Aphex 1788A Manual

R/c (remote control)

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Instruction manual (50 pages)

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Summary of Contents for Aphex 1788A

Page 1 1788A Instruction Manual to deal with remotely controlling the 1788A, use of the PC and Mac software, and use of the 1788A-R dedicated hardware remote control unit. Please be sure to maintain both manuals for reference.
Page 2: Table Of Contents
1.2 R/C INTERFACES — 3 3.6.4 AC Line Connection & Power — 28 1.3 CONCEPT OF BANKS & CONSTELLATIONS — 4 3.7 MORE ABOUT USING THE 1788A-R — 29 1.4 HARDWARE R/C — 5 3.7.1 Assigning A Bank — 29 1.5 COMPUTER R/C —...
Page 3: Overview Of R/C (Remote Control)
In the most basic scenario, a wide range of MIDI devices can be used to control one or more 1788A’s directly through the MIDI interface. For example, you could use a lighting or sound console to control the 1788A’s channel gains and other functions.
Page 4: Concept Of Banks & Constellations
Many applications call for more sophisticated remote control or control at greater distances than a MIDI port can handle. The Ethernet port is used to pipe UDP data between 1788A’s and dedicated hardware and computer-based control surfaces over a Local Area Network (LAN).
Page 5: Hardware R/C
A CONSTELLATION refers to the whole array of preamps attached to the same LAN. It may comprise only one 1788A or up to 128 of them. Preamps may be assigned NET numbers placing them in different banks even when any given bank is not filled. For example, you could have up to 16 preamps all within one bank, or assign them variously to as many as 8 banks.
Page 6: Combined R/C
PC remote software. Each 1788A contains its own memory dedicated to storing the current machine state. The last preset propagated is stored in the 1788A’s memory enabling it to wake up in its prior state should the preamp become powered down.
Page 7 Storing and recalling presets can be done only by remote control. Recalling presets can be done by indirect MIDI as well as by the 1788A-R and the PC software R/C. The extent of preset management depends on the form of R/C according to the table below.
Page 8: Wrap-Up
(the 1788A-R’s 60 bin snapshot memory). 1.8 WRAP-UP R/C of a single 1788A or a large constellation can be as simple or as sophisticated as you may want. Great flexibility is given in the extent and division of R/C positions. Preamps and R/C positions can be physically spaced over an Ethernet LAN.
Page 9: Using Midi
MIDI output port. If your 1788A constellation is the only thing on the controller’s output port, then you can take channel 1 for all 1788A’s and give them each a unique device number. The device numbers don’t need to be sequential or contiguous, but they need to be unique.
Page 10: Understanding Ch, Dev And Net Offsets
-1 from the numbers that are indicated on the 1788A’s front panel readout. For example, if the 1788A is set to Ch 01, Dev 02, and Net 003, the SysEx code would look like 00 01 02, not 01 02 03. This may be confusing at first, but you will find it quickly becomes easy to deal with.
Page 11: Connections
2.1.7 Controlling Multiple 1788A’s Additional units can be stacked by connecting the MIDI THRU to the next MIDI IN, and so- on. If the added 1788A’s are kept on the same MIDI channel, they must be given different MIDI device numbers.
Page 12: Broad Commands & Presets
You can also use this way to send a single fader or button to multiple mic channels of the same 1788A. The only limitation is that you can have only one MIDI channel and one device number per SysEx string. Therefore, this technique can create a preset or broad command for a single 1788A but not multiple 1788A’s.
Page 13: Indirect Midi Control
LAN, direct connection to the 1788A’s MIDI ports cannot be used. This is because only one R/C medium can be accepted by the 1788A at a time: LAN or MIDI. When LAN is selected, the 1788A’s MIDI port is disabled. However, we built MIDI capability into the 1788A-R hardware R/C unit to cover this situation.
Page 14: Hardware Hook-Up
2. Recall of one of the 60 presets that are stored in the 1788A-R’s memory. In case 1, you will send one SysEx packet from the MIDI controller. The 1788A-R will then redirect commands across the LAN according to Net Number within its Bank. Additional 1788A-R’s can be cascaded by using MIDI Thru looping to control more banks.
Page 15: Expanding The Sysex String
SysEx string. Any value may be used. The MIDI Channel is responded to normally. Refer to Section 3 to learn how to set up the MIDI Channel on the 1788A-R. 2.2.5 Daisy-Chained 1788A-R’s When you daisy-chain units by using the MIDI THRU ports, every unit will recognize the SysEx strings addressed to its MIDI channel.
Page 16: Multiple Midi Controllers
