Void Bias d1 User manual

voidacoustics.com

Bias D1/Q1/Q2

Powering the future of sound

USER GUIDE V2.0

This user guide is subject to change without notice.

For the latest online version, visit: www.voidacoustics.com

Void Acoustics and the Void logo are registered trademarks of Void Acoustics

Research Ltd. in the United Kingdom, USA and other countries; all other Void

trademarks are the property of Void Acoustics Research Ltd.

Page 4

Important Safety Instructions

Safety Warnings

+30 °C

0 °C

OPERATING TEMPERATURE RANGE: 0°C TO +35°C - DERATING ABOVE 35°C.

10%

85%

%STORAGE RELATIVE HUMIDITY RANGE: 10% TO 85% HUMIDITY (NON CONDENSING).

DO NOT USE THE UNIT AT ALTITUDES ABOVE 2000 M.

DO NOT USE THE UNIT IN TROPICAL ENVIRONMENT.

CLASS3

WIRING

TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO OPEN ANY PART OF THE UNIT. NO

USER-SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED SERVICE PERSONNEL.

CLASS3

WIRING

CONNECTION TO THE MAINS SHALL BE DONE ONLY BY A ELECTROTECHNICAL

SKILLED PERSON ACCORDING THE NATIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE COUNTRIES

WHERE THE UNIT IS SOLD.

CLASS3

WIRING

DO NOT USE THIS AMPLIFIER IF THE ELECTRICAL POWER CORD IS FRAYED OR BROKEN.

CLASS3

WIRING

TO AVOID ELECTRICAL SHOCK, DO NOT TOUCH ANY EXPOSED SPEAKER WIRING

WHILE THE AMPLIFIER IS OPERATING.

CLASS3

WIRING

DO NOT SPILL WATER OR OTHER LIQUIDS INTO OR ON THE AMPLIFIER.

CLASS3

WIRING

THIS DEVICE MUST BE POWERED EXCLUSIVELY BY EARTH CONNECTED MAINS

SOCKETS IN ELECTRICAL NETWORKS COMPLIANT TO THE IEC 364 OR SIMILAR RULES

CLASS3

WIRING

DISCONNECT THE AC MAINS SOURCE BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO CLEAN ANY PART OF

THE AMPLIFIER

CLASS3

WIRING

VOID SUGGESTS TO PLUG THE BIAS D1/Q1/Q2 SERIES TO A 16 A RATING, C OR D

CURVE, 10 kA SECTIONING BREAKER.

CLASS3

WIRING

OUTPUT TERMINALS ARE HAZARDOUS: WIRING CONNECTION TO THESE TERMINALS

REQUIRES INSTALLATION BY AN INSTRUCTED PERSON AND THE USE OF READY MADE

LEADS.

CLASS3

WIRING

PROPERLY FIT THE AC MAINS PLUG TO THE AMPLIFIER INLET.

BEFORE POWERING THIS AMPLIFIER, VERIFY THAT THE CORRECT VOLTAGE RATING

IS BEING USED.

CLASS3

WIRING

TAKE CARE TO LOCK THE OUTPUT TERMINAL BEFORE SWITCHING THE DEVICE ON.

CLASS3

WIRING

VERIFY THAT YOUR MAINS CONNECTION IS CAPABLE OF SATISFYING THE POWER

RATINGS OF THE DEVICE.

CLASS3

WIRING

NO NAKED FLAME SOURCES SUCH AS LIGHTED CANDLES SHOULD BE PLACED ON

THE AMPLIFIER.

CLASS3

WIRING

IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO UNPLUG THE OUTPUT CONNECTORS BEFORE

PROCEEDING WITH THE SELF CHECK PROCEDURE

CLASS3

WIRING

THE TESTING SIGNALS MIGHT CAUSE LOUDSPEAKER IMPAIRMENTS.

CLASS3

WIRING

TO PREVENT INJURY, THIS APPARATUS MUST BE SECURELY RACK MOUNTED IN

ACCORDANCE WITH THE INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS.

CLASS3

WIRING

THIS EQUIPMENT SHALL BE MOUNTED AT A MAXIMUM HEIGHT OF 2 M

CLASS3

WIRING

THE MANUFACTURER CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR DAMAGES CAUSED

TO PERSONS, THINGS OR DATA DUE TO AN IMPROPER OR MISSING GROUND

CONNECTION.

CLASS3

WIRING

IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY TO VERIFY THESE FUNDAMENTAL REQUIREMENTS OF

SAFETY AND, IN CASE OF DOUBT, REQUIRE AN ACCURATE CHECK BY QUALIFIED

PERSONNEL.

