page 21: ...page 17 1 A stereo aux bus 2 A mono aux bus 3 Clickthisdottotoggleanauxbusbetween mono and stereo 4 The four band parametric EQ module for Auxbussesoperatesthesameasdescribed for input channels items...

Page 22: ...f the channel strip use the Controls section of the side bar item 3 in the Mixing tab on page 17 1 AGroupbuschannelstrip Clickthenameto renameit Deletethecurrentnametoreturn to its default 2 The Rever...

Page 23: ...can mix and match several interfaces and operate them as a unified I O and mixing system The following sections provide a bird s eye glance of the I O configurations offered by each interface in the M...

Page 24: ...pansion and audio networking AVB stands for the IEEE 802 1 Audio Video Bridging Ethernet standard for high bandwidth low latency audio streaming over Ethernet The AVB Ethernet network port on each MOT...

Page 25: ...ixers or other gear 24 channels at 44 1 48 kHz or 12 channels at 88 2 96 kHz Word clock Each MOTU interface supports standard word clock synchronization at any supported sample rate When the interface...

Page 26: ...A B O U T Y O U R M O T U A V B A U D I O I N T E R F A C E 26...

Page 27: ...r operation as an AVB Ethernet audio interface Mac OS X 10 10 or later is required running on a recent generation Mac any Mac with a Thunderbolt port on it Available high speed USB 2 0 or 3 0 port A l...

Page 28: ...P A C K I N G L I S T A N D S Y S T E M R E Q U I R E M E N T S 28...

Page 29: ...OTU interface with a standard Ethernet cable Ethernet hub or shared Wi Fi network For details about accessing the web app through the network port see MOTU AVB Control Web App on page 13 OPERATION AS...

Page 30: ...your network and displays them in a list Choose an interface to access its settings through the web app MOTU AVB Control Web App on page 13 MOTU AVB WEBUI SETUP FOR WINDOWS On Windows the installer p...

Page 31: ...i track digital audio recording projects Advanced features include real time effects processing recording and much more See the AudioDesk User Guide available on your computer hard drive as a PDF docu...

Page 32: ...S O F T W A R E I N S T A L L A T I O N 32...

Page 33: ...multipleAVBaudiointerfacesconnectedtoaMac 43 RACK INSTALLATION AND HEAT When installing your MOTU audio interface in a 19 inch rack leave extra space above below behind and on either side of the unit...

Page 34: ...epends on the speed of your Mac If applicable see Syncing multiple AVB audio interfaces connected to a Mac on page 43 About CAT 5e cables Use shielded CAT 5e or CAT 6 cables which are a higher grade v...

Page 35: ...n with full access to the network from both ports Use standard CAT 5e Ethernet network cables to connect the interfaces to the MOTU AVB Switch using their NETWORK ports Use the fiveAVB NETWORK ports o...

Page 36: ...create loops For example switches A B and C below are chained properly but don t connect C back to A Alternately you could connect both Switches B and C to Switch A For further information see chapte...

Page 37: ...o a Thunderbolt port and the second to a USB 2 0 or 3 0 port Multiple interfaces and USB When connected through USB your MOTU interface operates as a USB 2 0 device even when connected to a USB 3 0 po...

Page 38: ...ies for control of your MOTU interface independent of the connections you make for audio Mixing and matching web app control scenarios The web app connection scenarios shown in the following sections...

Page 39: ...Ethernet hub or network LAN WiFi When using standard WiFi as shown you can control your MOTU interface from multiple WiFi devices simultaneously Figure 4 4 Web app control through WiFi Ethernet netwo...

Page 40: ...with optical ports and support 2x operation The optical ports are disabled when the interface is operating at a 176 4 or 192 kHz TOSLink optical S PDIF Alternately the optical ports can be configured...

Page 41: ...ce with the 24Ai or 24Ao A Resolve the other device to the 24Ao B Resolve the 24Ai to the other device C Resolve both devices to a word clock source For A choose Internal or anything other than Optica...

Page 42: ...down to the nanosecond Choosing a master clock The web app provides an easy way to choose one device as the master clock for your whole MOTU AVB network 1 Go to the Devices tab page 14 2 In the device...