1788A-R(s). 2.4 CLONING 1788A’s Any 1788A can import the parameters and stored labels from another 1788A by cross- connecting their MIDI IN and MIDI OUT ports. This can be the easiest way to replace a defective unit in a bank (as long as the defective unit is not completely dead, naturally).
Page 17: Reference Data
R/C Manual 2. USING MIDI 2.5 REFERENCE DATA 2.5.1 Parametric Codes & Values 1788A Parametric MIDI Commands Command Control Value Range Input Gain 1Ah to 41h (26 to 65) Main Max Out 00h to 1Bh (0 to 27) Aux Max Out...
Page 18: Useful Conversion Tables
2.5.2 Useful Conversion Tables General Hexadecimal Conversion Table SysEx Channel & Device Translation Table 1788A True Hex -1 Hex -1 + C0 Used For Used For 1788A-R Parametric Preset Channel Value SysEx SysEx (or Device) Page 18...
Page 19: Midi Control Examples
2.5.3 MIDI Control Examples Example 1 Direct MIDI. 1788A Ch set to 01, Dev set to 01, Net set to 001. Set preamp gain to 45dB, mic channel 1 SysEx: F0 00 00 38 00 00 00 00 01 2D F7 Example 2 Direct MIDI.
Page 20 SysEx: CO 01 C1 02 C2 02 C3 04 C4 01 C5 06 C6 2A C7 3C Example 10 Direct MIDI. 4 1788A’s with MIDI Channels set to 01, Dev set to 01, 02, 03, and 04. Net set to 001 (this is not important). Looped through MIDI Thru jacks.
Page 21: R Hardware R/C Unit ("Hremote")
Key Features • One 1788A-R controls up to 16 1788A’s (one Network Bank) at a time. • Up to eight 1788A-R’s can be used to control up to 128 1788A’s in 8 Banks. • That means up to 1024 mic channels! •...
Page 22: Status Led's
Bank. It may also be necessary to do a wake-up upon any power-up of the 1788A- During wake-up, the Comm indicators will show activity with units that respond to handshaking. After handshake and during test, Status LED’s will temporarily appear yellow for all units present and responding.
Page 23: Test Tone Buttons
1788A. Provides similar primary and secondary functions. 1788A. 3.2.6 Test Tone Buttons These buttons serve the same purpose as those on a 1788A. You can put up a -20dB or 0dB tone on any channel of the unit that is selected. Putting Up a Test Tone While holding down either the -20dB or 0dB Tone button, press any Channel Select button.
Page 24: Control/Display Panel
Taking a snapshot is our vernacular for capturing a preset. Snapshots are of the whole Bank as it is defined at that moment. In other words, if only three 1788A’s are placed in the 1788A-R’s Bank, then only the three preamps will be snapped.
Page 25: Snapshots & Editing
Sent”. Mismatch Errors When you load (recall) a snapshot into the bank of 1788A’s, the 1788A-R will know if the bank has unit discrepancies and flash a yellow “Mismatch” alarm on any missing 1788A’s in the bank that were included in the snapshot, or any 1788A’s present that were not there when the snapshot was taken.
Page 26: Cloning 1788A-R's
There may come a time when you need to copy all the stored presets from one remote controller to another. We have provided a relatively easy way to do that through use of the MIDI ports in a manner similar to cloning 1788A’s (see Section 2.4). Synchronizing Procedure 1.
Page 27: Power Unit
3.5.2 Bank Selector Each 1788A-R is assigned to a bank of NET numbers by a switch located on the rear of the Power Unit. The switch position is indicated by an adjacent LED numeric readout.
Page 28: Ethernet Jack
1788A-R. 3.5.4 RJ-45 Ethernet Jack This is the exclusive portal for piping remote control to 1788A’s. It must be connected to a proper 10 or 100 Base-T LAN structure that has a DHCP server or router. Details of proper network construction are covered in Section 4 of this manual.
Page 29: More About Using The 1788A-R
Bank number. 3.7.2 Setting Up The MIDI Channel If you intend to use a MIDI controller with 1788A-R’s, then you need to set up their MIDI Channels. This is done by use of a secondary function of the Tone Buttons.
Page 30: Coexisting With A Software R/C
This is a good practice just to assure full synchronization of the constellation some time after all units have been powered up. NOTE: Avoid giving more than one 1788A the same NET number. It will cause network errors and unpredictable results.
Page 31: Building A Proper Network
LAN, they must have their DHCP Servers disabled. 4.4 CAT 5/6 WIRING A 1788A network likes to run clean. No error correction is used, although fault tolerance is built into the system. Anything less than Cat 5 cable is risking dropped commands.
Page 32: Suitable Hardware
Other than that, you should be able to mix and match network equipment for a successful network. NOTE: Passive Hubs don’t work at all with a 1788A LAN. Be sure to use only active (self powered) Hubs.
Page 33 Usually Acceptable Computer Computer DHCP Server/Router DHCP Server/Router Internet Internet Switch Connects Bank of 1788A's Switch Connects Bank of 1788A's Switch Connects Bank of 1788A's Switch Connects Bank of 1788A's 1788A-R's 1788A-R's Switch Connects Bank of 1788A's Switch Connects Bank of 1788A's...
Page 34: Software R/C
