Axel Oxygen 4 User manual

Oxygen 4
Digital
pag. 1

PRODUCT SAFETY
PRODUCT SAFETY
PRODUCT SAFETY
This product is manufactured with the highest standards and is double-checked in our quality control
department for reliability in the "HIGH VOLTAGE" section.
CAUTION
Never remove any panels, or open this equipment. No user service-able parts inside.
Equipment power supply must be grounded at all times.
Only use this product as described, in user manual or brochure.
Do not operate this equipment in high humidity or expose it to water or other liquids.
Check the AC power supply cable to assure secure contact.
Have your equipment checked yearly by a qualified dealer service center.
Hazardous electrical shock can be avoided by carefully following the above rules.
EXTRA CAUTION FOR LIVE MIC RECORDING
Ground all equipment using the ground pin in the AC power supply cable. Never remove this pin.
Ground loops should be eliminated only by use of isolation transformers for all inputs and outputs
(optional).
Replace any blown fuse with the same type and rating only after equipment has been disconnected
from AC power. If problem persists, return equipment to a qualified service technician.
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION
Especially in sound equipment the following information is essential to know.
An electrical shock is caused by voltage and current, actually it is the current that causes the shock.
In practice the higher the voltage the higher the current will be and the higher the shock.
But there is another thing to consider and it is resistance. When the resistance in Ohms is high
between two poles, the current will be low and vice versa.
All three of these; voltage, current and resistance are important in determining the effect of an
electrical shock.
However, the severity of a shock is primarily determined by the amount of current flowing through a
person.
A person can feel a shock because the muscles in a body respond to electrical current and because
the heart is also a muscle it can be affected when the current is high enough. Current can also cause
the chest muscles to contract, which affects your breathing.
At what level is current dangerous?
Well the first feeling of current is a tingle at 0.001 Amp of current. The current between 0.1 Amp
and 0.2 Amp is fatal.
Imagine that your home fuses of 20 Amp can handle 200 times more current than is necessary to kill.
How does resistance affect the shock a person feels. A typical resistance between one hand to the
other in "dry" condition could well over 100,000 Ohm.
Always earth all your equipment by the grounding pin in your main plug.
Proper wiring and isolation input/output transformers (optional) should only cure Hum loops.
Oxygen 4 Digital

PRODUCT SAFETY
Replace fuses always with the same type and rating after the equipment has been turned off and
unplugged.
If the fuse blows again you have an equipment failure, do not use it again and return it to your dealer
for repair.
And last but not least be careful not to touch a person being shocked as you, yourself could also be
shocked. Once removed from the shock, have someone send for medical help immediately
Always keep the above-mentioned information
in mind when using electrically powered
equipment.
Software version: Oxy4DGT V1.0.0.5 - 18 Jun 2004
Manual version: V1.2 - 29 Jul 2009

Dear Customer,
Thank you for choosing the Oxygen 4 Digital Mixing console.
The Oxygen 4 Digital is designed by specialists in the field of radio broadcast and designed to be used
as a digital desktop mixer.
The entire Axel Technology team is responsible for the design of the Oxygen 4 Digital.
They always value suggestions from you once you have become familiar with your console.
We will certainly learn from your comments, and we will very much appreciate the effort and time it will
take for you to communicate your idea’s and suggestions.
We are confident that you will be using the Oxygen 4 Digital for many years to come, and wish you a
lot of success.
With kind regards,
Mr Giuseppe Vaccari
Axel Technology
Via Caduti di Sabiuno 6/F
40011 Anzola dell’Emilia
ITALY
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Website: http://www.axeltechnology.it
E-mail: [e-mail]
pag. 4

