Fairlight Merlin User manual

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Installation Manual
SoftwareVersion 16.3
Part Number: DMER201-G
Document Number: 295
Manual by: Owen P Walker
Copyright © 2001

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IMPORTANT NOTICE
COPYRIGHT
The material in this document is copyright to Fairlight ESP Pty Ltd, and may not be quoted
or reproduced in any form without written permission from the company.
LIMITED WARRANTY POLICY
All the software and hardware provided with, or purchased especially for, Fairlight
products has been tested for functionality. Fairlight ESP Pty Ltd will make its best efforts to
correct reported defects for future releases subject to technical practicabilities. Fairlight ESP
will also replace any defective media on which software has been delivered provided that the
item to be replaced is returned to the dealer who supported the product within 90 days of
purchase.
Fairlight ESP Pty Ltd makes no warranty or representation either expressed or implied
with respect to the system's performance or fitness for a particular purpose.
In no event will Fairlight ESP Pty Ltd be liable for direct or indirect damages arising from
any defect in the product or its documentation. Further, Fairlight ESP Pty Ltd will not accept
any liability for any programs, sounds, audio recording or sequences stored in or used with
Fairlight products, including the cost of recovery of such data.
The warranties, remedies and disclaimers above are exclusive and take precedence over
all others, oral or written, express or implied, to the extent permitted by law in the
geographical area of the product's use. No employee of Fairlight ESP, agent, distributor or
employee of an agent or distributor is authorized to offer any variation from this policy.
Copyright 2001:
Fairlight ESP Pty Ltd,
Unit 2, 1 Skyline Place,
French's Forest, NSW 2086,
AUSTRALIA.
Telephone [phone]
Fax [phone]

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
IMPORTANT NOTICE ......................................... 2
CERTIFICATES & COMPLIANCES ........................... 5
SAFETY SYMBOLS ............................................ 6
MAINS PLUGS & MAINS POWER CORDS .............. 7
OBTAINING TECHNICAL SUPPORT ........................ 8
SECTION 1 - INTRODUCTION ............................. 9
1.1 Product Description .............................. 9
1.2 Manual Summary ................................. 9
1.3 System Overview ............................... 10
1.4 Unpacking .......................................... 11
1.5 Equipment Supplied ............................ 11
1.6 Static Precautions ............................... 12
1.7 Environment........................................ 12
SECTION 2 - ENGINE PHYSICAL INSTALLATION ..... 13
2.1 Mechanical Installation ...................... 13
2.2 Electrical Installation .......................... 14
2.3 Engine Rear Panel Connections .......... 15
2.4 Cabling ............................................... 16
2.5 External Cable Length Considerations 17
2.5.1 MERLIN CONTROL CABLE ................ 17
2.5.2 SONY 9-PIN CABLE ....................... 17
2.5.3 VGA CABLE ............................... 17
2.5.4 AUDIO CABLE .............................. 17
2.5.6 DIGITAL AUDIO CABLES ................. 17
2.6 Connecting The Various System .............
Components .............................................. 18
SECTION 3 - MERLIN CONSOLE PHYSICAL INSTALLATION
19
3.1 Introduction......................................... 19
3.2 Mechanical Installation ...................... 19
3.3 Electrical Installation .......................... 20
3.3.1 MERLIN CONTROL CABLE ................ 20
3.4 Interconnecting The Console And ...........
Engine ....................................................... 20
3.6 Internal and External SCSI Devices.... 21
SECTION 4 - SYSTEM CONFIGURATION ............... 22
4.1 Introduction......................................... 22
4.2 Switching on the Equipment ............ 22
4.2.1 Console ...................................... 22
4.2.2 Engine ........................................ 22
4.3 Boot up screen .................................... 24
4.4 Software Installation ........................... 26
4.4.1 Installing Software From .................
Exabyte ............................................... 26
SECTION 5 - CONFIGURING DISK DRIVES .......... 28
5.1 External Hard Disk Drives ................. 28
5.1.1 Wide Based Disk Drives ............ 28
5.1.2 Narrow Based Disk Drives ........ 28
5.1.2 Configuring The Engine For ............
Narrow Use ........................................ 29
5.1.3 Mixing Wide And Narrow Disk ......
Drives ................................................. 30
5.2 Checking for Newly Installed SCSI ........
Devices .................................................... 31
5.3 Setting Up Removable Media .................
Devices .................................................... 31
SECTION 6 - ROUTINE MAINTENANCE ................ 32
6.1 Cleaning The Exterior Of The Units..... 32
6.2 Cleaning The Monitor Screens ............ 32
6.3 Cleaning The Engine Air Filter ............ 32
New Air Filters .................................... 33
APPENDIX - CONNECTION SPECIFICATIONS .......... 34
Introduction ............................................... 34
A1 - Audio I/O Configuration .................... 34
QDC Configuration ................................... 35
A1.1 Analog Audio I/O Specifications ..... 36
A1.2 Digital Audio I/O Specifications ....... 36
APPENDIX - CONNECTION & SIGNAL.....................
SPECIFICATIONS ............................................ 51
A2 Control & Reference Pinouts ............... 51

