Hapi MkIII FAQ

Modules

Are the new V3 generation of extensions card compatible with Hapi MkII or Hapi and Horus?

Compatibility Chart

Is the MIC Pre-Amp in the HAPI able to handle the 130V MIC systems?

No, AD modules supports 48V MICs.

Does the Hapi MkIII comes with a Dante license?

Hapi Mk III can be run with either the stock RAVENNA/AES67 firmware or with a Dante enabled firmware. 
The Dante firmware comes at no additional cost. 
However, to use Dante, an 16 channel or 64 channel I/O license must be purchased from Audinate as well as a driver software, e.g. Dante virtual soundcard. 

Hapi MkIII comes with a redundant power version?

There are no Hapi MkIII power redundant or 12 V version at the moment..

Does the MADI128V3 cards comes with MADI Optical?

Hapi MkIII MADI128V3 comes with 2 x SFP cages that can be populated with Module transmiters such as Optical modules Multimode or Singlemode

What is the possibility to playback through the HAPI DA converters in single ended as well as in balanced modes?

The HAPI Line Out circuitry are fully symmetrical, but non-floating. So driving asymmetrical (single-ended) loads is easy and possible and should be wired in such a way to just use one of the symmetric outputs (either Hot or Cold) and Ground. It is not recommended to short the other (unused) output to Ground . This will also reduce the output signal level by 6 dBs compared to the full differential swing of the symmetric output, which is usually too high for usual single-ended loads. Further reduction of the level might be further required to avoid clipping the single-ended receiving side. (for details, refer to the HAPI User Manual)

What happens with the HAPI, if a sound engineer accidentally turns on his Phantom Power on the mixer which is connected to the HAPI Output?

The HAPI is protected against such a case. It is not recommended but the HAPI DA output supports 48V, if driven through 6.8 kOhms resistors, as typically used in Phantom power designs.

Are the DA outputs DC coupled?

All of the Merging DA8 outputs are  DC Coupled.

Network Accessories and Features

On one RAVENNA network, is it possible to have one HAPI running at 44.1kHz for example and the other one at 96kHz and use them both for different DAWs or in turn?

RAVENNA allows for concurrent multiple Sampling rates on the same network, but :
While RAVENNA does indeed provide the possibility to simultaneously convey signals at different sampling rates over the same network, HAPI is however designed to operate at a given sample rate and will only accept RAVENNA streams that are presented to it at the proper matching sampling rate. 

Is the Merging MassCore NIC card (NET-MSC-GBEX1) temporary and why do you need this special card?

The MassCore Ethernet PCIe Network card is required for performance issues. MassCore has a dedicated driver for this (and only this) NIC. 
This said, RAVENNA (and HAPI) will also work well without the need to use this specific card, when operating with ASIO/CoreAudio (VAD) driver.

What parameters does the network need to be compatible with RAVENNA? Does it need to support some Layer 2 or 3 or Jumbo packets for example?

The Network must be Layer 3 compliant and must be a Gigabit network. For additional information please consult the following page and related ones under: http://ravenna.alcnetworx.com

What network equipment does Merging specify for use with the RAVENNA network? Do I need to buy insanely expensive switches etc?

The types of switches and equipment you purchase relates to the size and complexity of the RAVENNA network. 
A Managed network switch is required.
The Switch needs to be configured prior to usage. 
See all the details in the RAVENNA / AES 67 switches page . For a list of network requirements, please see the RAVENNA webpage.

Does the RAVENNA secondary (redundancy) port on the back of HAPI MK III works ?

The secondary port on Hapi MK III and Anubis SPS (also Hapi MKII) can be used in redundancy mode (Multi Interface - ST2022-7) or switch mode (to connect a single AES67 or Dante device, depending on the running mode).
Horus and Hapi 1stGen were not providing any redundancy.

