Elan EL-IPD-MTX-8CH Quick start guide

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ELAN
Integration
Note
Manufacturer: ELAN IPD Multi Chassis
Model Number(s):
EL-IPD-MTX-8CH
EL-IPD-PRE-MSI
EL-IPD-AMP-EXT
EL-IPD-PRE-SSI
EL
-
IPD
-
NAC
-
EXT (Dante Network Card)
Minimum Core Module Version: 8.5.2.0
Document Revision Date: 06/25/2020
OVERVIEW AND SUPPORTED FEATURES
The ELAN IP Amps are multizone, and multisource audio switchers that can be controlled by the ELAN
software using IP. Using Dante, the various chassis can communicate and share/stream sources over IP.
THE FOLLOWING FEATURES ARE SUPPORTED:
Source and Volume control: Each zone has independent control of the source selection and volume
control
Independent Zone Settings: Each zone has a prebuilt settings page with: Loudness, 5 band
customizable EQ, and Do Not Disturb (DND) settings
Configurable zone outputs: The outputs are independent from zones and can be assigned to any zone
for a very flexible installation. Using Dante, you can expand the number of chassis and therefore the
number of zones.
12 V Trigger outputs/Audio Sense Inputs: The EL-IPD-MTX-8CH, EL-IPD-PRE-MSI, and EL-IPD-AMP-
EXT all come with 3 12-volt trigger outputs, and also with the ability to detect audio inputs. These can be
used by configuring event maps.
Doorbell/Zone Paging: The EL-IPD-MTX-8CH and EL-IPD-PRE-MSI come with a dedicated doorbell
source that can be used with an ELAN SC100 or G1 to ring a doorbell or send a page through multiple
zones.
THE FOLLOWING FEATURES ARE NOT SUPPORTED:
Control from HC Controllers: Only SC2, SC 10, SC100, and G1 can be used for control.
.
Any feature not specifically noted as supported should be assumed to be unsupported.

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Networking Requirements
The network is key. You MUST follow these steps to have a good experience
 Unicast: Basic Switching:
• You must use Gigabit Switches
• Do not connect Dante device directly to a router
• Do not cascade switches – use a single switch as the hub
• Do not use Couplers or wall platers
• Disable any EEE or green ethernet features*
• In basic, unicast switching mode, IGMP should be disabled
• Multicast: Advanced Switching required when:
• When using more than 4 chassis (advanced mode)
• When sending SSI to more than 2 chassis (advanced mode)
• layer 2 switch with IGMP is enabled
• When used with other multicast traffic, such as Video over IP
• When using Wi-Fi on same network as advanced multicast switching mode
• QoS is recommended when multicast switching mode is enabled
• Quality of Service (QoS) with 4 queues
• Diffserv (DSCP) QoS, with strict priority
* IN SOME SWITCHES, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO DISABLE THE EEE OR GREEN ETHERNET MODES AND IN THESE CASES, THE
SWITCH IS NOT COMPATIBLE

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INSTALLATION OVERVIEW
1) Make all chassis connections.
2) If using EL-IPD-MTX-8CH or EL-IPD-PRE-MSI, make sure the EL-IPD-NAC-EXT card is installed
3) Add the device to your configuration. This can be done in one of three ways:
a. Using AD/AC (auto-discover/auto-configure) from the discovery tab in Configurator
b. Manually, on the Configurator Media tab, Add new zone controllers, EL-IPD MultiChassis
c. Converting an already configured single chassis PRE-MSI or MTX-8CH to multi chassis
Dante using the driver mode switch on the device node. Note: this cannot be undone.
4) Once installed, update the chassis firmware, as needed, by pressing the button on the bottom of
the screen
MCU
Firmware
DSP Firmware Dante Firmware
EL-IPD-MTX-8CH 1.0.8.9 2.0.0 4.0.9.1/2.0.0.3 (NAC-EXT)
EL-IPD-PRE-MSI 1.0.5.7 2.0.0 4.0.9.1/2.0.0.3 (NAC-EXT)
EL-IPD-AMP-EXT 1.0.5.2 1.1.3 4.0.9.2/1.0.7.0
EL-IPD-PRE-SSI 2.3* N/A 4.1.6.7/2.0.0.4
*When booting the PRE-SSI, the Power LED will flash to show the current firmware

