Biamp TesiraFORTE Original operating instructions

A: 9300 S.W. Gemini Drive Beaverton, OR 97008 USA W: www.biamp.com
Installation & Operation Guide
TesiraFORTÉ
The TesiraFORTÉ products are audio DSP devices designed to operate as
standalone processing devices with Tesira expanders and controllers, or as part
of a full set of Tesira devices.
The TesiraFORTÉ products are separated into AVB-equipped, Dante-equipped
or standalone TesiraFORTÉ devices with no digital audio protocol feature.
TesiraFORTÉ VT4 is separated into AVB-equipped and Dante-equipped, but
does not feature a standalone model (digital audio protocol feature).
The models with AVB (Audio Video Bridging) have an additional RJ-45 Ethernet
connector for connecting with other Tesira and 3rd party AVB devices using an
AVB switch. Dante models feature an RJ-45 Ethernet connector in the place of
the AVB RJ-45 connector. This allows other Dante enabled Tesira or 3rd party
devices to communicate with switches.
The TesiraFORTÉ AVB servers have a capacity of 128 channels of audio in and
128 channels of audio out. TesiraFORTÉ DAN (Dante) models have a capacity
of 32 channels of audio in and 32 channels of audio out. The standalone
TesiraFORTÉ products have the same features and processing functionality as
the AVB and the Dante equipped servers, but without the ability to make a digital
audio connection to other Tesira audio devices.
• TesiraFORTÉ AI, CI and VT feature 12 mic/line level inputs, 8 mic/line
level outputs
• TesiraFORTÉ VT4 features 4 mic/line level inputs, 4 mic/line level outputs
• 128 x 128 channels of AVB (AVB model only)
• 32 x 32 channels of Dante (DAN model only)
All models include:
• Configurable USB audio
• 4-pin GPIO
• RS-232 serial port
• Gigabit Ethernet port
• 2-line OLED display with capacitive-touch navigation
• Rack mountable (1RU)
• Support of port authentication via IEEE 802.1X
• System configuration and control via Ethernet
• Internal universal power supply
• Signal processing via intuitive software allowing configuration and control
for signal routing, mixing, equalization, filtering, and delay
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION FEATURES

page 2 Installation and Operation Guide TesiraFORTÉ
1. Ventilation fan cover
Each device has a perforated cover to allow cool air into the chassis. A variable
speed, temperature-controlled fan allows air to circulate through the unit from
front to the back left and right sides. Make sure nothing obstructs the air-
circulation perforations.
2. Display Navigation Buttons
Capacitive-touch buttons allow navigation through the OLED display menu to
view and configure device and networking information, as well as view system-
wide faults. Navigate the display using the touch-sensitive UP, DOWN and
SELECT buttons.
3. LED Status Indicators
Five multi-color LEDs on the front panel of the device provide information about
the status of the device and the Tesira system.
• Power – Reports power of the host device and Front Panel Display.
• Alarm – Reports abnormal conditions local to the host device.
• Activity – Reports the activity of host device within the greater system.
• Status – Reports the status of host device.
• AIS (Alarm In System) – Reports abnormal conditions within the greater
system.
4. OLED Display
The OLED display provides information about the server device as well as the
Tesira system that is connected to the server. The OLED display is read-only.
TesiraFORTÉ FIXED I/O SERVER DEVICES FRONT PANEL
LED Off Green Yellow Red
Power Unit is not
powered
Unit is powered Not applicable Not applicable
Alarm No fault is
active in the
device
Not applicable Minor fault is
active in the
device
Major fault is
active in the
device
Activity Not applicable The host
device is an
active part
of an active
system
Not applicable The host
device is part
of an inactive
system (Audio
is stopped) or
host device is
not part of a
system
Status Not applicable Device has
received its
conguration
and is ready to
participate in
the system
Device is ready
and waiting
to receive a
conguration
Device is
not ready to
receive its
conguration
AIS
(Alarm In
System)
No fault is
active in any
device in the
system
Not applicable Minor fault
is active in a
device in the
system
Major fault
is active in a
device in the
system
1
2
34
Figure 1. TesiraFORTÉ Front Display

TesiraFORTÉ Installation and Operation Guide page 3
Display Navigation Buttons
Capacitive-touch buttons allow navigation through the OLED display menu to
view and congure device and networking information, as well as view system-
wide faults. Navigate the display using the touch-sensitive UP, DOWN and
SELECT buttons.
OLED Display
The OLED display provides information about the server device as well as the
Tesira system that is connected to the server. The OLED display is read-only.
Home Screen
The home screen is the default screen that shows the overview of the device.
If the text is too long to t on the entire display, it will scroll to the left. Menus
at the bottom allow other selections. By default the main menu icon will be
selected.
Some menu icons double as status indicators. They change depending on the
status of the device. The fault status icon only appears if there is an active fault
in the system.
After a period of inactivity, the Front Panel Display will transition back to the
home screen.
Figure 2. Home Screen
1. Device description
2. Host Name and IP address
3. Main Menu
4. Display Settings Menu
5. Network Menu/Status
6. Audio Menu/Status
7. Fault Menu/Status
Use the UP or DOWN buttons to highlight a menu icon and press the SELECT
button to access the item.
Menu Screen
A menu screen containing a list of items that are used to navigate to other menus
can be accessed from the home screen. On the right are icons that provide
quick navigation to other screens. Pressing the SELECT button on an item will
transition to the screen that displays that information. A scroll indicator at the left
shows if there is more information to show by scrolling down.
Device Information
The device information screen shows the following information:
• Device description
• Host name
• Serial number
• Firmware revision
Figure 3. Device Information
5 6 743
2
1