Common symbols and meanings

CLASS3

WIRING

THE TRIANGLE WITH THE LIGHTNING BOLT IS USED TO ALERT THE USER TO THE RISK

OF ELECTRIC SHOCK.

CLASS3

WIRING

THE TRIANGLE WITH THE EXCLAMATION POINT IS USED TO ALERT THE USER TO

IMPORTANT OPERATING OR MAINTENANCE INSTRUCTIONS.

THE CE-MARK INDICATES THE COMPLIANCE OF THE PRODUCT TO ALL THE APPLICABLE

EUROPEAN DIRECTIVES

SYMBOL FOR EARTH/GROUND CONNECTION.

SYMBOL INDICATING THAT THE EQUIPMENT IS FOR INDOOR USE ONLY.

SYMBOL FOR CONFORMITY WITH DIRECTIVE 2012/19/EC OF THE EUROPEAN

PARLIAMENT ON WASTE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT (WEEE).

Please read and keep all safety and use instructions.

This product is intended for installation by professional installers only!

This document is intended to provide professional installers with basic

installation and safety guidelines for this product in typical ﬁxed-installation

systems. Please read this document and all safety warnings before

attempting installation.

1. Read these instructions.

2. Keep these instructions.

3. Heed all warnings.

4. Follow all instructions.

5. Do not use this equipment near water.

6. Clean only with a dry cloth.

7. Do not block any ventilation openings. Install in accordance with the

manufacturer’s instructions.

8. Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, heat registers,

stoves, or other apparatus that produce heat.

9. Do not defeat the safety purpose of the polarized or grounding-type

plug. A polarized plug has two blades with one wider than the other.

A grounding-type plug has two blades and a third grounding prong.

The wide blade or the third prong are provided for your safety. If the

provided plug does not ﬁt into your outlet, consult an electrician for

replacement of the obsolete outlet.

10. Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched particularly

at plugs, convenience receptacles, and the point where they exit from

the apparatus.

11. Only use attachments/accessories speciﬁed by the manufacturer.

12. Use only with the cart, stand, tripod, bracket, or table

speciﬁed by the manufacturer, or sold with the apparatus.

When a cart is used, use caution when moving the cart/

apparatus combination to avoid injury from tip-over.

13. Unplug this apparatus during lightning storms or when unused for

long periods of time.

14. Refer all servicing to qualiﬁed service personnel. Servicing is required

when the apparatus has been damaged in any way, such as power-

supply cord or plug is damaged, liquid has been spilled or objects have

fallen into the apparatus, the apparatus has been exposed to rain or

moisture, does not operate normally, or has been dropped.

UG10607-2.0 - Bias D1/Q1/Q2 User Guide V2.0

Regulatory Compliance Statements

Europe

If the time arises to dispose of your product, please recycle all possible

component.

This symbol indicates that when the end-user wishes to discard this

product, it must be sent to separate collection facilities for recovery

and recycling. By separating this product from other household-

type waste, the volume of waste sent to incinerators or land-ﬁlls

will be reduced and natural resources will thus be conserved.

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive)

aims to minimise the impact of electrical and electronic goods on the

environment. Powersoft S.p.A. comply with the Directive 2012/19/EU of the

European Parliament on waste electrical ﬁnance the cost of treatment and

recovery of electronic equipment (WEEE) in order to reduce the amount of

WEEE that is being disposed of in land-ﬁll site.

All of our products are marked with the WEEE symbol; this indicates that

this product must NOT be disposed of with other waste. Instead it is the

user’s responsibility to dispose of their waste electrical and electronic

equipment by handing it over to an approved reprocessor, or by returning

it to Powersoft S.p.A. for reprocessing. For more information about

where you can send your waste equipment for recycling, please contact

Powersoft S.p.A. or one of your local distributors.

USA

FCC Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity

Responsible Party:

Powersoft S.p.A.

Via Enrico Conti, 5

50018 Scandicci (FI) – Italy

Phone: +39 055 735 0230

Fax: +39 055 735 6235

FCC Compliance Statement

This device complies with part 15 of the FCC rules. Operation is subject to

the following two conditions:

1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and

2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference

that may cause undesired operation.

CAUTION: Changes or modiﬁcations not expressly approved by the party

responsible for compliance could void the user’s authority to operate the

equipment.

NOTE: 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. 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. However, there is no

guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this

equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception,

which can be determined by turning the equipment o and on, the user

is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the

following measures:

• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.

• Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.

• Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit

• Dierent from that to which the receiver is connected.

