Eela Audio D4 User manual

eela audio
OPERATING MANUAL
D4
D4
Broadcast mixing desk
EA Broadcast / Eela Audio, Het Riet 8 A, 5431NM Cuijk, T e Net erlands
ttp://www.eela-audio.com e-mail: [e-mail]

Thank you or the purchase o this D4 digital mixing desk . First read this manual care ully be ore
starting to use the apparatus. Please keep this manual so you can re er to it at a later stage.
Functions and / or layout o the touch screen o the D4 can vary due to di erent so tware versions.
More in ormation is available on http://www.eela.nl/D4TI
GENERAL REMARKS:
The D4 is designed in a way that most o the unctionality is sel -explaining and easy to understand by
the experienced radio studio operator.
Due to the lexibility and multi purpose nature o the unit some settings need extra attention
especially the setup o hybrid connections and the integration in an automated environment.
Software version 1.xx
INDEX
Connections 4
System overview 5
Control sur ace 5
System settings 7
Monitors 8
System 10
Main screen and Login 12
Universal contacts 14
Meters 15
Channel settings 18
Clean eeds, N-1, oldback, outside source return, cough signal 21
Setup examples, Control room microphone, studio microphone, hybrid setup 23
GPIO pinout 26
General speci ications 27
This product is in con ormity with the requirements o the CE directives.
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Eela Audio D4 table top digital mixing console:
Quick start manual
All digital "universal" broadcast mixing console with 32 + 4 inputs, 16 input aders and 2 touch screen
color displays and a total o 16 outputs. This is su icient or most modern radio applications:
APPLICATIONS:
The Eela Audio D4 is designed or use in modern radio and television broadcast applications or On-Air
and or production studios.
Digital mixing console, rugged mec anical construction
32 (+4) inputs, 3 main outputs, 10 configurable stereo outputs
16 input faders wit ‘C annel On, Start’ buttons
Color touc screen for settings, E.Q., dynamics, configuration
Separate color touc screen for meters
OLED display wit status information and input meters
Broadcast audio and logical functions
Extra internal TDM bus for future or 3t party expansion
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CONNECTOR PANEL:
All connections to and rom the mixing desk are concentrated on the back. The main analogue and
digital audio connections are balanced on XLR-type connectors. The connections or monitoring and
AUX 6 – 10 are stereo, unbalanced on 6,3 mm jack.
Connections:
All connections to and rom the mixing desk are “industry standard”:
Inputs:
Microphone, AES/EBU balanced XLR emale Pin 1 gnd; pin2 +; pin3 –
Line inputs, balanced L and R XLR emale Pin 1 gnd; pin2 +; pin3 –
Outputs:
Main analog outputs L and R balanced XLR male Pin 1 gnd; pin2 +; pin3 –
Main digital AES/EBU outputs balanced XLR male Pin 1 gnd; pin2 +; pin3 –
Aux 6..10 unbalanced 6,3 mm jack Tip le t; ring right; sleeve gnd
Monitor loudspeaker unbalanced 6,3 mm jack Tip le t; ring right; sleeve gnd
Headphones 6,3 mm jack Tip le t; ring right; sleeve gnd
TB1 and TB2 6,3 mm jack line inputs to connect an ampli ied TalkBack microphone or
inter acing with 3
rd
party intercom systems.
LAN RJ45 connector or uture use
D25 multipin connectors or general purpose input and output switches
DBUS RJ45 connector or expansion units like:
The EA963, a 19” 1U A rack unit with and additional 2 x 8 GPI/O contacts as well as 4 solid state AC
relays or switching lamps.
USB standard connector to connect to a computer or irmware updates and control by automation
so tware like CAPS2.
8 balanced microphone inputs with individually switched 48 Volt phantom powering.
8 AES/EBU balanced digital inputs with sample rate converters range: 22kHz.> 200 kHz
16 balanced analogue inputs.
8 balanced analogue outputs, 2 main outputs, 1 record output, 5 aux.
