Muse Research UniWire manual supplement - Manual (Page 4)

UniWireManualSupplement 4 MuseResearch,Inc.
Connecting a Single Receptor with UniWire
If you have a single Receptor and no other Ethernet hardware is connected to your computer, you can use a
simple “Ethernet crossover” connection to connect Receptor to your host computer. Simply use a special type
of Ethernet cable, called a crossover Ethernet cable, and connect it between Receptor’s Ethernet port and your
computer’s Ethernet port. More detailed discussion of network connections are contained within the Receptor
manual.
If there is already another Ethernet device (such as a cable/DSL modem, network printer, or additional
computer) connected to your host computer’s Ethernet port, you will need to use an Ethernet Router or Switcher
to connect multiple Ethernet devices to your host computer. 100Base-T is the minimum recommended speed,
but Muse Research suggests using a Gigabit switcher if ever plan to use more than one Receptor. If you use an
Ethernet Switcher, simply connect all your external Ethernet devices (including Receptor) to the Switcher, then
connect the Switcher to your computer. The concept is very similar to using USB hubs, but this is for Ethernet
devices. Again, your Receptor manual contains more detailed information about networking.
Connecting Receptor for use as Audio/MIDI Interface
If you plan to use Receptor (and only Receptor) as your computer’s audio and MIDI interface, then the single
Ethernet cable connection will suffice. However, if you wish to use Receptor’s audio ports in combination with
your host computer’s audio interface, then you must also connect a S/PDIF cable between Receptor and your
host computer’s audio interface. The S/PDIF cable is required to make sure that both audio interfaces sync to
the same digital clock — the S/PDIF cable is not required if you do not plan to use Receptor’s built-in Audio or
MIDI ports.
Connecting Multiple Receptors with UniWire
If you have multiple Receptors, you will need to use an Ethernet Switcher to connect them all to the Ethernet
port on your host computer. If you plan to use multiple Receptors, Muse Research strongly recommends
that your host computer has Gigabit Ethernet and that your Ethernet Switcher also be Gigabit Ethernet. Each
Receptor contains a 100Base-T Ethernet port, which is capable of carrying 32 channels of audio (16 stereo
channels) to/from your host computer. By using a Gigabit Ethernet network, your host computer will be able to
route up to 320 channels of audio across multiple Receptors on your network.
UniWire Overview
Before UniWire
Before UniWire, you connected a hardware sound or effects module to a DAW by connecting a pair of MIDI
cables between the device and the MIDI interface connected to your host computer. Similarly, you connected
multiple audio cables (analog or digital) between the external device and your host computer’s audio interface.
In software, you would then configure a MIDI track to send data to the external hardware (if it was a synth) and
another track to receive audio from the device.
If your Receptor is currently connected this way, feel free to rip out those audio and MIDI cables and toss them
into that cardboard box in the corner of your studio.
After UniWire
UniWire uses only an Ethernet cable to exchange all audio and MIDI data between one or more Receptors and a
sequencer running on your computer of choice (hence the name “UNIwire”). All communication between these
devices is handled by a UniWire plugin, which you instantiate just like any plugin on your host machine. The
UniWire plugin handles all the audio and midi data transfers between your host sequencer and your Receptor(s),
streamlining your studio and your workflow.