Black Box BBR64-MADI User Manual
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Black Box BBR64-MADI User Manual

Black Box BBR64-MADI User Manual

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BLACKBOX RECORDER

BBR64-MADI &
BBRDante

User Manual

V 2.2 rev 0
Date: July 2011
Congratulations on your purchase of the JoeCo BlackBox Recorder. This document
will lead you through the basics of how to set up and use the product. The BlackBox
Recorder (BBR) has been designed to be as simple as possible to set up and operate.
Consequently you will find that this user manual is not a long document and can be
read from cover to cover in a short while. However, we strongly recommend that you
do read it just in case there are some aspects of the product that are not immediately
obvious.
This manual covers the following variants of the BlackBox Recorder: BBR64-MADI and
BBR-DANTE and should be read in conjunction with the Quick Start guide.
More information is available in the LOGIN area of the JoeCo Website
www.joeco.co.uk
. Visitors can gain immediate access to more detailed information
whilst EndUsers once approved are eligible for software upgrades and other
downloads.
If you need information in a hurry register as a Visitor and upgrade to an EndUser
later on.
© JoeCo Limited 2009, 2010, 2011. E&OE. All rights reserved. All trademarks and
names are recognised as the property of their respective owners
BLACKBOX BBR64MADI & BBR DANTE RECORDER - User Manual v2.2
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Summary of Contents for Black Box BBR64-MADI

  • Page 1: Blackbox Recorder

    This manual covers the following variants of the BlackBox Recorder: BBR64-MADI and BBR-DANTE and should be read in conjunction with the Quick Start guide.

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    Contents BLACKBOX RECORDER ....................1 BBR64-MADI & BBRDante ................... 1 Important Safety Information .................. 3 WARNING - Read the following before proceeding : ........... 3 Copyright Warning ....................4 Opening the box ....................... 5 Box Contents ......................5 Controls and interfaces .................... 6 Front Panel ......................

  • Page 3: Important Safety Information

    Important Safety Information WARNING - Read the following before proceeding : Read instructions: Retain these safety and operating instructions for future reference. Adhere to all warnings printed here and on the equipment. Follow the operating instructions printed in this User Guide. Do not remove covers: Operate the equipment with its covers correctly fitted.

  • Page 4: Copyright Warning

    Damage: To prevent damage to the equipment cosmetics, avoid placing heavy objects on the unit, scratching the surface with sharp objects, or subjecting the unit to rough handling and vibration. Transporting: The equipment should be transported in the original packing or purpose built flight case to protect it from damage during transit.

  • Page 5: Opening The Box

    Opening the box Box Contents Inside the box you will find the following: BlackBox Recorder Power Supply User Manual Quick Start Guide The BlackBox Recorder is not a standard multitrack recorder nor is it a digital audio workstation (DAW). It has been designed specifically for Live applications and will not necessarily be appropriate for use in a studio situation.

  • Page 6: Controls And Interfaces

    The front panel of the BlackBox Recorder contains all the user controls for the unit. The buttons are all touch sensitive which prevents them wearing out through constant use – just place the flat of your finger on the button to operate. BBR64-MADI Control buttons Data Channel Status and...

  • Page 7: Rear Panel

    Finally, at the right hand side of the front panel is the colour LCD display. Rear Panel The rear panels of the BBR64-MADI and BBR-DANTE BlackBox Recorders are as follows: The areas indicated in the diagram below are explained in more detail later in this manual.
  • Page 8 The power connector is a 4pin mini XLR connector. Linear Timecode (LTC) and MIDI Timecode (MTC) can be used to time stamp recordings. Remote Control can be via Sony PII protocol (9-pin), MIDI Machine Control (MMC), Qwerty Keyboard or a simple contact closure. DANTE Ethernet BBR-DANTE...

  • Page 9: Installation

    When recording MADI, your choice of coaxial or optical SC cables will most likely be dictated by the console. The BBR64-MADI provides for both types so it’s easy to plug in. Make sure you wire the console’s output to the BBR’s input and vice versa.

  • Page 10: Deciding On A Disk Drive

    On a BBR64-MADI, these additional 8 analogue inputs are only available when the MADI input is set to receive 56-channel (legacy) MADI signals.

