At some point, you're going to connect a stage box to your Behringer WING, or maybe add a second console for monitors. And when you do, there are two settings that can make or break the entire system: Clock Rate and Sync Source.
Get them wrong, and you'll have no audio, no preamp control, or random pops and clicks that drive you crazy. Get them right, and everything just works.
Let me explain what these settings actually do, then show you exactly how to configure them.
Why Clock Matters
Every digital audio device samples audio a certain number of times per second. On the WING, you have two options: 48 kHz or 44.1 kHz. I recommend 48 kHz for live sound. It gives you lower latency, higher frequency capture, and is the standard for video and broadcast.
But here's the critical part: when you connect multiple digital devices together, they all need to sample audio at exactly the same time. If one device is sampling at a slightly different rate than another, even by a tiny amount, you'll get audio problems.
Think of it like a metronome for a band. Everyone needs to follow the same tempo. If each musician follows their own metronome, even if they're all set to 120 BPM, tiny variations will cause the performance to fall apart.
In a digital audio network, one device is the primary (it generates the clock signal), and all other devices are secondary (they receive and follow that clock signal).
That's what Sync Source controls: which device everyone else is listening to.
Setup 1: WING + S32 Stage Box
This is the most common setup. The WING is your primary, and the S32 automatically follows.
Connections:
WING AES50 Port A ↔ S32 AES50 Port A
WING Settings:
Sync Source: Internal
Clock Rate: 48 kHz
Behringer WING with a Behringer S32 stage box
That's it. The S32 automatically slaves to whatever console it's connected to on AES50 A—there's nothing to configure on the stage box side.
Setup 2: Two WINGs + S32 (Monitor + FOH)
For larger productions with a dedicated monitor engineer, you might have two WINGs sharing a single S32: one at monitor position and one at front of house.
In this setup, the monitor WING is typically primary because it's closest to the stage and directly connected to the stage box. The FOH WING receives audio via AES50 B.
Connections:
WING-MON AES50 Port A ↔ S32 AES50 Port A
WING-MON AES50 Port B ↔ WING-FOH AES50 Port A
WING-MON (Monitor Console) Settings:
Sync Source: Internal
Clock Rate: 48 kHz
WING-FOH (Front of House Console) Settings:
Sync Source: AES50 A
Clock Rate: 48 kHz
Two Behringer WING consoles sharing a Behringer S32 stage box
Important routing note: The monitor WING controls the preamp gain and phantom power for the S32. You'll need to duplicate the S32 inputs to AES50 B in your routing so that WING-FOH receives all the inputs.
Monitor position WING routing the S32 inputs to AES50 B for the FOH console
What Happens When Sync Is Wrong?
If your sync settings are incorrect, you'll know pretty quickly:
No preamp control over your stage box
No audio coming from your inputs
Audio dropouts, pops, and clicks
Devices appear connected but don't pass audio
The good news is that fixing sync issues is usually straightforward once you understand which device should be primary.
Adding AES50 to your setup?
I go deeper on this in the full blog post, including WING + X32 configurations and how to set up the WING on a Dante network with other consoles.
Until next time,
Drew
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