GLD & M - Dante Option Card Setup

GLD GLD General Discussions
1

We acquired a previously-owned m-Dante card for our GLD80. After installation, we found there was a lack of documentation online to assist our technician through setup of the virtual soundcard, controller software, and GLD. We referenced iLive tutorials, Yamaha videos, this online community, Audinate’s support team, and our local dealer.

Now that Dante is working, it is clear that this option card is worth all the effort. The network capabilities, virtual soundcheck, and training opportunities are fantastic. Still, it would have been nice to have an easily accessible and thorough GLD manual for the card. Here are a few steps that we had to search hard to find:

  1. Make sure you set the clock to External (set card as master). From the iLive Dante manual (pg 12) “‘Slave to external wordclock’ for the console card only.”

  2. Ensure that your card and desktop software is up to date. This was our biggest problem. The card we bought was 2 versions behind. This required that we update the card, the virtual soundcard, and the controller software in steps (2 updates total for each). Without up to date firmware, signal will not pass between devices.

  3. In the Dante Controller software and looking at the Device window, the signal column should be active (glowing green) when viewing the option card (and audio is coming from the desk). HOWEVER, when viewing the computer virtual soundcard in the controller device window, you will not see the signal icon active (it is blank) even though signal is passing from the GLD to the virtual soundcard.

  4. For recording, use the i/O OUT tab and assign ch 1-48 to direct outs (set the direct out pick point in each channel’s routing menu) or any other output. We found that using the Input Socket was not a good option unless your source material is already at line level.

4a. Setup your recording software so that it sees the virtual sound card as the audio device. You will also need to set each channel in the recording to have the correct input channel.

Note: In Reaper, this is not immediately clear. You set it in a pull down menu on each track in the timeline window.

  1. For playback, make sure your recording software has each channel set to output directly to the virtual soundcard channel (instead of a L/R master bus).

  2. For playback on the GLD, use the i/O IN tab to quickly set the dante network as the audio feed. Set the i/O IN so that 1-48 are set to Inputs 1-48.

These are just a few of our observations. If you have more helpful tips or corrections, please add them to the thread!

2

Always make sure you change virtual inputs back to physical inputs before you shut down the board. We have been burned twice trying to debug why we were not getting signal. Especially difficult when the regular church staff needs to use the board. I believe if you recall a show and then scene, that setting does not revert back.

3

hi,great idea

4

thanks for sharing!

5

The only difference between direct out (set to post preamp) and using Input sockets for record is the Surface Trim. If the trim is set to 0 there should be no difference.

The issue with using direct outs in the explained manner when you punch the recorded channels back through the GLD for a virtual sound check is that the surface trim is potentially applied twice to the signal.

This may not apply if not using the surface trim at all, but using the sockets for recording in this manner is more correct for virtual sound check. As the audio is coming from for recording and returning to for playback to the exact same position in the signal chain.

I use a very large dante system for live use (6 or more devices with 70+ channels and multiple hops per signal path) and there is no lack of documentation available. If you read the Audinate documentation thoroughly as well as the documentation for the devices it is clear and easy.

But if you are trying to run 2 clocks on one system (where point 1 is valid) by telling the dante card to be the master of the dante network (or to be slaved from the network) and the GLD to master the dante card you will cause pops and crackles. But this has been a consideration since the beginnings of combining digital audio devices together.
If you want to use the GLD as master, you can change the option in the dante controller to slave the dante card to the GLD (‘Enable Sync To External’). Either this or slaving the GLD to the dante card as suggested in this thread solves the issue of having 2 clocks trying to get along.

Furthermore, the Allen Heath manual for the M-DANTE suggests to set it up in this manner, from the manual:

Dante cards Use Dante Controller to tick ‘Preferred master’ and ‘Slave
to external wordclock’ for the Master MixRack/console card only.

For some reason you have copied only a portion of this sentence from the manual and turned it on its head, saying the console should be slaved to the Dante card, however the sentence is suggesting the card (and hence the dante network) should be salved to the console. Either way though will work. The manual is not an ILive manual, but the manual for the M-Dante card and it encompasses the I-LIVE, GLD and MEU.

For point 3, the virtual soundcard will show the green speaker in the receive tab of its device view when receiving above -61dbFS, as stated in the manual. There has been an issue with macbooks and the use of thunderbolt ethernet adapters that has been resolved, this may have prevented this from working, as stated in the dante controller change log.

All documentation always suggest keeping firmware and software up to date.

Signal will still pass despite version differences with Dante, there has never been a version incompatibility that will stop audio. Wrong versions in the past would only limit information in the device view window and newly added features, however you can still subscribe to channels. It is more likely there was a setting incorrect to prevent signal from passing.

I think the statement that there is a lack of documentation is unfair, nor is it hard to find, as it comes with the M-Dante card, and with the Dante controller/virtual sound card.

Nothing suggested here is unavailable in the manuals. Even the fact that the ‘input socket’ are the preamp output is clear when you hit the help (?) on the i/o page of the GLD.

Its unfair to manufacturers to claim there is a lack of documentation, when its more clearly a lack of thorough reading.

Ben

6

Note that when using this set-up for virtual soundchek there is one little snag.
Ik you have any inserts assigned (extrnal or fx engine), as you make the switch between “live” inputs and dante inputs all inserts fall out.
This is because at the moment the insert is still considered to be a preamp attribute and as you switch the input is attribute is also switched.
took me a while to figure out and a complete pain as i use 10 mono insert transient controllers and change a lot from live to virtual.

maurits