PreSonus Universal Control Metro User Guide
- June 15, 2024
- PreSonus
Table of Contents
**PreSonus Universal Control Metro User Guide
**
Introduction
Universal Control Metro is a powerful feature in Universal Controlavailable exclusively for StudioLive Series III mixers. With Metro, you can remotely log into, control, and monitor the audio for a StudioLive Series III mixer over the Internet on a secure, peer-to-peer connection. With Universal Control Metro, you’ll be able to:
- Remotely create a broadcast mix from your home without stepping foot into the venue.
- Produce a livestream or podcast from anywhere in the world.
- Troubleshoot StudioLive Series III mixers quickly and conveniently from your home or office.
- Ensure that a remote recording session is properly gain staged.
- Remotely mix an all-day conference panel from the comfort of your couch.
- And so much more!
A brief note on limitations: While Metro technology fully supports mixing Front-of-House or monitors remotely, PreSonus does not recommend this use case because while you’ll have complete mixing control from your remote set-up, you will not be able to hear the mix in the room or quell feedback before it builds. So, while you may be able to dial in a great mix as a starting point for the show from anywhere, Pres onus recommends having an engineer on-site during the performance to ensure the best possible listening experience for the audience and the performers.
Useful Terminology
Universal Control Metro operates on the established host/ client network architecture. To ensure maximum usability of this guide, let’s establish some terminology upfront:
The computer connected to the StudioLive mixer that will be remotely controlled is the Host.
The computer connecting remotely to that mixer is the Client. Note that while a StudioLive Series III mixer is required on the Host side, the Client can monitor audio from that mixer through any audio interface connected to the Client computer.
Metro requires certain steps be taken on both the Host and the Client ends of the connection. The majority of this guide will cover the functions necessary for the Client side.
Getting Started
Update Your Firmware And Software
In order to use Universal Control Metro:
- The host will need their mixer to be running firmware version 2.7.0.92826 or higher.
- Both the host and client will need to be running Universal Control version 4.2 or higher.
- Metro functionality requires the host mixer to be connected via USB to a compatible computer with a stable Internet connection.
Firmware update instructions can be found in your mixer’s manual or on PreSonus.com. The latest version of Universal Control can be downloaded here.
Remote Access Permissions And Security
As security is of the utmost importance, accessing a Studio Live mixer for remote operation employs a three stage permission system. These permissions include:
- Connecting your MyPreSonus account with the MyPreSonus account of the registered owner of the host mixer.
- In Universal Control, the owner of the host mixer must enable Remote Access.
- Remote Access must also be enabled in the host mixer itself.
Depending on your Operating System, some privacy, security, and admin settings may need to be tweaked to allow for the best possible connection. Your router security settings may also need to be taken into consideration.
The host instance of Universal Control must be logged in to the host’s MyPreSonus account and the client instance of Universal Control must be logged in to the client’s MyPreSonus account.
The client instance of Universal Control will have access to any mixer or ecosystem device that can be seen by the host instance of UC Surface (assuming Remote access is turned on for both the host instance of Universal Control and the StudioLive mixer).
Only one client can be connected to a single host.
Adding A Metro Connection
Metro connections can be managed from your MyPreSonus account.
To get started, sign into your account at My.PreSonus.com. If you don’t have an account already, follow the onscreen instructions to create one.
Once logged back in, click the menu icon on the top right to open up the MyPreSonus navigation menu and choose “Metro.”
From the Metro workspace, Click the add (+) button and enter the e-mail address of the registered owner of the mixer you would like to remotely access. They will be notified via e-mail of your request.
Once your request is approved, your new contact will display in the list of Metro contacts on the left. Click the star icon to mark any as favorites, if desired – they will auto-populate to the top of the list.
With this user connection established, you’ll be able to see the users listed in the Universal Control Metro section of Universal Control, as well as instances of Universal Control they have available to connect with.
You can access this same page right from the Metro section of Universal Control. Simply click on the Manage connections button in the upper left corner of the screen. This will open a browser window with the Metro Connection workspace in your My. Pres onus account.
Once you have successfully logged into your My Pres onus account from Universal Control, click on the Metro icon in the upper right corner to launch the Metro panel
Activating Remote Access in Universal Control
In order to remotely connect to another mixer or have another user remotely connect to yours, both host and client need to activate Remote Access in Universal Control. Launch Universal Control.
First, check to make sure that you are signed into your Preseasons account in Universal control. Click on the drop down menu in the upper left corner to find out.
If “Sign in…” is listed as an option, select it and enter the log in information for your MyPreSonus account. If “Sign Out” is listed instead, please proceed to the next step.
First, check to make sure that you are signed into your MyPreSonus account in Universal control. Click on the dropdown menu in the upper left corner to find out.
If “Sign in…” is listed as an option, select it and enter the log in information for your MyPreSonus account. If “Sign Out” is listed instead, please proceed to the next step.
Once sign-in status is confirmed, click the icon on the top right to open the Metro panel.
Click the “Remote Access” button; set it to ON.