WARNING: This is a class A product. In a domestic environment this

product may cause radio interference in which case the user may be

required to take adequate measures

Canada

Canadian Caution

This device contains licence-exempt transmitter(s)/receiver(s) that comply

with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s licence-

exempt RSS(s).

Operation is subject to the following two conditions:

1)This device may not cause interference.

2)This device must accept any interference, including interference that may

cause undesired operation of the device.

WARNING: This is a class A product. In a domestic environment this

product may cause radio interference in which case the user may be

required to take adequate measures

ICES-003 Class A Notice

This Class A digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES-003.

Radiation Exposure Statement

This equipment complies with RSS-102 radiation exposure limits set forth

for an uncontrolled environment. This equipment should be installed and

operated with minimum distance 20cm between the radiator & your body.

EC declaration of conformity

For EC Declaration of Conformity please go to:

www.voidacoustics.com/eu-declaration-ampliﬁers

UKCA marking

For details of the UKCA marking go to:

www.voidacoustics.com/uk-declaration-ampliﬁers

Warranty statement

For warranty statement go to:

https://voidacoustics.com/terms-conditions/

Page 6

Location

Install your Bias Ampliﬁer in well ventilated rack cabinets.

Secure both front and rear brackets to the rack.

Connect the AC Mains connector to a circuit breaker.

Install the ampliﬁer far from EMF emitting devices.

Avoid placing the ampliﬁer close to heat generating sources.

Cooling

The ventilation openings must not be impeded by any item,

keep a distance of at least 50 cm from the front and rear

ventilation openings of the ampliﬁer.

Bias implements a forced-air cooling system to maintain

constant operating temperatures. Air enters from the front

panel, exiting at the back of the ampliﬁer.

The cooling system features variable-speed DC fans controlled

by the heat sink mounted sensors. This ensures that fan noise

and internal dust accumulation are kept to a minimum.

In the rare event of overheating, sensing circuits shut down

all channels until the ampliﬁer cools down to a safe operating

temperature. Normal operation is resumed automatically

without the need for user intervention.

Bias ampliﬁers can be stacked one on top of the other, leave

one rack unit empty every four to guarantee adequate air ﬂow.

Cleaning

Use a dry cloth for cleaning the chassis and the front panel. Air ﬁlter

cleaning should be scheduled in accordance with the dust levels in

the ampliﬁer’s operating environment.

In order to clean the vent ﬁlters remove the front cover by ﬁrmly

gripping the outermost silver panels and pull them outwards

Use compressed air to remove the dust from ﬁlters, or wash it with

clean water (let the ﬁlter dry thoroughly before reinstalling them).

Package list

The box contains the following:

1x Bias D1 ampliﬁer.

1x Phoenix MC 1,5/4-ST-3,81 - 1803594 plug

2x Phoenix MC 1,5/6-ST-3,81 - 5447900 plug

1x Phoenix PC 5/4-STF1-7,62 - 177859 plug

1x IEC power cord

1x User guide

1x Bias Q1/Q2 ampliﬁer.

1x Phoenix MC 1,5/4-ST-3,81 - 1803594 plug

2x Phoenix MC 1,5/12-ST-3,81 - 1803675 plug

1x Phoenix PC 5/8-STF1-7,62 - 177891 plug

1x IEC power cord

1x User guide

Preliminary operations

Signal Grounding

There is no ground switch or terminal on the Bias Series

ampliﬁers. The unit’s signal grounding system is automatic.

In order to limit hum and/or interference entering the signal

path, use balanced input connections.

In the interests of safety, the unit MUST always operate

with electrical safety earth connected to the chassis via the

dedicated Protective Earth wire.

Connections

Once properly powered (power cord inserted, sectioning

breaker closed), the system can be either ON or in

STANDBY mode depending on its state at latest power o.

In order to toggle the ampliﬁer between ON and STANDBY

keep pressed the power button for 3 seconds. Please

consider that the operating condition can be modiﬁed by

the REMOTE ON and REMOTE OFF conﬁguration.

Switching the ampliﬁer On and Off

The Bias ampliﬁers can operate with dierent gain applied

to the input signal. This feature is designed to match the

voltage of the input signal.

A proper combination of the position of two GAIN switches

on the rear panel sets the operating gain of the ampliﬁer

Gain selection

The Smart Rails Management technology implemented in the

power supply unit allows to reduce the power consumption

when the input signal falls under a deﬁned threshold.

When On, Energy Save is active on each channel independently.

If the signal is missing for more than 30 minutes on all channels,

the auto standby is applied and the main PSU is turned o to

further save energy (Time out time is selectable via Armonía in Dante™ Enabled Versions).

