Mult a Send to multiple Outputs
By holding down [shift] and clicking on the output assign box at the bottom of the mixer strip, you should be able to select multiple destinations.
Author: MIO_admin
Converter Latency
The ULN/LIO converters sound better, but they unfortunately introduce slightly more latency. 2882: A/D 39 samples, D/A 28 samples LIO-8: A/D 63 samples, D/A 44 samples So, at any given buffer setting, I believe the LIO will have 40 samples more latency than the 2882 (about .9ms at 44.1k). Thanks James.
Box Remapping : Order
There are two rules to box mapping, and if you understand them, it is not a problem to remap: 1) If you connect a box while MIO Console is running, it will be mapped to its own serial number in the console (if it exists) or it will get a new tab. 2) If a…
ULN8 – DI input
The DI path is DC coupled and single-ended. This means that it will gain up any DC present on the input signal; if the DC offset is too high at the converter, it will mute.
Word Clock : Termination
Termination is not needed when connecting a Master Word Clock sync to the MIO’s. The MIO’s should not be daisy chained in this case; they are internally terminated. They are AC-coupled, however, so the source will not see the 75- ohm to ground. So if the master clock has a termination indicator will not turn…
Foo : THD Measurements
The THD Meter is documented in the next revision of the ‘Foo manual. It was originally intended for internal use only, but after many requests it has been added to the release version. This is why the UI is not polished. To select your input, hold the control key and click on the settings button….
+DSP : SHARC Generations
Before the 2d Enhanced MIO, MH was using the ADSP-21065L SHARC. When they designed the 2d card, they chose the ADSP-21364 family that is 5x faster and runs compatible code.
MIO Comp : Detection Meter
The meter in the MIOStrip compressor is the detector meter; it does not show the peak level; the level that is shown depends on both the signal level and the attack and release settings for the compressor.
2882 Steel panel vs aluminum
All original 2882’s shipped with solid steel top and bottom panels. Starting at serial #800, they were switched to aluminum. Older serial 2882’s can be upgraded to the newer aluminum panels through the MH shop. The unit must be sent back to Metric Halo as replacing the bottom panel necessitates re-mounting the PCB’s. The top…
Spectrafoo : Lock scale with Groups
To tie window’s together (matched windows on x-axis), you can use ‘link groups’. Scaling one window will be mirrored in all windows of a group.
Rename MIO Mixer channels
No mixer channels can be renamed directly from the MIO Mixer window. Renaming analog channels can be done in the MIO Console window, by double clicking the in/output name. Renaming digital channels can be done in the MIO Console window, by double clicking the name under the drop down list after selecting the digital type…
AES/SPDIF : flagged bits
the ULN8 and LIO both set the AES bit flag to Consumer on output. This can cause trouble with limited devices that only accept the professional bit flag for input. the ULN8/LIO accepts any valid AES input regardless of of flag status. The ULN2 and 2882 both mirror whatever bit-flags are sent to it. It…
ULN8 – disable front power
jumper position J7 on the PSU board (by the power switch connector) bypasses the front panel power switch.
Spectrafoo : Migrate Window Sets
Foo Window Sets live in : User/Preferences/SpectraFoo Preferences/ This can be copied between machines to migrate Window Sets from one to the other.
+DSP Memory limits
The legacy SHARC chips run up to 66 MHz, and have 68 KB of internal memory plus 8 MB of external very fast memory. The SHARC chips in the Expanded 2D system run up to 333 MHz and have 375 KB of internal memory.
