Martin Audio MA18K, User Manual

Page 1: ...The Martin Experience MA18K MA18K DSP User Guide All material 2010 Martin Audio Ltd Subject to change without notice ...

Page 2: ...3 2 3 1 Output attenuation 14 2 3 2 Gain Sensitivity 15 2 3 3 Input select 15 2 3 4 Max output voltage 15 2 3 6 Clip limiter CH1 CH2 15 2 3 7 Gate CH1 CH2 16 2 3 8 KETH 16 2 3 10 Bar meters 16 2 3 11 Output meters 17 2 3 12 Temperature 17 2 3 13 Mains meters 17 2 3 14 Hardware info 17 2 3 15 Hardware monitor 18 2 3 16 The Smartcard function 18 2 3 17 LCD contrast 19 2 3 18 Set unlock code 19 2 3 1...

Page 3: ... 5 Channel delay 27 3 10 3 6 Gain 28 3 10 3 7 Peak Limiter 28 3 10 3 9 Advanced 29 3 10 3 9 1 Damping Control 29 3 10 3 9 2 Filters Definition 30 3 10 4 Channel Settings Copy 30 3 11 How to Setup a crossover 30 3 12 Setup a bridged configuration 32 3 2 MA Control Manager Overview 32 4 1 Turn On Turn Off muting 35 4 2 Short circuit protection 35 4 3 Thermal protection 35 4 4 DC fault protection 35 ...

Page 4: ...nt Body Directive 89 336 EEC EMC pursuant to the product family standard for audio professional use EN 55103 1 and EN 55103 2 standard EN61000 3 2 EN 61000 3 3 In a domestic environment this product may cause radio interferences in which case the user may be required to take adequate measures NOTES This equipment has been tested and found to comply by Competent Body Directive 89 336 EEC EMC pursua...

Page 5: ...ersonnel The constructor cannot be considered responsible for eventual damages caused to persons things or data for the missing of accurate earth link Before powering this device verify that the amplifier is supplied with the correct voltage rating Verify that your mains connection is capable to satisfy the power ratings of the device Do not spill water or other liquids into or on the unit Do not ...

Page 6: ...r more headroom cleaner sound rather than for increased volume Speaker output shock hazard A Martin Audio amplifier is capable of producing hazardous output voltages To avoid electrical shock do not touch any exposed speaker wiring while the amplifier is operating This manual contains important information on operating your Martin Audio amplifier correctly and safety Please read it carefully befor...

Page 7: ...ndwidth and dumping factor Totally Digital with High Reliability The MA18K 18K DSP series is based on PWM technology that has been used for 30 years or more in power supplies and inverters PWM provides high reliability small size low weight and high efficiency A PWM converter works as a high frequency sampler converting the variable amplitude audio signal into an impulse sequence with average valu...

Page 8: ...re provided Rear support mounting holes are also provided These should always we used to support the weight of the amplifier at the rear in a 19 rack Your MA18K 18K DSP amplifiers uses a forced air cooling system to maintain a low even operating temperature Drawn by an internal fan air enters through the slots in the front panel and courses over and through components The MA18K 18K DSP series ampl...

Page 9: ...covered by the warranty Make sure the power switch is off before making any input or output connections It is always a good idea to have the gain controls muted during power up to prevent speaker damage particularly if there is a high signal level at the inputs Whether you purchase them or build them yourself use good quality input and speaker cables Most intermittent problems are caused by faulty...

Page 10: ...de of the amplifier The figure below shows the connection of analog input for balanced and unbalanced line You can use either configuration but you must consider that unbalanced long lines can introduce noise in the audio system The Link switch located in the rear panel is for direct paralleling the rear input connectors You can use the remaining input connector to carry signal to other amps ...

Page 11: ...of Speakon connector are paralleled internally and have to be considered as the positive output of the channel likewise the 1 and 2 pins of Speakon connector are also paralleled internally and should be treated as the negative output of the channel Note Channel B is run out of phase internally corrected by reversing the connections from the amplifier output to the output connecter Channel A is run...

Page 12: ...mplifier via the RS485 interface the illustration shows the wiring configuration for the connection of the data cable to the RJ45 socket located on the rear panel of the amplifier The same picture shows also the ID selection for Remote Control in this case ID 28 to change the ID rotate the selectors at the desired position ...

Page 13: ...18K 18K DSP Amplifiers The front panel controls in conjunction with the graphic LCD display above the buttons give the user the total control and detailed information about the status of the amplifier Each pushbutton has multiple functions and the display shows the current active function for each button Read the instructions below carefully which will explain the many functions of the amplifier ...

Page 14: ...ellow LED will light at 2 dBu If the level of the audio signal reaches the channel maximum output capability the red LED will be triggered The LED bars also have diagnostic function a flashing yellow LED indicates a critical range of temperature from 80 C to 85 C of the power devices on the corresponding channel if this LED is lighting constantly the temperature is above 85 C A constantly lit red ...

