Hi,

a switch isn't necessary. We've just released a new firmware version for the 12Mic, a couple of hours ago. Have you already flashed that one? Please do so if not and check if that makes any difference.

Best
Marc

Thanks everyone,

I will install the most recent firmware and use the primary network for backup recording.

Please consider this post solved.

All best,
Edgar

It would be nice to use the secondary network to the second DF AVB without using a switch, but I cannot get the secondary network to stream. I have the most recent firmware and driver. Any suggestions?

Yes, technically you are right - my recommendation against it comes from a usability perspective.

MILAN redundancy provides a failover when one of two (totally separate) networks fails. An ATDECC controller that is aware of this (such as Hive) can create a "single" stream connection between two devices (that implement Milan redundancy and have two ports) simultaneously on PRI and SEC ports, even if the controller itself is connected to only one of the two networks. This means that Hive will "hide" half of the streams and give you separate icons/colors/shapes in the matrix for redundant devices. If you disconnect one port, Hive will show you* a network failure on the corresponding port, but the listener will still receive all the audio from the talker over the other network.
*Hive will show you nothing if it was controlling the entities on the network you just disconnected, of course...

Using the primary and secondary port to connect two separate entities is possible (although I do not recommend it, see above), and I am aware that this is a valid use case. It might not work with a redundancy-aware controller like Hive, but it does currently work with the RME AVB Controller which shows separate streams for the primary and secondary port as a consecutive list. You have to do the logic yourself to remember which streams of the remote entity (ie. 12Mic) are available on the entity that you are running the controller on (one of the Digifaces). Since PRI and SEC ports are not bridged, you only see and control only half of the connections and need to use two Digiface AVB controllers (one to manage the PRI connections on computer 1, and one to manage the SEC connections on computer 2).

So, connect Digiface AVB 1 to PRI and Digiface AVB 2 to SEC. Both will see the 12Mic and enumerate 18 stream sources and 18 stream sinks, but you can only use half of those: on the Digiface AVB 1, you stream from and to "Primary" streams 1-9 (labeled as "P" or Primary) and on the Digiface AVB 2, you stream from and to "Secondary" streams 1-9 (labeled as "S" or Secondary). The 12Mic should be clock master, the Digiface AVB 1 synchronized to any of the Primary incoming connected streams, and the Digiface AVB 2 synchronized to any of the secondary incoming connected streams.

The Primary and Secondary streams coming from the 12Mic carry the exact same audio information, so yes, you can use this to connect two computers and record the same audio. The Primary and Secondary streams going to the 12Mic are selected in a similar manner as the MADI Auto Input.

But real redundancy with Hive is not achieved that way. For me, these are always two separate networks. The streams are received or sent simultaneously and the hardware then switches without interference. To do this, Hive would have to work with two networks or they would have to be merged with a switch. If the controller is lost, it's not that bad.

Proper redundancy also requires two grandmasters, if one network fails the grandmaster may be missing. A change of grandmaster for mostly drop outs.

A redundant concept requires some considerations . The main question is that of the clock.

The internal 12Mic PSU is very resilient against surges or voltage drops. It's hard to tell from a distance what exactly happened, but the stage lighting may have affected your MOTU switch?

How long was the actual gap in your recording? I assume you had the 12Mic on stage and weren't able to observe if the device rebooted (which a power bank would have protected against)?

Can you share a bit of detail on the cables/connectors you used (were they shielded or not)?

The XT battery (all these power banks) includes an automatic shudown when not used, so in case of power down it will be off and not come on automatically.

As backup solution the mentioned Li-Ion battery pack would be the solution.