So a couple years ago I had the console lose connection to the mix rack mid set. Oddly enough, the talkback mic connected to the surface still passed audio to the bands IEM which were fed off the mixrack. The mix was still happening to the mains but I needed to reset the surface.
It just got me thinking, what is the surfaces role in the setup? How could audio be passed from the surface, but control not? Is it strictly a remote control? If I were to “properly” shutdown the surface would audio still be passing in the mix rack say if I left an iPod running to the mains?
All this is just curiosity. Just to be more informed. I realize without actually seeing the issue it’s hard to say what the issue was, I’m not looking for the fix. Just curious of the roles played by each piece.
The MixRack has the Mix Engine and does all the processing, except for surface IO which has its own preamps and ADC/DAC.
A MixRack will work headlessly, passing audio according to its last state, and can be controlled by an iPad or Surface(s) or the installed remote controllers which I know less about.
We have our Dante card connected to our MixRack so that even if we lose the surface, the audio still passes.
I have no idea why the surface talkback mic would still work if you lost connection entirely. If the cable was unplugged, it would not have worked, so you must have still had some audio connection between them, but perhaps a loss of control only?
if you switch off the surface, i.e. completely disconnect it from the power supply, then no talkback microphone will work.
on the other hand, if you switch off the surface via the screen but leave it on, the connections will continue to run - the network connection will still work.
Okay, this is new to me.
I did not know that the surface will pass audio whilst shutdown via screen.
I shall freak my technical director out with this new information this coming weekend.