quick start guide Version: Public beta release Date: March 21, 2013
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Introduction What is HiQnet Audio Architect? HiQnet Audio Architect combines the feature set of System Architect and London Architect, merging the open-architecture DSP design of BSS Audio Soundweb London with Crown amplifiers, including the forthcoming DriveCore Install Series, and the new ios Motion Control app. How does it differ from System Architect and London Architect? The interface is a derivation of System Architect, although with an optimized underlying codebase to improve performance for larger systems, with Soundweb London included in a Soundweb London world to retain as much familiarity with London Architect as possible. There have been some enhancements made over the London Architect interface: A new matrix control with significant operational enhancements A more intuitive mechanism of configuring GPIO ports An improved Soundweb London preset configuration interface I m a Soundweb London user what devices are included in Audio Architect? From the outset, the following Soundweb London devices will be supported: BLU-800 BLU-320 BLU-160 BLU-120 BLU-100 The following devices will be added after first release: BLU-806 (Dante / BLU link) BLU-326 (Dante / BLU link) BLU-805 (AVB / BLU link) BLU-325 (AVB / BLU link) BLU-102 BLU-101 BLU-8 v2 3
What new devices are included in Audio Architect? In the public beta release, and in the full first version, we will be adding support for: The following models of the new Crown DriveCore Install Series of amplifiers: o DCi 2 300N o DCi 2 600N o DCi 4 300N o DCi 4 600N o DCi 8 300N The new Crown USBX Ethernet to USB server which enables Ethernet control of the following USB amplifiers: o CDi Series o DSi Series o XTi Series o XTi 2 Series I m an existing London Architect user what features are included in Audio Architect? The majority of the London Architect / Soundweb London feature set will be included from first release, but the following will also be added after first release: 96kHz support Macros FIR filters Signal naming AEC Telephone hybrid card support Existing London Architect files cannot be imported into Audio Architect at this time. If any of the above features are required for a system, we suggest continuing to use London Architect in the meantime, while they are added to Audio Architect. I m an existing System Architect user what s different? There are a few differences, but really only improvements. Read on to find out more 4
How does Audio Architect work? The Audio Architect application layout is largely the same as that of System Architect with a few minor improvements. The Ribbon across the top selects the mode to use, and is set up in order of general workflow for sound system design from left to right. The active Mode, as selected in the Ribbon, will optimize the application workspace for that particular workflow function. It will filter or update the content of the left-hand window, and display the content in the main workspace appropriately. For example, when routing networked audio with the Route Audio mode, devices which cannot receive networked audio are grayed out in the main workspace, bringing the devices which can to the forefront. The left-hand window displays the Venue Explorer (a tree view of the entire system) and, if appropriate, items which can be added to the main workspace based on the currently active the workflow mode. The universal paradigm of dragging and dropping from the left-hand window into the main Venue workspace is true for most modes. For example, in the Associate Amplifiers mode (see below), when the task is to associate amplifier channels with different output zones of the representation of the building for which the system is being designed in the main workspace, only amplifiers are listed in the left window. If you have used System Architect before, you could consider the Venue Explorer as a combination of the System Explorer and HiQnet Explorer. The Properties window, located along the bottom of the application, populates context specific data for whatever is selected in the main workspace. Editable fields and multiple tabs of information are included in this area, depending on workflow Mode and item selected. 5
Using HiQnet Audio Architect Launch HiQnet Audio Architect and follow the steps below to get a basic idea of setting up, programming and running a venue in Audio Architect. 1. Defining the Venue a. Select the Define Venue button in the Offline Design Ribbon tab. Note that this will automatically insert a "Room 1" onto the venue workspace. Drag-and-drop additional Rooms from the preset shapes in the left-hand window onto the Venue and manipulate until you are satisfied with your Venue design. Vertices can be added by doubleclicking a wall, and deleted by double-clicking a vertex. b. Images may be added to trace over by right-clicking the background of the designer to add a Frame / Image. With the Frame selected, click on Background Image in the Properties window and import the desired image file. Use the handlebars to move and re-size it to fit your venue. c. NOTE: Rooms may not be dragged onto other Rooms. d. Font sizes, colors, and other appearances are edited in the Properties window. 2. Adding devices a. Click the Add Devices button in the Offline Design Ribbon tab. The left window contains an expandable list of Harman devices, organized by brand. b. You can enter any Room to add devices to it by double-clicking it. The white venue button to the top left of the main workspace will return you to the building layout view. c. Add devices from the Devices left window to the Venue by dragging and dropping. Rack-mountable devices will be added to Rack containers automatically, and arrayable loudspeakers will be added to Array containers automatically. Additional devices can be inserted into existing Racks or Arrays. Continue this process until you have added all the devices required to all the Rooms in the Venue. d. Multiple devices can be added to the Venue by dragging and dropping with the right mouse button. 6
