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Configuration |
Configuration
Hardware / Software recommendations
Warning : Do not upgrade to macOS Tahoe until you’ve confirmed compatibility for your hardware and software by the manufacturer.
Please consider the use of an Ethernet gigabit adapter, Merging highly recommends the Sonnet Thunderbolt Adaptor for up to 128 IO Support
https://www.sonnettech.com/product/thunderbolt-avb-adapter/overview.html
The InLine USB to Ethernet Adaptor is recommended for a maximum of 24 IO
https://www.inline-info.com/en/InLine-USB-3.2-to-2.5G-ethernet-network-adapter-cable-USB-C-to-R45
Important Network settings
Network adapter
The networking features on your Mac can take up processing bandwidth and interrupt some features. While many systems can watch YouTube, check email, and run a Pro Tools or Live session at the same time, that can cause performance losses.
Turn off and remove the Thunderbolt networking when not using their port for a network connection, unless of course using an Network Interface connected to those ports for your RAVENNA/AES67 network.
If you have two network interfaces use one dedicated to the RAVENNA/AES67 network and use the second Ethernet connection instead of the built-in Wi-Fi for internet access.
If internet access is required and you’re using network devices like Eucon Controllers, choose an Ethernet/Thunderbolt connection for the devices and Wi-Fi for internet access.
When using the built-in Wi-Fi for Remote Control, then choose the Ethernet/Thunderbolt network connections for internet access.
On the network interface connected to the RAVENNA/AES67 network, make sure Duplex setting is set to full-duplex (and not full-duplex, energy-efficient ethernet), and Speed is 1000baseT.
Those settings can be access in the Advanced > Hardware tab.
Disable "Limit IP Address Tracking"
Warning: Avoid the use of Anti-Virus applications such as "Little Snitch" that could block connectivity.
Set Ravenna Network Service Order first
Open System Preferences.
Click on Network.
The sidebar on the left lists all recognized network interfaces. Click the gear symbol underneath the sidebar and select Set service order...
Drag the name of the Network Interface where you RAVENNA/AES67 network if connected to at the top of the service order
Click the Apply button to save changes.
Top one listed in the example above is the recommended Sonnet AVB Adaptor
Disable Unused Network adaptors
Your Mac may be configured with software network interfaces that you don’t use. They may interfere with data on the USB or Thunderbolt bus, so it’s best to disable them.
Go to System Settings > Network.
The interfaces you need to keep pertain to Wi-Fi and Ethernet.
Click on a network interface you don’t use, for example, Thunderbolt Bridge.
In the next pane, click Make Inactive. You can also click on Delete Service.
Repeat this for any additional interfaces that appear.
Note: Previously connected network interfaces can at times prevent proper Sync Lock, remove adaptor history if you have such issues (p.s delete the interface and recreating again by changing USB ports).
Disable the Firewall
Go to System Settings > Network > Firewall.
Click the button to turn it on or off.
If it is on, you can click the Options button and select additional settings.
General advice
The most important rule to maximize your computer’s resources for working with audio is to quit all the apps that you are not using while you work in your DAW.
Any apps you leave running take up space in memory and take away from your system’s computing power. They may also run background processes that interfere with recording and playing back audio.
Optimize Energy Saver.
This optimization will free up system resources as well as prevent the computer from going to sleep or standby mode which can cause audio dropouts with software and hardware.
Note: some options may not be available on all computers
Go to System Settings > Battery (laptop) Energy (desktop)
Low Power Mode should be set to Never
Uncheck “Automatic graphics switching”
Access the Options menu
Check “Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off”.
Set “Wake for network access” to Never.
Uncheck “Put hard disks to sleep when possible”.
Uncheck “Start up automatically after a power failure”.
Uncheck “Enable Power Nap”.
Time Machine
Backing up your Mac with Time Machine is a great idea, but should be done manually for music production computers.
When automatic Time Machine backups are enabled, the backup can occur when you record and cause problems.
Go to System Settings > General > Time Machine.
Uncheck “Back Up Automatically” to turn off automatic backups.
In the Time Machine “Options…” menu, only use drives that need to be backed up; for instance, the internal Macintosh HD.
Under Backup frequency, drop down menu select Manually. This will interrupt the regular backup process
Auto starting and background apps
Notification of Background Items
After installing Merging's VAD software, a Background Items Added notification appears. Background Items are required for Merging's Software and VAD to run properly.
System Settings > Notifications >Application Notifications.
Note: Always allow Merging Technologies Software background items.
Login items
Go to System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions.
Merging Technologies should be enabled in the App Background Activity section.
Clean the Startup Items
Startup Items are similar to Login Items, but will start when first booting the computer, regardless of the user account being utilised. To remove unnecessary Startup Items.
Open your Macintosh HD.
Go to the Library folder.
Go to the StartupItems folder.
Delete any unnecessary item.
NOTE: Although the OS does not rely on anything in this folder to operate, please double-check the functionality of any unknown Startup Items before deleting them to ensure that you're not losing any essential functionality.
Privacy and Security Settings
Set parameters under Privacy & Security
Privacy
In the Privacy menu, under Microphone, check all apps (DAWs, anything that uses your audio devices) that you want to record audio with.
In the Privacy menu, under Accessibility, check iLok and all other necessary audio or licensing apps.
Analytics & Improvements
These features send data to Apple over the internet to improve their OS, fix bugs etc... You may want to disable them to prevent unexpected network load and performance drops.
Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements.
Turn off the individual options.
FileVault
This feature encrypts data on the selected drives. While this is great in terms of data safety, this means more operations on the storage spaces, which might downgrade performance. You might want to disable this, especially on media drives.
