Mla Front Of House (Foh) Rack; Silex Usb To Ethernet Device Server - Martin Audio MLA MINI Advanced User's Manual

MLA MINI
ADVANCED USER GUIDE

MLA Front of House (FOH) Rack

This is a simple flightcased rack intended for location at the FOH position. A common problem
in larger venues is that while the wireless link to a laptop or tablet works satisfactorily when the
venue is empty, access may be severely compromised or even interrupted when it is full. The
MLA Master and FOH Racks both include a CopperLink Ethernet extension interface, which
permits hardwired connection over long distances (in excess of1 km). The CopperLink interface
uses a single twisted pair, i.e., a spare core in a multicore cable.
The FOH Rack also provides a connection point for a Wi-Fi antenna; this connects to the Ethernet
network via the Wi-Fi router in the Merlin Master Rack. By virtue of the venue-central FOH
position, this is the best location to make Wi-Fi connectivity as reliable as possible.
A laptop may be connected directly to the FOH Rack using a standard Cat 5 patchcord, thus
wireless connectivity can be avoided altogether if preferred. This may be particularly useful in
areas with high Wi-fi traffic, resulting in congestion which may impact on connectivity, or when
performing firmware updates – in fact, a cable connection is very highly recommended for this
procedure.

Silex USB to Ethernet Device Server

With smaller MLA Mini systems, it may not be cost-effective or appropriate to install one or more
Merlin units or Racks to implement U-Net control of the system, and it also may not be practical
to connect directly to the MSX unit via its USB port due to the 5 m maximum cable length that
USB operation imposes. In these cases, a simpler control method can be implemented by using
the Silex USB-to-Ethernet converter (Part No. ASF14013). This is a self-contained, physically
small unit which can be attached with Velcro or similar to a flown MSX sub. This connects to
the sub using a standard USB cable, and back to the laptop running Vu-Net via Ethernet. This
solution overcomes the 5 m single-cable USB limit.
A single Silex converter – to one MSX sub - is required for the whole system. Connections to the
remaining units can then be run as a U-Net network.
MLA Mini Advanced User Guide V1.0
PC to MSX via Silex Ethernet Convertor & USB
Ethernet (80m Maximum)
ETHERNET
USB (5m Maximum)
SILEX
USB to Ethernet
MINI
USB
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