Enabling / Disabling Remote Access On Host Mixers
Remote Access is enabled by default on all StudioLive mixers. This means that once Remote Access is turned on in Universal Control on the Host computer, the StudioLive mixers connected to the Host computer are ready to be controlled via a remote Metro connection.
However, this permission can be enabled and disabled on each individual mixer itself. This added layer of permission allows users with multiple mixers connected to a Host computer to select which mixers can be controlled remotely via Metro and which ones may not.
On a StudioLive Console mixer, select the Home button.
Next, set Remote Access to On.
For Studio Live rack mixers you can access the Remote Access feature in the Settings menu under System Settings.
Establishing A Remote Connection Session
Once you’ve added your Metro connections in Preseasons and have enabled Remote Access, you are ready to create your first Universal Control Metro remote mixing session.
To establish a remote connection session:
- Launch Universal Control.
- Click the icon on the top right to open the Metro panel.
From here, you’ll be presented with the list of your Metro connections from your MyPreSonus account. Each connection will also have a list of their instances of Universal Control that have had Remote Access turned on. Any computers currently online and open to you for a connection will be flagged with a green indicator.
You can click the star icons to identify certain connections as Favorites. Power User Tip: You can connect to your own mixer by selecting it in the “Local Devices” menu item, with no MyPreSonus account linking required.
Click on the host instance you would like to connect to. A “Waiting for response” message will be displayed on the client side:
On the host side, a message will be displayed asking if the host will allow the connection.
Once the host accepts the Remote Access request, the client will see every StudioLive Series III mixer on the host’s network in the Universal Control Device List.
Once a Metro connection is established, the client will see only the host’s devices when the connected host computer is selected in the Metro panel at the top of the UC Launch Window.
Allowing Client Access
If a mixer has had remote access disabled as described in Section 2.5, it will appear grayed out on the Client side as shown below. The user on the Host side must enable access in order for you to remotely control it.
Click the desired mixer to open the UC Surface control panel for it.
The first time you connect to a StudioLive mixer remotely using Metro, you willl need to enable permissions.
To do this, click on the Setting icon in the upper right corner.
Enter the access code for the mixer (default is 12345).
From here, select “FOH” from the permissions menu.
You are now ready to start controlling the Host mixer!
The UC Surface Window shown for the Metro-connected mixer will have a yellow border around it on both the client and host connections.
From here, you’ll be able to remotely control the Metro-connected mixer just as if it was connected to your local computer!
If the host computer is connected to the mixer via USB, you will also be able to monitor the audio from the Client side through your Client computer’s audio interface. See Section 3 for complete information.
You are now ready to begin remotely mixing and monitoring over the Internet with Metro! Complete information on mixing with UC Surface can be found in the UC Surface Reference Manual.
Ending A Remote Session
To end a remote session, either the host or client can select the user icon at the top right of the screen next to the connection time indicator:
Client Audio Options
Metro allows the user on the Client side to monitor audio right from their personal speaker system. Metro is compatible with any audio interface. However, the sample rate on both the Client device and the Host mixer must match for audio to stream.
Audio sources are limited to the Main Mix and the Solo Bus.
Client Audio Setup
Click the gear icon below the Metro Show/Hide icon to open the Client Audio Setup window.
From here the client can select USB streams for desired local playback, as well as configure your local audio interface, Playback and Send streams, sample rate, and more.
- Audio Interface: Choose the client-side audio interface to use.
- Playback Stream: Choose which playback streams of your interface will play sound from the host.
- Send Stream: Choose which stream from your interface to send sound to the host. (Talkback)
- Sample Rate: Choose the operating sample rate of your (client-side) audio interface
- Network Safe Mode: Increases the internal buffer size at the expense of latency. Use to avoid audio dropouts during connections with poor Internet connectivity.
Talkback
Use the Talkback feature to send voice communication from the client to the host. In the host’s system, this mono audio stream will populate their Talkback channel.
Mute
Use the Mute button to mute incoming audio from the Host computer. This does not mute the Talk back signal outbound from the Client to the Host.
Troubleshooting
Playback Troubleshooting
If you are using a StudioLive Series III mixer on the clientside for monitoring, make sure that USB is selected as the source for the selected channels on your mixer.
Additionally, both the audio interface on the Client side and the mixer on the Host side must be set to the same sample rate for audio to stream.
The StudioLive sample rate can be set from the System menu on the console.
Analysis
Universal Control provides an analysis tool for Metro called “UC Metro Streaming Statistics.” While a connection is present, this window will display useful information about the connection such as stream health, stream latency, will show whether record and playback signals are present, etc. These parameters can help in troubleshooting some network and connection issues for UC Metro.
Access Streaming Statistics from the Universal Control launch Window under Settings.
If the client computer is hearing audio dropouts or other artifacts, this is normally contributed to a network speed or overall network health issue which will be indicated in the meters of the Statistics screen shown above. In this case, whoever is seeing the stream health issue on their end (client or host) should try to eliminate any potential slow-downs on their network or internet connection, which can be caused by a variety of factors including but not limited to network and router speed, bandwidth, and more.