Page 15: ...s the Output attenuation screen You can choose to set CH1 CH2 or both by pushing the C1 2 button The and buttons change the value of the output attenuation in the range from 0 to 30dB Note for the best sonic performance it is recommended that you set the attenuation to 0db no attenuation and select the proper gain sensitivity from the following menu ...

Page 16: ... and down buttons change the selection the sel button locks the selected option 2 3 4 Max output voltage The illustration below shows the Max output voltage screen You can choose to set CH1 CH2 or both by pushing C1 2 button The and buttons change the value of the max output peak voltage 2 3 5 Max mains current The Max mains current screen is shown below The and buttons change the value of the max...

Page 17: ...ng table You can enable disable the gate by pushing the on off button Gating the output is delayed by 5 seconds after input signal removal and follows in reversed way the bottom green LED on the CH1 CH2 bar LED display muted if green LED is off 2 3 8 KETH This section is not currently implemented 2 3 10 Bar meters In the Bar meters screen you can select the LED bargraphs to operate as output volta...

Page 18: ...eing shown in bridge mode 2 3 12 Temperature In the Temperature screen you can view the historic temperature diagram of the last four hours of the final current use in the range from 10 to 90 C in the bottom right side of the screen the present value is shown 2 3 13 Mains meters In the Mains meters screen you can view the voltage and the current of the connected mains supply 2 3 14 Hardware info I...

Page 19: ...supply are correct IGBTCONV if OK is displayed the DC DC converter monitor function properly 192KHZ if OK is displayed the frequency system clock is correct 2 3 16 The Smartcard function The Smartcard operates as memory and can be used to save the settings of the amplifier These settings can be loaded into other amplifiers saving considerable time compared to manually entering identical settings W...

Page 20: ...rast of the LCD display by pushing the buttons 2 3 18 Set unlock code In this screen you can insert the numeric key to unlock the settings The same screen appears when the unlock button in the main screen is pressed There is a universal key to unlock the settings This is 270156 2 3 19 Service This function is factory reserved ...

Page 21: ...election can be used to switch from analog input to digital AES3 input with or without DSP processing The idle mode function is a power saving feature When activated the output stage switches off if the amplifier doesn t detect an input signal for the user defined amount of time This saves about 40 W of power per channel This means reduced heat longer amplifier and fan life and lower electricity b...

Page 22: ...ons will be shown empty You can enter the preset name by pressing ok The selected character is arrowed and is modified by pressing or keys The next character is selected by pressing sel key Finish the procedure by pressing the ok key to store the preset Preset selection Preset name input You can load and apply a stored preset by using the Recall local preset This uses an identical dialog Please no...

Page 23: ... amplifier and used as starting point for a new preset saving operation The menu will ask if you want to keep edit that name or if you would like to edit the name of the preset that is going to be overwritten This is useful for copying presets to or from a smartcard For instance if you load a preset named 18IN SUB 1 from a smartcard and then save it into local memory Select Keep name Modify curren...

Page 24: ...her local memory or smartcard Local presets can be made Read Only by enabling the Lock presets function in order to preserve the original settings stored on the amplifier The lock code when set different from 000000 protects the whole Menu locking submenu 3 7 Amplifier name The amplifier name together with the current preset name can be displayed by enabling the Display amplifier data function The...

Page 25: ...each with 8 different filter shapes peaking hi lo shelving hi lo pass EQ band pass band stop all pass alignment delay with high temporal resolution crossover with IIR Butterworth Bessel and Linkwitz Riley filters advanced crossover with FIR linear phase brick wall filters speaker and amplifier monitor and analyzer to estimate power and load impedance peak limiter with look ahead true power limiter...

Page 26: ...peaker systems The delay ranges from 0 to 2000 ms in 1 ms increments 3 10 2 3 AES3 This menu controls the AES3 input options 3 10 2 3 1 Gain trim This menu sets the gain to be applied at the signal coming from the AES3 digital input Setting 0 dB makes a full scale digital signal equivalent to an analog input signal of 20 dBu 3 10 2 3 2 If no link This menu controls the behaviour if the AES3 signal...

Page 27: ...3 CH1 CH2 CH1 2 Settings The channel or the channels that are being edited are shown on the top right corner in these sub menus CH1 CH2 or 1 2 when you are editing both channels at once 3 10 3 1 EQ This menu lists the 16 parametric filters You can move from filter to filter using the arrow keys The parameters are synthesised on the display You can check all equaliser settings by switching through ...

Page 28: ... octave 1st order filter to 48dB octave 8th order filter The FIR filters can be selected as normal FIR or enhanced FIR The enhanced version gives a higher out of band rejection at the expense of a little 10 degrees phase nonlinearity In both cases the minimum working frequency is related to the desired latency A 400Hz minimum working frequency gives a latency of 2ms It is better therefore to use t...

Page 29: ... decay time When editing the threshold the display shows in real time the gain reduction due to the limiting function GR dB together with the limiting voltage referred to the input The limiter has a look ahead buffer in order to soften the clipping and to minimise distortion The default value of the look ahead time is 1 5 ms When FIR filters are activated the limiter look ahead feature is deactiva...