e. Rooms containing devices can be configured to turn different colors to warn of errors with devices placed inside them, turning the Venue view into a system monitoring window automatically. 3. Editing devices a. For most devices, including amplifiers, double-clicking on a device will open up a control panel to configure and control the individual device. Double clicking a Soundweb London device will enter a dedicated mode just for the Soundweb London devices in the system consider it like a Soundweb London world. 4. Editing Soundweb London devices a. To make it as easy a transition from London Architect as possible, Soundweb London Mode has been designed to be as close to London Architect operation as possible, and should look very familiar to London Architect users. The interface has been streamlined by using the Ribbon to select between the configuration of Audio / Logic / Control Ports (GPIO) and Parameter Presets. Just as with the main Venue workspace, the entire interface adapts to show only relevant information and parameters for each Soundweb London sub-mode in the main workspace, left-hand window, and Properties window. Much of the configuration is done with the same drag-and-drop paradigm as all other modes in Audio Architect. For example, when in the Configure Control Ports mode, drag parameters from the left-hand window (or with CTRL+drag from active panels) onto the desired port represented in the main workspace. b. Configuring Soundweb London devices is considerably beyond the scope of a quick start guide. Please refer to the help file for more information. 5. Routing networked audio a. Networked audio may be routed from device to device at a system level. The left window and Venue filter by the selected audio transport (AVB, BLU link or Dante), and audio signals may be dragged and dropped from the left window to devices in the Venue. Hover over the destination device with the mouse to launch the input routing window for that device. b. When a signal in the Venue Explorer that has already been routed is selected, devices in the Venue shade are presented in the appropriate color (AVB purple, BLU link blue and Dante red) to show correlations in routing across the Venue. c. NOTE: in the public beta release, only BLU link audio routing is possible. 7
d. For more information on our multiple audio networking technologies, please refer to the HiQnet Guide To Audio Networking, available for download from the HiQnet website: hiqnet.harmanpro.com. 6. Associating amplifier channels with Rooms a. Even though the amplifier may be physically located in a rack room, the chances are that it will be connected to loudspeakers in another room somewhere else in the venue. The Associate Amplifiers mode enables you to instruct the software how the amplifier channels are connected, and automatically creates control panels for each output room, grouping together the control of the relevant amplifier channels. b. Drag and drop amplifier channels from the left-hand window onto to a Room in the Venue. A button appears over the top of the Room, from which the automaticallycreated Room control panels can be launched, and a meter appears to monitor the maximum output level of the amplifier channel(s) associated with the Room. c. This association also allows the Venue drawing to act as a monitor surface for amplifier errors (clipping, thermal, etc.) by lighting the room a particular color when an error is present. 7. Configuring the Venue to serve as a monitoring interface a. At this point in the workflow, your initial design should be completed and you are able to view or change anything related to monitoring created in prior modes from this one mode. Selecting a Room offers a whole host of monitoring configuration options in the Properties window. 8. Creating customized control interfaces a. If the automatically-created Room and Rack panels, or default device panels, aren t sufficient for your design, Custom Panels may be needed. Creating Custom Panels isn t necessarily quick, and may be outside of the realm of a quick start guide refer to the help file if the following information isn t sufficient. b. There are several ways to create Custom Panels, for the purposes of this guide we will start from scratch: i. Select New in the Panels section of the Offline Design Ribbon, and choose type of panel you would like to create from drop-down menu. 8
ii. Right-click on the panel, select Insert, and choose the desired control from the fly-out menu, or drag controls form the buttons on the far left of the Custom Panel Designer Ribbon tab. iii. Expand all the way down to parameter level in the left-hand window Venue Explorer. Drag and drop the required parameter(s) from the left-hand window onto the control in the designer. Repeat as needed for each individual control you want on the panel. iv. Select Launch Current from the Panels control group in the Custom Panel Designer Ribbon tab (or press F5) to launch and use the Custom Panel. c. Custom Panels can also be loaded into HiQnet Motion Control, an ios app for ipod touch, iphone, ipad mini or ipad. Refer to the separate HiQnet Motion Control quick start guide if using ios devices for control. The guide can be found on the HiQnet website: hiqnet.harmanpro.com. 9. Going online a. At this point it is assumed that all of these things are true before actually connecting to networked devices with Audio Architect: i. All the devices in your design are physically connected to their appropriate network and audio connection points, and the control computer with Audio Architect is also plugged into this network. ii. The control computer s Network Interface Card (NIC) is configured correctly to communicate with this network for devices (DHCP or IP address). iii. Audio Architect is configured to communicate using the NIC connected to your network. To set this up correctly: 1. Select the File tab in the upper left corner of the main Audio Architect application window 2. Launch the Application Options window 3. Select the Network Connectivity tab and make sure the correct IP address for your NIC is located in the Ethernet Interfaces box. The default is to use all adapters, which forces Audio Architect to employ all available NICs on your computer. 9
