Solid State Logic 82BN0M01B - Manual (Page 16)

Page 12 Nucleus User Guide
C
ONFIGURING
N
ETWORK
C
ONNECTIONS
Network Wiring
To ensure the fastest possible communication between your DAW computer and Nucleus – and to simplify the installation
wiring – Nucleus communicates with your workstation over Ethernet using the ipMIDI driver to emulate a multiport MIDI
interface. To ensure minimum latency ipMIDI uses multicast UDP rather than TCP/IP. This means that:
• The network connection should be short and direct.
Where possible all cables should be as short as possible and only routers that can support high data transfer rates should
be used. Problems have been experienced with some domestic routers, particularly when used with Pro Tools. Typical
symptoms of a slow network connection are:
- The Nucleus fails to synchronise all controls when first connecting with the DAW.
- Channel controls and scribble strips on channels 9-16 fail to update reliably when using the Channel scroller switches.
• All computers on the network will receive ipMIDI packets.
Because ipMIDI uses multicast UDP packets, messages between one computer and Nucleus will be received by all other
computers on the network, potentially causing problems in installations with more than one Nucleus. The UDP packets can
be blocked by using a firewall router and connecting the main network to the WAN connector. The firewall can then be
configured to allow all traffic apart from UDP ports 21928 through 21947 which are used by ipMIDI and port 50081 which
is used by the Nucleus Remote application. Note that it may be necessary to use a separate Ethernet switch in place of the
integrated firewall router switch, as some of these can not support the high data transfer rate required. The NetGear FS108
(an eight port switch) has been used successfully at SSL Begbroke.
To avoid the latency and communication issues illustrated above, we recommend that Nucleus and the DAW computers be
connected directly on a dedicated network. In practice, most systems can be configured with a direct connection.
Assigning the Nucleus IP Address
The Nucleus IP address is configured via the Network Setup tab in the Nucleus Remote. By default, Nucleus uses a fixed IP
address of 192.168.1.2 – the IP Address, Subnet and Gateway shown in the picture below should work for a direct connection
to a single DAW computer. We suggest you do not attempt to change these unless you are familiar with Ethernet configuration
as doing so may break communication between Nucleus and the Remote.
If Nucleus must be connected via a wider network, ideally in that case through a network switch or router, Nucleus should
probably be set to use a DHCP server (check the Use DHCP option) to automatically set an IP Address, Subnet and Gateway
suitable for your wider network. If there is any possibility that a DHCP server is not available the Fixed option should be used.