How would the latency be affected if HAPI (in RAVENNA mode) is connected via a 54mbps wireless network, assuming you have the whole bandwidth available for the HAPI application alone, with a physical distance of 50m?

RAVENNA is not designed to transmit audio on Networks without minimum QoS requirements. Typically for now we do not recommend using RAVENNA audio streams over Wireless. However control data has no problem operating over Wireless. 

Do I need to use the Merging Ethernet card (NET-MSC-GBEX1)? I want to use my Laptop to run Pyramix with HAPI!

It is important to realize that the MassCore Ethernet PCIe Network card will only be required when using MassCore. An ASIO (PC) and CoreAudio (MAC) driver is provided, allowing the use ofHAPI with standard PC/MAC Ethernet ports (on laptops as well!). 
The NET-MSC-GBEX1 board manufactured by Intel has its firmware reprogrammed by Merging for RAVENNA/MassCore acceleration, so this card must absolutely be supplied by Merging!
 

Is there any distance limitation for RAVENNA mode use? In some cases, I may have to be more than 100m distance from stage.

100 Meters is the GbE (Gigabit Ethernet) maximum distance specification. For longer distances we recommend either inserting Gigabit Ethernet switches at regular distances less than 100 meters, using them as repeaters or better Copper to Optical (Ethernet to Fiber) adapters at each end (can be used with optical fibers up to roughly 600 meters or 2000 feet on a single hop.). A good reference/starting point where this is all explained briefly is: https://www.cablematters.com/Blog/Networking/fiber-optic-cables-vs-ethernet-cables 
Customers should refer to the specs of the manufacturers of the CAT5e or CAT6 cables that they deployed or plan to use, as Merging only support those cables.

Merging has certified the TP-Link MC200 (NET-TPL-MC200 on pricelist) for Gigabit Multi-Mode Media Converter, and the TP-Link MC210 (NET-TPL-MC210 on pricelist) for Gigabit Single-Mode Media Converter.

Is it possible to use one HAPI with several DAWs/computers inside the RAVENNA network?

Yes, RAVENNA allows sharing of common sources (inputs) between all devices on a Network. Outputs cannot be shared.

Can RAVENNA and OASIS run on the same physical network?

No, we recommend to use a dedicated switch for Audio over RAVENNA, separate from any other network.

I/O Configurations and Features

Can the headphone jacks be used without installing any DA-module card?

Yes, at all PCM sampling rates, including DXD.
The headphone works up to DSD256 (including the gain slider).

It is possible to divide the HORUS/HAPI channels between different DAWs?

Yes.
And control them separately?

With respect to control, the answer is also yes when controlling different portions (channel groups) of a HAPI. However when several controlling devices (web pages, control surfaces, etc.) want to address the same channels, some rules will have to be established in terms of access priority and authorization as is typical with any properly managed Network architecture.

How are Gain, Phase, Phantom Power etc. controllable via RAVENNA from within Pyramix?

Since Pyramix v8 the gain and other parameters can be controlled from within the Pyramix mixer.
 

Can you route, for example AES and AD/DA (I/O) straight to MADI via DSP while they at the same time go to RAVENNA ?

Yes, Any input can go to any combination of outputs.
How Can I set it all? Do I have to do it on the front panel of the HAPI unit?

No, Each HAPI unit can also be configured and controlled by web page access which can be viewed and manipulated using almost any standard web browser (Chrome recommended)

Latency: It’s to my understanding that the HORUS/HAPI has sub-millisecond latency, but do you have an exact number?

I'm afraid we may be confusing several functionalities here. In terms of A/D to MADI or MADI to D/A converter, HAPI has just a few samples of latency (well under a millisecond) so that should not be a problem.
See Hapi MKIII User manual - Modules latencies section for the exact latency values.
The main issue about latency is actually not with the converter itself but with the driver to/from the application. So the latencies noticed will vary greatly between the MassCore, ASIO or CoreAudio based usage of the device.

Can the RAVENNA ASIO driver work on any Gigabit port like the built in of a Mac Pro or PC?