page 4 Installation and Operation Guide TesiraFORTÉ
System Information
The system information screen shows the following information:
• Device audio state (on/off)
• System description
Network Parameters
The network parameters screen shows the following information
• Host name
• IP address
• Subnet mask
• Gateway
Faults
If a fault is present in the system an exclamation icon is shown on the lower right
of the screen. Each unique fault in the system will be listed.
Figure 4. Faults
Locate
When locate mode is enabled, “Locate” will appear on the OLED screen.
Display Settings
The display settings operations include the following:
Figure 5. Display Settings
1. Change brightness and contrast
2. Edit timeouts
Edit Timeouts
Allows editing the duration of time allowed to pass before the OLED screen
enters Dim or Sleep mode.
• Dim Mode
The display has a screensaver mode where it will dim the display brightness.
Pressing any button will bring the screen back to the original brightness and
respond to the control movement.
• Sleep Mode
After the display timeout is reached the display will go blank. The device will
still have power in this state even though the display appears blank.
Localization
All menus and error messages are displayed in English by default. Descriptive
icons are used to avoid the need for messages in specific languages. Text
entered (e.g. Device Description) will be displayed in the language as entered
in the software.
The following alphabets are supported:
• Latin-1 (ISO/IEC 8859-1) and Latin-2 (ISO/IEC 8859-2)
• Cyrillic (Russian alphabet only)
• Simplified Chinese
• Japanese – Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji
• Thai
1 2

TesiraFORTÉ Installation and Operation Guide page 5
TesiraFORTÉ FIXED I/O SERVER DEVICES REAR PANEL
Figure 6. TesiraFORTÉ VT AVB model (Rear Panel View)
Figure 7. TesiraFORTÉ VT4 AVB model (Rear Panel View)
Figure 8. TesiraFORTÉ CI AVB model (Rear Panel View)
Figure 9. TesiraFORTÉ AI AVB model (Rear Panel View)
1. AC power inlet (100 – 240V)
2. Gigabit Ethernet control port (RJ-45)
3. Voice over IP (VoIP) Telephony port
4. Digital Audio Port
AVB port (RJ-45) – AVB models only
-or-
Dante port (RJ-45) – Dante models only
-or-
Not present – Standalone TesiraFORTÉ
5. POTS Analog Telephony port (RJ-11)
6. RS-232 serial port
7. USB-B port
8. GPIO connections
9. Mic/line level balanced output analog
connections.
• AVB VT, DAN VT and VT –
8x Mic/Line
• AVB VT4 and DAN VT4 –
4x Mic/Line
• AVB CI, DAN CI and CI –
8x Mic/Line
• AVB AI, DAN AI and AI –
8x Mic/Line
10. Mic/line level input balanced analog
connections.
• AVB VT, DAN VT and VT –
12x Mic/Line with AEC
• AVB VT4 and DAN VT4 –
4x Mic/Line with AEC
• AVB CI, DAN CI and CI –
12x Mic/Line with AEC
• AVB AI, DAN AI and AI –
8x Mic/Line
10
531
2 4 6789
1
2
3
4
5
678
10
9
1
2 4 678
10
9
1
2 4 6789
10

page 6 Installation and Operation Guide TesiraFORTÉ
AC Power Inlet
IEC connector which will accept AC mains voltage of 100-240VAC @50/60Hz.
Control Ethernet Port
Gigabit port used to configure the TesiraFORTÉ unit with Tesira and Biamp
Canvas™ software. The port can also be used to attach additional GPIO, receive
third-party commands over IP as well as provide physical control interfaces to
a system.
AVB Port (AVB models only) -or- Dante Port (Dante models only)
AVB-enabled devices can send and receive up to 128x128 audio channels to
other AVB Tesira or 3rd party AVB audio devices. Dante devices can send and
receive up to 32x32 audio channels to other Dante Tesira or 3rd party Dante
audio devices. It is not possible to order a device with both AVB and Dante
functionality. If the device does not feature either of these ports it is a standalone
model and does not support the use of a digital audio transport protocol. It is not
possible to add, convert, or retrofit hardware to make a TesiraFORTÉ a different
model or variant.
Telephony Ports
All variants of TesiraFORTÉ VT and TesiraFORTÉ VT4 feature a Voice over IP
(VoIP) telephony port and a POTS analog telephony port. Biamp recommends
VoIP communication through a local (on-premise) certified SIP server only.
Supported SIP servers are listed at https://support.biamp.com/VoIP.
RS-232 port
Can be used to receive third party controls or output command strings.
USB Type-B port
Can be used to connect to a PC or a computer that is USB Audio Class 1
compliant. Two connection methods are supported:
1. Connection to a software-based codec. It is possible to use either the
codec’s AEC, or Tesira’s AEC functions.
2. Line In/Out mode – where the channels of Line In and Line Out are
installed in Microsoft Windows® but do not show up by default.
Getting started
1. Install Tesira software on a Windows PC.
• The software must be Tesira version 3.2 or later.
• The most up-to-date version can be downloaded from the Biamp
website: https://support.biamp.com/Tesira/Software-Firmware.
2. Minimum PC requirements:
• Windows® 7 Professional SP1 32-bit or 64-bit, Windows 10
Professional 32-bit or 64-bit
• 1280 x 1024 screen resolution (recommended)
• 1 GB RAM
• Intel® Pentium 4 Processor 2.4 GHz or faster
3. Cables required:
• Connection to the device should be made using either a direct
connection or connection via an Ethernet switch.
• Direct Connection - 1x Cat 5e cable to connect from the PC to the
TesiraFORTÉ Control Port
• Via a Switch - 2x Cat 5e cables and 1 Ethernet switch