Place the Install Disk in the CDROM drive and wait for autorun to start. Follow the instructions that are given. 5.3 STARTING THE SOFTWARE Double-click the desktop icon to launch the 1788A program. As soon as it loads, you will see a screen like the one below. Figure 5-1. Start-Up Screen...
Page 35 15. Log-On Panel: Displays logged on preamps 3. Quit: Exits the program 16. On Line Count: Shows how many 1788A’s 4. Save: Opens the “Save” control panel are presently logged on 5. Load: Opens the “Load” control panel 17.
Page 36: Program Navigation
5.5 WAKING UP THE CONSTELLATION When a constellation of 1788A’s is powered up, the units automatically handshake with the DHCP Server. They receive their network IP numbers and stand ready to communicate. Once all units are ready, the software needs to ascertain what is on the network., and begin logging on all the units.
Page 37: Presets
R/C Manual 5. 1788A R/C SOFTWARE other state than when shut down. In that case, you will need to send out a different preset to realign the system. 5.7 PRESETS A great deal of what the software remote control comprises is a sophisticated manager for the creation and use of presets.
Page 38: Creating/Editing Presets
HRemote in play because our example has only one Bank in play. This will be typical of most installations where up to 16 1788A’s (128 mic channels) is more than adequate. Other potential HRemotes are marked with a red “OFF LINE” strike-out. Your screen will have as many HRemotes enabled as are present on the network.
Page 39 Preset label. Pressing the SET button will take a snapshot of all 1788A’s in the constellation including all labels that have been given. The snapshot will be stored in temporary memory along with the Preset’s given label.
Page 40: Blue Edit Button
Thumbs show a more limited amount of information, but they are miniature versions of the Preamp Control Panel above. When a thumb is selected by a mouse click, its 1788A will be transferred to the Controil Panel. Page 40...
Page 41: Thumbnail Actions
R/C Manual 5. 1788A R/C SOFTWARE Figure 5-9 shows the information that each square image displays about its associated 1788A. Figure 5-9. Thumbnail Contents Clip/Lim Lights Group Colors by Channel Unit Label Headroom Meters (Muted Chan. Blinks) NET Number Unit...
Page 42: Log
5.8.5 Log-On Pages There is space to show sixteen 1788A units on a single page of the Log-On Panel. This will typically be plenty of units to cover most applications. However, if more units exist in the constellation, they will spill over to additional pages. Additional pages can be viewed by using the left or right side scroll buttons.
Page 43: Group Controls
5.10 USING TEST TONES Test tones that are available on the 1788A’s can be activated from the Tone Flyout Panel. 5.10.1 Launching The Tone Flyout Clicking the TONE icon launches the panel as shown in Figure 5-11 below. Both 0dBFS and -20dBFS tones can be activated for each of the eight mic channels that presently occupy the Preamp Control Panel.
Page 44: Settings
NET No. 12 Why did we set the 1788A’s to be NET Numbers 11 and 12? We wanted to run in one Bank, so they could be any two numbers between 1 and 16. We chose 11 and 12 to demonstrate you don’t have to start with number 1.
Page 45 2. Click the “Send Wake-up To Preamps” button and the “Send Wake-up To Controllers” button. 3. Two thumbnails should appear to represent the 1788A’s. If out of order, drag the one with NO11 over the first position and drop it there. They should line up in numeric order at this point.
Page 46 Figure 5-16. Assigning Groups Left Click Top Button, Drag Down To Selection, Release Mouse Groups Show Up In Thumbs By Color Step 6: Add Labels 1. Add a Preamp Name Label by replacing the default text in the upper label window. 2.
Page 47 R/C Manual 5. 1788A R/C SOFTWARE will change to the same value. This demonstrates the difference between Absolute and Relative group gain control. 6. Deselect the Group A button. Now try changing functions and gain on a Group A mic channel. Only the touched channel will change and the group stays unaffected. This demonstrates that you need to select a group before you can do group actions.
Page 48: Software Wrap-Up
Summary We’ve taken you through the essential operation of the 1788A R/C Software. You should now be comfortable with how to operate the software, and create Presets and Sessions. 5.13 SOFTWARE WRAP-UP Software is always in a state of development. This manual can’t anticipate what variations or additions will appear in future versions, but we will attempt to maintain the essentials as they have been taught here.
Page 49 R/C Manual 5. 1788A R/C SOFTWARE Notes Page 49...
Page 50 Notes Page 50...

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1788a r/c

Aphex 1788A Manual

1 Overview of R/C (Remote Control)

2 Using MIDI

3 1788A-R Hardware R/C Unit (“Hremote”) -

4 Building a Proper Network

5 Software R/C

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