The WING Extension - Shadow Rack Docs

What changes when you set a Behringer WING as the interface and plug in its network cable - the desk becomes part of the rack and the in-ears.

Shadow Rack works with any audio interface, a WING included. The WING Extension is the add-on that makes the desk and the rack one system: the desk's routing, names, SEL, custom controls and safety switch all start working with Shadow Rack. There's no setup page for it. Pick the WING as your interface, plug in its network cable, and it switches on.

A WING with and without the extension since 0.5#

Without the extension a WING is a plain audio interface, like any other. With it:

	WING as a plain interface	With the WING Extension
Channels	You add mono / stereo channels and pick their inputs and outputs yourself	Press RACK on any WING channel, aux, bus, main or matrix and the desk's routing sets itself up (routing)
Names, colours, icons	Set in Shadow Rack	Come from the desk; changes in Shadow Rack go back to the desk (desk sync)
Picking a channel	Click it in Shadow Rack	Press SEL on the desk too
If the Mac fails	Shadow Rack restarts with the rack as it was	The same, and the desk goes to DIRECT first (safety switch)
Hands on	Any MIDI controller, learnt onto the controls	The WING's own custom controls run the rack: three pages written to the desk (custom controls)
Speaker protection	-	The WING's Precision Limiter on the mains, set up from Shadow Rack (limiter)
Loop latency	Route a USB output back to a USB input on the desk, press MEASURE	Measured by itself through the desk (latency)
New York	On the interface's outputs	On a desk fader of its own, in the USER 1 layer (New York on the desk)
In-ears (Rack IEM)	The interface's inputs and outputs	Any desk channel, mixes out of the desk's outputs, a backup bus if the in-ear engine stops (Rack IEM on a WING)

What it needs#

The licence includes the WING Extension, and it's switched on in Setup > Licence (see your licence). Switching a module on or off takes a restart. The extension adds to Rack FX or Rack IEM - on its own it doesn't open the app.
The WING is the chosen interface in Setup > Audio. Audio goes over USB, as with any interface. The Audio page then says WING: the channels come from the Wing's routing (ROUTING at the top).
The desk's network port is connected to the Mac - straight with a cable, or through a router. The network only carries control: routing, names, custom controls, meters. No audio goes over it.

There's no "with the WING" switch. The interface you pick decides: choose the WING and Shadow Rack says Working with the Wing: channels come from the Wing's routing; choose anything else and the WING part switches off, network link included. The ROUTING button and the routing view need Rack FX; with Rack IEM alone you get the in-ear parts.

How Shadow Rack finds the desk#

You don't type anything in the normal case. Shadow Rack asks the network for a WING every 1.5 seconds - at the last address it knew, and as a broadcast on every network the Mac is on - and connects to the desk that answers.

If it doesn't find it (an unusual network, a router that blocks broadcasts), open ROUTING. Until a desk is connected every routing page shows CONNECT THE WING, with a box for the address:

On the desk, look up its IP address under SETUP > NETWORK.
Type it in the box Wing IP address (empty = find it) on the routing page.
Press CONNECT (or Return). An empty box goes back to searching by itself.

Once connected, the status line at the top of the routing view shows the desk's name, IP, firmware, how many strips are on the rack and how many FX slots are free. While Shadow Rack reads the desk for the first time, it says Reading the Wing... – until then it doesn't judge anything.

Two WINGs on one network#

Shadow Rack remembers its desk by serial number. A second WING on the same network - the monitor desk, say - isn't taken over. It only switches to another desk when you type that desk's IP, or when its own desk hasn't answered for 15 seconds and nothing on the rack belongs to it.

The WING display on the top bar#

Next to ROUTING sits the WING display. It's the link to the desk and the safety switch in one.

It says	Lamp	Meaning
off	-	The link is off
looking...	-	Searching for the desk, or the desk stopped answering
connected	dim	Connected, nothing on the rack yet
THROUGH RACK	green	Connected; the strips on the rack play through Shadow Rack
DIRECT	red	Connected; every strip on the rack plays its own source on the desk

Click it while something is on the rack and it switches between THROUGH RACK and DIRECT. With nothing on the rack, a click opens the routing.

When the connection drops#

After 6 seconds without an answer the display goes back to looking... and the routing pages show CONNECT THE WING again. The sound doesn't change: audio runs over USB, and the desk keeps its routing exactly as it was - through the rack or direct.

Renames, colours and icons you change meanwhile are sent when the desk is back.
The crash safety net keeps the last known state, so a crash during a network blip still puts the desk on DIRECT - as long as the desk can be reached.
A rack channel that a desk channel plays through can't be deleted while the desk is away (Can't delete ... now): the desk channel would go silent.
When the desk is back and the WING's USB audio is missing (the Mac slept, a dock took network and USB together), the desk is put on DIRECT.