Starting the Milan Network at Playback. A Solution for Fly Date Flexibility and More

Starting the Milan Network at Playback. A Solution for Fly Date Flexibility and More

In the current age of touring, where playback rigs no longer provide just a few stereo stems of audio, they now provide show-critical information. This information includes timecode, MIDI, and show control data, all running alongside audio channel counts, which seem to continuously climb. As a result, one team began looking at Milan as a solution to increasing channel counts, time critical content, and a way to unlock as much reliability as possible. All of these factors have led this team of innovators to develop a Prodigy-powered, redundant Milan AVB playback system. 

As other areas of audio, such as PA drive systems, integrate Milan AVB into their respective softwares, a new question is emerging: Where else does this change make sense? 

This question is exactly what sparked a conversation between Live Industries and CoPilot Systems when they first considered the idea for a Milan AVB  playback rig designed for high channel counts and fly dates. What was a proof of concept has now evolved into the reality that Milan AVB isn’t just for use among system processors and amplifiers. 

As other areas of audio, such as PA drive systems, integrate Milan AVB into their respective softwares, a new question is emerging: Where else does this change make sense? 

This question is exactly what sparked a conversation between Live Industries and CoPilot Systems when they first considered the idea for a Milan AVB  playback rig designed for high channel counts and fly dates. What was a proof of concept has now evolved into the reality that Milan AVB isn’t just for use among system processors and amplifiers. 

The central idea is based around being able to use the same network protocol as the link between the playback system and the console, which leads to less conversions and less points of failure if you start AVB at the source. For the engineer, this isn’t just a change in cabling; it’s a shift in consistency and day-to-day reliability starting at the playback session.

Each playback computer connects via USB to the Prodigy MX through four USB.IO cards. The audio output is then sent to the switches in the audio rig via a MILAN.SRC.IO card. 

The Prodigy publishes identical Milan streams to the primary and secondary networks.

On the console side, the DiGiCo Quantum 326s receive those streams through the Orange Box via a Milan DMI card.

The Orange Box uses HMA fiber to enter audio, like any other stage rack, into the Opticore loop, and away it goes. 

If either the primary playback machine or network path fails, the console continues to see the same input channels without interruption, as the secondary network or machine just takes over.

This single fly rack can easily support up to 128 channels at a 96kHz sample rate with a fixed latency of 2ms. 

But, more importantly, once you use software like Milan Manager, Hive, or any other controller you please to patch this system, it’s effectively plug-and-play as far as day-to-day setup goes.

Additionally, a MADI4.SRC.IO card and two BNC.IO cards are outfitted in the Prodigy as alternative methods of audio transport, and provide an ability to easily create a third feed via  MADI for a broadcast truck or any additional form of recording.

This Prodigy is also accompanied by two CalDigit docks, an iConnectivity Mio XM interface, and a 12-port switch to accommodate all matters of MIDI programming. 

Touring playback rigs typically carry A/B machines, and this rig is no exception. External switchers and multiple output formats satisfy different consoles. Another advantage of this rig is that using a Milan network allows both playback engines to publish identical streams to primary and secondary networks. Additionally, the inclusion of the MADI4 card in the Prodigy enables a world in which another format is easily accessible in any scenario, ranging from a lack of Milan cards in a console to supplying a broadcast mixer with playback stems. 

If a playback machine or a network path fails, the stream continues without a format change or an external switch event. From the console side, the input remains stable.

For artists building their show around fly dates and festivals, portability is the entire workflow. When the show has to travel in a handful of Pelican cases and integrate with whatever gear is waiting on site, networked audio becomes less of an option and more of the practical path to staying flexible without sacrificing consistency.

Analog tie lines can require a lot of heavy cable (if you have a high channel count) and can easily burn through inputs to the point in which extra racks are required (if you don’t run out of inputs). 

MADI remains a rock-solid point-to-point solution, but it requires compatible I/O on the destination console, which isn’t something you can guarantee if you are using local consoles across several festivals or other fly dates.

Dante offers enormous flexibility, but its performance depends on switch configuration, clocking, and latency settings. Dante is a solid, flexible option, but in this case, we’re looking for something a little more plug-and-play for the sake of saving time. 

All of these methods are effective at getting playback audio into a system. The question is, how do we do it reliably, simply, and with as little specific gear as possible? 

Milan AVB is a specific type of AVB which provides fixed latency, reserved network bandwidth, precise clock synchronization, and automatic stream discovery. This means that in a system like this, there is a fixed latency and fixed presentation time on the network. This type of networking is also designed to be fairly plug-and-play thanks to the Avnu Alliance. 

The Avnu Alliance is an industry group created with the purpose of managing certifications for devices implementing AVB. This group tests the product’s compliance with AVB and time-sensitive networking protocols, guaranteeing precise timing, bandwidth reservation, and traffic shaping. “Certified products undergo third-party lab testing to earn the Avnu-certified logo, assuring users of interoperability and predictable network behavior under time-sensitive conditions.”(https://avnu.org/) 

Adopting Milan AVB for playback isn’t about trading one format of digital audio for another. It’s about choosing a solution that moves audio, timecode, and show-critical data with maximum reliability and flexibility. All of this is in service of the end goal of keeping a production lightweight and adaptable to whatever gear it meets each day. The goal is consistent, repeatable performance in an environment that can be anything but consistent.