  • Page 11: Connecting A Disk Drive

    work but all the ones we’ve tried so far have done. The only criteria that you need to follow are: Up to 2TB with USB2 interface 7200rpm or 10,000rpm recommended Formatted with FAT32 Filing System USB2 can carry up to 480Mbits/s of data and for recording 64 tracks of 48kHz/24bit the maximum data rate we need is around 80MBits/s so there’s normally plenty of headroom.

  • Page 12: Power Connection

    formatted correctly. The BlackBox can be used to reformat the drive to FAT32 (see page 29) Power connection The BlackBox Recorder is supplied with its own power supply which plugs into the dc inlet at the rear right of the unit (or left if you’re looking at the rear as you read this).

  • Page 13: Normal Operation

    Normal operation Whenever you power up the BBR it first checks the date against its internal real-time clock. If it’s the first time the BBR has been powered up today, it will create a folder on the drive named \YYYY-MM-DD.bbr and make this the current folder where YYYY is the year, MM is the month and DD is the date.

  • Page 14: Playback

    At the end of a recording the BBR will have to do some housekeeping such as writing file headers to the disk to keep it in prime condition. The DISK LED and STOP button will flash until the BBR has finished writing to the disk. Please wait until it has finished before starting the next operation.

  • Page 15: File Names

    If the BBR is set to “PLAYBACK LOCKOUT” and you want to disable it temporarily to perform a Virtual Sound Check, press the MENU button to enter the MENU and PLAYBACK LOCKOUT is the first item on the list. Press MENU again and it will remove the tick () mark against PLAYBACK LOCKOUT.
  • Page 16 The track number is not shown on the main BBR user interface screen. However, the track number is determines which file appears on which output and is therefore vital for replaying songs and post production. Renaming Songs If you plug a keyboard into the BBR you can rename Songs to help find them later on the BBR or in post production on a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW).

  • Page 17: Renaming Tracks

    Renaming tracks To rename a track: use “Ctrl+<digit><digit>T” on the keyboard (where <digit><digit> is a number between 01 and 64 to select which track you want to name) then type in the name that you want. The BBR will accept the same characters as for Song Names, above.

  • Page 18: Virtual Sound Checking

    001-01.Herringbone-Bass.WAV 001-02.Herringbone-Kick.WAV 001-03.Herringbone-Snare.WAV 001-64.Herringbone-Daphne Nose Flute mic.WAV The next Song might contain files named as follows: 002-01.Haddock Marsala-Bass.WAV 002-02.Haddock Marsala-Kick.WAV 002-03.Haddock Marsala-Snare.WAV 002-64.Haddock Marsala-Daphne Nose Flute mic.WAV But it would name all the other tracks automatically. It is completely optional whether you rename Songs or Tracks. The BBR does not require you to do it;...

  • Page 19: Monitoring

    There will be a short break in Playback while the BlackBox loops back to the earlier Marker (i.e. it does not create a continuous loop). If, however, there are no later Markers pressing the LOOP button will create a Loop between the last Marker and the current playback position. LOOP mode will remain active until you press LOOP again.

  • Page 20: Summary Of Combined Controls In Main Screen

    The headphone output is routed through an automatic gain control so that quiet signals can be as easily heard during the concert as louder ones. This does not affect the recording at all. The amount of automatic gain in the headphone signal chain is adjustable in the Setup Menu (up to 40dB of gain) and the current gain added is indicated by yellow dots on the gain display.

