Janus AudioControl Director M4800 User manual

Director M4800 / M6400 / D4600
Control4 Driver User Guide
Driver developed by

AudioControl M6400/M4800/D4600
Control4 Driver User Guide
Janus Technology Ltd
Copyright © 2018
1
Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................... 2
AudioControl Configuration .......................................................................................... 2
Driver Installation....................................................................................................... 3
Driver Configuration.................................................................................................... 4
D-series specifics........................................................................................................ 7
Zone to Group mapping............................................................................................... 8
Driver Commands..................................................................................................... 14
Driver Variables ....................................................................................................... 15

AudioControl M6400/M4800/D4600
Control4 Driver User Guide
Janus Technology Ltd
Copyright © 2018
2
Introduction
This driver has been designed to provide two-way control of AudioControl Director M4800,
M6400 and D4600 network amplifiers, via TCP/IP. This has been tested with firmware
version 0.1.16_NCB RA.
AudioControl Configuration
It is recommended that the AudioControl system be installed, configured and tested by a
suitably qualified engineer, according to AudioControl documentation, prior to integration
with this driver. Some additional, specific configuration is required to ensure correct
operation of the driver.
The amplifier should ideally be configured with a static IP address in the same range as the
Control4 system:
1. Enter the IP address of the amp into the web browser of a computer connected to the
same network, to display the web interface.
2. Choose the Device Configuration tab.
3. Enter your static IP address information and click Save Settings.

AudioControl M6400/M4800/D4600
Control4 Driver User Guide
Janus Technology Ltd
Copyright © 2018
3
Driver Installation
Copy the file “amplifier_ip_audiocontrol_[m|d]xx00.c4i” from the zip package to your
Control4 driver location (by default this is Documents\Control4\Drivers). Open Composer
and choose the Search tab from the Items pane.
Figure 1: Driver Search
The driver can be found under:
Device Type: A/V Switch
Manufacturer: AudioControl
Add the driver entitled “AudioControl M6400” into your project.
Figure 2: Driver

AudioControl M6400/M4800/D4600
Control4 Driver User Guide
Janus Technology Ltd
Copyright © 2018
4
Driver Configuration
It is first necessary to create connections for the new driver; chose the Connections pane
in Composer, and then select the Network tab. Double click on the AudioControl device in
the IP Network Connections list and enter the amplifier’s IP address:
Figure 3: Driver Network Connection
Next connect up the inputs, outputs and room control connections as appropriate. Note that
for the D-series drivers, there are multiple sub-devices. The bus inputs can be found on the
Bus A and Bus B sub-devices and the local input, output and room control connections for
each zone on the sub-device for that zone. Any connections with names in square brackets,
e.g. [Zone 1 Bus A In] are managed internally by the driver and should not be changed.

AudioControl M6400/M4800/D4600
Control4 Driver User Guide
Janus Technology Ltd
Copyright © 2018
5
Now that the connections are established the driver properties should be populated with
information from the AudioControl amplifier; choose System Design and select the driver:
Figure 4: Driver Properties

AudioControl M6400/M4800/D4600
Control4 Driver User Guide
Janus Technology Ltd
Copyright © 2018
6
The following properties are available, some of which are user editable:
Setting
Description
Driver Version
Reports the release version of the driver
Model
The device model being used
Port
Specify the port number used to communicate with the
amplifier (default 23)
Operational Status
Reports the current connection status
Control4 Zone X controls
AudioControl Y
Control 4 zones can be mapped to either AudioControl zones, or
to AudioControl groups. See an explanation below.
Debug Mode
For support use only
Debug Subsystems
For support use only
Debug Level
For support use only
Table 1: Driver Properties

AudioControl M6400/M4800/D4600
Control4 Driver User Guide
Janus Technology Ltd
Copyright © 2018
7
D-series specifics
There are effectively 3 inputs for each zone for the D-series:
Local
Bus A
Bus B
“Local” means that the output will be connected to the input for that zone. E.g. Zone 1
input to Zone 1 output, Zone 2 input to Zone 2 output. In the D-series it is impossible
to connect Zone 1 input to Zone 2 output.
This is represented by the D-series driver having a different structure to the M-series, with
separate sub-devices: two that represent the two shared bus inputs and then one for each
zone, each with its own individual local input. To test the switching for a particular zone,
double-click on the sub-device for that zone in Composer and a test switching panel will be
shown for that zone:
Figure 5: D-series local zone
This also has an implication for grouping. If zones 1-3 are in group 1 and then group 1 is
switched to local input, all the zones will switch to their respective local inputs. It is the
responsibility of the installer to ensure that the same input device is connected to each of
these local inputs if the intention is that all the zones should be playing the same source.