Yes, it is only our own MassCore implementation that will require a dedicated Gigabit adapter card for the best performance.
A dedicated network card is still recommended for better performances. 

Can I use the ASIO or CoreAudio Driver with DAW Applications other than Merging’s Pyramix and Ovation? Like for instance AVID Protools or Steinberg Nuendo etc?

Yes! These drivers were specifically designed to make sure that regardless of the tools you use you will be able to incorporate HAPI into your workflow!

Does the ASIO/CoreAudio driver allow a DAW to sit on a RAVENNA network as a standard node? I mean, if I had 2 DAWs using the ASIO/CoreAudio driver, could I connect them both to one HAPI to do parallel recording?

Yes, you can record a HORUS/HAPI stream from several ASIO and/or CoreAudio driver.

Miscellaneous

In a configuration where HORUS/HAPI is a stagebox connected to a PC running Pyramix, can I use Pyramix native or do I need a MassCore (NET-MSC-GBEX1) card?

RAVENNA can be connected either :

• Via our own PCIe x1 Network RAVENNA/MassCore accelerator card NET-MSC-GBEX1 for Pyramix MassCore operation. Allows a maximum of channels with lowest latency

• Standard computer GbE NIC in ASIO or Core Audio for Pyramix Native and/or other third-party applications with moderate latencies, as usual with existing Native audio applications.

Does HAPI have a DSP mixer or any other way of controlling/setting up low-latency monitoring?

Yes, HAPI provides a low latency router, which may be used for direct monitoring. 
The Merging Anubis or Neumann MT 48 allows even more flexibility when used with a Hapi. 

How does HAPI process DSD to and from Pyramix over RAVENNA?

Internally, the HAPI actually processes and moves the DSD signal in a 352.8kHz / 32bit stream. It is not converted to actual PCM, rather the raw DSD data is just transported in this manner.

• A DSD64 stream actually only uses 8 bits of the possible 32bits.

• A DSD128 stream uses 16bits

• A DSD256 stream uses all 32bits.

• The DXD (352.8kHz PCM stream) uses the 24bits

All of these DSD stream types are actually multiples of 352.8, itself being a multiple of 44.1 kHz.
Therefore, for the HAPI mainboard there’s no real difference between all these 4 formats. That’s only the AD and DA that are configured automatically and transparently according to the streams they are receiving audio from or sending audio to.
In fact as far as only playback or DA is concerned, you can set your HAPI unit to DSD or DXD, that’ll make no difference. It’s only the way the Pyramix projects are configured that will define if audio is sent directly as DSD (when using DSD projects) or converted to DXD (when using DXD projects)

Are Horus and Hapi DoP capable ?

DoP means DSD Over PCM; the goal of this "standard" is to carry DSD signal over regular PCM link; 
Hapi can carry DoP over all of its digital links (AES, MADI, …), as the device is transparent.
But, as Hapi doesn't know what DoP is, it cannot decode it before sending it to the DAC.
In summary, Hapi is not a DoP DAC (nor DoP ADC) but it can carry DoP over its digital interfaces.
The computer driver is also implied to answer such question:

• VAD (macOS): CoreAudio doesn't support natively DSD, so our VAD driver has to decode the DoP to produce "pure" DSD which is send to Hapi over RAVENNA. 
  Hapi receives the DSD signal and send it to DAC.

• ASIO/ALSA(Linux): these two standards are natively supporting DSD format and so they send "pure" DSD to Horus/Hapi over RAVENNA. 
  Hapi receives the DSD signal and send it to DAC.
  If the customer application, send DoP to ASIO then the Hapi/Horus cannot decode it but it can send it to its digital interfaces.

Note: depending on the flavor of DSD (64, 128, 256, 512), DoP can use several combinations of sample rate and number of channels (https://dsd-guide.com/dop-open-standard#.W5Xh_ej7Tuo).