Studio Technologies 45DR - Manual (Page 15)

Model 45DR User Guide Issue 2, January 2015
Studio Technologies, Inc. Page 15
when the Model 45DR is part of a Dante
network and is serving as a clock master.
How to Identify a Specific
Model 45DR
The Dante Controller software application
offers an identify command that can be
used to help locate a specific Model 45DR.
When identify is selected for a specific
unit the SYS and SYNC LEDs on that unit
will together light slowly on and off green.
This makes it a simple task to observe the
selected Model 45DR unit.
Level Meters
The Model 45DR contains four 5-seg-
ment LED level meters. These meters
are provided as a support aid during
installation, configuration, operation, and
troubleshooting. The meters represent the
strength of the audio signals going to and
coming from the two party-line intercom
channels.
General
The meters are organized into two groups
with each group representing one channel
of audio being sent to the party-line circuit
and one channel of audio coming from the
party-line circuit. The meters are calibrated
to reflect the level in dB relative to the
reference (nominal) level of the party-line
circuit. In the case of the Model 45DR the
nominal level of the party-line was select-
ed to be –10 dBu since that matches that
of typical 2-channel party-line circuits.
As an example of how the meters function
let’s review the situation where the chan-
nel 1 TO meter has its bottom three LEDs
(–18, –12, and –6) lit solid and its 0 LED
just barely lighting. This would indicate
that a signal with an approximate level of
–10 dBu is being sent to channel 1 of the
party-line intercom circuit. (Also note that
this –10 dBu signal on the party-line in-
tercom circuit will translate to a –20 dBFS
digital audio signal on the Dante interface.
This is due to Studio Technologies select-
ing –20 dBFS as the reference (nominal)
level for Dante.)
Each level meter contains four green LEDs
and one yellow LED. The four green LEDs
indicate party-line circuit signal levels at or
below –10 dBu. The top LED is yellow and
indicates a signal that is 6 dB or greater
than the –10 dBu nominal level. An audio
signal that causes the yellow LED to light
doesn’t necessarily indicate an excessive
level condition, but it does provide a warn-
ing that at some stage reducing the signal
level may be prudent. Typical operation
with normal signal levels should find the
meters lighting near their 0 point. Signal
peaks may cause the yellow LEDs to flash.
But a yellow LED that lights fully during
normal operation will typically indicate ex-
cessive signal level and/or a configuration
problem with associated Dante-enabled
equipment.
Non-Optimal Signal Levels
If the meters consistently display levels
that are lower or higher than the 0 (refer-
ence) point it’s possible that a configura-
tion issue exists. This would typically be
related to incorrect settings on the equip-
ment connected to the associated Dante
input and output channels. (This situa-
tion is almost impossible to occur if two
Model 45DR units were configured “point-
to-point” as no Dante digital audio level
adjustment is provided.) With a digital
matrix intercom system this problem could
be due to an incorrect configuration hav-
ing been made to a specific channel or