AudioControl M6400/M4800/D4600
Control4 Driver User Guide
Janus Technology Ltd
Copyright © 2018
8
Zone to Group mapping
By default, each Control4 Zone will control the AudioControl Zone that corresponds to it, i.e.
C4Z1 controls ACZ1, C4Z2 controls ACZ2, etc. However, it is possible that you have
multiple outputs in a single room, and therefore would want to group those outputs. In this
example we will consider the following set up:
Kitchen
One output
Lounge
Three outputs
Gym
Three outputs
Bedroom
One output
In this setup, we’d want the lounge and gym to be grouped with the kitchen and bedroom
remaining as separate zones.

AudioControl M6400/M4800/D4600
Control4 Driver User Guide
Janus Technology Ltd
Copyright © 2018
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The first thing we’d need to do is to set up the M6400 zones using its web interface.
Figure 6: AudioControl web setup (M6400)
So in this scenario
Zones 1-3 will be the Lounge
Zones 4-6 will be the Gym
Zone 7 will be the Kitchen
Zone 8 will be the Bedroom
Note that grouping for digital zones is not officially supported by this driver.

AudioControl M6400/M4800/D4600
Control4 Driver User Guide
Janus Technology Ltd
Copyright © 2018
10
Once you have set the groups, you must set the Group Lock option for each zone which is
part of a group. This is done on the Zone Configuration tab:
Figure 7: Group locking on web interface
PLEASE NOTE: If you do not set the Group Lock feature, then group volume commands will
not work. If an C4 zone is set as an AudioControl group (in the properties), this means that
you will not be able to adjust volume for that group.

AudioControl M6400/M4800/D4600
Control4 Driver User Guide
Janus Technology Ltd
Copyright © 2018
11
We would then set up the driver zone mapping as follows:
Figure 8: Group setup in Composer

AudioControl M6400/M4800/D4600
Control4 Driver User Guide
Janus Technology Ltd
Copyright © 2018
12
You would then set up your connections in C4 something like this:
Figure 9: Connections
Control 4 zones 3-6 will be unused, as the grouping means that Control 4 zones 1-2 will
control them.

AudioControl M6400/M4800/D4600
Control4 Driver User Guide
Janus Technology Ltd
Copyright © 2018
13
You can then double click on the M6400 in System Design view to show the test panel:
Figure 10: Test panel for grouping
Switching C4 zone 1 will switch AudioControl zones 1-3
Switching C4 zone 2 will switch AudioControl zones 4-6
Switching C4 zones 3-6 will be non-functional, as they are part of a group. You can ignore
any feedback that they give. In the above picture, C4 output zones 3, 4 and 6 appear to be
connected to AC input zone 3 and C4 output zone 5 appears to be connected to AC input
zone 1, but this is false feedback and should be ignored.
Switching C4 zone 7 will switch AudioControl zone 7
Switching C4 zone 8 will switch AudioControl zone 8

AudioControl M6400/M4800/D4600
Control4 Driver User Guide
Janus Technology Ltd
Copyright © 2018
14
Driver Commands
The driver features a number of commands used for control. Choose the Programming
pane and select the driver in the Device Actions window:
Figure 11: Driver Commands
The driver contains the usual commands found in amplifier drivers, including discrete input
selection as well as the ability to raise, lower, and set volume. Additionally exposed are
some Device Specific Commands; these can be seen in the drop down box in Figure 5.
Command
Description
Set Main Power
Turns the main power on or off
Mute All Zones
Mutes or unmutes all zones
Signal sense
Turns signal sense on or off
Recall EQ
Recalls an equalizer preset for a specific C4 zone (note, not for
an AudioControl zone)

AudioControl M6400/M4800/D4600
Control4 Driver User Guide
Janus Technology Ltd
Copyright © 2018
15
Driver Variables
The driver features a number of variables for each zone, which provide feedback from the
system.
Figure 12: Driver Variables
Variable
Description
AUDIO_OUTPUT_xx_INPUT
The current input selected for zone xx
OUTPUT_xx_BASS_LEVEL
The current bass level for zone xx
OUTPUT_xx_TREBLE_LEVEL
The current treble level for zone xx
OUTPUT_xx_LOUDNESS
The current loudness state for zone xx
OUTPUT_xx_MUTE
The current mute status for zone xx
OUTPUT_xx_VOLUME_LEVEL
The current level for volume xx
Table 2: Driver Variables