MIO Mixer – Pan Laws
The pan law on the MIO Hardware is “-3dB”. Also known as “Equal Power”. Hard panned channels are unattenuated. Center pan channels are attenuated by -3dB and sent to both left and right. Attenuation in the left output channel varies smoothly from 0dB (hard left) to -3dB (center) to -∞ (hard right) via a cosine…
Large recording – Disk I/O
For larger recordings, You’ll gain more disk I/O by disabling Spotlight. the Spotlight indexing has a substantial negative effect on disk write throughput. So, either disable Spotlight entirely, or add the Record drive (or even folder) into the Spotlight privacy list so that Spotlight does not try to index while you are recording…. Another good…
+DSP Notch Filter EQ
The parametric EQs in MIOStrip can be narrowed to 1/10 octave, and the MIO EQ (included in the +DSP package) goes as narrow as 1/100 octave. However there is a mathematical difference between a real notch filter and a very narrow and deep parametric cut filter. To create a true notch instead of a deep…
Multi-mono +DSP vs Multi-channel
When inserting a mono +DSP effect on a stereo (or multi-channel bus), the single set of GUI controls will control a instance of that effect on every channel of audio in the bus. ex. a mono EQ inserted on a quad channel, will result in 4 identical EQ’s all mirroring the settings for each channel…
Divide – Math block +DSP
all you get from divide is attenuation, like a -9.5 dB pad for x/3. Brian Willoughby Sound Consulting
+DSP RMS Side-chain control
BJ and Kurt comment on how to create a RMS averaged signal for side-chain dynamics purposes. (among others) ________[How]________ If you multiply a signal by itself, using MIO Channel Multiplier, you get the “Square”. If you put that result through a lowpass, you get a kind of “Mean Square” (an exponential moving average). If you…
Monitor Control Gain Offset
On the 2882, the offset is done in the digital domain. You can adjust the output trim BEFORE you put the outputs into monitor control, and it will use that analog gain as the basis point for the maximum output level. On the ULN-2, all monitor controller gain is in the digital domain, but you…
Spectrafoo Inputs
SpectraFoo has a two-layer input routing system. From the Device -> Analyzer then from the Analyzer -> Instruments. Device -> Analyzer is controlled by the popups in the Analyzer Control and Routing. Analyzer -> Instruments is controlled via the prefs for each instrument.
Share/backup ‘Foo windowsets
To move Foo saves and window sets between users: Copy the folder: <admin_user1_home_directory>/Library/Preferences/SpectraFoo Preferences To: <foo_user2_home_directory>/Library/Preferences/SpectraFoo Preferences All window sets are stored in a signal file, so it is currently unable to move/backup only select window sets between users.
Playback Channel Order
The record panel records in order of the Firewire sends (1,2,3..), and plays back in order of the Daw (1,2,3..) channels. Across multiple boxes, playback happens according to the order of the box serial order tab in the IO Preference Panel of MIO Console.
Master Strip – Sends
The send’s on a master strip don’t work like you think they do. All the inserts on the master strip are post master fader (the fader level is applied in the mixer and the inserts come AFTER the mixer). So if the send is set to pre-fader, then the send will have the mix as…
ProSoundNews: BJ on MH Hardware
Are you using different components than you have traditionally? B.J. Buchalter: Not really, although the components of the types that we have been using continue to evolve and we continually evaluate new products to see if they fit with upgrades or new designs. what are they and in what areas are you seeing improvement (ease…
Non-Linear Map
The 4th Order Non-linear Map basic Graph Building block is useful for adding second, third, or fourth order harmonics, (among other uses) Brian has created a stand-alone app to help visualize the transfer function of this powerful graph block. Helping to choose the correct values (-4 to +4) to create the appropriate curve response. For…
Metric Halo LIO-8
Metric Halo LIO-8 was released on 03/25/10 stands for Line In Out (as opposed to MIO Mobile In Out) It is a lower cost option to the ULN-8 and was achieved by removing the ULN-R (remote) preamps, and removing the +DSP license. Both of these options can be added at any-time as field upgrades, and…
MIO Disassembly
————[MIO Disassembly]————- To Disassemble your MIO you will need a torx15 wrench or allen key that shipped with the unit. There is a very good disassembly video for 2882 and ULN2 by Travis Greg. ULN8 has 12 Philips screws of all the same size securing it’s case. When replacing the case, be sure to line…
MIO Inside Internal
————[MIO Inside]————- Now for the fun stuff 😉 2882+DSP w/ 2D upgrade card Legacy ULN-2 with original bridge board ULN-8 with 2D AES board Data sheets for the ADC and DAC chips are further down the page under MIO Conversion.
