Aviom A360 Design Guide Channel Manager

Aviom A360 Channel Manager Design Guide Aviom_A360_Design_Guide Aviom - A360 Channel Manager - Design Guide

Aviom A360 Channel Manager Design Guide aviom_a360_design_guide Aviom - A360 Channel Manager - Design Guide

User Manual: Aviom A360 Channel Manager Design Guide Aviom - A360 Channel Manager - Design Guide

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A360 DESIGN GUIDE
Aviom’s new A360 Personal Mixer brings a number of major advances in personal mixing for
performing and recording musicians. For more than a decade, Aviom has set the standard
for personal mixing, delivering a unique combination of truly useful features and ease of use
for both the technical and non-technical musician. The A360 raises the bar for features while
maintaining the intuitive ease of use Aviom is known for, giving musicians unprecedented
control and clarity in their monitor mixes.

This design reference provides guidance on designing Aviom personal mixing systems with
the new A360.

Please contact Aviom Customer Service
at +1 610-738-9005 extension 2 for
help with your specific needs.

More Channels. More Control. More You.

Aviom, A-Net, the A-Net icon, Pro16, Pro16e, Pro64, Virtual Data Cables, m-control, and AllFrame are trademarks of Aviom, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
©2013 Aviom, Inc. All rights reserved. Information subject to change without notice.
rev. 1.0 030413

BUILDING A SYSTEM
The A360 is backwards-compatible with legacy Pro16 gear such as the
AN-16/i, A-16D Pro, and A-16II, and it may be integrated into existing Aviom
Personal Mixing Systems. This section details the similarities and diﬀerences
with legacy hardware and systems and shows how to set up A360 Personal
Mixers in a variety of systems.

A360 Product Overview
The A360 Personal Mixer utilizes a 36-channel
mix engine to give performers more control
over their monitor mix, without introducing
unwarranted complexity. The 36-channel mix
engine supports 16 mono or stereo standard

mix channels, a mono or stereo Dual Profile
Channel™, and mono or stereo One-Touch
Ambience™. Optimized for in-ear monitors
and headphones (but fully compatible with
wedge monitors), the A360 adds enhanced

One-Touch Ambience

Standard mix channels (each button can host a
mono or stereo signal)

Dual Profile Channel (additional mix
channel or channel mirror)

More Channels. More Control. More You.

channel-level and master controls to help users
improve the naturalness, fidelity, and consistency of their monitor mix.

Technology Overview
The A360 is a Pro16® Series device, and it is fully
compatible with legacy Pro16 Series hardware.
However, to provide the flexibility of additional mix channels, the A360 uses an expanded
version of the Pro16 A-Net® packet, called
Pro16e™.
Like standard Pro16
A-Net, Pro16e is a
point-to-point digital
audio protocol; it is
not a full network like
Pro64® A-Net.
The Pro16e packet supports up to 64 channels
(48kHz, 24 bits). Maximum Cat-5e cable length

for Pro16e is 400 feet (100 feet less than standard Pro16).
All devices capable of generating or utilizing a
Pro16e data stream are labeled with the Pro16e
logo. All standard Pro16 devices are capable of
receiving and retransmitting a Pro16e packet
(but can utilize only the first 16 channels). For
example, a standard A-16D Pro is used in an
A360 personal mixing system and can supply power and Pro16e audio data to the A360
Personal Mixers.

A360 Mode Selection
In order to streamline integration of A360s into
existing Aviom personal mixing systems and to
provide flexibility in how systems utilize input
hardware, the A360 supports two modes of operation, selected with a rear-panel slide switch.

AN-16/i v.2
AN

A-16D PRO

A-16II

In systems with 16 or fewer channels, A360s can be connected to existing hardware in the same manner as A-16IIs
are connected. A360s and A-16IIs can be used together seamlessly.

Hear Better. Play Better. Sound Better.

PRO16 MODE

AN ADDITIONAL NOTE

In systems with 16 or fewer channels, the A360
will typically be set to PRO16 mode. In this
mode, channels are laid out on the A360 as
on the A-16II, with stereo channels using two
adjacent buttons rather than being placed under
a single button. The Dual Profile Channel on
the A360 may be used to mirror any channel or
channel pair. Ambience must use the onboard
microphone. All mixing functions, including full
stereo pan-spread control for stereo pairs, are
available in Pro16 mode.

Pro16e input modules generate Pro16e packets
regardless of the channel count of the system.
Thus it is possible to have a Pro16e system with
16 or fewer channels (one AN-16/i v.2 Input
Module as the front end).

For systems utilizing Pro16 mode on the A360,
system design and setup are the same as for
systems with A-16II and A-16R Personal Mixers,
and all three models of mixers may be used in
any combination.
PRO16e MODES
For systems with more than 16 channels, the
mode switch should be set either to DEFAULT or
to CUSTOM. In these switch positions, the A360
will be looking for a Pro16e packet and will
place stereo channels under a single button.
In DEFAULT mode, channels from the network
are assigned to A360 buttons according to the
default rules (see “Pro16e Channel Routing” below for detailed information). Only the onboard
microphone may be used for ambience. The Dual
Profile Channel may mirror one of the standard
mix channels but may not be used as a 17th mix
channel.
In CUSTOM mode, any network channel(s) can be
assigned to any mixer button. Ambience may use
the onboard mic or audio from the network, and
the Dual Profile Channel may be used to mirror
one of the 16 standard mix channels or as a 17th
stereo or mono mix channel.

