User Manual

1 Overview

1.1 About AVB Networking

StudioLive™ Series III

Stagebox Mode Addendum

1 Overview

There are two types of potential data ﬂowing to and from your StudioLive Series

III mixer: control and audio. Control connections can be made over standard

Ethernet networks, including WiFi networks. Sending and receiving audio

requires an AVB network. Unlike control, AVB audio cannot be sent wirelessly.

• Control: This is the primary communication between your StudioLive Series III

rackmount mixer and your computer, iPad, or Android device. When networked

to your StudioLive, any device running UC Surface controls the mixers’ functions.

• Audio: An AVB network connection enables routing audio to and

from the StudioLive Series III rackmount mixer’s audio inputs and

outputs with a StudioLive Series III console mixer in stagebox mode;

to a Mac for playback and recording; or to any 1722.1 AVB device.

Power User Tip: Network connections occasionally require troubleshooting, especially

when a lot of wireless networks are in use. Because of this, it is always a good idea to get

your networked devices happily communicating before the pressure is on and you have a

singer trying to dial in a monitor mix while you’re trying to mic the drum kit.

1.1 About AVB Networking

AVB (Audio Video Bridging) is an extension to the Ethernet standard designed to

provide “guaranteed quality of service,” which simply means that audio samples

will reach their destinations on time. AVB has been adopted by numerous audio

companies, and more companies are adding it all the time. AVB networking

oﬀers a number of features that make it ideal for audio applications:

• Long, light cable runs. A single lightweight CAT5e or CAT6 cable can

be run up to 100 meters (300 feet). This makes it easy to have audio

I/O located in diﬀerent rooms (or even diﬀerent venues in the same

building) and run multichannel audio between them in real time.

• Low, predictable latency. The AVB speciﬁcation states latency

of no longer than 2 ms sending an audio stream point-to-

point over up to seven “hops” (trips through switches or other

devices) at 1x (less than or equal to 48 kHz) sample rates.

• Scalable, with high channel counts. AVB’s bandwidth is suﬃcient to carry

hundreds of real-time channels using a single Ethernet cable. This oﬀers the

future possibility of expanding your system with additional devices that contain

diﬀerent kinds of audio I/O, multiple controllers, and other useful functions.

• Integrated clock signal. In a digital audio system with multiple devices,

having a master clock is absolutely critical. The AVB speciﬁcation deﬁnes

such a clock to be accurately distributed to all devices in the system.

Power User Tip: The most important rule to keep in mind when setting up an AVB

network is that the talker (device sending audio) and listener (device receiving audio)

must be connected to an AVB-compatible switch.