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MC2 Audio Ti Series Operator's Manual

Breakouts
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2
MC
AUDIO Ltd.,
Units 6-8 Kingsgate,
Heathpark Industrial Estate,
HONITON,
Devon EX14 1YG
England
Tel: ++(0)1404.44633
Fax: ++(0)1404.44660
www.mc2-audio.co.uk
2
© MC Audio Ltd 2009
Waring Hayes 07/09
If you have any comments or suggestions about this manual, please
2
contact MC at the address above, or email waring@xta.co.uk

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  • Page 1 AUDIO Ltd., Units 6-8 Kingsgate, Heathpark Industrial Estate, HONITON, Devon EX14 1YG England Tel: ++(0)1404.44633 Fax: ++(0)1404.44660 www.mc2-audio.co.uk © MC Audio Ltd 2009 Waring Hayes 07/09 If you have any comments or suggestions about this manual, please contact MC at the address above, or email waring@xta.co.uk...
  • Page 2 Page 2 Breakout Operator’s Manual...

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Contents Important Safety Information................5 Thanks ..........................6 Unpacking the unit....................6 Introduction........................7 Installation........................8 Operation........................9 Front Panel Indicators..................10 1: Power On Indicator............................10 2: Network Indicators ............................10 3: RS485 Comms Indicators .......................... 10 4: Network Type Badge ............................. 10 Rear Panel Controls, Connections and Indicators........11 1: Mains Power Inlet and Power Switch......................11 2: RS485 Local Comms Connection ......................11 3: Power Fail Audio Input.............................11...
  • Page 4 Remote Control and Monitoring ..............14 Overview ............................14 Remote Control On-line via a Computer with ICORE ........14 Introduction to ICORE – a crash course (not literally)........17 Going on-line for the first time .........................17 Layout of the Main Window..........................19 Breakout “Front Panel”...

  • Page 5: Important Safety Information

    An example of this equipment has been tested and found to comply with the following European and international Standards for Electromagnetic Compatibility and Electrical Safety: Radiated Emissions (EU): EN55013-1 (1996) RF Immunity (EU): EN55103-2 (1996) RF Immunity, ESD, Burst Transient, Surge, Dips &...

  • Page 6: Thanks

    Thanks Ti Series Thank you for choosing an MC Breakout box for your application. Please spend a little time reading through this manual, so that you obtain the best possible performance from the unit. All MC products are carefully designed and engineered for cutting-edge performance and world-class reliability.

  • Page 7: Introduction

    Introduction Ti Series Your Breakout box is a multi-channel analogue output device, designed to work with the most popular network audio protocols, and offers 8 or 16 channels of high performance audio outputs. Additionally, the unit may be connected to a computer through ICORE, the...

  • Page 8: Installation

    Installation Electrical Considerations The Breakout box has been manufactured to comply with your local power supply requirements but, before connecting the unit to the supply, ensure that the voltage (printed on the rear panel) is correct, and that a mains fuse of the correct type and rating has been fitted.

  • Page 9: Operation

    Operation Read all documentation before operating your equipment and retain all documentation for future reference. Do not spill water or other liquids into or on the unit and do not operate the unit while standing in liquid. Do not block fan intake or operate the unit in an environment that could impede the free flow of air around the unit.

  • Page 10: Front Panel Indicators

    Front Panel Indicators ICORE NETWORK POWER RS485 S\U LINK ACTIVE MULTICHANNEL NETWORK OUTPUT 1: Power On Indicator This illuminates shortly after power up, following the system checks, and shows that the network card is present and functioning correctly. One flash at start-up means 48kHz sample rate, two flashes means 96kHz.

  • Page 11: Rear Panel Controls, Connections And Indicators

    – see page 42 for details. 2: RS485 Local Comms Connection The connection of other Ti Series units (amplifiers and Breakout boxes) is only for local units – other components that are located on different parts of the network will have their comms “tunnelled”...

  • Page 12: 5: Network Transport Connections

    5: Network Transport Connections Depending on the chosen audio network there will be either two (Dante or Cobranet) or three (Ethersound) connectors available to connect up to the Ethernet based network. Please see the appendices starting on page 37 for information on your chosen network.

  • Page 13: Getting Audio Out Of The Box, Out Of The Box

    Getting Audio Out of the Box, Out of the Box… Connect XLR or Phoenix terminated cables to the outputs as appropriate and plug in the power. Connect an appropriate network cable to the network card and connect to a network. After power-up, the Network “Link”...