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5) Assign and configure your sources:
Analog sources:
Stereo:
 Everything should be pre-configured so just assign a source as normal
 Set the input gain, if needed
Mono:
 Change the Mode dropdown and select Mono
 Change the Input dropdown and select the appropriate single input connected
 To use the other mono input channel right click on any source in the source tree
and select “add new” and repeat the previous steps
 Set the input gain, if needed
 To set an output to be mono you must remove or edit it from its existing stereo
setup
Digital sources:
 Everything should be pre-configured for you so just assign a source as normal
Doorbell source:
 Everything should be pre-configured for you so just assign a source as normal
 Refer to the intercom training guide for any questions about setting up doorbells
 Set the input gain, if needed

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6) Configure the zone outputs
The outputs are completely configurable to the zone needs. You can assign any number of
outputs to a zone. The max zones configurable on the chassis is 12 (mono outputs)
 By default, all zones are pre-configured to use stereo pair outputs
 Right click on a field to modify
 Hint: use the shift or ctrl keys to multi-select fields if you wish to create or change
many output zone assignments at once.
a. Zone (sets the zone the output is associated with)
 Zone assignment
 Change the zone name
 Add a new zone
b. Type: (Sets the audio channel that will be sent to that output)
 Left -sends the left channel audio
 Right -sends the right channel audio
 Mono -sends both left and right channel audio
 Sub -sends left and right channel audio with a 100hz crossover
c. Line Level: (for pre-amp outputs only)
 Variable
 Fixed
d. Gain: (Increase or decrease the gain on a specific output)
 +/-12db
e. Impedance (sets the output curve for the connected load)
 4 Ohm -default, sets curve and output power specific to a 4-ohm load
(Note: Commonly accomplished by connecting two 8 Ohm speakers in parallel to a single output.)
 8 Ohm -sets curve and output power specific to a 4-ohm load
Warning: Setting the Impedance to 8 Ohm while connected to a 4 Ohm load could cause the
amplifier to overpower the connected speaker if not rated high enough to handle the power!
f. Lip Sync Delay (sets the audio delay for this output)
 Up to 400ms delay in 10ms increments

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7) Configure the Zone options
a. Built-in Settings
 Enable -Shows the built-in settings page
 Disable -Hides the built-in settings page
Note: The built-in settings page is not customizable. If you need to make a custom settings page,
Built-in Settings must be set to disable. You can set the eq for that room before setting to
disable. The eq settings will be persistent.
b. Max Volume
 Sets the maximum allowed volume for the zone.
c. On Volume Max
 0-100 -Sets the maximum volume allowed on the turn on. If the last
volume was higher, it will be adjusted down
d. On Volume Min
 0-100 -Sets the minimum volume allowed on the turn on. If the last
volume was lower, it will be adjusted up
8) It is recommended to delete any zones not being used from the ELAN driver.

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CHASSIS OPTIONS
Next to each chassis in configurator there is a cog you can click which will bring up a pop-up
menu where you can adjust options for the chassis that have been added to the
driver.
The left pop-up window below will be for MTX-8CH, PRE-MSI, and AMP-EXT. The Right is the SSI
Pressing Configure Device will bring up another pop up menu. The MTX-8CH and PRE-MSI have the
same pop-up menu. The Amp-EXT and PRE-SSI do not have as many features so the pop-up window
will be different. Shown below; Left is MTX and MSI, Middle is AMP, and Right is SSI.
Device Name: This will be the name displayed in configurator and viewer. This can be changed to help
identify the chassis.
MCU Network: This allows the user to set the IP, Subnet Mask, Gateway, and DNS for the chassis.
Enable Multicast Transmit: This changes the chassis into multicast mode which allows the chassis to
stream its sources to multiple different chassis at the same time.