Contents
1INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 7
2CONTENTS OF THE PACKAGE ................................................................................................... 8
3START WORKING WITH THE OXYGEN 4 DIGITAL .................................................................... 8
4SYSTEM STRUCTURE.................................................................................................................. 9
4.1 19” RACK................................................................................................................................. 9
4.2 CONTROL SURFACE.................................................................................................................. 9
4.3 SOFTWARE (EXTERNAL)............................................................................................................ 9
5AUDIO SIGNAL PATH.................................................................................................................. 10
5.1 INPUT MATRIX......................................................................................................................... 10
5.2 BUSS STRUCTURE .................................................................................................................. 10
5.3 OUTPUTS............................................................................................................................... 11
6ANALOG/DIGITAL LEVELS WITH THE OXYGEN 4 DIGITAL.................................................... 12
7NETWORK BASICS ..................................................................................................................... 14
7.1 NETWORK LAYERS ................................................................................................................. 14
7.2 THE LAYER IMPLEMENTATION.................................................................................................. 14
7.3 TCP/IP NETWORK ADDRESSING ............................................................................................. 15
7.3.1 IP Address ....................................................................................................................... 15
7.3.2 Subnets and Subnet Masks............................................................................................. 16
7.3.3 Configuring the switch ..................................................................................................... 16
7.3.4 Test Connectivity ............................................................................................................. 16
7.3.5 DHCP............................................................................................................................... 17
8COBRANET BASICS.................................................................................................................... 18
8.1 COBRANET DEVICE................................................................................................................. 18
8.2 COBRANET BUNDLES.............................................................................................................. 18
8.3 COBRANET AND ETHERNET..................................................................................................... 18
9HARDWARE CONNECTIONS..................................................................................................... 19
9.1 ANALOG IN-/OUTPUTS ............................................................................................................ 19
9.1.1 MIC inputs........................................................................................................................ 19
9.1.2 LINE inputs ...................................................................................................................... 21
9.1.3 External inputs................................................................................................................. 22
9.1.4 Program/Sub/Aux/CRM outputs ...................................................................................... 22
9.1.5 Phones outputs................................................................................................................ 22
9.2 DIGITAL INPUTS/OUTPUTS....................................................................................................... 23
9.3 GLOBAL INPUTS/OUTPUTS ...................................................................................................... 24
9.3.1 GPIOs.............................................................................................................................. 24
9.3.2 Word clock in and out. ..................................................................................................... 24
9.3.3 On-Air Output................................................................................................................... 25
9.3.4 RS232.............................................................................................................................. 25
9.3.5 Ethernet ........................................................................................................................... 25
9.3.6 Connection to Control Surfaces....................................................................................... 26
9.3.7 Cobranet (optional).......................................................................................................... 27
10 USING THE CONTROL SURFACE ............................................................................................. 28
10.1 INPUT ROUTING ...................................................................................................................... 29
10.2 EQ........................................................................................................................................ 30
10.3 DYNAMIC RANGE CONTROL ..................................................................................................... 30
10.4 BUSS ROUTING ...................................................................................................................... 31
10.4.1 Program/Sub buss....................................................................................................... 31
10.4.2 Aux. buss..................................................................................................................... 31
10.4.3 CUE buss .................................................................................................................... 31
10.4.4 Fader ........................................................................................................................... 31
10.4.5 CRM ............................................................................................................................ 31
10.5 NETWORK SETTINGS THROUGH THE CONTROL SURFACE.......................................................... 32
Oxygen4 Digital Mixer - Axel Technology- ,[e-mail] Page 5