Page 43: ...ions for clocking multiple AVB audio devices connected to the Mac You can resolve them to an external clock source like word clock if available You can create an aggregate device as usual The aggregat...

Page 44: ...H A R D W A R E I N S T A L L A T I O N 44...

Page 45: ...Part2 Usingyour MOTUinterface...

Page 46: ......

Page 47: ...ointerface 47 Stand alonemixer 48 Interface mixer 48 Liverecordingwithmonitormixing 49 StageI O 49 StudioInputexpander 50 StudioOutputexpander 50 Opticalconverter 51 Create your own presets You can cr...

Page 48: ...outputs to and from the computer connected through USB In addition all MOTU AVB device inputs are routed to the mixer which mixes them to the Main Mix bus The Monitor bus is set up as a solo bus Spec...

Page 49: ...eset routes all inputs and outputs on the MOTU AVB interface to 8 channel AVB network streams in the routing grid which are then broadcast to any all other devices on the sameAVB Ethernet network Sing...

Page 50: ...utes all physical inputs analog and digital on the expansion MOTU AVB interface to AVB network streams You can connect to these expansion streams in AVB Stream Connections section of the Device tab of...

Page 51: ...y is that you can seamlessly integrate its inputs into the other device such as the on board no latency CueMix mixing environment in MOTU mk3 interfaces Similarly if you have a 24Ao you could connect...

Page 52: ...P R E S E T S 52...

Page 53: ...he meters display from 42dBFS to 0dBFS as shown by the labels to the left of the LCD display Figure 6 1 ID BUTTON Push ID Figure 6 1 to immediately view the device s network information including its...

Page 54: ...settings including mix settings and device settings are saved in your MOTU interface s memory They remain in effect even when the interface is not connected to a computer This allows you to use your...

Page 55: ...t if you haven t already done so and complete these chapters before proceeding chapter 3 Software Installation page 29 chapter 4 Hardware Installation page 33 RUN THE WEB APP Before you run your host...

Page 56: ...going to and from the AVB network if you have multiple networked MOTU AVB devices If you aren t sure how many channels you ll need visit the Routing tab as explained below Making inputs and outputs a...

Page 57: ...mputer software click the grid at the intersection of the mix column and desired computer channel row Now the mix bus output will be routed to the computer via the channel you selected Conversely you...

Page 58: ...r audio software and enable the MOTU AVB audio driver which allows your host software to use the the 24Ai or 24Ao as an audio interface For Mac OS X audio software For audio software running under Mac...

Page 59: ...ge 17 to make these live monitoring connections manually If you don t require any effects processing on the input signal no reverb or compression for example all this takes is one click in the routing...

Page 60: ...erface s CoreAudio driver Most audio software applications provide an adjustable audio buffer setting that lets you control the amount of delay you ll hear when monitoring live inputs or processing th...

Page 61: ...hed thru material e g you re not recording vocals or if you have a way of externally processing inputs choose a higher buffer size Depending on your computer s CPU speed you might find that settings i...

Page 62: ...W O R K I N G W I T H H O S T A U D I O S O F T W A R E 62...

Page 63: ...modeled after British analog consoles Compressor 65 A standard compressor with threshold ratio attack release gain controls Leveler 66 The Leveler an accurate model of the legendary LA 2A optical comp...

Page 64: ...EQ Vintage EQ Inspired by legendary British large console EQs theEQsection Figure 8 3 modelsthesoundof the most sought after classic equalizers Four bands of center frequency parametric EQ filtering...

Page 65: ...e parameter Long Release times may cause the audio to drop out briefly when a soft passage follows a loud passage Short Release times may cause the attenuation to pump a term used to describe the soun...

Page 66: ...in the dark paint on a piece of foil covered by metalized glass or plastic and are the same devices used in low power night lights Unfortunately these devices need high voltages to operate and are bes...

Page 67: ...p bus to the Reverb processor with the Reverb send on its channel strip All incoming signals to the reverb processor are merged and processed together The resulting stereo output from the reverb can t...

