Group Masters

There are 32 group masters that can each be configured to control up to 16 group members. Group masters are configured in DSP Configurator and saved in the device. Working in Emulate mode, group masters can be saved in a configuration file and pushed to the device upon connection.

A group master can be either a gain control or a mute control. Group masters can be configured for bass and treble gain controls, provided that bass and treble filters have been inserted in a signal chain. You can select a single control type (for group members) that is to be controlled by a group master. For example, a group master can be configured to control only post-mixer  trim levels, rather than post-mixer trim levels plus another type of GAIN block.

A group member can be controlled by multiple group masters. It is recommended that this feature be used with caution, as "overlapping" membership can quickly become unmanageable (see the Multiple Group Masters subsection below).

Group master gain controls can send specific values, such as those sent by a fader control. You can also set group master gain using increment and decrement controls (see the Tools subsection below). See the device user guide for information about commands for group master controls that are to be used in a control system.

See the Optimizing Audio Levels section for more information.

Configuring Groups

To add and configure a group:

  1. From the Tools menu, select Configure Groups. Alternatively, from the View menu, select Group Controls and click Add a Group in the Group Controls dialog box. The Configure Groups dialog box opens.

  2. The Select Group drop-down list defaults to the first empty group. Select an empty group if necessary, or select an existing group to overwrite.

  3. In the Select Control Type section, expand the tree for the type of control (gain or mute) you want to group. To expand the tree, click the sign beside the control type.

  4. Select the desired gain or mute control type (such as Input Gain beneath the gain control). The Available Group Members section populates with all possible members for the selected control type. Available members that are controlled by an existing group master are indicated with a blue font.

  5. In the Available Group Members section, select the desired group members by selecting the associated check boxes. When a sign exists, click the associated check box to select the entire tree. Alternatively, you can select individual members within the tree. To do so, click the sign to expand the tree and select the check boxes for individual members.

  6. Click Apply. To configure additional groups, repeat steps 2 through 5.

To modify a group:

  1. From the Tools menu, select Configure Groups. The Configure Groups dialog box opens.

 - or -

From the View menu, select Group Controls and click Add a Group in the Group Controls dialog box. The Configure Groups dialog box opens.

- or -

From the View menu, select Group Controls to open the Group Controls dialog box. Then,
double-click one of the displayed group controls to open the Configure Group dialog box. The Configure Group dialog box opens to the selected group master, expanding the associated control type tree to show the group members.

  1. From the Select Group drop-down list, select one of the group masters. The tree in the Select Control Type section expands based on the selected group. In the Available Group Members section, the group members with a selected check box are associated with the selected group master. Available members that are controlled by an existing group master are indicated with blue text.

  2. Modify the group membership as desired by selecting or clearing the group member check boxes.

  3. Click Apply.

To delete a group:

  1. In the Configure Groups dialog box, select a group from the Select Group drop-down list and click Delete Current Group. The Confirm Deletion dialog box opens.

  2. Click Yes to delete the group.

Viewing Group Controls

From the View menu, select Group Controls to open the Group Controls dialog box. You can resize this window as needed.

The Group Controls dialog box contains two items in the menu bar:

  • Add a Group

  • Tools

 

Add a Group

Clicking the Add a Group option in the Group Controls dialog box opens the Configure Groups dialog box.

After you add a new group and click Apply in the Configure Groups dialog box, the Group Controls window refreshes to display the added control.

See the Configuring Groups subsection above for the procedure to add and configure groups.

Tools

The Tools menu in the Group Controls dialog box contains four options:

  • Clear All Groups - Clicking this option clears all group members and group master parameters.

  • Increment/Decrement Simulator - Clicking this option allows you to test the increment and decrement values (see below for more information).

  • Refresh All Group Data - Clicking this option refreshes the group control data.

  • Group Details Report - Clicking this option generates a report that lists all group masters and group membership.

The Increment/Decrement Simulator allows you to set the increment and decrement values, providing control of increment and decrement adjustment. This control is temporary because the increment or decrement value is not stored in the device. The default value is 1.

To use the Increment/Decrement Simulator:

  1. From the View menu, select Group Controls. The Group Controls dialog box opens.

  2. From the Tools menu, select Increment/Decrement Simulator. The Inc/Dec Simulator dialog box opens. The controls and settings in the dialog box are unavailable until you select a group.

  3. From the Select Group drop-down list, select the group for which to test the increment and decrement values.

  4. Enter an increment value and a decrement value into the associated Increment Value field and Decrement Value field, as needed. The default value is 1. For gain controls, you can enter a value up to 0.1 dB resolution.

  5. Click the Increment button and Decrement button as needed. The group master control increases or decreases, respectively, by the set value to the top or bottom of its soft limit range.

Soft Limits

Each gain control type provides upper and lower soft limits that can be used to limit the range of the group master control. When you create a group master, these soft limits default to the inherent "hard" limits of that particular control (the upper and lower limits defined by that control).

Soft limits can be defined using the following methods.

  • Click and drag the Soft Limit handle. The soft limit resolution is 0.1 dB.

  • Click within the group master fader area to bring focus to the fader, then use the following key combinations.

To adjust the upper limit, press and hold the <Shift> key.

  • Hold <Shift> and press <Up arrow> or <Down arrow> to adjust the upper limit in 0.1 dB increments.

  • Hold <Shift> and press <Page Up> or <Page Down> to adjust the upper limit in 10 dB increments.

  • Hold <Shift> and press <Home> to adjust the limit to the upper default.

  • Hold <Shift> and press <End> to move the limit to the fader position.

To adjust the lower limit, press and hold the <Ctrl> key.

  • Hold <Ctrl> and press <Up arrow> or <Down arrow> to adjust the lower limit in 0.1 dB increments.

  • Hold <Ctrl> and press <Page Up> or <Page Down> to adjust the lower limit in 10 dB increments.

  • Hold <Ctrl> and press <Home> to adjust the limit to the fader position.

  • Hold <Ctrl> and press <End> to move the limit to the lower default.

Group Members

After a group has been created, the group members (the individual controls that comprise the group) update to indicate that they are now part of a group. You can individually control group members. This allows for relative levels between group members to be fine-tuned. Group member levels can also be set by a preset recall.

DSP Configurator displays the group member value plus the offset created by the group master. As a result, the application always displays the value that you are hearing. However, the value of the group member that is on the device is always the actual value, independent of the added group master offset value. If a group master is deleted, the group member value reverts to its actual value.

Multiple Group Masters

A group member can be controlled by multiple group masters. It is recommended that this feature be used with caution, as "overlapping" membership can quickly become unmanageable.

Multiple group masters can be useful in instances such as when Group 1 controls the volume in Room A, Group 2 controls the volume in Room B and Group 3 controls volume in a combined Room A and B.

NOTE:  When using multiple group masters, the offset value that is added to the group member value is the sum of all group masters acting on the group members.

When configuring a group, group members that are already being controlled by another group master are indicated with blue text in the Available Group Members section of the Configure Groups dialog box. After creating the group, the control dialog boxes for each group member change from displaying membership in a single group to displaying membership in multiple groups.