8 AES/EBU outputs 48 kHz sample rate
5 unbalanced aux outputs
Loudspeaker headphones output unbalanced
External monitor inputs, Talkback inputs unbalanced on 6,3 mm jack
MIO connector, uture or 3
th
party expansion or multichannel USB audio or network audio
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SYSTEM OVERVIEW
CONTROL SURFACE
16 Channel input aders each with 4 pushbuttons with LED and OLED display:
Selecting the top grey button opens the channel window in the touch screen
display. The red LED in the le t top corner o the button will lit indicating the
channel control and in ormation is displayed in the main screen.
The TB button is only active or TalkBack i an output aux is coupled to this
channel. Pressing this button short the unction toggles on or o , holding down
the knob (> 1 sec) it will switch o as soon as you release it. See urther on in
this manual to setup a system.
The yellow button is PFL, pre ade listening, the LED indicates an active state.
PFL can be mixed or individual.
White button is the ‘START’ button and LED. This unction can be activated in
the ‘settings’ menu o each channel. I active the LED will blink i pressed
indicating a ready status, aderstart command will be ired upon opening o a
ader. Or the other way round, the LED will blink ast upon opening o the ader
and the aderstart command will become active a ter pressing the ‘start’ button.
A steady LED indicates the active state o the aderstart. I ‘BTN start’ in the
settings menu is not selected the start command is the normal aderstart and
the LED is steady lit upon opening o the ader.
This LED will blink slowly i an external MUTE signal is applied.
The unctions o the OLED displays above each ader:
On the le t o the OLED is a meter bar that gives you an indication o the input
level,
Symbols indicate the status o the channel,
-The exclamation mark is visible in the case o an input overload.
-The “ON” indicates the on status o the channel.
-“TEL” indicates that the channel is programmed as a telco input /
output.
-“REC”, “A” and “B” are the outputs the signal is routed to.
O course the name o the channel is displayed and the bottom line displays
additional status in ormation.
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Meterbridge controls:
P l speaker and volume control on the le t hand side Meter display on the right.
Main control screen in the middle:
3 Rotary / selectors or use in conjunction with the touch screen. The unction o these rotaries will
dynamically change. The momentary unction is displayed in a colored box on the right hand side o
the screen. The color and icon in this box changes with the unction.
Touching a volume bar or settings box the background changes color and you can adjust with the
help o the appropriate rotary. Volume bars turn white and a change is momentary executed. The
backgrounds o the setting boxes turn yellow and you can change the setting with the rotary. You
have to con irm the change by pushing on top o the rotary.
MAIN SCREEN:
In the main screen you can operate the built-in timer. On the right hand side are the icons or control
room monitor loudspeakers and headphones, here indicating that the rotary next to it operates as
volume control or the speakers and phones. Below this icon you see the name o the selected source.
The “TEL” icon will tell you one or more hybrids are o -hook by showing a li ted headset.
The main screen has 2 extra buttons “On-Air” or “TA” each coupled to a GPO and a GPI. These can be
used or signaling and as standard switches or operated in a ‘handshake’ mode.
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SYSTEM
The ‘system’ button in the main screen will open the system settings menu:
To change touch the number in the box, this will turn into yellow background, next to the bottom
rotary a yellow ield appears. Turn the rotary to change the input and con irm this by pushing the
rotary switch. Note that the other two rotaries will stay active or monitor and headphones volume
control.
‘TB rec rom’ Select the microphone input which is used or talkback, in many cases the DJ
microphone above the mixing desk. Or you can also choose the TB1 or TB2
inputs on the back.
‘Studio Monitor’ I applicable AUX10 can be used as a studio monitor / oldback. In that case an
icon will appear in the monitor section to select a source and the associated logic
is applied. I your setup is used without a separate studio you can use AUX10 as
a standard aux.
‘Studio LSP dim’ The studio oldback loudspeaker can be set to dim upon opening a ader that is
con igured as a studio microphone. The amount o decrease in volume can be
set here.
