Audio Technica Multicast in the Voice Tracker.

Audio-Technica is the only device in our assortment that uses multicast communication (March2025). This means that specific settings need to be configured both in the network and on the microphone itself. If not configured correctly, you may see a red line from the microphone. See the photo below for reference.

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What is Multicast?

Multicast is a network communication method where data is transmitted from one sender to multiple recipients simultaneously. Unlike unicast, which sends data to a single destination, or broadcast, which sends data to all devices in a network, multicast efficiently delivers data only to devices that have joined a specific multicast group.

How Multicast Works:

  • Multicast Groups: Devices that want to receive multicast traffic join a specific multicast group using a multicast address.

  • Multicast Addressing: Special IP address ranges (e.g., 224.0.0.0 – 239.255.255.255 in IPv4) are reserved for multicast communication.

  • Efficient Data Transmission: Instead of sending multiple copies of the same data, multicast allows a single transmission to reach multiple devices, reducing network congestion.

Transport Protocol for Multicast

The User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is the most commonly used transport protocol for multicast, as it allows fast, connectionless data delivery.

Let's go to the Voice Tracker

On the Home screen in the WebGUI VoiceTracker, the microphone displayed sometimes a very long red line straight up that does not move.There is a connection between CD500 and the microphone, but the API connection required for the CD500 was not established. This communication relies on the API IP address, which uses multicast. Therefore, the microphone must be set to the correct IP address for proper functionality.

See the photos and table below for reference:

Example with wrong multicast address.

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With the correct one.

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Multicast Configuration.

  • Multicast group address: 225.0.0.100
  • Multicast port: 17000
  • Microphone port: 17300
  • Interface IP: must be the IP address of the cam-director
  • Multicast Characteristics
    1. Allows multiple devices to receive the same stream without individual point-to-point connections
    2. Uses UDP socket
    3. Does not work over WiFi
    4. Requires a network switch with UTP connection