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A3 General Purpose Interface .................. 52
A4 Mixer ................................................... 53
A5 Controller ............................................ 54
A6 Printer .................................................. 55
A8 9-Pin A ................................................. 56
A9 9-Pin B ................................................. 56
A10 9-Pin Slave ........................................ 57
A11 LTC - I/O ............................................ 57
A12 Serial Port .......................................... 58
A13 Midi I/O ............................................. 58
A14 AES Sync I/O ..................................... 59
A15 Modem .............................................. 59
A16 VGA................................................... 60
A17 Video Sync - In .................................. 60
A18 Word Clock - In ................................. 60
A19 Word Clock - Out .............................. 60
A20 Dimensions ....................................... 61
A20.1 Engine ....................................... 61
A20.1 Power Requirments......................... 62
A20.2 Merlin Console ......................... 62

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CC EMISSION CONTROL
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital
device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable
protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial
environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if
not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful
interference to radio communications.
The Merlin Console and Engine conform to the EMC directives :-
EN 55022:1998 Class A - Emissions
EN 55024:1998 Class 3 - Susceptibility
The Merlin Console and Engine also conform to the Safety directives :-
UL 1419 - Professional Video & Audio Equipment
IEC 60950 - Information Technology Equipment
For further information on EMC procedures please refer to the following titles:-
Noise Reduction Techniques In Electronic Systems by Henry W Ott
EMC by Tim Williams
Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference in
which case the user will be required to correct the interference at his own expense. Changes
or modifications not expressly approved by Fairlight ESP can affect emission compliance and
could void the user’s authority to operate this equipment.
CERTIFICATES & COMPLIANCES
CHARACTERISTICS DESCRIPTION
Equipment Type Supplemented Data: Information Technology
Equipment Class Supplmental Data: Class 1 - Grounded equipment
Installation Catergory Requirment Category 2 - Local level appliances,
portable equipment etc.
Pollution Degree
Requirment: Level 2 operating enviorment - Normally
only non-conductive pollution occurs. Occasionally
there may be a temporary conductivity caused by
condensation.

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SAFETY SYMBOLS
The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol, within an equilateral
triangle, is intended to alert the user to the presence of un-insulated
“dangerous voltage” within the product’s enclosure; that may be of
sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock to persons.
L’eclair, dans une triangle, est destiné à alerter l’utilisateur de la
présence de haute tension dangereuse non isolée dans l'enclosure du
produit, qui peut être d’un voltage suffisant pour constituer un risque
d’électrocution.
Das dreieckige Schild mit Blitzsymbol soll den Benutzer vor
unisolierten Hochspannungen innerhalb des Gerätes warnen. Es
besteht Lebensgefahr durch elektrischen Schlag!
El simbolo del rayo dentro de un triángulo equilátero, es usado
para indicar la presencia de un voltage peligroso en el interior del
aparato, de suficiente intensidad, como para constituir riesgo de
electrocución a las personas.
The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is intended to
alert the user to the presence of important operating and maintenance
instructions in the literature accompanying the appliance.
Le point d’exclamation dans une triangle est destiné à alerter
l’utilisateur de la présence d’instructions importantes de
fonctionnement et d’entretien dans la littérature accompagnant
l’appareil.
Das dreieckige Schild mit Ausrufungszeichen soll den Benutzer auf
wichtige Bedienungs- und Wartungshinweise in der
Bedienungsanleitung hinweisen.
El simbolo de exclamación dentro de un triángulo equilátero avisa
al usuario de la presencia de instrucciones importantes acerca del
funcionamiento y mantención del aparato en los documentos que se
incluyen.

