• tdc
  • AD/DA expert
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  • Registered: 2017-11-04
  • Posts: 79

Topic: Closing RME AVB Controller App severs audio routing.

I am finding that I need to keep the RME AVB Controller App open and running otherwise the AVB routes are disconnected. Is this the correct behaviour?

At present I have two 12Mic systems and an DF AVB, with the DF as the Master, and the 2 12Mic units slaving to AVB Stream 1. All is fine until the AVB Cont application is closed, when the 12Mic's complain of the AVB streams being disconnected.

AVB System:
MacBook Pro - 2020 16" || Big Sur 11.0.1 || Apple USB-C - USB-A Dongle
RME DigiFace AVB: fw v219, d v3.19 || RME AVB Controller: 0.9541 (15) || 2 x 12Mic Units v1.3.0.(69)
Presonus SW5E AVB Switch || Cordial 50m Cat5e Reel || Cordial short Cat5e Patch cables

  • Registered: 2019-04-21
  • Posts: 160

Re: Closing RME AVB Controller App severs audio routing.

My experiences are purely based on Macs...
Yes, the controller app has to be open all the time. I found that the Mac native AVB implementation with hive works very well, too. (However with the cost of no total mix)

  • tdc
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  • Registered: 2017-11-04
  • Posts: 79

Re: Closing RME AVB Controller App severs audio routing.

mruebsamen wrote:

Yes, the controller app has to be open all the time.

Wow - thats a surprise! All other RME apps like TotalMix and the FireFace app dont behave like this. I am confused as I though that the AVB spec didnt rely on a controller being present all the time. Perhaps the AVB Controller is performing another function like network bridging?

  • Marc S
  • RME Developer
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  • Registered: 2019-06-11
  • Posts: 110

Re: Closing RME AVB Controller App severs audio routing.

tdc wrote:
mruebsamen wrote:

Yes, the controller app has to be open all the time.

Wow - thats a surprise! All other RME apps like TotalMix and the FireFace app dont behave like this. I am confused as I though that the AVB spec didnt rely on a controller being present all the time. Perhaps the AVB Controller is performing another function like network bridging?

The name "RME AVB Controller" for the Mac OS app is a bit misleading. It not only provides the controller implementation, but also higher layer (non time-critical) endpoint protocol implementations, i.e. AVDECC and MSRP.

Using Windows, things are a bit different. There the endpoint is implemented as a system service, hence the AVB Controller doesn't need to be running all the time.

  • tdc
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  • Registered: 2017-11-04
  • Posts: 79

Re: Closing RME AVB Controller App severs audio routing.

Thanks Marc for your clarification and insights.