Contents
10.5.1 Assigning an IP-address to the Oxygen 4 Digital........................................................ 32
11 WEBPAGE.................................................................................................................................... 33
11.1 OPENING SCREEN................................................................................................................... 33
11.2 SYSTEM INFORMATION............................................................................................................ 35
11.3 NETWORK SETTINGS .............................................................................................................. 36
11.4 COBRANET SETTINGS............................................................................................................. 38
11.5 GLOBAL SETTINGS ................................................................................................................. 40
11.5.1 GPI 1 to 6 .................................................................................................................... 41
11.5.2 GPO 1 to 6................................................................................................................... 42
11.6 INPUT SETTINGS..................................................................................................................... 43
11.6.1 Advanced input settings .............................................................................................. 44
11.7 COBRANET INPUT SETTINGS.................................................................................................... 46
11.8 OUTPUT SETTINGS ................................................................................................................. 47
11.8.1 Advanced Output Settings........................................................................................... 48
11.9 COBRANET OUTPUT SETTINGS................................................................................................ 49
11.10 SECURITY SETTINGS .......................................................................................................... 50
11.10.1 Users and Levels......................................................................................................... 51
11.11 CHIPCARD SETTINGS.......................................................................................................... 53
11.12 CONTROL SURFACE LEVELS............................................................................................... 54
11.13 INPUT POOL LEVELS........................................................................................................... 55
11.14 NETWORK LEVELS.............................................................................................................. 56
12 FTP............................................................................................................................................... 57
12.1 PRESETS ............................................................................................................................... 57
12.2 SECURITY .............................................................................................................................. 57
12.3 FLASH.................................................................................................................................... 57
13 SPECIFICATIONS........................................................................................................................ 58
13.1 GENERAL SYSTEM PARAMETERS ............................................................................................. 58
13.2 A/D AND D/A CONVERTERS AND DSP PROCESSING ................................................................ 58
13.3 MICROPHONE INPUTS ............................................................................................................. 58
13.4 LINE INPUTS........................................................................................................................... 59
13.5 LINE OUTPUT ......................................................................................................................... 59
13.6 PHONES OUTPUT ................................................................................................................... 59
13.7 EQUALIZER............................................................................................................................. 59
13.8 DIGITAL INPUTS...................................................................................................................... 59
13.9 DIGITAL OUTPUTS .................................................................................................................. 59
13.10 GPIO................................................................................................................................ 60
13.11 SYSTEM CLOCK ................................................................................................................. 61
13.12 REMOTES .......................................................................................................................... 61
13.13 DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT .................................................................................................. 61
14 LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... 64
15 LIST OF TABLES.......................................................................................................................... 65
16 GLOSSARY .................................................................................................................................. 66
17 APPENDIX.................................................................................................................................... 67
17.1 APPENDIX A: BLOCKDIAGRAM OF THE OXYGEN 4DIGITAL......................................................... 67
17.2 APPENDIX B: OXYGEN 4DIGITAL ACTIVEXSCRIPTS................................................................. 68
18 DISCLAIMER................................................................................................................................ 73
Oxygen 4 Digital - from Axel Technology Phone [phone], [e-mail] Page 6

Introduction
1 Introduction
This manual will give you a detailed explanation of the functionality of the Oxygen 4 Digital and all its
features.
It is advised to read this manual once before touching any control, or even thinking about hooking up
the system.
We know that that is actually the firsts thing you want to do but please do NOT and discipline yourself
to read the manual first.
The manual gives all sorts of valuable information before getting started and it saves you from getting
in touch with us for all sorts of questions. You can use this manual later on as a reference.
In the first chapters we shall give you an overview of the Oxygen 4 Digital and its features. In this way
you can have an impression of how to implement the system in your application.
The next chapters will deal with interconnecting the various parts of the system and its external
interfacing with your equipment
When the Oxygen 4 Digital is installed and wired, you can finalize its interfacing with the instruction in
the following chapters.
After having installed the Oxygen 4 Digital you will have a very complete mixer with a human interface
that is very logical and understandable by intuition.
Oxygen 4 Digital - from Axel Technology Phone [phone], [e-mail] Page 7

Unpacking
2 Contents of the package
The following parts should be inside the package.
•1x 19” Racks depending on the ordered configuration
•One or two 4-fader Control Surfaces or one 8-fader Control Surface depending on the ordered
configuration
•1 or 2 15Pins cable depending on the ordered configuration
•1x Power cable
•1x Crosslink network cable
•1x CD-rom
•This manual
3 Start working with the Oxygen 4 Digital
The internal power-supply is auto-sensing for the range of [85-264V/47-63Hz]. If the power coming
from your wall-outlet is not according these specs, do NOT connect the Oxygen 4 Digital.
Take the fader module and the 19”Rack unit out of the box.
Hook up the 15p sub-D cable between the fader module to the 19” rack unit (“TO CNTRL UNIT 1”)
You can now also hook up the UTP cable to your ETHERNET 802.3 network if you would like to make
settings. In chapter 10.5 you can find how to setup the Oxygen 4 Digital for networking.
Connect the power supply cable to the 19" rack and to the wall outlet.
Turn on the power.
After 3 seconds you must have control over the DSP engine. You can hit ON/CUE buttons to check
functionality. Further there are enhanced functions in the Master Section, one example:
Hit the button SRC (Source selection for this module). You can turn the encoder at the channel to
make your selection. Pushing the encoder means the default setting. The functions Prog and Sub
don’t have a rotating function… they only respond to the pushdown action!
Oxygen 4 Digital - from Axel Technology Phone [phone], [e-mail] Page 8

