iConnectivity PlayAUDIO12
iConnectivity·Model PlayAUDIO12·playaudio12
Photos
Manufacturer product photography — the drawn faceplate above stays true to panel layout; these show the hardware itself.
About the iConnectivity PlayAUDIO12
The PlayAUDIO12 is purpose-built for live playback rigs, offering dual USB host connections that automatically fail over between a primary and backup computer with zero gap in audio. It provides 4 stereo outputs for click, tracks, backing, and spare, plus 2 inputs for talkbackThe engineer’s mic into the performers’ ears or monitors — talk to the band without leaving the console. or ambient mics. The dual MIDI ports handle show control and patch changes. Its half-rackThe standard slice of rack height: 1U = 1.75″. A 3U box takes three slices; half-rack gear pairs two units side by side in one. size pairs perfectly with a MIDI controller, and the automatic failoverThe automatic switch to the backup when the primary dies — good failover is seamless enough that the audience never knows. is the killer feature that makes it a touring standard for playback engineers.
The PlayAUDIO12 exists because of one specific nightmare: the playback computer dying mid-song in front of an audience. Its answer is two USB host ports wired to two computers running identical sessions, with automatic failoverThe automatic switch to the backup when the primary dies — good failover is seamless enough that the audience never knows. — when the A machine stops presenting audio, the unit switches to B fast enough that the audience hears a show, not a crash. That single feature is why this 1UThe standard slice of rack height: 1U = 1.75″. A 3U box takes three slices; half-rack gear pairs two units side by side in one. box is de facto standard in tracks rigs.
Around that core it's a sensible playback interface: ten quarter-inch TRSTip-Ring-Sleeve — a 1/4″ jack with three contacts carrying a balanced signal or a stereo pair. A guitar plug with one extra ring. outputs for stemsSub-mixes of a session grouped by instrument (drums, keys, vocals) — how playback rigs run tracks with live control over each group. — click, tracks, keys, vocal effects — plus a stereo input pair, and MIDI routing deep enough to mirror control data to both computers so the B machine is genuinely in lockstep, scenes and all. The 1UThe standard slice of rack height: 1U = 1.75″. A 3U box takes three slices; half-rack gear pairs two units side by side in one. full-width chassis racks above the computers it babysits, and the 8–12W draw is happy on the UPSUninterruptible Power Supply — a battery that rides the rig through brownouts and generator hiccups so computers never reboot mid-song. bank where the rest of the playback brain lives.
Design honestly around the redundancyA second copy of anything critical — supply, computer, network path — already running so one failure can’t stop the show.: two computers, two identical sessions, disciplined session management — the box fails over, it doesn't sync your arrangements. And if the show's stem count is creeping past ten outputs, that's the signal to look at the larger interfaces or a DanteThe most common audio-over-network standard: dozens of channels of uncompressed digital audio down one ordinary Ethernet cable between Dante boxes.-based playback topology before buying, not after.
In the rack
- FailoverThe automatic switch to the backup when the primary dies — good failover is seamless enough that the audience never knows. only works as well as your session discipline — mirror the A and B machines religiously.
- Put it and both computers on the UPSUninterruptible Power Supply — a battery that rides the rig through brownouts and generator hiccups so computers never reboot mid-song. bank; failoverThe automatic switch to the backup when the primary dies — good failover is seamless enough that the audience never knows. cannot save you from a power dropoutA brief audio gap when the radio link fails — the thing diversity, distros, and coordination all exist to prevent..
- Test the failoverThe automatic switch to the backup when the primary dies — good failover is seamless enough that the audience never knows. in rehearsal by pulling the A cable mid-song — the first time should not be on a Friday night.
Dual-host USB audio + MIDI interface with failoverThe automatic switch to the backup when the primary dies — good failover is seamless enough that the audience never knows. for live playback.
I/O Ports (17)
| Port | Connector | Direction | Signal | Channels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Output 1 L (TRS) | TRS QUARTER | output | analog audio | — |
| Output 1 R (TRS) | TRS QUARTER | output | analog audio | — |
| Output 2 L (TRS) | TRS QUARTER | output | analog audio | — |
| Output 2 R (TRS) | TRS QUARTER | output | analog audio | — |
| Output 3 L (TRS) | TRS QUARTER | output | analog audio | — |
| Output 3 R (TRS) | TRS QUARTER | output | analog audio | — |
| Output 4 L (TRS) | TRS QUARTER | output | analog audio | — |
| Output 4 R (TRS) | TRS QUARTER | output | analog audio | — |
| Input 1 (TRS) | TRS QUARTER | input | analog audio | — |
| Input 2 (TRS) | TRS QUARTER | input | analog audio | — |
| Headphone 1 (TRS) | TRS QUARTER | output | analog audio | — |
| Headphone 2 (TRS) | TRS QUARTER | output | analog audio | — |
| USB Host A | USB B | bidirectional | data | — |
| USB Host B | USB B | bidirectional | data | — |
| MIDI In | TRS EIGHTH | input | data | — |
| MIDI Out | TRS EIGHTH | output | data | — |
- Power (DC) (DC BARREL)
Deciding between two?
Rack space, watts, weight and every connector, side by side.
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