Normal operation is resumed in a matter of milliseconds when

an incoming signal is detected.

In order to activate the Energy Save feature, operate the NRG

SAVE dip switch on the rear panel.

Energy Save

Remote ON/OFF is available through the dedicated

terminals on the rear panel.

Both terminals respond to the dierential voltage between

the contacts: a voltage dierence in the range 5 VDC - 24 VDC

triggers the control. Any voltage exceeding 28VDC may

damage the input circuitry.

The couple of terminals act depending on the actual state

of the ampliﬁer, in accordance with the following table.

REMOTE ON REMOTE OFF AMPLIFIER STATE

Vdi ≥ 5V Any Force Turn ON

Vdi < 3V Vdi ≥ 5V Force Turn OFF

Vdi < 3V Vdi < 3V No Change

(Keep either standby or in current state)

Remote On/Off

This feature may be activated when the power grid is unable to

provide enough current to continuously drive the loads, or when

the number of ampliﬁer connected to the same outlet is such

that one can reach the critical power absorption of the line.

When activated, the Breaker Save halves the maximum

continuous current absorption from the mains. This slightly

reﬂects on the overall performance of the system, reducing the

available output power.

In order to activate the Breaker Save feature, locate the BRK

SAVE switch on the rear panel.

Breaker Save

The level of each channel can be remotely adjusted by means

of a linear 10 kΩpotentiometer connected to the input LEVEL

connector.

When the CH1 MSTR switch is in the OFF position the remote level

potentiometers work independently on each separate channel.

When the CH1 MSTR switch is in the ON position the remote level

potentiometer of channel 1 acts as a master level, controlling the

volume of both channels.

The remote level controls are in series with the level adjustment

knobs in the front panel.

Remote Level adjustment

Analog input connections are made via the Phoenix MC

1,5/6-ST-3,81 5447900 connector.

Analog Audio Input connections

Bias ampliﬁers implement an universal switching mode

power supply with power factor correction operating in the

range from 100 VAC up to 240 VAC ±10%.

AC mains connection is in the rear panel through the IEC

C20 inlet, the approved power cord is provided.

AC Mains Supply

UG10607-2.0 - Bias D1/Q1/Q2 User Guide V2.0

Pilot Tone monitoring

The detection of a mismatch in the input pilot tone parameters

(frequency and voltage level) can be used to trigger the backup policy

and activate an alert through the general purpose output switch.

The output pilot tone detection relies on an external signal passing

through the ampliﬁer or the internal post DSP pilot tone generator;

in both cases any mismatch between the detected signal and the set

thresholds triggers the general purpose output switches.

IP Addressing

Factory default network settings are DHCP/AutoIP.

In order for the ampliﬁer to self-conﬁgure when connected to

an existing LAN or PC. Fixed IP policy can also be adopted and

conﬁgured through ArmoníaPlus.

If a DHCP server is not active within the network, the ampliﬁer

platform initiates a stateless address auto-conﬁguration (i.e. Zero-

conﬁguration networking methodology– Zeroconf): it self assigns a

local numeric network address (of the type 169.254.x.y – 172.31.*.* for

the secondary network ifpresent– with a subnet mask 255.255.0.0)

and automatically distributes and resolves the host names of the

networking devices.

Both Armonia and the Bias Series ampliﬁer must belong to the same

subnet. If a DHCP server is present on the network and a Bias Series

ampliﬁer is in AUTO IP, networking may become unstable.

As a rule of thumb, turn the DHCP

server on before connecting the ampliﬁers.

IP addressing of a Bias Series ampliﬁer is established during the

bootstrap: when the ampliﬁer discovers a DHCP server on the

network during the startup, it negotiates the networking parameters.

If the Bias Series ampliﬁer does not reveal a DHCP server on the

network during the startup, it set itself in AUTO IP mode.

Networking

Bias Series ampliﬁers support star network topology via the Ethernet

port and DanteTM networking via the DanteTM port (where available)

Input selection and Backup Policy

In Dante™ enabled Bias Series ampliﬁers it is possible to select

among two input signal sources per channel: analog and DanteTM

streams. ArmoníaPlus software provides an interface to select the

input source.

Furthermore Dante™ enabled Bias Series ampliﬁers implement

a backup policy aimed to improve reliability against signal fault.

By assigning a bus priority to the two dierent input sources per

channel, the system is able to automatically switch to a reliable

input connection in case of signal drop or pilot tone mismatch.

Output Load monitoring

Through the ArmoníaPlus software it is possible to set the

thresholds on the load impedance, at given frequency, that

trigger the general purpose output of any channel in Dante™

enabled Bias Series ampliﬁers.

