Merging Technologies is the first vendor whose solutions are fully integrated with Lawo’s Home IP infrastructure management platform.
The collaboration between the two companies means that all compatible Merging products – virtual audio devices, and soon also the Anubis, Horus and Hapi interfaces – will benefit from instant IP discovery and registration, intuitive stream routing, device monitoring, diagnostics, parameter control and the security features offered by the Home platform, all enabled through a single control API.
‘Lawo has always been open to granting other vendors access to the Home management platform,’ explains Lawo Senior Director for Cloud and Infrastructure Solutions, Axel Kern. ‘I’m particularly pleased that Merging Technologies, a highly respected vendor, should be the first to see eye-to-eye with a steadily growing number of Lawo products. And I look forward to welcoming more vendors to the Home table in the future.’
An immediate benefit of Merging’s move will be that the parameters on Merging products can be tweaked from a Lawo mc²-series console with built-in Home functionality.
‘Especially in the performing arts where audio recording and playback quality is critical, operators frequently leverage the sonic excellence of Merging’s audio preamps in combination with a Lawo mc²-series console,’ says Christian Struck, Lawo’s Senior Product Manager Audio Production. ‘A direct line of communication between the two provides centralised access to comprehensive parameter tweaks and all the real-time information, security and control today’s operators require.’
‘We consider the integration of Merging products with Lawo’s Home platform a perfect match,’ says Claude Cellier, Merging Technologies’ CEO. ‘A growing number of users have been asking for a way to remotely control our preamps from a Lawo mc² console. In addition to all-round operational convenience, Home provides lightning-fast discovery and registration, and more. We are sure Merging Technologies’ user base will appreciate these control and monitoring features.’
The following Merging Technologies products are Home-compliant in beta, with an expected release before summer that will include Merging’s Anubis and Hapi MkII interfaces. It is anticipated that all Merging I/O products will be compliant before IBC 2022. Previously shipped, eligible Merging Technologies software and hardware can be added to the Home ecosystem via a simple firmware update that should become available around that time as well.
In a second announcement, Merging Technologies and Lawo confirmed that an additional enhanced feature is about to become available for customers of software and hardware from the two brands. Countless operators use a Lawo console in conjunction with Pyramix, as a DAW, or Ovation, as a playout system. Many protocols are available to connect digital audio workstations to consoles or controllers. Oasis is Merging Technologies’ own Ethernet-based protocol. Quite a few manufacturers of consoles and controllers have included this protocol into their products to connect directly to Pyramix and Ovation. The addition of Lawo is a major step forward. From now on, it will be possible to interconnect directly and to facilitate workflows and total recalls.
Maurice Engler, Merging’s Product & Project manager adds: ‘This development is a really significant bonus for users in a variety of scenarios, including live broadcast, recording and post-production, and we warmly welcome this initiative by Lawo.’