b. IMPORTANT NOTE: For networking issues/troubles always remember this HiQnet NetSetter is your best friend. HiQnet NetSetter is a good way of manually configuring many networking settings on the devices it discovers on your network. It is deliberately capable of discovering devices with more brute force than Audio Architect and can be used to resolve any networking issues with devices which you think you may be experiencing, such as resolving IP address or HiQnet address conflicts etc. NetSetter can be launched via the Launch NetSetter button in the Tools section of the Offline Design or Online Operate Ribbon tabs. c. Click the Go Online button in the Offline Design Ribbon tab. Audio Architect will automatically navigate to one of three online modes whichever it deems to be the most appropriate based on your current connection to the network: Match Devices, Synchronize Venue or Run Venue. 10. Matching the devices discovered on the network to the devices in the Venue design a. The Match Devices Mode is the first step in the Online Operate workflow, it is where you match physical devices detected on the network to the devices in the Audio Architect Venue. Devices detected on the network will be listed in the Discovered Devices tree at the top of the Venue Explorer, above the list of devices in the Venue. Selecting a device in this window will cause the corresponding hardware device to indicate that it is selected usually by flashing its front panel. b. Drag the device from the Venue Explorer onto the appropriate device in your Venue design. The HiQnet address will be sent from the device in the Venue to the device on the network. Any resulting addressing conflicts with other devices on the network will be automatically resolved behind the scenes. In this way, the device addressing within the Venue is considered the master addressing scheme. c. The IP address of the discovered device will be inherited by the device representation in the Audio Architect Venue when matched. Continue until all devices in your Venue design are matched with physical devices on the network. Note that parameter settings have not yet been synchronized, either by sending from Audio Architect or receiving from the physical hardware. This takes place in the next workflow step. d. NOTE: Device types and I/O card configurations must be the same in both the physical device and in the Venue device in order to match. 10
e. Once this has been done once, and your hardware network has been matched individually to the devices on the network, you need never do it with the manual process again. The devices will either match automatically based on the corresponding HiQnet addresses, or the Auto-Match Venue button in the pop-up Match Device Ribbon tab can be pressed to connect the whole system in one quick step. f. NOTE: Access to Device Panels / Modes, Custom Panels and the Control Panel Designer is restricted in this mode. 11. Synchronizing the hardware and the software a. Select the Synchronize Venue mode in the Online Operate Ribbon tab to send or receive device settings to / from the network. This can be done for the whole Venue in one fell swoop, but can also be done individually by Room, by Rack / Array or even by individual device to provide maximum flexibility when going online to all or just part of the system. b. In addition, if the configuration of a Soundweb London device in the software differs from the configuration in the hardware, it will need to be loaded first, before the parameter settings can be sent / received. c. In the Venue, L (load), S (send) and R (receive) buttons are placed over the tops of the devices in the Venue, beneath Racks and Arrays, over the tops of Rooms. Click one of these to start the appropriate synchronize process at device, Rack / Array or Room level. d. In the Venue Explorer, L (load), S (send) and R (receive) buttons are placed to the right of devices, Racks and Arrays, Rooms and the entire Venue. Click one of these to start the appropriate synchronize process at device, Rack / Array, Room or Venue level. e. NOTE: Access to Device Panels / Modes, Custom Panels and the Control Panel Designer is restricted in this mode. 12. Operating the system a. Audio Architect can be put into a run mode by selecting the Run Venue mode button in the Online Design Ribbon tab. All panels are available for control in this mode, but the interface is optimized for operation rather than design. 11
What else should I know? Note that due to the Audio Architect enhancements, System Architect and Audio Architect should not be run alongside each other. Due to the underlying changes in the software, at this time existing System Architect files cannot be opened in Audio Architect. Device files and Custom Panel files can be imported however. How do I find out more? If Audio Architect is your first HiQnet software application, it is highly recommended you take an inperson, web-based or self-guided Audio Architect video training course. Information is available on the HiQnet website: hiqnet.harmanpro.com 12 hiqnet.harmanpro.com