‘CR LSP dim’ The control room monitor loudspeaker can be set to dim upon opening a ader
that is con igured as a control room microphone. The amount o decrease in
volume can be set here.
‘PFL dim’ The pre ade listening loudspeaker can be set to dim upon opening a ader that is
con igured as a CR microphone. The amount o decrease in volume can be
set here.
‘GPI loads PRESET’ External contacts, GPI inputs, can be used to load a preset, e.g. controlled by an
automation system.
‘GPO is...” Control room sign or Studio sign, selects the output contact that controls the
control room or studio “ON-AIR” lamp. This can be one o the 24 internal
contacts or a solid state relays in the EA963 expansion box.
“ON-AIR, TA’ GPIO contacts assigned to the universal buttons “On-Air” and “TA”
I you do not assign a GPO – GPO set to ‘0’ - an incoming signal (GPI) will turn
the color o the button into red.
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MONITOR
Both Control room loudspeaker, headphone and studio icons hide a source
selector. You can select the source or the monitor speakers and the
headphones by touching the icons and the source selector will open. A selected
source is immediately executed.
The name o the source is displayed underneath the icon.
Source selector or speaker / headphones
In addition you can touch the check-boxes in the monitor select screen or the other unctions:
‘PFL to LSP’ routes the PFL signal to the main monitor speakers i a PFL button o one o the
modules is active and replaces the selected monitor signal.
‘PFL to headphones’ routes the PFL signal to the headphones i a PFL button o one o the
modules is active and replaces the selected headphones signal..
‘Mixed PFL’ Standard p l switches are mutually releasing. Check this box to mix the p l
signals.
Note: i mixed PFL is used Talkback becomes active or all channels in PFL mode that have an AUX
coupled to them! See ‘TB output channel’ in CHANNEL SETTINGS
STUDIO MONITOR
The ‘STUDIO’ icon is only visible i AUX10 is assigned as studio monitor; see
‘System settings / ‘Output select’
You can select the source or the studio monitor speakers by touching the icon
and the source selector will open.
The name o the source is displayed underneath the icon.
Note: You can program any aux to ollow the dim and TalkBack unction o a studio oldback but
without the choice o selecting di erent outputs, see paragraph below.
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SYSTEM
Master auxiliary settings menu sets the AUX or ‘Pre’ or ‘Post’ ader.
I a Studio monitor check box is active the Studio monitor DIM unction is
applied to this AUX upon opening a “Studio Microphone” ader.
‘GPI’ and GPO’ Here you can also set the type and shape o the GPIO’s: pulse (edge) or
continuously, inverted or not….
You can step trough the pages or the settings o the GPI and GPO 1 to 24 on
the D25 connectors on the back and or 25 onwards on an EA963 extender unit.
The same applies to the General Purpose Outputs.
NOTE THAT AN INVERTED GPI WILL BE ACTIVE WHEN NO CONNECTION IS MADE!! E.g. i you have
assigned a GPI to an input mute that channel will be muted i the switch is not connected!
I set to “EDGE” the GPI signal will toggle the unction ’on’ on the irst pulse and ‘o ’ on the second.
So tware power o , the D4 will stay in stand-by mode.
The unit has a hardware power switch in the back. It is recommended to use this
switch to shut o the unit. I the unit is mounted in a table were you cannot
reach this switch you can shut down (sleep mode) the unit in so tware.
By holding down the ‘settings’ rotary or 3 seconds the unit will power up again.
Please note: From this state the unit will also switch on i the (mains) power was
down and switched on again!
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MAIN SCREEN
‘outputs’ This is the master volume settings screen or all the available outputs.
Selecting the OUTPUT LEVELS button in the main screen opens an overview o
all output levels. This is an important tool to keep track o all the signals going
out.