Page 68: ...r item 26 on page 19 shows how much of the available DSP processing power is currently being used by the mixer for the mix and for effects processing If there aren t enough DSP resources for all effec...

Page 69: ...in the audio stream it will not allow you to make the network connection in the first place AVB streams are prioritized over other network traffic to ensure high performance Network wide clocking and...

Page 70: ...lly low network latency Standard AVB network latency is 2 ms MOTUAVB network latency is an astonishing 0 6 ms even over seven hops switches and hundreds of meters of cable By comparison other commerci...

Page 71: ...evices on and offline rerouting audio stems as needed Because MOTU AVB networking employs a star configuration instead of daisy chaining you can set up backup computer playback systems on a shared net...

Page 72: ...rfaces to any AVB Switch using their NETWORK ports On the MOTU AVB Switch connect MOTU interfaces to the five AVB NETWORK ports not the Ethernet port Connect the Ethernet port to a WiFi router your Lo...

Page 73: ...want the device to listen to for each bank 4 Use the Routing tab to map specific I O channels within each MOTU AVB interface to its network input and output streams as explained in the next section M...

Page 74: ...ices such as A WiFi router An Ethernet hub or switch connected to a local home studio or office network Any other standard networking device THE MOTU AVB SWITCH The heart of a MOTU AVB network is the...

Page 75: ...Part3 Appendices...

Page 76: ......

Page 77: ...gh your MOTU interface on page 59 How do I control monitoring latency See Reducing monitoring latency on page 59 The Routing tab page 16 doesn t display some of the inputs or outputs on my interface T...

Page 78: ...online at MOTU com or fill out and mail the included registration card Doing so entitles you to technical support and notices about new products and software updates TECHNICAL SUPPORT If you are unab...

Page 79: ...f 1 kHz Max Level Out 20 dBu Trim Range 24 dB 4 dBu to 20 dBu in 1 dB steps Word Clock In Out Thru Specification AES 11 2009 Annex B Connector Type BNC Termination 75 ohm in out THRU is unterminated L...

Page 80: ...sponse 0 0 1 dB 20 Hz 20 kHz Ref 1 kHz Max Level In 24 dBu Trim Range 118 dB 96 to 22 dB in 1 dB steps Word Clock In Out Thru Specification AES 11 2009 Annex B Connector Type BNC Termination 75 ohm in...

Page 81: ...APPENDIX 81 C Mixer Schematics MONO INPUT CHANNEL...

Page 82: ...A P P E N D I X C M I X E R S C H E M A T I C S 82 STEREO INPUT CHANNEL...

Page 83: ...A P P E N D I X C M I X E R S C H E M A T I C S 83 GROUP BUS...

Page 84: ...A P P E N D I X C M I X E R S C H E M A T I C S 84 MONITOR BUS...

Page 85: ...lude 4 40 screws but they may not be installed on the cable yet Instead the cable may have metric screws on it with the 4 40 screws supplied separately in a bag or pouch If this is the case remove the...

Page 86: ...A P P E N D I X D D S U B C O N N E C T O R S P E C I F I C A T I O N S 86...

Page 87: ...Ethernet adapter Your home studio or office network with internet access An AVB port on a MOTU AVB switch connected to your office network through the Ethernet port Updating with internet access You a...

Page 88: ...complete the update unless it s connected to a MOTU AVB switch or other AVB aware switch If so you can leave it connected Viewing the latest firmware version information You can confirm the firmware v...

Page 89: ...imized for modern networking technology MOTU AVB audio interfaces support OSC which provides remote control of all device settings and mixer controls from any OSC enabled controller For further detail...

Page 90: ...A P P E N D I X F O S C S U P P O R T 90...

Page 91: ...Digital Performer 55 58 Direct hardware playthrough 59 Direct ASIO monitoring 59 Direct hardware playthrough 59 Driver installation 7 13 29 Drivers installing USB drivers 30 DSP effects 63 meter 68 re...

Page 92: ...n 58 Record 55 Registration 27 Release Compressor 64 65 Remote control through OSC 89 Restore Factory Presets 15 Reverb 67 68 design section 67 enabling disabling 67 predelay 67 routing to from 67 tim...

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