  • Page 21: Menu Structure And Operation

    Once you have adjusted and confirmed the setting or parameter that you want to change, use the BACK button to exit the menu and get back to the normal main screen display. On the whole it’s pretty obvious so try it. Menu Structure and operation To enter the menu, press the MENU button in the Control section of the front panel.
  • Page 22 Arm ticked: Arms the tracks (listed below) that have a tick “” (sometimes called a “check mark”) beside them. 1...64: the tracks which can be ticked or unticked using the MENU button and then Armed using the Arm Ticked menu item above. Track names (if used) are displayed here also.
  • Page 23 the clock from the incoming MADI data stream. Once these two items are correctly selected, the input status bar displays whether there are errors or clock slippage. The input status display is also echoed at the top of the main screen if an error or any digital slippage occurs.
  • Page 24 It is very important that you understand why digital clocking is important, if you don’t know already, especially if the concert is being filmed or videoed at the same time. Please spend some time talking to people further down the post production process to find out what they would like or recommend, or consult our FAQs on the JoeCo website.
  • Page 25 controller. The BBR can also respond to Sony 9-pin Machine Control (also known as SONY PII) protocol commands for transport controls and track arming/disarming. The ring of the LTC/F.sw TRS jack socket can accept a momentary footswitch which will emulate pressing the record button (starting a new recording or marking a new song).
  • Page 26 Line-In Mon: This adjusts how the unit monitors the Line-In signals on all channels. The options are: E-E (via DSP) where signals are routed all the way through the system, MADI thru where the input is echoed to the output at the source, and Off where the input audio is turned off (useful for playback applications).
  • Page 27 Display Song TC on Play This setting changes the main on-screen time display. When ticked, the main display shows the incoming timecode or the timecode embedded in the playback file rather than the length of the recording or where the BBR is in the Playback of this file.
  • Page 28 Name Manage... The Name Manager menu allows you to set up the optional naming conventions that you want to use. Naming songs and tracks is not mandatory but it can help a lot during the post production process. It is possible to name Songs and tracks using the menu buttons and data wheel but you’ll find it much quicker using a standard 102 key PS2 keyboard.

  • Page 29: Disk Manage

    Disk Manage... This allows you to set up certain parameters regarding how you use the disk. It also allows you to format a USB2 disk drive for use with the BlackBox Recorder and with any Mac or PC based workstation. Maximum File Size: Certain popular Digital Audio Workstations are a little fussy about playing back very long files.

  • Page 30: Software Updates

    Write Protect Disk: This allows you to stop the BlackBox MADI Recorder writing any data to the disk at all. It will not prevent other computers overwriting the disk if you plug the drive into them. It is mainly used for Playback applications. Software updates It should be noted that JoeCo may release software upgrades from time to time, either to add features or to cure bugs that have been found in the...
  • Page 31 formatted with FAT16 which will not work). The file must be called “update.bbr” or “update vxxxxxx.bbr” (where xxxxxx indicates the version number) and it must be placed in the Root folder of the disk. Note some web browsers append numbers after the file name if you download the same file more than once and these will not work until renamed as above.

  • Page 32: Linking Multiple Blackbox Recorders Together

    WILL HAVE TO BE RETURNED TO THE FACTORY AT YOUR EXPENSE FOR REPAIR. Licence... This allows you to licence certain chargeable options more details of which are available on the JoeCo website. You will need to advise JoeCo of the machine key along with your payment details before JoeCo can enable any optional software.
  • Page 33 Using an AES/EBU Distribution Amplifier Master Ext Clk Out feeds Distribution Amplifier input Distribution Amplifier feeds Ext Clk In on all slave units Daisy Chaining Units Master Ext Clk Out feeds Slave1 Ext Clk In Slave1 Ext Clk Out feeds Slave2 Ext Clk In Slave2 Ext Clk Out feeds...

  • Page 34: Safe'n'sound Record Recovery

    Master/Slave Recording Any slave units will go into record as soon as their respective disk is ready, so they may not start together and their time displays may not appear to be perfectly in sync. However, all the files recorded will have an accurate time- stamp and so will be in sync when imported into a DAW.

  • Page 35: Using A Ps2 Keyboard

    As a background task the BlackBox Recorder also scans the disk to calculate the remaining disk space and to find where the first free space is located on the disk. When it has found this information and correctly updated the drive it places a tick (check mark) beside the remaining disk time.

  • Page 36: Troubleshooting

    Keyboard transport controls These are the numeric keypad keys (not the character keys) Enter PLAY Del/. STOP Ins/0 STOP AND RETURN TO ZERO RECORD MOVE TO NEXT CUE POINT MOVE TO PREVIOUS CUE POINT Keyboard navigation These are the cursor keys (not keypad) Right arrow ...
  • Page 37 Problem Things to try No display on LCD screen Check power supply as above Reboot (turn power off, wait 10 seconds and turn power back on again) BBR not responding to Check if disk activity light is operating continuously controls for more than a few seconds.

