masterMIDI — first boards on the bench

Timecode is one of those things that's simple until it isn't. A show runs from one clock — usually SMPTE/LTC from a playback machine or a QLab rig — and every other piece of kit needs to follow it: the lighting desk wants MIDI timecode, the media server wants Art-Net timecode, the sound desk wants LTC on an XLR, and the laptop in the corner wants USB-MIDI. In most rooms that means a small pile of single-purpose converters, each doing one translation, each another box to power and another thing that can drift.

masterMIDI is one box that does all of them.

What it does

masterMIDI takes timecode in from whichever source you have and sends it out in every format you need, at the same time:

• SMPTE/LTC in and out, balanced, on an XLR/TRS combo input — all five standard rates (24, 25, 29.97 drop-frame, 29.97 and 30 fps), forwards and backwards, with user bits passed through.
• MIDI timecode in and out over 5-pin DIN (IN, OUT and THRU), USB-MIDI, and network MIDI (RTP-MIDI) — including a link straight to a second masterMIDI on the other side of the building.
• Art-Net timecode in and out, for lighting desks and media servers that take it over the network.
• An internal clock with exact frame rates, which can free-run from a start time, follow time of day, or chase any input at a different frame rate — 25 fps LTC in, 30 fps MTC out, for example.

Each output can take its own source and its own offset (plus or minus hours, minutes, seconds and frames), so "lighting runs two frames early" is a setting rather than a workaround.

Built for the bit that goes wrong

The interesting part of a timecode box isn't when everything works — it's the moment the input disappears. A dropped cable or a stalled playback machine shouldn't stop the show. masterMIDI keeps outputting through a dropout, for a time you choose or until the input comes back, and it keeps time closely while it does: in testing, sixty seconds without input left it within a fraction of a millisecond of the real timecode when the input returned.

It also keeps a show log on the unit — inputs starting and stopping, dropouts it covered, settings changes, restarts and why — so after a show you can see what happened rather than guess.

Part of the range

Like the dualETH and masterETH, masterMIDI runs from PoE (one cable for power and network) or USB-C, is set up from a built-in web page, shows its state on a small front-panel display and status LEDs, and updates its own firmware over the network or the USB cable. masterETH and our Mac app expanseWorkshop find it on the network alongside your nodes. It uses the same enclosure as the dualETH, so it sits neatly next to one.

Where it's at

The first prototype boards arrived on 12 October. Power over Ethernet, the network, USB and the DIN MIDI ports are all working on them, and the first full release of the firmware, covering everything above, followed a few days later. As you'd expect from a first board, bring-up turned up a couple of small hardware fixes, and they're going into the next revision.

There's no price or ship date yet — we'd rather get the next boards in hand first. If masterMIDI would solve a problem in your rig, or there's a timecode setup you'd want it to handle, we'd genuinely like to hear about it: get in touch.