PreSonus Forums

Hey guys! I’m a bit new to the world of AVB and all...it’s been really fun setting up my cs18ai with Rml32ai in my home studio. But here is what I’m trying to figure out- I’ve got a laptop at the drum set connected to Rml32ai over FireWire and the computer’s audio output goes to 2 stereo channels on the Rml32ai. That’s great, but I also want a computer at the keyboard, and another for me at my guitar station, all able to output audio in the form of backing tracks or whatever....is there a way for me to send this data and receive it over the AVB network, maybe with a software solution rather than putting an audio interface on each computer? I feel like there’s a way to set that up but I can’t find procedures in our product documentation for this kind of thing. Thanks for any and all help!! Ps I have a SW5E right now....got it because I was having a hell of a time getting the i/os to work on my cs18ai. But then I resolved that....not sure if I need this switch anymore but maybe it helps with this? Sorry for the novel🤦🏻‍♂️

Hi, and welcome to the Forum! Basically you have ONE mixer, which allows ONE audio connection (FireWire). There is no chance to ADD more computers. USB also would not allow this, so this is not a "problem" of the AI mixers and/or AVB 1 (first generation). AVB 2 is more open for networked devices including computers, but this does not help you. The RM mixers have the option to use a Dante card and connect to computers. The CS18AI is "Dante ready" and will work as controller only, all audio functions will not be available anymore.

For the Series III ecosystem there will also be a Dante solution available in the future, but nobody knows the concept and the features yet. Work with what you have. Get some DI boxes (with Ground Lift) to connect the computers to the mixer. You can use DAW Mode for processing the signals. With only one mixer involved you should be able to "insert" your DAW, which means to send an incoming signal through the DAW's trakc back to the channel.

I have been using the CS/RM combo for quite some time, so I know its potential - but also its restrictions. For what you want to do, Series III does not offer "better" solutions, unless you want to buy several rack mixers. Dante might be a perspective. The option cards are still available, but very expensive.

https://shop.presonus.com/SL-Dante-MIX

I think there is a way to hook you up, but I may not be totally clear on what you are trying to do.

It seems like you have a setup with a few different instrument "stations", and need playback and monitoring at each station? I have a similar setup if that is the case. You may want to try a different approach using the S1 remote app. That will allow remote setup, playback, etc control of S1. So you can leave the mixer/pc where it is. RUn XLR outs from the mixer for a HP amp for monitoring, and use the S1 remote to interact remotely with the daw.

Maybe that works? Otherwise, you would be looking at a minimum of 1000.00 to move in to a Dante environment, which will do what you want.You could probably also accomplich this with MAC and AVB, but then you would need to replace every pc with a mac. Probably more than 1000.00.

first, i think dante would be the best solution. But it is expensive. You could try a few things: if you can run an analog cable, then it is worth trying to build a remote desktop solution. means, you use one computer as your main, the others are remotely controlled via team viewer or a similar app. (maybe studio one remote?)
another solution could be dante via. with this software from audinate you can make any computer or interface a dante device. You can demo Via for a few days.