Just select a bar, this will turn red, adjust the volume with the rotary and push it
to con irm. The volume is adjusted in real time. The ‘AES/EBU button
gives access to the digital output options:
‘digital outputs’
By de ault the digital AES/EBU outputs are linked to the main outputs and the
irst 5 universal ‘Aux’ outputs. This con iguration can be changed e.g. to have a
digital output or monitoring or a digital output carrying the same signal as the
headphones.
To adapt the digital audio level to the various standards used you can also
change the digital audio level vs analogue and meter levels over a 20 dB range.
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‘preset’
You can store / recall up to 16 presets.
ALL SETTINGS ARE SAVED INCLUDING ALL PARAMETERS FOR EACH INPUT SEPARATLY!
Please note:
C anges made in t e settings will be lost at power off unless saved in a preset!
With check boxes you can indicate how the unit will behave at power-up. You can choose one o the
presets to load at start-up or the last loaded preset. In the SYSTEM / GPIO menu you can assign a
GPI to load up to 2 presets with external contact closures. Be aware that also this setting is stored in
a preset! Loading a di erent preset by means o a contact closure without a contact assigned will
switch this o !
All settings are stored in memory with a battery back-up. This battery will last at least 5 years under
normal conditions. The battery is a widely available type CR2032 or equivalent that is commonly used
in PC’s or the same purpose. A quali ied technician can change this (internal) battery.
In the event o a irmware upgrade all settings will be lost. It is recommended to write down your
basic settings and keep these in a sa e place.
MAIN SCREEN
‘LOGIN’ The eela audio logo hides a login screen
A login code gives access to the system settings and / or channel con iguration
as well as enables the user to store presets. Once logged in you can log-o in the
same way. The actory de ault password is “0000” . You can simply change this
in the “change passw” screen. The password can be up to 15 characters long.
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Without logging in you can use the mixing console or normal operation:
You can recall presets,
Select inputs to aders,
Make channels the operational adjustments e.q., compressor limiter, gain and aux levels,
Change the output levels,
Use the monitor acilities and operate the timer.
‘timer’
The main display is used as a Program timer
On the bottom le t you will ind an indication which ader is used as the event
triggering.
Tapping this clock in the main window gives you access to the setting.
Just enter an INTRO and / or TOTAL TRACK time. The TRIGGER is the ader
number that starts the countdown.
You can select any o the 16 aders by tapping the TRIGGER box, this will turn
yellow and enter a number by turning the rotary or simply hitting the ‘select’
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UNIVERSAL CONTACTS
These button control GPIO contacts that can be used to switch an on-air matrix and the signal or
tra ic announcement but due to the universal character o the system these can be used or any
other purpose a switch is needed and / or a signal has to be displayed.
The main screen has 2 extra buttons coupled to a GPO and a GPI. These can be used or signaling
and as standard switches or operated in a ‘handshake’ mode.
Pressing one o the buttons “On-Air” or “TA” the assigned GPO will switch and
the background color changes into green as a sign that the GPO is on.:
Pressing the button again rom this state the GPO switches o and the color
turns into de ault (blue) again.
At an acknowledgement on the assigned GPI the color changes into red:
To prevent unintentional switching you can now only switch this o by touching
and holding the button (> 2 sec).
In case the external GPI is activated rom the de ault state the color o the
background changes into yellow:
By subsequently pushing the button it will turn red and the GPO closes.
As an example by wiring this GPO in series with a ader contact o a microphone this can be used to
control a tra ic announcement system.
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METERS
Tapping on one o the meter bars will open a meter select screen in the main
display. It allows or selecting the meter source. The current selection is
displayed in the label on the le t hand side o each meter pair.
Currently only active PPM characteristics.
The standard alignment o the mixer outputs:
0 PPM is + 6 dBu at the balanced analog outputs
+10 PPM is 0 dBFS
See the section “Outputs” or changing the digital audio levels vs analogue outputs!