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MAINS PLUGS & MAINS POWER CORDS
The following lists the recommended Mains Plugs and Leads for use in various countries
throughout the world.
Standards applicable for Mains Plugs Rating Country
ASTA BS1363 1984 10A @ 250VAC UK
BS546, 1950 10A @ 250VAC India, Kenya, Nigeria, Kuwait,
Parts of Asia and the Far East
IEC695-2-1 & NF-USE 10A @ 250VAC France & Belgium
DIN49441 & CEE 7 Sheet VII 10A @ 250VAC Europe
SEV 10A @ 250VAC Switzerland
CEI23-16 10A @ 250VAC Italy
NEMA5-15P & NEMA6-15P 10A @ 250VAC USA
Standards applicable for Mains Leads Rating Country
CSA22.2 No.42 & UL498 10A @ 250VAC Canada & Japan
ASE 1011 (1959) 10A @ 250VAC Switzerland
CEI 2316 10A @ 250VAC Italy
SRAF 1962 10A @ 250VAC Denmark
AS3112-1990, NZSS198-1967 10A @ 250VAC
Australia, New Zealand, Fiji,
Papua New Guinea, Republic of
China
UL498 & SJT 10A minimum rating with IEC60320-
1 coupler 10A @ 250VAC USA
Mains Attachment Plugs
Mains Power Leads

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OBTAINING TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Users requiring technical support should contact their local Fairlight office or distributor.
Information can also be found on the world wide web at :-
http://www.fairlightesp.com.au
United Kingdom USA – West Coast
Fairlight ESP Limited
Unit 12, Spectrum House
32-34 Gordon House Road
London NW5 1LP
England
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]
Fairlight USA
844 North Seward Street,
Hollywood, CA90038
USA
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]
France USA –East Coast
Fairlight France
41-43 Rue des Peupliers
92100 Boulogne-Billancourt
Paris
France
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]
Fairlight USA
2 West 45th Street, Suite 605
New York, NY 10036
USA
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]
Germany Japan
Fairlight Deutschland Gmbh
August-Bebel-Strasse 26-53
14482 Potsdam-Babelsberg
Berlin
Germany
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]
Fairlight Japan Inc.
Seijyo 4-2-23, Setagaya-Ku,
Tokoyo 157-0066
Japan
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]
Asia - Pacific
Fairlight ESP Pty.limited
Unit 2, 1 Skyline Place,
Frenchs Forest NSW 2086
Australia
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]

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SECTION 1 - INTRODUCTION
1.1 PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Merlin is the first of a new generation of disk based multitrack recorders from Fairlight.
The system marries together an advanced user interface with the technology of the latest
generation of digital audio workstation in a combination that has a significant impact on
productivity and efficiency.
The Merlin interface incorporates a dedicated editing Console with a unique graphical user
interface. These tools allow the operator to work quickly and efficiently without impeding the
creativity of the recording and editing process, and can now be fully utilized in the
professional audio suite. The Merlin offers a number of unique benefits through its
adaptation of DSP and proprietary technology to the audio environment.
For a more detailed explanation of the Merlin, please refer to the Merlin User Manual.
1.2 MANUAL SUMMARY
The purpose of this manual is to provide all the technical information required to design a
suitable installation for the Merlin system and to fit and connect the units. It is assumed that
the installer is familiar with both analog and digital audio signals. For full operational
instructions please refer to the Merlin User Manual.

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1.3 SYSTEM OVERVIEW
The Merlin is made up of four interconnecting components, the Merlin Console and
external power supply, a Flat Screen Display Monitor and a Engine rack mounted unit which
contains all the electronic circuitry, disk drives and audio I/O necessary to run the system.
Console Power Supply Unit
Merlin Console & Flat Screen Monitor
Engine