System structure
4 System structure
The Oxygen 4 Digital system is a high-tech digital system, which is based on a 19” 2HE rack. In
combination with the control surface(s) you will get a very easy to use console with many features that
can work as a standalone unit and has a boot time of a couple of seconds (if network is disabled).
The control surface(s) give you direct access to all the parameters you need to control in real time.
Like the Fader level, routing and EQ/Dynamics. All other advanced settings can be done by using the
web server or remote software (ActiveX) by Ethernet.
4.1 19” Rack
The 19” rack is the engine of the Oxygen 4 Digital. All audio processing and routing takes place in this
unit.
This rack can work without Control Surface or Remote Software. On this 19” rack you can find 4
MIC's, 2 Mono analog and 5 Stereo analog Inputs, 7 Stereo Digital Inputs and Outputs all with sample
rate
converters. You have dedicated analog outputs for PROG, SUB, AUX, CRM and PHONES. All
interfacing and connectors are explained in the section Hardware.
4.2 Control Surface
A separate unit with knobs and faders is used to control the Oxygen 4 Digital. There are two
connections at the 19” rack to make it possible to have at maximum 8 (stereo) faders. Further this
control surface holds a phones jack which gives the CRM signal!
The Control Surface is a very simple and easy to understand interface to the Oxygen 4 Digital engine.
You can use the surface for all basic functionalities such as; Source select, EQ settings, Dynamics
Settings, Routing etc.
A separate master section gives the possibility to determine the function of the module encoders and
the CRM source. Of course you can adjust the CRM level and the DIM and Talkback.
4.3 Software (external)
By using the Ethernet connection you have the possibility to control the Oxygen 4 Digital from every
workplace in your network. By using a crosslink cable you also can use the Oxygen 4 Digital on a
stand-alone PC.
The Oxygen 4 Digital can receive an IP address via a DHCP server, or you can give a Fixed IP ! When
this IP is known, you are able to connect to the Oxygen 4 Digital by software (HTTP web server or
ActiveX object). Later we will give an overview on the options you have with the remote software/web
server.
Oxygen 4 Digital - from Axel Technology Phone [phone], [e-mail] Page 9

Audio Signal Path
5 Audio Signal Path
CUE
Aux Pre
Aux Post
Prog
Sub
CF2
CF1
Module 1
EQ
Dyn
Extern 1
Extern 2
Module 8
EQ
Dyn
Input Matrix
CRM
CF1
Aux
Prog
Sub
CF2
Dedicated Analog Outputs
Phones/Analog 7/Digital outputs 1-7
and Cobranet outputs 1/2-31/32 can
select one of the (buss)outputs (or
inputs = direct out)
Aux pre/post
Fader
Mono Line 5,6
Digital 1..7
MIC 1..4
St Line1..4, 7
Cobra 1/2..31/32
CUE
Figure 1: Audio Signal Flow
5.1 Input matrix
To give you the flexibility you need in your applications the Oxygen 4 Digital has a full matrix before
processing takes place. You can assign one of your inputs to the eight modules in any way you want.
Furthermore you can bring one of the inputs to the external inputs to make them available at the CRM
buss.
5.2 Buss structure
As mentioned before, every module features EQ- and dynamic processing. This is why these channels
are often referred to as ‘processing’ channels.
The output of the 8 stereo audio processing channels can be routed to different busses.
Busses that are available are:
•Stereo program buss.
•Stereo sub buss.
•Stereo aux. buss.
•Stereo CUE buss.
•Automatic Mono Cleanfeed 1
•Automatic Mono Cleanfeed 2
The 6 CRM sources (Prog, Sub, Aux, CUE, Extern 1, Extern 2) may be summed into the CRM buss.
Oxygen 4 Digital - from Axel Technology Phone [phone], [e-mail] Page 10

