In this extended review James Richmond combines a pair of DAD MOMs with his Avid MTRX in a music production environment and finds a lot to like. These aren’t just for Post users. Over to James:

As I’ve mentioned in my previous article on the Avid MTRX I’ve been using the Monitor Operating Module (MOM) from Digital Audio Denmark to control the ProMon side of the MTRX and use it as a central hub for my studio. This article explains in a bit more detail how I use it with ProMon and why it is preferable in my studio to a dedicated Monitor Controller.

When I first looked into adding the MTRX to my studio I wasn’t necessarily looking to replace my much loved Grace M905 monitor controller, as it is an excellent unit with almost all the features I thought I needed for sending audio from my audio interfaces to several sets of stereo monitors. It also sounds fantastic, in the sense that it doesn’t sound like anything at all- it is basically transparent.

So why did I change? Essentially it came down to a couple of factors. Firstly, the tight integration between the MTRX, ProMon, Avid Dock and MOM means that I have more options in terms of controlling source switching and summing with my multiple sets of monitors. I am able to use both the Avid Dock/Control plus the MOM to control everything in my studio. Secondly, it allows me to move to a Dolby Atmos based workflow, something my ‘stereo only’ M905 would never do.

MOM Hardware And Layout

MOM is a compact controller for the MTRX (or AX32/DX32 from DAD) measuring 17.2 cm x 11 cm x 5 cm and weighing around 1kg. The rear connections are 1x RG45 ethernet, 1x 5V/1A DC power supply input and 1x 3.5mm GPI input for footswitch control. It conveniently supports PoE (Power over Ethernet) and you can use both PoE and DC power at the same time for redundant/backup power supply operation. As I have PoE implemented in the studio I simply connected MOM to my Cisco SG350 switch, keeping cable clutter to a minimum.

MOM has 11 buttons in total, along with a large rotary dial. 10 of these buttons freely configurable, as can the rotary dial. Only the ‘Layer’ button has fixed functionality, for reasons which will be obvious later.

Configuring MOM In DADman

Configuration of MOM is done wholly within the DADman application and in fact DADman needs to be running in order for MOM to communicate with the MTRX. I probably first need to explain how I am using the MTRX in order to explain why I have configured my MOM’s the way that I have. It should be noted that this is just one way to do it- the DADman and MOM are flexible enough to afford many other possible configurations.

My MTRX is currently configured with 16 analogue inputs and 8 analogue outputs, to which I have connected mic preamps, a headphone amplifier and a pair of guitar modellers. I have 32 channels of Dante IO for my analogue outboard and synthesisers and several 2 channel Dante devices in the form of Focusrite X2P and AM2 headphone amplifiers. I also route all of the mic preamps and synthesisers over Dante to the 32 channels of a Focusrite Red 16Line, which I use as a native interface. This is possible because with Dante you can route any Dante transmitter to multiple receivers.

Inputs

I like to be able to source multiple inputs at once, which is something the MTRX allows you to do quite easily. I’ve configured the following sources to be able to be monitored with near zero latency:

The point of showing you all this is to make the point that these sources are decisions I’ve made about what I need to be monitoring off hardware. I could configure any source connected to the MTRX to be monitored off hardware. This works for mono or stereo sources, right up to various surround sound formats.

You can see in the accompanying screenshots how the sources are configured in the Monitor Profile Configuration are then made available in the “Mon” section of DADman.

Monitor/HP Outputs

I’m using three sets of stereo monitors, a pair of ATC SCM45A’s and Kii Three’s in the mix position and a set of Neumann KH80’s which sit next to my Eurorack modular synthesiser. The reason I have a set of monitors there is that it sits at 90 degrees to the main mixing position and I was tired of twisting to hear the stereo image from the Eurorack. In addition to the monitors I have three separate headphone mix amplifiers- an ART HeadAmp 6, a Focusrite X2P and a Focusrite AM2.

MOM has 10 freely configurable buttons and can be arranged in up to 4 layers, where the state of each layer potentially (but not necessarily) changes when you press the Layer button.

These buttons are labelled thus, with their default actions:

• Speaker 1, 2, 3: Selecting Speaker sets 1 through 3.

• Source A, B C: selecting Sources A through C (either summed or switched)

• Ref: Enable Reference Lock

• TB: Talkback enable

Also, the MOM has labels as “serving suggestions” only- although buttons 1/2/3 are designated as ‘Speaker’ buttons they could be configured in multiple different way, as source input mutes, or any of the other functions of the MOM.