MIO Flash Firmware
————[Flash Firmware]————- A very good step-by-step install tutorial is available in Metric Halo Tech Notes The install process is the same for all versions ( V1-5). You must be plugged into AC power for this to work. Current firmware files are located at MH Labs. In the MIO Console App choose Utilities > Update Firmware
Reset and Service Menues
————[Reset and Service Menues]————- There’s a second, alternative boot state on the 2882 that you can boot into if you press and hold the [mute] button when the box starts up. This alternative boot state is saved in the “Snapshot 1” state slot. If there in nothing saved in this slot, the alternate bootstate will…
Erase Boot-State
————[Erase Boot_State]————- Use the following to clear your bootstate and start again with the default setup in V5:Navigate on your user drive to Library/Preferences, and delete the MIO Console Preferences folder, as well as any MIOConsoleStatev2. . . files below it. Empty the trash. Then with the MIO connected, double click the erasebootstate tool after…
MIO Error Log, Console State
————[System Log, Error Log, Console State]————- to access the System Log to view a crash or problem in Real-Time Open Applications/Utilities/Console, and choose File>Open System Log If the MIO Console crashes hard enough it will generate it’s own Error Log. This log is kept at: ~/Library/Logs/CrashReport/MIO Console.crash.log To restore the MIO Consle to it’s original…
Network Remote Control
————[Network Remote Control]————- the 2882 and the ULN8 both have remote controllable headamps. The ULN2 does not and the gain must be changed through the front panel analog controls. (Note: the controls are not actually analog. the knob is not a true stepped attenuator. It is a normal pot with a mechanical detented ring that…
Screen Shots
————[Screen Shots]————- Save whole screen to desktop ⌘⇧3 Command-Shift-3 Save area to desktop ⌘⇧4 Command-Shift-4 Save a window to desktop ⌘⇧4 space Command-Shift-4-Space Save whole screen to clipboard ⌘⌃⇧3 Command-Control-Shift-3 Save area to clipboard ⌘⌃⇧4 Command-Control-Shift-4 Save window to clipboard ⌘⌃⇧4 space Command-Control-Shift-4-space
Super Keys & Key Bindings
————[Super Keys & Key Bindings]————- These are the default key bindings on a basic install. : : : : : MIO v5 Mixer : : : : Show 2D Mixer ⌘P command + P New Mono mixer strip ⌘⇧N command + shift + N Multiple Mixer Strips ⌘⇧M command + shift + M New Bus…
Mobile IO Clock
———-[Mobile IO Clock]———– The old clock could be up to 50 ppm or so in practice(and it is actually only spec’ed to 100ppm) off in frequency accuracy. The new 2D clock is speced to +/- 10ppm and in practice is generally within +/- 5ppm. The Legacy clock had higher intrinsic jitter at 44.1k than at…
MIO Digital Conversion
———-[Mobile IO Conversion]———– The MIO series uses Asahi Kasei (AKM) converter chips. The AKM 5383 is a 108 kHz 24-bit ADC, used in both the ULN2 and 2882 The AKM 4393 is a 96 kHz 24-bit sigma-delta DAC, used in both th2 ULN2 and 2882 The AKM 5394 is a Multi-Bit 192kHz 24-bit sigma-delta ADC…
Mobile IO Anaog Stages
———-[Mobile IO Analog Stage]———– Both the ULN2 and 2882 use the Excalibur low-noise high-speed JFET-input op-amps from Texas Instruments, and the ULN-2 adds Burr-Brown OPA 2228 op- amps for high precision and low noise in high-gain situations.