Audio Signal Path
5.3 Outputs
For the Prog, Sub, Aux, Cleanfeed 1, Cleanfeed 2 and CRM busses, there are dedicated analog
outputs. For all Digital outputs you have a separate router which makes it possible for you too choose
which buss is connected to the digital output. Due to the advanced routing matrix you also have the
option to route any input directly to an output.
Oxygen 4 Digital - from Axel Technology Phone [phone], [e-mail] Page 11

Analog/Digital levels with the Oxygen 4 Digital
6 Analog/Digital levels with the Oxygen 4 Digital
Before you can start working with a (digital) console you need to understand all level standardization
for the inputs and outputs. In the Analog domain it is sometimes confusing. But now we have to deal
with even more formats. Often we use the following parameters:
0 dBu
Analog level of 0.775V at 600Ohm.
0 dBFS
FS= Full Scale (means maximum digital value, higher=clip).
Table 1: Level Definitions
First we will give a simple example with a CD-player:
Your home CD player plays CDs, which are most of the time ‘normalized’. In the mastering
process the highest peak value is monitored and is set as the 0 dBFS reference. Like in most
common players they use a standard where the maximum output voltage is 2Vrms, which means
around +8 dBu.
An example in an analog system.
The analog-mixing console must have enough headroom to handle your audio without clipping. An
often-used standard of 20dB headroom is enough for most circumstances.
Those two examples show exactly the problem of combining the digital and analog world. We would
like to have headroom in our mixer because we are adding signals, but we don’t want too much
headroom because we ‘eat bits’ (20 dB headroom is more than 3 bits).
The Oxygen 4 Digital supports both AES (and Dolby) and EBU standards for the digital outputs. That
means you can choose how much headroom you want on the digital output. 0 dB on the meter is
equivalent to:
- 20dBFS on the digital output (AES)
- 9dBFS on the digital output (EBU)
To achieve this you have two different headroom settings for the digital outputs. One headroom
setting is fixed 20dBFS. The other is adjustable from 0 to 20dBFS headroom adjustable in increments
of 1dBFS. The default setting is 9dBFS.
This means you have on your digital outputs enough headroom! The 0 dB level on the meter is +6 dBu
on the balanced analog outputs. Because you also need your bit-resolution we interface with 24 bits
and process the signal with 32 bits floating point! This provides you with sufficient headroom.
For ease of use the console is also equipped with cinch inputs and outputs. It’s difficult to specify a
standard for this type of connector. This is because many different manufacturers use different values.
When the console leaves the factory the cinch outputs are trimmed to 0 dBu if the level on the meter is
0 dB. That means if you connect a digital recorder with a maximum input of 2Vrms (for example a
calibrated input) you still have 8 dB of headroom. Of course you will also find a ‘Record level’ on the
most recording equipment.
Even if we understand the current situation with the levels we still have to overcome some problems. If
we connect signals and the level seems not to be correct we can easily adjust the gain on the control
surface. This can instantly correct the problem.
But for digital inputs the level problem is more related to the medium. CD-players and MD-players are
most of the time playing a medium, which is normalized. That means if we should connect it directly to
the console, we see an incoming signal of +20 dB !!!
Therefore you may set-up a ‘headroom trim’ for each digital input via the web server. If you connect a
CD player to digital input 1 you can already set the headroom trim to -20 dB in the Global Settings
dialog on the webpage. See also section 11.5. The Oxygen 4 Digital will then make a level correction
for this medium (if assigned to a module/processing channel).
Now you know how you can interface between the analog and digital world with the understanding of
what is happening with your levels. We hope this chapter gave an insight on this matter.
Oxygen 4 Digital - from Axel Technology Phone [phone], [e-mail] Page 12