page 7 Installation and Operation Guide TesiraFORTÉ
Connecting to the TesiraFORTÉ system
1. Connect the PC and TesiraFORTÉ to the network.
• Connect a Cat 5e cable between your PC and the TesiraFORTÉ
device.
• Direct connection: Attach an Ethernet cable from the PC’s network card
to the TesiraFORTÉ Ethernet port. The TesiraFORTÉ Ethernet port is
autosensing so a straight or crossover cable can be used.
• Connecting via Ethernet switch: Attach an Ethernet cable from the
network card to a 100/1000 Base-T Ethernet switch. The TesiraFORTÉ
Ethernet port is autosensing so a straight or crossover cable can be
used.
2. Power up TesiraFORTÉ devices.
• Connect the supplied power cord to a grounded AC mains voltage
of 100-240VAC @50/60Hz. Connect the other end of the power cord
to the power entrance located on the rear of the TesiraFORTÉ unit.
Power, Activity, and Status LEDs on the front panel should illuminate.
3. Assign an IP address to the PC.
• The PC must have a unique IP address in the same subnet as the
TesiraFORTÉ device. A TesiraFORTÉ device is configured from the
factory with DHCP or Zero Conf (Link Local) address. Review the
"Assigning your computer's IP address" section to verify that the PC
network interface is set correctly.
4. Congure the software to use the correct Network Interface.
• Tesira software should automatically discover the available network
interfaces and enable them. To verify the network interfaces used,
open the Tesira software and select Tools > Options > Application
Settings.
5. In Application Settings, select Network > Device Discovery >
Interfaces to list the available connections.
These can be enabled or disabled individually.
6. Conrm the expected Network interface is selected and IP addressing is
in the correct range.
7. Connect to
the network
by going to
System >
Network >
Connect to
System.

TesiraFORTÉ Installation and Operation Guide page 8
Connecting to the TesiraFORTÉ system (continued)
8. The System Connect dialog will appear. Select the required device listed in the
System List and select Connect to System (Connect to System will not be
available for devices that do not have a conguration le loaded to them). The
software will connect and allow real time user control.
9. When the required changes have been made, disconnect the PC from the Tesira
system by going to System > Network > Disconnect From System.
Assigning your computer's IP address
1. Click Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > Local Area Connection.
2. The Local Area Connection Status Dialog will open. Select Properties.
3. The Local Area Connection Properties Dialog will open. Double-Click Internet
Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4).
4. The Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) Properties will open.
5. Update the IP address and Subnet mask to ‘Obtain an IP address automatically’
6. Click OK when complete. Click OK on the Local Area Connection properties
dialog to conrm the changes. The PC may take up to one minute to resolve an IP
address. If a DHCP server is available, the PC will resolve to an address served to
it. If no DHCP server is available, the PC will resolve to a link local address in the
169.254.xxx.xxx range with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0.
Auto assignment of IP Address using DHCP
All TesiraFORTÉ units ship from the factory congured for DHCP or Zero Conf (Link
Local) address. If a DHCP server is available, the TesiraFORTÉ will resolve to an
address served to it. If no DHCP server is available, the TesiraFORTÉ will resolve to a
link local address in the 169.254.xxx.xxx range with a subnet of 255.255.0.0.
When using more than one device in a system, each device must have a unique IP
address. Tesira device IP addresses must be di󰀨erent from any IP address that will
be used on the same network segment. Please note that adjusting a TesiraFORTÉ IP
address will stop the system audio.
Manually assigning an IP address
1. Disconnect from the system.
2. In the Tesira software, select System > Network > Perform Device
Maintenance, or click the icon.
3. Select the device in the Device List.
4. Select Network Settings.
5. Update the IP Address, Subnet mask and Gateway values to the new
settings.
6. Click OK when complete.
7. Close Device Maintenance when complete.
8. Adjust the PC’s IP address to reside on the
same subnet as the Tesira Device.
9. Re-start the system audio as needed.

A: 9300 S.W. Gemini Drive Beaverton, OR 97008 USA W: www.biamp.com
JUL 2021
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