In the Security menu, turn off FileVault. If turned on, user your iCloud account or recovery key to turn it off.
Update management
Automatic Updates
Some updates to your Mac software can cause conflicts with DAWs or drivers.
Therefore, it is suggested to disable the automatic update functionality within the operating system.
If there is an update that you need, you can manually update your Mac software.
Go to System Settings > General > Software Update.
On Automatic Updates you can click on the Information icon, and a dialog box will open
Click the buttons to disable the options, then click Done.
Apple Intelligence & Siri
Apple Intelligence & Siri are not required to record and will limit performance bandwidth. Re-enable as necessary.
Go to System Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri
Make sure Apple Intelligence is disabled (should show Turn on Apple Intelligence)
Disable Siri
Enable Spotlight Indexing
DAW relies on Spotlight indexing for Workspace database search operations. It is therefore suggested that Spotlight be allowed access to all mounted drives.
This should be active by default, but to be sure nothing is hidden from Spotlight please follow these steps:
Open System Settings > Spotlight
Click on the Search Privacy button at the bottom of the page.
Be sure no drives appear in this list. It should be empty.
If any drives do appear, highlight each one and click the minus (-) button below the list to remove them.
When Spotlight is enabled, long record passes (over 50 minutes) may stop recording after 50+ minutes. Consider disabling Spotlight for long recording sessions and then re-enable it when you are done recording.
Disable Spotlight using launchctl, /Applications/Utilities/Terminal : sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist (this will require the administrative password)
Reenable Spotlight, reload it into launchd using launchctl: sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist
DAW software settings
First, we suggest configure input/output routing and sample rate / frame sizes
(Using Merging ANEMAN)
Compatibility and system requirements
Your Mac must meet the DAW’s minimum system requirements to run successfully. That means your macOS version, RAM (memory), and processor must be compatible with your DAW version, otherwise, the software may not run correctly or in some cases not even launch. Check with the software manufacturer’s product page or support area for up-to-date system requirements information.
Audio playback settings
Most DAW or virtual instrument software uses your audio device’s settings to record audio. The audio device must first be selected in the audio software. You must also make sure the audio is correctly routed between the software and hardware. That means audio leaving the software needs to go to the correct audio device outputs, and input signals must be routed to the correct input channel and track.
Once a DAW and audio device are configured for each other, they will retain their settings until configured differently. Most DAW’s and newer audio interfaces have savable and recallable routing or input/output settings. Consider saving these settings to a dedicated studio folder for easy recall and as a backup.
MIDI devices and Audio MIDI Setup configuration
MIDI devices connect like audio devices but use MIDI data instead of audio. The best way to optimize them is to refresh your MIDI device list and retitle any unspecified MIDI ports you’re using. For example, if you connect something via MIDI cable to your MIDI or audio interface’s MIDI port, it will show up as the MIDI port instead of the actual device’s name. Use the Audio MIDI Setup app to refresh your MIDI device list and create a new configuration.
Update iLok Drivers
This can help resolve problems launching Audio Applications and some plug-in authorisation issues.
Visit the iLok website.
Download and install the iLok License Manager.
VAD installation procedures
Tahoe 26.3 supports VAD 3.6.0_62970 and above.
iOS is not supported
Hackintosh systems are not supported
ANEMAN v2.x (or above) recommended (installed with MT VAD)
MT Discovery 20.0.x (or above) recommended
The procedure of installation can be found on this link.
Legacy VAD versions installation (below 4.0)
Tahoe 26.3 supports VAD 3.6.0_62970 and above.
iOS is not supported
Hackintosh systems are not supported
Rosetta 2 a resource a hungry translation
Rosetta 2 is an emulator designed to bridge the transition between Intel and Apple processors. In short, it translates apps built for Intel so they will run on Apple Silicon.
The entire process takes place in the background, and may impact performance. Verify your applications running on Rosetta 2.
Go to Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor
In the Activity Monitor select the Kind column (if not present enable it from the menu option)
Applications running in "Intel" kind are the ones running on Rosetta 2
Verify the consumption of CPU and Memory of your Intel/Rosetta 2 applications
This is why we highly recommend users not to stay on such legacy versions, and use MT VAD (4.0) onwards, as it is fully Apple Silicon compliant
Installing VAD 3.6
Legacy Known issues
Apple Kext Drivers not starting:
On some rare VAD installation the VAD panel entries remain greyed out. The temporary solution is to open
a Terminal command in the Mac and to enter the line below.
sudo kextload /Library/Extensions/MergingRAVENNAAudioDriver.kext
Follow by your password. This will force start the VAD until the next reboot.
Merging has contacted Apple about this issue on their macOS side.
VAD panel not opening as a System Settings pane.
Workaround: Force Quit the System Settings if the VAD panel is blank. See image here.
Next opening the VAD panel will show up.
VAD installation Issues
1. Open Finder and go to Application>Merging Technologies and run the Uninstall_All if present there.
2. Reboot
3. Authorize the Download Folder under Privacy and security > folders and files > installer > click right arrow > turn on downloads folder
(p.s. some recent mac OS updates no longer have that choice)
4. Make sure you are in Reduced Security Mode (M-series macs, see procedure above)
5. Re-install the VAD.
Accessories not seen: If you did not Allow an accessory to connect (such as a Sonnet Network Adaptor) it is possible that the message does not pop up.
To force the message to show go to Privacy & Security and scroll down the page.
Select “Allow Accessories” to connect and select "Ask Every Time"
Reconnect your network adaptor or interface and Allow the connectivity.
You can then change back the setting to "Ask for New Accessories" if you wish to.
Note: On macOS the NVRAM can be reset to address your audio issues. Follow Apple procedure for this. Verify once again our system configuration guidelines afterwards.