Analog/Digital levels with the Oxygen 4 Digital
To summarize things shortly:
0 dB on your meter is:
•+6 dBu on the balanced input/outputs
•0 dBu on the unbalanced inputs/outputs
•–20 dBFS fixed or -20 dBFS to 0 dBFS variable at the digital inputs/outputs.
Oxygen 4 Digital - from Axel Technology Phone [phone], [e-mail] Page 13

Network Basics
7 Network Basics
This chapter gives you a short overview on the network basics. This chapter is meant to give you
some information about networking. When reading this chapter it's more easy to understand the
technical backgrounds of the network possibilities. In general we can divide the network possibilities of
the Oxygen 4 Digital in two types.
WAN – Wide Area Network
LAN – Local Area Network
The first, WAN, is mostly based in TCP/IP (also known from the internet). The second, LAN, is in our
application 10/100 Mbit Ethernet based.
7.1 Network Layers
In the network theory they often make use of layers to create a visualisation of a network connection.
This is called the OSI model (Open System Interconnect). It will be too much information at this point
to explain the complete OSI model. Below you will get some basic information regarding layers.
Figure 2: OSI Model
Physical & Data Link Layer = Ethernet
Network Layer = Internet Protocol or Cobranet
Transport Layer = TCP or Cobranet
In higher layers we will find protocols like HTTP, FTP, SNMP etc….
Actually we are now looking at the protocol stack which contains the Ethernet protocol. TCP/IP
protocol, HTTP, FTP, Cobranet etc…
7.2 The Layer Implementation
For the Oxygen 4 Digital, we always use the Ethernet protocol for the Data Link & Physical layer. You
can imagine this Ethernet protocol as an envelope. The information on the envelope is Source
Address or Destination Address. The information inside this envelope represents the next layer. In this
layer you can find TCP/IP data from the Oxygen 4 Digital or Cobranet data from the Oxygen 4 Digital.
Figure 3: Network Implementation
Oxygen 4 Digital - from Axel Technology Phone [phone], [e-mail] Page 14

Network Basics
TCP/IP is a protocol that is well known in WAN structures. This means there are many Data Link &
Physical Layers that can carry TCP/IP. In WAN structures the Cobranet protocol is not known, so that
will only function on the Ethernet based networks.
What happens if a destination of a TCP/IP envelope is outside the Ethernet network? The TCP/IP
envelope will be redirected to the ‘gateway’. This gateway takes the TCP/IP packet out of the Ethernet
envelope and repacks the TCP/IP envelope in a new envelope for the new protocol (for example DSL
or ISDN)
This explains how it's possible to have TCP/IP data over WANs and Cobranet only over LANs.
7.3 TCP/IP Network Addressing
The TCP/IP protocol is a higher-level networking protocol and has its own system of addresses called
IP addresses. TCP/IP, like other network protocols, has its own addressing scheme and data
structure. Thus, contained within the Ethernet payload is another series of fields containing IP source
and destination address information, as well as another payload containing TCP data. This “nesting”
within the Ethernet payload continues until the protocol(s) being transported is completely defined.
The most important thing to understand is that the networking protocol in use is completely
independent of Ethernet. Ethernet is simply the delivery system, and it doesn’t know or care about the
networking data that it’s carrying in its payload. This enables Ethernet to carry many different
networking protocols on the same network. It is left up to the networking software running on the
receiving system to understand the networking protocol information extracted from the Ethernet
payload field.
7.3.1 IP Address
An IP address is a unique identifier for a device on a TCP/IP network. Within an isolated network, it is
possible to assign IP addresses at random as long as each address is unique. However, connecting a
private network directly to the Internet requires using registered IP addresses (called Internet
addresses) to avoid duplicates. An IP address is a 32-bit numeric address (four sections of 8 bits
each) written in “dotted decimal notation”. The number in each section can range from 0 to 255. The
address consists of 2 parts, the network number (or as it is more commonly referred to today, the
network prefix) and the host address. The host address is the unique address of the network node,
while the network number identifies the network on which the host resides. Each host on a network
shares the same network number but must have a unique host address. Likewise, any two hosts can
share the same host address as long as they have different network numbers. The InterNIC
Registration Service originally assigned Internet addresses from three classes, where each class fixes
the boundary between the network number and the host address at a different point within the 32-bit
address. This is known as “classful” addressing.
Class A - 16 million hosts on each of 127 networks (1.xxx.xxx.xxx - 126.xxx.xxx.xxx)
Class B - 65,000 hosts on each of 16,000 networks (128.0.xxx.xxx - 191.255.xxx.xxx)
Class C - 254 hosts on each of 2 million networks (192.0.0.xxx - 223.255.255.xxx)
Unfortunately, no one expected the Internet to grow as quickly as it did, and the limitations and
inflexibility of this method of addressing were unforeseen. Adding another level to the address
hierarchy, the subnet, helped to temporarily overcome many of these shortcomings.
Oxygen 4 Digital - from Axel Technology Phone [phone], [e-mail] Page 15