  • Page 14: Remote Control And Monitoring

    Remote Control and Monitoring Overview Ti Series There are several methods of remote control available to the Breakouts, allowing for various levels of system complexity. These may be thought of as: Remote Monitoring and Control On-line via RS485 and a PC with ICORE •...
  • Page 15 – the baud rate is preset and all amplifiers contain a serial number chip with a unique ID, which is used to set the comms ID. ICORE searches for all connected devices automatically. Once connected and all devices have been Ti Series found, it will continuously monitor any connected amplifiers.
  • Page 16 In addition to the real time monitoring and control, many properties of the connected devices can be selected through the software. It is also used to update the firmware in all connected devices and will issue warnings if the firmware is not up to date. The next section deals with the basics of actually getting ICORE running and how it all works.

  • Page 17: Introduction To Icore - A Crash Course (Not Literally)

    Introduction to ICORE – a crash course (not literally) Going on-line for the first time Having physically connected all devices to the computer through a suitable RS485 converter, and installed the software successfully, we now need to check the virtual COM port that the converter is using so we can match this with the COM port in ICORE.
  • Page 18 Expand the window to fill your screen and then, from the menus, choose Tools Options, and select the Comms tab. Make sure the COM port number selected from the drop down list matches the one discovered earlier. The baud rate must remain at 57600 to ensure compatibility with all connected...

  • Page 19: Layout Of The Main Window

    None the less, the entire process will take approximately 90 seconds to complete. As the search continues, the device view should begin to fill up with connected units. When complete, depending on what’s connected of course, there should now be a “rack” of devices like this: Device View Window Properties Window Virtual rack shows all connected...
  • Page 20 In the example on the last page, all devices are off-line, as shown by the red indicator on each unit in the Device View and the System Monitor view. When connected and on-line, the indicators will be green. A yellow flashing indicator means there is a problem –...
  • Page 21 Reorganising the Main Window To move inner windows about, pick them up by their title bar: Pick window up by the title bar and begin to drag... For example, to move the properties window and re-dock it, pick up the properties window by its title bar and begin to drag it.
  • Page 22 of the main window, and either fully across this window, or bracketed by the device view and/or properties window. The device view and properties windows can be combined into a single tabbed window by picking either up and dragging it directly onto the other window where a new anchor will appear.
  • Page 23 Auto-hiding Windows All inner windows can be set to “auto-hide”, so they disappear into the edge of the main window when not required to maximise available screen area, but make them quickly available if necessary. Remember, if any windows have been closed they can be reinstated through the menu View Toolbars and Docking Windows.
  • Page 24 Zoning Devices The zones shown in the Device View and System Monitor windows allow groups of devices to be logically arranged to reflect their physical locations more accurately than just one large list of units. The example below has different amplifiers (and Breakout boxes) split into two zones, and the units re-ordered to make it easier to locate them on screen.

  • Page 25: Breakout "Front Panel" Controls, Readouts And Indicators

    Breakout “Front Panel” Controls, Readouts and Indicators Double click a Breakout box in the device window to show the front panel. It is laid out as shown above – an 8 channel device is shown above, but the 16 channel is the same, except for twice as many controls! When on-line, the bottom “vent”...

  • Page 26: Remote Monitoring And Control On-Line Via Rs485/Ethernet

    Breakout boxes and network tunnelling to extend the reach of the RS485 network to each of the connected “nodes”. Each node consists of a Breakout box Ti Series and a group of amplifiers. The network connection arrives at the Breakout box and the selected channels are converted into analogue audio and fed to their respective amplifier channels.
  • Page 27 Installation system with several remotely located amplifier racks and a local rack directly connected to the PC via RS485.
  • Page 28 Examining the system further, it can be seen that each “Remote Location” has its own Breakout box to not only provide the audio signals for the amplifier(s) but to connect via the RS485 “Local” output to the amplifiers. As this output is a regenerated signal, the maximum cable length is again 1000 metres –...

  • Page 29: Remote Monitoring Off-Line With A Breakout Box

    Remote Monitoring Off-line with a Breakout Box Ti Series By using a Breakout box, the system can be monitored for any fault conditions using the same connections as for full on-line remote monitoring, but with the advantage that a PC doesn’t have to remain on and running ICORE at all times.
  • Page 30 Selecting “Pulsed” or “Latched” mode for the Network Master Before going off-line and switching the chosen Breakout into “Network Master”, it’s necessary to choose the mode of operation, which affects how the GPI lines respond in the event of an error being detected. This is achieved by changing the device “GPIO Config.”...

