Multiple ProPatch Units

Wolffhound shows every ProPatch it finds, each in its own tab (Wolffhound and the ProPatch App). That gives you one place to reach all your units, but it does not combine their analog matrices into one larger matrix.

To pass audio from one ProPatch to another, wire dedicated audio paths between them. Ethernet carries discovery and control only; it carries no audio between units.

What each unit keeps separate

• Each unit has its own tab, physical channels, Devices, Nodes, Chains, and Sessions.
• You configure and switch each unit in its own tab.
• Devices connected to one unit can't be reached from another without a tie line.

Give every unit an unmistakable name. Before you edit or activate a Chain, check both the selected Wolffhound tab and the model shown at the top left of the ProPatch app.

Link two units with tie lines

A tie line is a physical audio connection from an output on one unit to an input on the other. Each direction needs its own tie lines.

1. Count the signals that must cross between units at the same time, in each direction.
2. Reserve that many channels on both units.
3. Wire and label each direction.
4. On each unit, create a Device for the tie lines, with Destination Nodes for the outgoing lines and Source Nodes for the incoming lines.
5. Test every tie line in both directions with a simple Chain on each unit.
6. Build Chains on each unit to and from the tested tie-line Nodes.

A cross-unit route is two Chains: one on the first unit ending at the outgoing tie line, and one on the second unit starting at the matching incoming tie line. Activate both.

Keep reserved channels off ordinary Devices; they belong to the link even when no cross-unit route is active.

Size the tie lines from the workload

Tie lines use channels on both units, so two units never add up to one unit of the combined size. Eight tie lines carry at most eight simultaneous signals in that direction, however many channels are free elsewhere.

Size the link from the busiest real Session, not the channel total:

• A mastering processor on the second unit may need only a stereo pair each way.
• A tracking setup that shares many processors between rooms needs many more.

Put Devices that often appear in the same Chains on the same unit. That keeps the tie-line count down and leaves more channels for studio I/O.

Record the reservation on rack labels, in the cable schedule, and in Device and Node names. To PP200 B / Ch 1 is safer than Tie 1.

For three or more units, or equipment shared passively between units, contact Wolff Audio.

Save and recover a multi-unit system

Each unit is a separate recovery domain:

• Export the relevant Session from every unit.
• Name the files with the unit and project.
• Keep a cable schedule for the tie lines.
• Record which Sessions run together.
• Restore one unit at a time, with monitors down.

A backup from one unit is not a backup of the whole studio. See Sessions, Files, and Backups.

For connection or routing failures, see Troubleshooting.