Network Basics
7.3.2 Subnets and Subnet Masks
A subnet is a part of a network that shares the same prefix. It enables a network administrator to
further divide the host part of the address. Previously, another network number had to be requested
from the Internet before a new network could be installed at a site. When a network is divided into
subnets, a part of the host address is used to identify a particular subnet. Let’s look at an example:
The network number is:
192.168.0 –or- 11000000.10101000.00000000 in binary
and the host address is:
2 –or- 00000010 in binary
If the network needs to be divided into 13 subnets, the first 4 bits of the host address (0000) would be
reserved for identifying the subnet. This would allow for a total of 16 possible subnets, as subnets can
only be created in blocks of powers of two. The first 4 bits of our host address could then be changed
to indicate the subnet number:
nnnn0010
Once the network is divided into subnets, the IP nodes must be told where the division between the
extended network number and the host address occurs. This is done using a subnet mask. The
subnet mask is the network number plus the bits reserved for identifying the subnet. To come up with
a subnet mask, the bits for the network number, including the new subnet number, are all set to 1. In
our example the subnet mask would be:
11111111.11111111.11111111.11110000 –or- 255.255.255.240.
7.3.3 Configuring the switch
Switch configuration is usually only necessary if you are using managed switches in your design. In
most cases, using the factory defaults will be sufficient, and only an IP address and subnet mask
needs to be assigned.
7.3.4 Test Connectivity
Probably the quickest and easiest way to determine that all the devices are connected to the network
is to ping the devices. Ping is a utility that is used to determine whether or not a specific IP address is
accessible, which makes it very handy for troubleshooting network connections. When the ping
command is issued, an ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) packet is sent to the specified
address and a reply is expected. If a reply is received, this indicates that the remote device is
reachable over the network. If no reply is received, this indicates a problem with communication over
the network. To issue a ping command, open the Command Prompt, and type:
ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
where: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is IP address of the device you wish to contact
Oxygen 4 Digital - from Axel Technology Phone [phone], [e-mail] Page 16

Network Basics
7.3.5 DHCP
DHCP stands for: “Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol”.
DHCP is a TCP/IP service that you can use to set network clients' TCP/IP configurations automatically
as they attach to the network. This configuration is done by providing the DHCP server with one or
more scopes. A scope is nothing more than a range of IP addresses that may be assigned to clients
on a temporary basis. The length of time that a client is allowed to use an IP address from a DHCP
server is called the client's lease period.
As you can see, DHCP eliminates the need to manually configure each client; it also helps to prevent
duplicate IP addresses and can help to conserve IP addresses when they're in short supply. However,
for DHCP to function correctly and efficiently on large networks, proper planning is essential. If it is set
up improperly, DHCP can cause headaches.
As I mentioned earlier, DHCP automatically configures clients for TCP/IP at the time the clients attach
to the network. Obviously, this process doesn't happen by magic. Getting DHCP to configure a client
for use on a network requires several messages to be passed back and forth across the network.
Although these messages tend to be small, if many clients are attempting to get an IP address at the
same time, the excessive traffic created can slow down the network.
One way of dealing with this problem is to limit each DHCP server to servicing only one specific
subnet. By doing so, you'll isolate each subnet's DHCP-related traffic and prevent it from flowing onto
the rest of the network.
If you want to use static IP addresses on your servers, but you like the idea of using DHCP for
consistency, you can use a reservation system to ensure that a client receives the same IP address
each time it connects.
Oxygen 4 Digital - from Axel Technology Phone [phone], [e-mail] Page 17