  • Page 38: Summary Of Alert Messages

    If the above list does not solve the problem you are having, please contact your dealer in the first instance and then your local distributor to help you resolve the issues. Summary Of Alert Messages "Hold STOP button to stop" displayed when STOP is pressed "PLAYBACK LOCKED OUT"...
  • Page 39 "REMOTE CONTROLLED" displayed when in remote control or slave mode, and a disabled operation is attempted "PLAY OUT OF RANGE" when in remote control or slave mode, PLAYBACK is attempted outside the time-code limits of the selected Song “DIGITAL INPUT MISSING” A source of digital audio is not correctly plugged in or has vanished “DIGITAL SLIP”...

  • Page 40: Joeco Conditions Of Use

    JoeCo Conditions of Use IMPORTANT: BY USING THIS PRODUCT YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTOOD AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE CONDITIONS OF USE AND THE TERMS OF THE JOECO SOFTWARE LICENCE AGREEMENT. JOECO’S SOFTWARE LICENCE AGREEMENT IS SET OUT IN THE USER MANUAL AND MAY ALSO BE FOUND ON THE JOECO WEBSITE AT WWW.JOECO.CO.UK PLEASE READ THESE CONDITIONS OF USE (THE "CONDITIONS") CAREFULLY BEFORE USING YOUR JOECO PRODUCT.
  • Page 41 1. Risk and Limitations of Product Use You, the User, expressly acknowledge and agree that: To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, use of the JoeCo Software is at your sole risk and that the entire risk as to satisfactory quality, performance and accuracy is with you. You have evaluated the Product and accepted the suitability for your application.

  • Page 42: Software Licence Agreement

    Software Licence Agreement JOECO LIMITED SOFTWARE LICENCE AGREEMENT USER LICENCE IMPORTANT: BY USING THIS PRODUCT YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTOOD AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS SOFTWARE LICENCE AGREEMENT AND THE JOECO CONDITIONS OF USE. JOECO’S CONDITIONS OF USE ARE SET OUT IN THE USER MANUAL AND MAY WWW.JOECO.CO.UK ALSO BE FOUND ON THE JOECO WEBSITE AT...
  • Page 43 Hardware: The tangible elements of the Product Software: The operating software of the Product (whether in read only memory, on any other media or in any other form) supplied by JoeCo whether installed at the factory or subsequently upgraded by yourself, an authorised JoeCo distributor or reseller, or any other individual or organisation.
  • Page 44 application To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, JoeCo hereby disclaims all warranties and conditions with respect to the Software and any services performed by use of the Software, either express, implied or statutory, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties and/or conditions of merchantability, satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, non-infringement of third party rights or other implied warranties or conditions.

  • Page 45: Warranty Information

    9. Severability If any provision of this Licence is found void, invalid or unenforceable, it will not affect the validity of the balance of the Licence, which shall remain valid and enforceable according to its terms. In the event any remedy hereunder is determined to have failed of its essential purpose, all limitations of liability and exclusion of damages set forth herein shall remain in full force and effect.
  • Page 46 starts from the date of delivery from the JoeCo distributor or reseller to the purchaser is extended to the minimum level required by law in those countries or states in which such extension is required by legislation applies to a repaired or replacement Product until the end of the period of the original Warranty or thirty days from the date of dispatch of the repaired or replaced Product, whichever is the longer.

  • Page 47: Product Returns

    4. Product Changes and Improvements JoeCo reserves the right to change or improve the design of its products at any time without prior notice. 5. Force Majeure JoeCo will not be liable or responsible for any failure to perform, or delay in performance of, any of its obligations under this Warranty that are caused by an event outside of its reasonable control.

  • Page 48: Product And End User Registration

    Any Product which is returned to JoeCo or to one of its distributors or resellers without authorisation, i.e. one for which an RMA number has not been issued by JoeCo, will be returned to the purchaser at the purchaser’s expense. After the RMA number is obtained, the Product should be shipped to the address provided by JoeCo in protective packaging (the original packaging if possible) with a note giving the reason for the return.

This manual is also suitable for:

Bbrdante

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