MIO Microphone Gain
————–[MIO Mic Gain]————– the ULN8 has +90 dB of gain on recallable headamps the ULN2 has +72 dB of gain on non-recallable headamps the 2882 has + 42.5 dB of gain on recallable headamps
MIO Microphone Sensitivity
————–[MIO Mic Sensitivity]————– Sensitivity c.a. 20mV/Pa recommended for use with MIO If x = sensitivity in dBV e.g. -66dBV/microbar(.1Pa) then sensitivity in mV is 10^(x/20) * 1000 5mV/Pa, or .5mV/microbar AKG C3000B mV/PA: 25 Baby Bottle PA: 35.5 AKG C480 mV/PA: 40 DPA 4053 mV/PA: 30 Audio-Technica AT4033 PA: 19.9 DPA4060 mV/PA: 20 Audio-Technica AT4050…
Power Supply and Consumption
————–[Power Suppy and Consumption]————– The minimum pre-regulation voltage is 9V. The Maximum preregulation voltage is 33V. At 12 Volts the current demand is: ULN-8 : 3-3.5A 2882 High Power Mode 1.5A 2882 Low Power Mode 1A ULN-2 : 0.75A A custom jump boot device can be be built with a pair of 9V batteries. It…
Min/Max Running Specs
————–[Min/Max running Specs]————– Drivers and Console utilities will run on any Firewire-equipped Mac with 128MB of RAM and 1024×768 or better monitor resolution. G4’s recommended, G3 min Mac OS 9.1 or higher or Mac OS X.
+DSP Save Directory
————[+DSP Save Location]————- +DSP Presets are saved into your Users Preferences folder. ~/Library/Preferences/MIOPlugInPresets/Graphs/yourcustomfolder
+DSP Latency
————–[+DSP Latency]————- All +DSP and routing is programmed on a SHARC DSP chip. The routing from the master (routing) DSP to secondary (graph) DSP on legacy boxes is the source of the constant 16 samples of latency through the +DSP processing. The 16 samples is only for the legacy +DSP graph and it is from…
2D Character Guesses?
————–[2D Character]————– All 2D Characters are based on the resposnse from realworld devices. (EQs, comps , summing chains, etc…) None are meant as exact replications, rather are programmed to exhibit similar colorations and harmonic distortions as the vintage/original system. Full graphs are located on the right. These are some ?guesses? at matching the Character to…
MIO EQ
————–[MIO EQ]————– The MIO EQ plugs provide 12 dB/octave slopes. The only way to change it is to stack filters (then you can do 24 dB/oct or 36 dB/oct or 48 dB/oct). The EQ does not introduce any latency (just minimum phase shift from the minimum phase IIR filters).
ULN8 DB25 Cables
————–[ULN-8 DB25 Breakout Cables]————– The ULN-8 uses US inch sized DB25 of # 4-40 sized thumb screws . This is the same standard that Digidesign,Tascam, and Panasonic use. Cable Number Hot DB25 pin Cold DB25 pin Ground DB25 pin 1 24 12 25 2 10 23 11 3 21 9 22 4 7 20 8…
ULN8 Input Specs
————–[ULN-8 Input Specs]————– Are located at MH Labs
ULN8 Input Diagram
————–[ULN8 Input Diagram]————–
MIO Video Sync
————–[MIO Video Sync]————– The SMPT input on the ULN8 comes in on FW19. It can be routed out to any core audio application through the mixer. The ULN-8 has support for SMPTE input as an audio input. MIO Console has support for decoding the LTC and timestamping. Other apps can also access the LTC audio…
Automate MIO Mixer in Logic
————–[Automate MIO 80bit Mixer in Logic]————– A Video walk-through is here – Enable control surface support in the MIO preferences. – Set Fader Pack 1 “from Controller” to IAC Driver IAC Bus 1. – Unzip Geerts Template file and put it in ~/Library/Application Support/Logic/Project Templates folder. – Start Logic and create a new project from…
Automate MIO Mixer in Cubase
————–[Automate MIO 80bit Mixer in Cubase]————– 1. Set up the IAC driver and in the MIO Prefs, and select this driver in the ‘From Controller’ box. n/a should be in the ‘To Controller’ box and check that the Background Controlling is ticked. 2. In Cubase, create a midi track and set it’s input AND output…
XYtri Multi-Channel Speakers
————–[MIO XYtri 7.1 / 5.1 / quad / stereo processing]————– XY-tri is a method of stereophonic recording created by Andrew Levine utilizing 3x pairs of 45 degree X/Y pairs. It is able to be upmixed to discreet 7.1, and downmixed to any combination of 5.1, 5.0, quad, LCR, stereo, or mono. The MIO +DSP is…
