showstack / hardware / grandma2-full-size
grandMA2 full-size
The console that defined large-scale lighting control for a decade: 4096 parameters per unit, three internal screens plus externals, and the MA-Net2 session model that lets several desks and NPUs act as one system.
Protocols it speaks
| Protocol | Direction | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| sacn | bidirectional | sACN in and out. |
| art-net | bidirectional | Art-Net in and out. |
| ma-net | bidirectional | MA-Net2 for sessions with other grandMA2 devices and NPUs. |
| dmx512 | bidirectional | Direct DMX from the rear XLR5 ports. |
| rdm | bidirectional | RDM on the local DMX ports. |
| citp | bidirectional | CITP/MSEX for media server thumbnails. |
| osc | bidirectional | OSC in and out. |
| midi | bidirectional | MIDI notes, MIDI timecode and MSC. |
| ltc | in | LTC input for timecode-driven sequences. |
| psn | in | PosiStageNet input for tracking-driven follow. |
Connectors
- 8x XLR5F DMX
- 2x etherCON
- MIDI in/out
- LTC in
- DVI outputs for external screens
- Audio in
What to watch for
MA-Net2 and MA-Net3 are different and do not interoperate. A grandMA2 and a grandMA3 cannot share a session; the grandMA3 runs a grandMA2 compatibility mode instead, on separate hardware or a separate boot.
Still everywhere in rental stock and on riders long after being superseded, so a "grandMA" request needs pinning down to a generation before the truck is loaded.
Sessions are the whole point and the whole risk: an accidental second session master on the same network is one of the classic ways a rig goes dark mid-show.
Sources
- MA Lighting — MA Lighting primary
Understand the mechanism
Something wrong, or missing?
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