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Enable Low Power Mode: Low power mode forces the chassis to go to sleep after a certain period of
inactivity. When in low power mode the chassis can take up to 20 seconds to wake up and start playing.
When not in low power mode the chassis will reduce power when idle; however, it will quickly wake up
Flash LED Start: This causes the power and status LEDs on the front of the chassis to start blinking to
identify the chassis. (The LED for the SSI is on the back of the chassis)
Flash LED Stop: This stops the LED lights on the chassis from flashing
Sync Device with Configurator: This will cause the system to read the chassis current setup. This can
be helpful if you are having issues with audio.
Update Device Firmware: This will cause the chassis to update to the latest firmware.
Factory Reset Device: This will reset the chassis to factory default settings
Delete Device: This will delete the highlighted chassis from the Multi Chassis driver. Deleting the driver
does not delete the zones associated with the driver. Once a driver has been deleted it is recommended
to remove all of the zones that were associated with the deleted chassis.
LED Brightness: This is a feature specific to the SSI which allows the user to reduce the brightness of the
power LED on the back of the chassis.
LED OPERATION

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SETTINGS PAGE
1) 5 band Equalizer
2) DND
 Do Not Disturb; will block zone interrupts like zone paging & doorbell chimes
3) Loudness
 This option will boost the low-end frequencies at lower volumes
4) Reset
 Will reset the 5 band EQ back to 0db
5) Presets
 There are 6 predefined EQ curves that can be selected.
6) Editing Presets
 You can create your own custom EQ curves and then hold one of the preset buttons to
get the option to overwrite with your new custom EQ curve.
 Overwrite: This will overwrite the existing EQ curve and then give the option to rename it.
 X: This will cancel making any changes to the EQ preset.
 Reset: This allows you to reset the custom preset back to the predefined one that was
replaced.

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COMMON MISTAKES
Cannot discover device
1. Check network switch settings for IGMP and UPNP
2. Make sure EL-IPD-NAC-EXT network card is installed in EL-IPD-MTX-8CH & EL-IPD-PRE-
MSI
Zone is highlighted yellow in configurator
Illegal output configuration – meaning there are no outputs assigned to that zone. Deleting
unused zones or assigning outputs to zones will resolve this issue
Can find device on the network – reset the chassis back to DHCP
1. On the network card, there will be a small hole to the right of the RJ-45 jack.
2. With a small pin, press and release the button withing that pinhole.
3. Wait 2 minutes, then reboot the chassis
Static IP address does not take after resetting the network card
Reboot the chassis after resetting the network card
Chassis takes a while to play on turn on
Chassis is on low power mode. Be sure chassis is on. This can be accomplished by turning on a
zone and confirm audio is playing. Set the low power mode to No. Press write configuration to
be sure the setting has been written down.
Status is showing firmware update available
Update the firmware using the button. Wait approx. 5 min for the update and reboot to happen. If
still showing yellow, retry steps.
It has been found that networks with high amounts of traffic can affect the ability for chassis to
update firmware. You can put the IP Amps onto a separate dedicated network or temporarily
turning off some of the devices causing traffic on the network to fix this issue.
Updating firmware requires both the ELAN controller and the chassis to have access to the
internet.
Front Panel LED Reference Chart:
Low Power Mode Enabled after Factory Reset
If you factory reset the EL-IPD-MTX-8CH or EL-IPD-PRE-MSI while they are using the NAC card
it will enable low power mode by default.
To Reset MSI/MTX/EXT Chassis to out of box defaults
With the chassis powered on, use a small pin press and hold the reset button on the back of the
chassis for 20 seconds. The chassis will reboot and reset to factory condition. The chassis will
need to be reconfigured and synchronized from the ELAN configurator after a reset.

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PRE-SSI not playing audio
The PRE-SSI has a switch on the back the allows the input to be changed between Optical,
Coax, and Stereo Analog. Make sure the switch is on the correct source.
PRE-SSI can only stream to 2 chassis simultaneously while in unicast. Must change to multicast
for more.