Cobranet Basics
8 Cobranet Basics
This chapter gives you information for working with Cobranet. It's just a basic explanation of audio
networking with Cobranet. For more information you can view the website
http://www.peakaudio.com.
8.1 Cobranet Device
A Cobranet Device has two RJ45 connectors which you can hook up to a switch or connect with a
crosswire to another Cobranet Device. The reason for two RJ45 connectors is redundancy. It will
function without problems if you connect just one RJ45 connector.
Internally a Cobranet Device has 4 receive sockets and 4 transmit sockets. Every socket is able to
transfer a maximum of 8 mono channels. That means If we have all sockets fully loaded we can send
32 mono channels and receive 32 mono channels.
A receive socket can have only one transmit socket to which it is connected.
A transmit socket can have one receive socket and in special cases (multi cast) more receive sockets.
In short it means one Cobranet device can transmit data to 4 different devices, and receive data from
4 different devices.
8.2 Cobranet Bundles
To setup a connection you have to give a transmit and receive socket a bundle number.
If a receive socket and transmit socket have the same bundle number, audio is transmitted from the
transmit socket to the receive socket.
A bundle number is a kind of identification of the link. Normally the bundle numbers starts from 256
and ends at 65535.
Bundle number 0 until 255 are reserved.
8.3 Cobranet and Ethernet
All Cobranet data is transferred within standard Ethernet packages. This makes it possible to interfere
with normal Ethernet data as well as to use standard Ethernet equipment.
(For full capacity its recommended to separate Cobranet and data networks)
The topology of the Cobranet network is like your standard computer network. A star network where
all devices hook up to a switch.
Figure 4: Star Network
If you interconnect multiple star networks you will get a tree-topology.
Peak Audio has tested a lot of Ethernet equipment, and is maintaining a list of recommended
switches. You can find the recommendations at their website: http://www.peakaudio.com.
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Hardware Connections
9 Hardware Connections
This chapter will describe all connections to the 19” rack unit in detail. After this chapter you have all
information to implement the system within your hardware. Some connections are software dependent
and can be configured by software. Chapter 11 will explain everything on this settings.
The Oxygen 4 Digital is equipped with Sub-D connectors. This way it is possible to have a lot of I/O in
a small space. The pinning is as follows for the female Sub-D connectors:
Figure 5: 9 pins female Sub-d
Each section of this chapter has a table which shows how the connectors are wired.
9.1 Analog In-/Outputs
On the Oxygen 4 Digital 19” rack you can find several different types of analog inputs. Below we will
describe every input type to give you an overview on the dedicated purpose of this input.
9.1.1 MIC inputs
Figure 6: Microphone inputs at front
You can see on the right side of the front panel the XLR connection for the microphones. Here you
also have the dedicated phantom power switches providing the MIC inputs with +48V phantom power.
Note: For maximum safety it's best to connect/disconnect the microphone(s) when the
console is powered off. This is also required for all the other in/outputs; Make sure
you ALWAYS switch off the phantom power before patching the microphones.
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Hardware Connections
Figure 7: Microphone inputs at rear side
The MIC connections on the backside of the 19” rack are parallel with the XLR connections at the front
side of the 19” rack.
Warning: Phantom power is also applied to these connectors. (Don't short pins while phantom power
is on.)
At the back side you can find the four microphone inserts on a jack type connector.
Pin 1
Mic IN 1 +
Pin 6
Mic IN 1 -
Pin 2
GND
Pin 7
Mic IN 2 +
Pin 3
Mic IN 2 -
Pin 8
GND
Pin 4
Not Connected
Pin 9
Not Connected
Pin 5
Not Connected
Table 2: Pinning MIC Input 4-3 and MIC Input 2-1
Tip
Return
Ring
Send
Sleeve
GND
Table 3: Pinning Inserts
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