  • Page 31: The Gpi Port

    The GPI Port Overview The GPI port on the rear panel of the Breakout box is used to put any one device on the network into “Master Mode” and also provides inputs and outputs used to control and signal the other devices connected. The pin-out of the port is: Pin Number Description...

  • Page 32: Setting A Breakout Box To "Network Master

    Setting a Breakout box to “Network Master” The GPI port on the rear panel of the Breakout box is used to put any one device on the network into “Master Mode” and also provides inputs and outputs used to control and signal the other equipment connected to this port. GROUND (0V) NETWORK MASTER MODE LOAD ERROR...

  • Page 33: Network Master" Pulsed Mode

    “Network Master” Pulsed Mode If the Breakout box is powered up as “Network Master” and is in Pulsed Mode, the two outer LEDs will flash 9 times during boot-up. Operation of the GPI port in this mode is as follows: The "Pulsed Mode”...

  • Page 34: Additional Functions Of The Gpi Port - Mute And Standby

    System Operation in “Network Master” mode Once the Breakout box has booted up, it will begin sequentially scanning and interrogating all the units stored in its address list. This will be evident by the RS485 RX and TX LEDs starting to flash on the front panel, and each device on the network briefly flashing its COMMS LED (on amplifiers) or its RX/TX LEDs (Breakout boxes) in sequence.

  • Page 35: Switching Between 48Khz And 96Khz

    Switching Between 48kHz and 96kHz It is possible to run all three currently supported networks at either 48kHz or 96kHz sample rates, the Breakout box can be switched to receive either sample rate. This is achieved by pressing and holding the Identify button on the rear panel, once the unit has booted up and is passing audio.

  • Page 36: Resetting The Breakout Box To Factory Defaults

    Resetting the Breakout box to Factory Defaults If for any reason you need to set the unit back to its factory default settings, it is performed as part of the start-up procedure using the “Identify” button on the rear panel. Power the unit up and, after one second, hold in the “Identify”...

  • Page 37: Appendix I: Updating Device Firmware

    Appendix I: Updating Device Firmware Overview The firmware that runs the Breakout box hardware and controls the remote comms may be updated via the RS485 network using the loader engine built into ICORE. Before explaining how to update the firmware, please note that ONLY ONE AMPLIFIER/BREAKOUT BOX MAY BE UPDATED AT A TIME –...
  • Page 38 The loader will start scanning for all connected devices to determine what unit it has to update. After a few seconds the device will be found and identified (its Power LED will begin to flash). Check the model number, which will be shown in the status pane and if OK, press the “Load”...

  • Page 39: Recovery Update Procedure

    Recovery Update Procedure If there was a problem during the update procedure, or ICORE is not available, it is possible to update the Breakout box in “boot-load” mode using a basic terminal program, provided a copy of the firmware is available. We recommend using HyperTerminal, which is always built into Windows .
  • Page 40 It should now be possible to connect to the device to begin the boot-load procedure. ONLY ONE AMPLIFIER/BREAKOUT BOX MAY BE UPDATED AT A TIME – TURN OFF ALL OTHER CONNECTED UNITS DURING THE UPDATE PROCEDURE! To force the Breakout box into “boot-load” mode, press the “Identify” button on the rear panel and hold it in whilst turning the unit on.
  • Page 41 Pressing “Open” when the file has been located will start the load procedure immediately. The RX and TX LEDs on the unit will begin to flash quickly. The load will take under 90 seconds. When complete the HyperTerminal window will show and pressing any key will reboot the unit.

  • Page 42: Appendix Ii: Maintenance

    Appendix II: Maintenance The Breakout box will require little in the way of routine maintenance, apart from occasional routine checking of the fan outlets on the side panel. Cleaning the casework should only be done with a cloth lightly dampened with water only.

  • Page 43: Index

    Index Breakout Box Monitor ....... 32 iCore Auto-hiding Windows ..... 26 Breakout Properties....... 29 Front Panels ......... 28 Main Window ........ 21 Check COM Port ....... 17 Moving Windows ......24 Set COM port........ 19 Zoning Devices ......27 Initial Setup ........13 Installation Default Settings ......13, 39 Electrical ........8...
  • Page 44 Update Firmware ......40 USB to RS485 Converter....14 USB-485 wiring ........ 15 Safety Information ......5 Set Sample Rate ......38 Specifications........46 Swap Between 48k and 96k ....38 Windows System Properties ....17 Unpacking ........... Update Failure........43 Page 44 Breakout Operator’s Manual...

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