Page 30: ... xx x dB and the power really delivered to the load Pavg xxxxW Power Limiter DRIVER POWER THRESHOLD ATTACK TIME DECAY TIME 1 VC tweeter 10 20 W 100 ms 300 ms 1 5 VC tweeter 20 30 W 150 ms 300 ms 2 VC horn driver 20 40 W 200 ms 400 ms 3 VC horn driver 30 50 W 300 ms 500 ms 4 VC horn driver 40 60 W 500 ms 3000 ms 2 VC midrange 30 100 W 500 ms 3000 ms 3 VC midbass 50 150 W 1000 ms 5000 ms 4 VC woofer...

Page 31: ...e to avoid an over damped response This setting will be linkable to the actual average level automatised in the next firmware release Average power rated power Power compression Equivalent series resistance for 8 Ohm driver 10 1 4 dB 1 0 Ohm 20 2 0 dB 1 4 Ohm 50 2 8 dB 2 1 Ohm 100 4 5 dB 3 8 Ohm Typical rise in resistance due to voice coil heating Note the huge amount 3 8 Ohm when the driver reach...

Page 32: ...Martin Audio Ltd Subject to change without notice 31 Set Frequency 2000 Hz Set Shape Linkwitz Riley You could also experiment with shape FIR Set Slope 24dB oct Edit CH2 Go to HP Filter set Active ON Set Frequency 2000 Hz ...

Page 33: ...ls at once Remember that in bridged mode the 2 DSP channels should be identical to get the right results 3 2 MA Control Manager Overview Both the standard and DSP versions of the MA18K may be remote controlled from a PC using the MA Control Manager software which may be downloaded from the Martin Audio website http www mauserguides com red square net Ampsoft ContMan pdf The application may be used...

Page 34: ...t a glance overview of the entire system Amplifier Settings Window Each amplifier can be opened and all parameters adjusted on line in real time making a complex system very straightforward to set up compared to spending hours going through each front panel menu This is particularly true of the DSP versions of the MA K series amplifiers where the additional functions can be easily accessed ...

Page 35: ...tion with unparalleled ease A scheduler is available to switch amplifiers on or off at a specified time either daily or weekly A record of amplifier performance including temperature can be accessed and tests run on individual amplifiers or the entire system The software can even be configured to e mail or send an SMS message in the event of a specified fault condition such as an impedance or temp...

Page 36: ...e MA18K 18K DSP amplifiers use a continuously variable speed fan to assist cooling the fan speed changes in response to the amplifier s cooling needs If the heat sink temperature reaches approximately 80 C the yellow LED starts to flashing If the temperature is more then 85 C the thermal sensing circuitry will mute each power section channels the LED will light permanently and the power supply wil...

Page 37: ...r 18K DSP amplifier Refer servicing to qualified technical personnel If your MA18K or 18K DSP amplifier needs repair contact your Martin Audio dealer or distributor 5 3 Dust removal Particularly in dusty environments the front side filters clog with dust and dirt after prolonged use this will interfere with cooling You may use compressed air to remove the dust from filters To remove air filters un...

Page 38: ...vided that the product is returned in its original packaging shipping prepaid to an authorised Martin Audio service agent or distributor Martin Audio Ltd cannot be held responsible for defects caused by unauthorised modifications improper use negligence exposure to inclement weather conditions act of God or accident or any use of this product that is not in accordance with the instructions provide...

Page 39: ...All material 2010 Martin Audio Ltd Subject to change without notice 38 7 Technical notes 7 1 Block diagram The illustrations below show the output stage block diagram and the power supply block diagram ...

Page 40: ...0 4Ω stereo 2 x 5200 7 9 15 8 1300 1625 525 1590 402 8Ω bridged 1 x 10400 2Ω stereo 2 x 9000 13 26 2250 2813 763 2366 598 4Ω bridged 1 x 18000 Pink Noise 1 4 rated power 8Ω Stereo 2 x 2700 8 16 1350 1688 538 1494 377 16Ω bridged 1 x 5400 4Ω stereo 2 x 5200 14 7 29 3 2600 3250 850 2498 631 8Ω bridged 1 x 10400 2Ω stereo 2 x 9000 24 9 49 8 4500 5625 1325 4050 1023 4Ω bridged 1 x 18000 Power absorbsi...

Page 41: ...ly 0 05 Intermodulation SMPTE Max 0 5 from 1W to full power typically 0 05 Intermodulation DIM 30 Max 0 5 from 1W to full power typically 0 05 Inputs Balanced to ground XLR female combo jack Impedance 10KOhm each leg balanced to ground Gain 26 29 32 35dB user selectable Outputs High current Neutrik 4 pole Speakon connectors pins 1 2 paralleled 1 2 paralleled Data RS485 via RJ45 OUTPUT SPECIFICATIO...

Page 42: ...All material 2010 Martin Audio Ltd Subject to change without notice 41 7 4 Technical Drawing ...