Hello, I’m currently drafting a system design and I’m wondering if I could tap a GX4816 into a Layer 2/3 switch for connection to an Avantis on the other end of the room. The plan is to isolate the switch into multiple VLANs for control and other partitioned audio networks. Ideally this proposed system would allow scalability for additional GX units in the future.
Is this feasible?
Hi Joe,
I would highly recommend against this approach. The GX/gigaACE is really a point to point system specific to Allen & Heath and requires shielded STP CAT 6 cable to work best and is limited to 128ch x 128ch . If you want to distribute audio on your network I recommend a Dante card that is designed to work on standard network infrastructure.
Please read the “DX & GX System Guide” for more information. While it is not technically supported by A&H, it is possible to use VLANs with DX and GX connections. There are some stipulations however.
First, the connections must still be one to one - meaning a connection must still be from one DX/GigaAce port to another DX/GigaAce port, just with the switch in-between. In other words, you cannot create a digital split (where you take one DX/GigaAce connection and split it into two or more destinations) using VLANs.
Second, each GigaAce connection uses a full gigabit amount of bandwidth. Therefore if you expect to send GigaAce through a switch, that switch needs to have more bandwidth than a 10/100/1000 switch can provide. In other words, you’ll need to step up to 2.5/10/40 gb switches for this to work with GigaAce. A&H recommends using 10gb (or higher) switches for this purpose.
Finally, it really comes down to the switch that you use. Not every switch is going to work well due to the time accuracy that the A&H systems require. In other words, some switches may work fine for this purpose, while others will fail or cause intermittent problems. There is no “list of working switches” either.
https://www.allen-heath.com/hardware/everything-i-o/gx4816/resources/
PS - unless you are utilizing more than one switch, you should be able to simply directly connect the network cables together and bypass the switch completely for the needed DX/GigaAce connections. If you have several switches that are trunked together (via fiber, etc) , that is when you may be forced to use a VLAN to pass that traffic.
When I re-read your post, I get the feeling that you are wanting to use VLANs because you think you can get around the “one to one” connection/cable requirement. However that is simply not true. You’ll still need a unique port available on each A&H device to make these connections. For example, if you want to connect two GX4816 to the Avantis, then you will need two GigaAce ports available on the Avantis (one built in and the second one via an installed GigaAce expansion card) to make these connections - regardless if you use a switch with VLANs or not.
I don’t think I added enough context to why I was trying to opt for using a switch.
That said, I agree with the general consensus that it’ll be easier to avoid adding a switch in the interest of avoiding unnecessary complexity.
My next question (which is probably answerable from A&H’s documentation, but while we’re here..) If I were to connect a GX4816 using the GigaACE uplink via Slink from an Avantis, would I be able to cascade to a DX016 using the DX ports on the GX4816? I understand they’re both technically different protocols with different bandwidth (and latency..), but I wasn’t sure if A&H designed these two to be operable within the same network.
Yes. The GX4816 is designed to provide one DX port and a ME port or two DX ports without the ME port being active. This is obviously in addition to the 48 inputs and 16 outputs on the GX4816 itself. Each DX port can support a single DX32 or up to two other DX boxes daisy chained together.
For example, you could use both DX ports (and forgo using the ME port) and have 4 additional DX168 connected to the GX4816 giving a total of 112 inputs and 48 outputs all linked over the single GigaAce connection. (You don’t have to use all the same model DX boxes either - you can mix and match them as needed).
PS - there is a DX012 and a DX168, but there isn’t a DX016 currently…
Oops.. Meant to say DX012.
Good to know one of the DX ports can be used for ME, I might utilize that instead of adding a GigaACE card to the Avantis for the GX4816 and using the SLink port for the ME system.
Thanks for the insight.
I think the GX4816 box is the easiest way to add ME support for the Avantis. Otherwise like you said, it would typically require installation of a expansion card for whatever stage box solution you wanted to use so that you can use the built in SLink port for the ME system.