ArmoníaPlus

ArmoníaPlus is the default conﬁguring interface that allows

system setting and customization of the Bias Series ampliﬁers.

Armonía can be installed on a PC running Windows (XPSP3 and

higher).

Download ArmoníaPlus for free from the dedicated website:

https://www.powersoft.com/en/software/armoniaplus/

Bias Series ampliﬁers are optimized for working with 4Ωoutput loads

but a special configuration allows to connect low loads down to 2Ω.

The 2Ωswitch allows to activate on all output channels set to match

low impedance (i.e. in Lo-Z configuration) an operating condition

that optimizes the performance with very low loads, by limiting the

maximum output voltage to 85Vpeak per channel.

For optimal 2Ωperformance, it is recommended to select LowZ

mode for all the amplifier’s channels.

Note that 2Ωcapabilities are not supported by 4804 models, the dip

switch is therefore marked “USR C”, and its function is reserved.

Lo-Z 2Ω load operation

Any channel of can drive 70V/100V (Hi-Z) distributed line

loudspeakers. In order to connect any channel’s output to

a 70V/100V line, the rear panel DIP switch corresponding to

the channel must be set.

Void recommends to use the built-in HPF (High Pass Filter)

when the ampliﬁer is set to drive a distributed line to prevent

loudspeaker transformer saturation, which can considerably

degrade sound performance. The HPF can be activated by

means of the DIP switch corresponding to the channel, two

cutting frequency are available 35 Hz and 70 Hz.

Hi-Z 70V/100V operations

Output connections are made via the Phoenix PC5/4-STF1-

7,62 177859 port.

Any mixed conﬁguration of low and high impedance output

loads can be made: in order to set the load conﬁguration,

each channel is provided with four DIP switches.

Output connections

The port labelled Ethernet is designed to remotely control the

ampliﬁer via an Ethernet connection through a personal computer

and ArmoníaPlus software.

Void recommend the use of Ethernet Cat5 straight through –

patch – cables with pin/pair assignments TIA/EIA-568-B, i.e. T568B.

Ethernet connection

The self check procedure tests the ampliﬁer status and

reports the user in case of failures.

After few minutes, at the end of the self check procedure, a

combination of lit LED in the LED panel provides information

about the ampliﬁer status.

In order to exit the self check test and resume normal

operations, press once the self check push button 6.

If self check cannot be started because of a fault, the check

LED will blink fast, whilst a reassuring slow blink is an

indication of a completed self check procedure.

Self Check

Bias Series provides a pair of paralleled general purpose output

connections per channel: one Normally Open NO and one

Normally Closed NC.

The connections are available on the back panel via the 6-pin

Phoenix MC 1.5/6-ST-3.81 5447900 connector.

When the ampliﬁer is in normal operating condition the NO contacts

are closed, whilst the NC contacts are open, and vice-versa.

These contacts are used to report potentially dangerous faults or

generally unsafe operation conditions by toggling alarm switches

relative to the following events, and any fault preventing the normal

operation of an output channel:

No AC mains (i.e. system shutdown);

Thermal stress: the system temperature is too high and the thermal

protection is engaged;

Short circuit in output wiring: either the loudspeaker or the line is in

short;

Ampliﬁer is in Standby

Dante™ versions feature further monitoring on pilot tone and output

load trough ArmoníaPlus.

Diagnostics - GPO - Alarms

DanteTM enabled models accepts two or four (model dependant)

input streams from the DanteTM connection through the DanteTM

port. Cabling must comply to TIA/EIA-568-B and adopt the

T568B scheme pinout.

In order to implement a DanteTM network, a computer running

DanteTM Controller should to be used. DanteTM Controller is a

software application that manages devices on the network.

Dante™ enabled Bias ampliﬁers are automatically discovered

and displayed in DanteTM Controller with the default identiﬁer:

MODELNAME-SERIAL

(e.g. BiasD1-71520).

Digital Audio Input connection

Page 8

1 RU

1 1

2 2

3 3

4 4

Location

Exposing the Control Panel

Cooling

Dimensions

442 mm

19.0 in

14.0 in

373 mm

14.7 in

357 mm

365.5 mm

14.4 in

UG10607-2.0 - Bias D1/Q1/Q2 User Guide V2.0

Input Gain Selection

26 dB 29 dB 32 dB 35 dB CH1 Master BRK Save NRG Save USR A USR B 2 Ω*

2-3 2-3 2-3 2-3 1 4 5 6 7 8

26 dB 29 dB 32 dB 35 dB

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