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CHANNEL SETTINGS:
Input select:
Each input ader has a “select”, “TalkBack”, “p l” and “start” button above the ader. Brie ly pushing
the grey “select” button opens the main ‘settings or input’ window in the display:
Touching one o the bars (gain, balance/pan or e.q. etc.) changes the color o
The bars in the block, the unction o the rotary’s change and you can make the
necessary adaptions. You can see the momentary unction in the labels next to
the rotary. Changes are executed in real time.
Gain and balance are operated in the same way. An aux level can be changed in
2 ways: You can select one o the 10 aux-es here and adjust the level or you can
open the ‘aux mix’ window to get an overview. (see below)
The small meter on the channel OLED display can be used to set the GAIN o an
input. E.Q. and dynamics can be switched on / o in the check-boxes. In the
same way you can adjust the compressor ratio.
‘REC’ and ‘ISOLATE’ Choose the box ‘REC” i you want your signal to route to the recording (REC)
output. In order to keep the signal o -air also tap the ’ ISOLATE’ box. In this way
you can make a recording independent rom the on-air signal.
‘Aux mix’
NOTE: You can “scroll” through all the input channels by tapping another one o the grey “SELECT”
button above the aders while staying in the same settings level. This allows adjusting the same aux
or all channels in a ast and easy way.
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CHANNEL SETTINGS
The brown telephone icon is only present when the channel is set up as a Telco
channel (hybrid).
With this button you can open the “Telco” window to switch the external hybrid
on/o hook and dial a number. The unit has a built-in DTMF generator. (No
internal hybrid!) A normal hybrid is transparent or these DTMF tones.
‘con ig’
Pressing the ‘con ig’ button opens the con iguration menu or this channel.
Please note: Some settings can only c ange w en fader is closed!
‘Input type’ you will set the logic behavior o the channel:
‘CR microphone’ , Monitor speaker will MUTE or DIM upon opening o this channel
ader as well as activate the CR red-light.
‘Studio microphone’ , Studio monitor will DIM upon opening o this channel ader
as well as activate the STUDIO red-light.
The amount o DIM can be set in the SYSTEM setting.
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CHANNEL SETTINGS
‘Hybrid’ In case you connect a telephone hybrid to this input.
‘Con ig’ Can be ‘stereo’, ‘swapped L+R’, Le t to mono, Right to mono, mono to
both. Although displayed this is not active in MIC mode as a microphone is
always mono so settings here will have no e ect.
‘Line’ a line input without any special in luence on the logic o the desk.
This setting is independent rom the selected input type. You can program a line or digital input to
“behave” as a microphone input. This allows you to use an external microphone preampli ier
connected to a line input and still keep the system logic o a microphone channel.
‘TB output channel’, i needed an aux output can be coupled to this input or Talkback purposes.
E.g. a eed to a presenter headphone or TalkBack to a hybrid or other “Outside
Source”. I set this will activate the green “TB” button on the ader channel.
‘TBP output channel’, second Talkback output, TalkBackProducer has the same unction as above, but
rom another source.
‘Inv L and Inv R’ Check boxes or the phase reverse unction. To reverse the phase o a
microphone select both.
Care ul: Le t or Right phase reversed and input ‘Con ig’ in mono will cancel the signal!
When used in the right way this can be used or decoding M+S stereo, see
separate documentation.
‘Phantom’ Only in MIC Mode: 48 V PHANTOM power switch. The 48V phantom powering is
individually switched or each microphone input.
‘BTN start’ Button start, .i active the LED on the “start” button o the channel will blink ast
i pressed indicating a ready status, aderstart command will be ired upon
opening o a ader. Or the other way round, the LED will blink ast upon opening
the ader and the aderstart command will become active a ter pressing the ‘start’
button. A steady LED indicates the active state o the aderstart. I ‘BTN start’ in
this settings menu is not selected the start command is the normal aderstart and
the LED will steady lit upon opening o the ader.
(This LED will blink slowly i an external MUTE signal is applied.)
‘Main A’, ‘Main B’ Check boxes to route the channel signal to one or both main outputs.