ULN8: Front Panel Controls
————–[ULN8 Front Panel Controls]————– The official ULN-8 front panel guide is located at MH Labs. The translated version found on this site is archived. — Meters on the Knob — When the Front Panel is in Input Trim mode: Input Meter mode: to toggle between meters on the knob mode and dual vernier mode, press…
MH ChannelStrip VS MIOStrip
————–[Channel Strip VS MIO Strip]————– The EQ and Gate in MIOStrip are very similar to the EQ and Gate in ChannelStrip. The Compressor, however, is a completely different beast than the compressor in ChannelStrip. While it is capable of generating the sounds that the ChannelStrip compressor was capable of (the overblown huge drum buss sound…
Record Panel: Stereo Interleave
————–[Record Panel Stereo Interleave]————– The Record Panel will always make Mono recordings. Each FW track will have created it’s own named file in each take folder. These files can be stereo interleaved by running this script to create a new stereo AIFF. -Open the Terminal window from Applications>Utilities>Terminal . -Open the take folder in a…
MIO Box Maping
————–[Box Mapping]————– Any version of a MIO (2882, ULN2, ULN8) can be loaded onto a different version box. This will have I/O restrictions and 2D save files do not support the mixer in Legacy boxes. To load a save file created on one box onto a different serial box. – Disconnect all the MIOs from…
Reaper MIO Custom Tracks
————–[Reaper MIO Custom Tracks]————– Reaper is ~beta on OSX, at least not as stable as PC. –Track Icons– Indivual Icons are located on the left side-bar. Right click to download and place in: PC- C:\Program Files\REAPER\Data\track_icons\ -or- OSX – Show Package Contents – Reaper/Contents/InstallFiles/Data/track_icons/ If the Icons don’t show up, place them on the desktop,…
2D +DSP Meter
————–[2D +DSP Meter]————– The DSP meter in the Box Info Pane is sort of an oversight for legacy boxes. What it is showing on legacy boxes is the DSP load of the primary transport and mix engine DSP. You have no control over that number — it is a characteristic of the Firmware and the…
+DSP Delay Calculator
————–[+DSP delay calculator & phase]————– All delay is set per sample in the MIO +DSP system. This worksheet will convert from seconds/miliseconds/ waveform length /phase/ and temperature, and give the corresponding delay in samples for 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, and 192k.
2882: Headphone Outs
————–[2882 Headphone Outs]————– A couple of things to be aware of with respect to the headphone output: A) the outputs were designed to work best with high-sensitivity type headphones (like the Sony studio monitor headphones). They will work fine with low-sensitivity types (600-ohm broadcast cans), but they will not be able to get very loud…
MH: SHARC 80-bit DSP
————–[Metric Halo SHARC 80 bit]————– Mobile I/O uses the Analog Devices SHARC 21065 DSP. This is a 40 bit floating point processor which can also do 32 bit fixed point with 80 bit accumulation. For large MAC (multiply accumulate) loops, like summing in a large mixer, wide fixed point processing can provide better results, but…
Legacy +DSP: PI Window
————–[Legacy +DSP ‘ Enable PI Window’]————– If the ‘enable PI window’ is enabled, single-clicking on a module in the graph will cause the shared Plug-in UI window to switch to showing that module’s UI. You can use this as an inspector. ” Sometimes when I double-click on a DSP module, only the menu bar of…
Audio Scubbing in SpectraFoo
————–[Audio Scrubbing in SpectraFoo Complete]————– To scrub in SpectraFoo Complete: <control>-click in the capture overview and drag to scrub. If you turn off “Data Slicing” and route the internal buses into the analyzer devices you can meter and analyze our scrubbing (as well as hear it). It you leave Data Slicing on, the analyzer will…
ULN-2 DI
————–[ULN2 DI]————– the TRS on the Combo Jack is 200K, which is pretty Hi-Z and would be a good DI.