As I have 3 sets of monitors, I have configured the 1/2/3 buttons as monitor selection buttons in all 4 layers. Similarly, I have configured the Source A/B/C buttons to enable or disable the first three sets of stereo sources from HDX, the RED 16Line and the first two inputs to the MTRX’s AD card. The reason I’ve chosen the final one is I frequently place synths or effects pedals on the bench in front of the patch bay and use TRS to bantam cables to patch them in directly.

Cut and Dim switches work as you would think. Cut completely mutes the speakers and Dim lowers the program material by a configurable amount, which I have set to -30 dB.

Talkback is configured in this setup by using one of the two mic preamp inputs on the Red 16Line that are sent to Dante channels on the MTRX. You can freely configure how the program material is affected by the TB button- I prefer to dim, but not completely cut the source material when using Talkback so that is how I set it.

I have not yet talked about the other 3 layers that have been enabled.

I use these to be able to use the rotary controller to set levels to the main monitors in layer 1 and then the successive headphone sends (layer 2- ART, layer 3- X2P, layer 4- AM2) respectively.

MOM In Use

Previously, with the Grace M905, I had two sets of monitors set up that I would switch between but then when I needed to move to the Eurorack I would have to mute the output at the mix position and then turn up the monitor controller (then a Focusrite X2P). It was a bit messy and I would frequently forget to do it, have to go back to the mix position, mute the monitors and then go back to the Eurorack. I also didn’t have any control over the input sources from a hardware controller.

The great thing about the MOM is you can use multiple control units on a network, and you can choose how you configure them. I have two MOM’s at the moment- one in the mix position and the other next to the Eurorack modular synthesiser. I have set them to be exactly the same but that is a choice, rather than being dictated to me. You can easily configure multiple MOM’s differently from one another. MOM could, therefore, also be used in a vocal booth to allow a vocalist to control their overall headphone level (although it might be a bit expensive to do so, plus it doesn’t have a headphone output.)

A note on the range of the rotary dial’s labelling. It does not go from 0 to 100, but rather is labelled more usefully with an LED scale from -40 dB to +12 dB in steps of 2 dB to indicate which level it is set at. The individual detents are 0.5 dB and MOM uses differently colour LED’s to indicate where in the 2 dB steps the controller is located. This might sound confusing, but it is fairly easily to adjust to, although I would have preferred some form of display showing the overall level.

Avid Control/Dock Vs MOM

It is possible to use Avid Control’s Monitoring page to control many aspects of the MTRX’s monitor section- you can control source inputs (up to a maximum of 8 sources), 3 sets of monitors (labelled Main, Alt 1 and Alt 2) and up to 4 cue mix sends.

Given that is it possible to use Avid Control to control many of the functions of the MTRX’s monitoring section why then would I use the MOM controller? Firstly, the tactile feedback is better than on Avid Control. The hardware knob (labelled Monitor, Control Room) on the Avid Dock feels imprecise and using an iPad is of course entirely lacking in any sort of physical feedback- you have to take your eyes off your mix to use it. By comparison the MOM’s detented rotary controller feels much more precise and the dedicated buttons allow you to build up a degree of muscle memory. It is also very helpful to be able to use one away from the mix position.

Wishlist

On the whole the MOM has been a massive improvement to my workflow. I do have a couple of wishes for the product though. Firstly, it would be nice to be able to angle or tilt the unit to be able to better see the rotary dial markings. I would also prefer to have more buttons for controlling sources- another 3 (or even 6) would be just peachy. Also a display of some sort would be very helpful. The way the MOM is laid out requires you to remember each button’s function as you’ve set it. It mostly isn’t a problem but I did sometimes find myself adjusting the level of a headphone send when I meant to be adjusting the main monitor level. Finally, it would be great if MOM had a headphone output.

Conclusion

MOM is an excellent and well-thought-out solution for controlling the MTRX’s monitoring capabilities. I see it primarily as something that is in addition to the Avid Dock and Avid Control rather than a replacement for it. MOM has changed my way of working in the studio. I’m very pleased to have a pair of these here and their do their job very well. The price is a little steep- at $1200 USD, but we MTRX owners are somewhat used to this. It is an extremely well made and capable unit.

Pros:

• Looks and feels great.

• No nonsense remote control for the MTRX.

• Highly configurable.

• Built like a tank.

Cons:

• DADman must be running to function.

• Would like more Source buttons.

• No tilt capability.