This is also visible in the channel’s OLED display.
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CHANNEL SETTINGS
‘GPI’ and ‘GPO’ General Purpose Inputs and Outputs are opto isolated contact closures. On the
mixing desks itsel are 24 input contacts and 24 output contacts available on 3
D25 connectors. With the EA963 expansion unit you can add 16 inputs and 16
outputs extra as well as 4 solid state relays to drive mains voltage warning
lamps.
The type and shape o the I/O’s can be set in the main systems menu.
General Purpose Inputs are:
External mute, remote P l on, Fader bypass, and i the channel is activated as
‘hybrid’ also “ringtone detect”.
‘Fader bypass’ switched the channel on to unity gain and the ‘ aderstart on’
independent o ader setting.
General Purpose Outputs can be:
Faderstart, P l. Out and i activated as ‘hybrid’ also modem (hybrid) on.
Example: I an External mute and remote P l on are set to the same GPI number an external contact
closure o this GPI will mute the channel and at the same time switch the P l on. This is o ten known
as “cough” unction allowing a presenter to contact the technician o -air.
CHANNEL SETTINGS
The “SELECT” button open the input matrix:
To select an input to the ader channel simply select one and press the “OK”
button. With the le t and right arrow you can step trough the pages. The D4
without MIO active has 2 pages or in total 32 inputs.
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CHANNEL SETTINGS
The “EDIT” button opens a text window to change the name o the selected
input. This name you will also see in the OLED channel display.
Text editor
The text editor is used to change channel names. The length o a channel
name can be up to 10 characters.
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Cleanfeeds, N-1, foldback, outside source return, coug signal:
There is a lot o con usion mainly about the names o the same kind o signals so let’s take a closer
look:
CLEANFEED or N-1 or OUTSIDE SOURCE:
Basically this is the (mono) signal that goes back to a caller into a telephone hybrid. The signal
consists o a mix o all signals in a program MINUS the signal that comes FROM the hybrid INTO the
channel o the mixing desk. This signal rom the hybrid back into the mix will cause a eedback and
that is something we do not want. In radio broadcast mixing desks this signal can be a separate POST
FADE AUX bus without the incoming signal rom the hybrid.
In some analog mixing desks this is not a separate bus but the signal is made rom the total sum and
mixing this with a phase reversed version o the unwanted signal. This is OK as long as it is limited in
requency range so it is mainly used or telephone hybrids.
Also upon switching on the TalkBack the signal is replaced by the microphone signal in order to talk to
the caller o air without the public hearing this conversation. I the damping o the hybrid allows this
can also be done on-air.
In the D4 a dedicated STEREO ull bandwidth AUX bus is used or this purpose. Other than only
hybrids also ull bandwidth stereo communication devices can be used (ISDN Codec).
With this system you can also couple 2 or more D4 mixing desks in separate rooms together without
the danger o eedback.
A special mode is putting the AUX-es in “pre- ader mode”, this allows incoming callers to talk to each
other o -air: CONFERENCE mode. This can be use ul when 2 or more reporters are active that need
to know about each others activities. However they should be aware when they are on and o -air!
HEADPHONES FOLDBACK:
The signal that is ed to the headphones o a presenter. Basically the total mix o the main signal.
In order to allow the technician behind the mixing desk to talk to the presenter this signal is replaced
by the microphone signal i the TalkBack button is pushed.
With the D4 an AUX bus is used or this purpose and you can even built a dedicated mix e.g. lower
volume o the music contributions. It is not a clean eed signal as the presenter headphones needs the
own signal back to hear his/her own voice!
COUGH:
The cough signal is engaged with a pushbutton in the studio. Pushing this button switches the
microphone o the main mix and switches on the p l. In this way the presenter can talk to the
technician o - air. In the D4 you can connect an external switch to one GPI and select both “mute”
and “remote p l” o the microphone channel to the same GPI. I an external “mute” is applied the
START button LED will blink slowly.
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