In such systems, A360s may be set to either
PRO16 mode or one of the Pro16e modes. Using
one of the Pro16e modes places stereo channels under a single button and allows users to
customize their channel layout and use network
audio for ambience (in CUSTOM mode).

Connecting A360s
Regardless of the mode a given A360 is utilizing
and regardless of whether the system includes
A-16IIs or is comprised entirely of A360s, there
are no special considerations in connecting
A360s. Because Pro16 devices such as the A-16II
can receive a Pro16e packet but will use only
the first 16 channels (as if it were a standard
Pro16 stream), A360s and A-16IIs can use the
same A-Net stream and be fed by the same
A-Net Distributors.
Note that the A360 does not have an A-Net
Out jack and thus cannot be in the middle of a
daisy chain; most systems will utilize an A-16D
Pro A-Net Distributor for supplying power and
audio to the A360 Personal Mixers.

Getting More Than 16 Channels
into the System
The new AN-16/i v.2 Input Module is used to
expand the Pro16 packet to include more channels; up to four input modules may be used for
up to 64 channels in the network stream. Each
A360 may select its mix channels from the
complete pool of 64 channels in the network.

More Channels. More Control. More You.

from the console to connect to AN-16/i v.2 Input
Modules for additional channels and a Pro16e
stream.
Refer to the Appendix for illustrations of a
range of digital consoles connected to Aviom
personal mixing systems with expanded channel counts.

Daisy-chaining AN-16/i v.2 Input Modules allows more
channels to be sent to A360 Personal Mixers.

Pro16e Channel Routing
Because the A-16II and A360 (in Pro16e mode,
with a Pro16e front end) map stereo channels
to mixer buttons diﬀerently, more sophisti-

The A360 must be set to CUSTOM to use nondefault channels.
To expand the Pro16 packet, simply connect
the A-Net Out of the first input module to the
A-Net In of the second. This daisy chain may be
continued for up to four input modules and 64
channels.
The AN-16/i v.2 has a rear-panel switch for assigning the channel range of each device (1-16,
17-32, 33-48, or 49-64). The order in which the
input modules are connected is irrelevant.

AN-16/i v.2
AN
AN-16/i v.2
AN
AN-16/i
AN
N
v.2
AN-16/i v.2
AN

COMBINING LEGACY INPUT HARDWARE
The FIRST input device in this daisy chain of input devices may be a legacy Pro16 input module
(e.g., original AN-16/i or AN-16/i-M) or console
card (e.g., Aviom’s Y1 card or a partner card).
These channels are assigned to channels 1-16
automatically, and other input modules in the
system must be set to 17-32, 33-48, and 49-64.
At this time, there is no ability to connect multiple legacy Pro16 input devices, including console cards, for expanded channel count. Thus,
systems with digital consoles may use a single
Pro16 A-Net card but must use analog outputs

Hear Better. Play Better. Sound Better.

64-channel
Pro16e stream
Up to four AN-16/i v.2 Input Modules can be daisy chained
to form a 64-channel Pro16e A-Net stream. A360 Personal
Mixers can select their mix channels from this stream.
Note that the first device in the chain of input modules
may be a legacy Pro16 input module or console card.

The AN-16/i v.2 input channels can be thought of in stereo channel pairs. The A360 default routing uses odd numbered
input channels for left or mono and even numbered input channels for the right side of a stereo channel.

If the channels are stereo linked on the input
module, then both channels appear on the A360
as a stereo pair, using one mix channel button.

cated algorithms are required for managing the
default routing of Pro16e channels from input
modules to personal mixers, particularly to avoid
unexpected results when channels are switched
from stereo to mono (or vice versa) at an input
module.

If the channels are NOT stereo linked, then only
the odd input module channel is utilized by the
A360, and the even input module channel is ignored (but may be used by A-16IIs in the system
or by A360s in Pro16 mode).

Because the A360 and the A-16II behave identically in Pro16 systems with 16 or fewer channels, this section applies only to systems utilizing a Pro16e packet.

Thus for many Pro16e systems, the AN-16/i v.2 is
better viewed as an input module with 8 stereo
input channels rather than just 16 channels.

STEREO INPUT CHANNELS
This approach ensures predictable results and
avoids any unexpected channel reassignment
on the Personal Mixer as a result of a stereo link
switch being changed on an input module. The
table on the following page shows the default
channel routing for a Pro16e system.

In Pro16e systems using default channels on
A360s, input module channels should generally
be viewed as channel pairs, similar to a stereo
channel on a console. Thus channel 1 and channel 2 on an input module are the left and right
halves of what will become channel 1 on an
A360 Personal Mixer. (Channels 3 and 4 map to
A360 channel button 2, 5 and 6 to A360 channel
button 3, and so on.)

R
A-Net In

Mono

Stereo

Mono

Stereo

Mono

Stereo

Mono

Stereo

Mono

Stereo

Mono

Stereo

Mono

Stereo

Mono

v.2

Stereo

Power

More Channels. More Control. More You.

AN-16/i v.2

17-32

1-16

Bank

Channel

Default A360 Channel

If Stereo

1 (left)

1 (right)

2 (left)

2 (right)

3 (left)

3 (right)

4 (left)

4 (right)

5 (left)

5 (right)

6 (left)

6 (right)

7 (left)

7 (right)

8 (left)

8 (right)

9 (left)

9 (right)

10 (left)

10 (right)

11 (left)

11 (right)

12 (left)

12 (right)

13 (left)

13 (right)

14 (left)

14 (right)

15 (left)

15 (right)

16 (left)

16 (right)

If Mono
1

CUSTOM MODE
Ignored

2
Ignored

3
Ignored

4
Ignored

5
Ignored

6
Ignored

7
Ignored

8
Ignored

9
Ignored

10
Ignored

11
Ignored

12
Ignored

13
Ignored

14
Ignored

15
Ignored

16
Ignored

This table shows the mapping of input module channels
to A360 mix channels in Default Mode. Note that even
numbered mono input channels are not used in this mode.

Hear Better. Play Better. Sound Better.

The A360 also provides the ability to assign
channels from the network to any button on
each mixer independently. Ultimately, users will
have the option to do this from either a computer or from the front panel of the A360. Initially,
a computer will be required, utilizing Aviom’s
free A360 CHANNEL MANAGER™ application.
In CUSTOM MODE as in DEFAULT MODE, stereo
channels are placed under a single button on
A360s. However, mono channels in even numbered input module channels may be assigned
to A360 buttons.

CUSTOM MODE gives designers and users the
most flexibility, allowing each A360 to have its
own selection of channels and its own arrangement of channels. This is particularly useful in
larger ensembles where diﬀerent musicians
require control of diﬀerent channels.
The Pro16e data stream supports up to 64 channels, and CUSTOM MODE allows each A360 in the
system to be assigned a unique set of channels
for the 16 mono or stereo standard mix channels, the mono or stereo DUAL PROFILE CHANNEL
(which may also be set to mirror one of the
standard mix channels), and ambience.
The table on the following page shows a sample
patch list for a larger system.

Mixer Channel

Singers’ A360s

Horns’ A360s

Backline A360s

Lead Vocal

Vocal 2

Vocals Mix (stereo)

Vocal 3

Horn 1

Gtr 1 (stereo)

Vocal 4

Horn 2

Gtr 2 (stereo)

Vocal 5

Horn 3

Keys 1 (stereo)

Vocal 6

Horn 4

Keys 2 (stereo)

Gtr 1 (stereo)

Horn 5

Horns Mix (stereo)

Gtr 2 (stereo)

Gtr 1 (stereo)

Kick

Keys 1 (stereo)

Gtr 2 (stereo)

Snare

Keys 2 (stereo)

Keys 1 (stereo)

Hi Hat

Horns Mix (stereo)

Keys 2 (stereo)

Drums OH (stereo)

Drums Mix (stereo)

Bass

Tracks/Loops (stereo)

Click

15
16

This table shows a sample channel mapping for a larger ensemble utliizing the A360’s ability to select its mix
channels from all of the channels available in the network.

Combining A360s in Systems
With A-16IIs and A-16Rs
The A360 was designed to be fully compatible
with existing Aviom personal mixing systems,
allowing existing users to upgrade some or all
of their Aviom Personal Mixers without having
to start over with all new gear.

SYSTEMS WITH 16 OR FEWER CHANNELS
In low-channel-count systems, A360s can simply
be added to the system or swapped in for an
older Aviom Personal Mixer. Simply connect a
Cat-5e cable to the existing A-Net Distributor
and to the A360. Note that the A360 cannot be
in the middle of a daisy chain.

Because the A-16II and A-16R Personal Mixers
can use only the first 16 channels in the system,
all channels required by these mixers must be
connected, in the desired order, to the first
input module or console card.
All other channels—those channels added to
the monitoring feeds for the benefit of the
A360 users—will be patched to the AN-16/i v.2
Input Modules set to one of the higher channel
banks (17-32, 33-48, or 49-64). These channels
will be ignored by the A-16IIs and A-16Rs in the
system.
In most cases, setting the A360s in these systems to CUSTOM will help rearrange the channels in a way that is most useful for A360 users.

SYSTEMS WITH MORE CHANNELS
In systems with more than 16 channels and both
A360 and A-16II or A-16R Personal Mixers, some
planning for input patching must be allowed for.

More Channels. More Control. More You.

APPENDIX
The following diagrams show Pro16e systems connected to a range of
digital mixing consoles. The systems shown here support up to 32 channels;
most could be expanded further to provide up to 48 or 64 channels to the
Aviom Pro16e A-Net system and the A360 Personal Mixers. All of the systems shown here can also have A-16II or A-16R Personal Mixers attached,
using the first 16 channels in the Pro16e system.

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