Sonifex Auricon PC-AUR44, Handbook

Page 1: ...Manufacturers of audio video products for radio TV broadcasters PC AUR44 Auricon 4 4 PCIe Analogue Sound Card HANDBOOK ...

Page 2: ...y fictitious adaptation and are designed solely to document the use of Sonifex product Contents Product Warranty 2 Year Extended ii Sonifex Warranty Liability Terms Conditions ii Repairs Returns iv CE Declaration of Conformity and Approval Information v WEEE Directive vi RoHS Directive vi Atmosphere vi Electromagnetic Compatibility vi Introduction 1 Notes Regarding Windows Version Differences 2 In...

Page 3: ...o uk y Internet www sonifex co uk As standard Sonifex products are supplied with a 1 year back to base warranty If you register the product online you can increase your product warranty to 2 years and we can also keep you informed of any product design improvements or modifications To register your product please go online to www sonifex co uk register Register Online for an Extended 2 Year Warran...

Page 4: ...pt when the product has been registered at the Sonifex website when the Warranty Term is 24 months from the date of despatch the Contract means the quotation these Conditions of Sale and any other document incorporated in a contract between the Company and the Purchaser This is the entire Contract between the parties relating to the subject matter hereof and may not be changed or terminated except...

Page 5: ...e for any loss of profits or other economic losses The Company accordingly excludes all liability for the same e At the request and expense of the Purchaser the Company will test the Goods to ascertain performance levels and provide a report of the results of that test The report will be accurate at the time of the test to the best of the belief and knowledge of the Company and the Company accepts...

Page 6: ...d The product is shipped with the following equipment so please check to ensure that you have all of the items below If anything is missing please contact the supplier of your equipment immediately Item Quantity Product Unit 1 Handbook 1 Driver CD 1 If you require a different power lead please let us know when ordering the product Repairs Returns Please contact Sonifex or your supplier if you have...

Page 7: ...ited hereby certify that the following product with serial number shown has been designed and manufactured in accordance with the following specifications EMC EN 55103 1 1997 Electromagnetic Compatibility Limits of disturbance for audio apparatus for professional use For use in environments 1 to 4 EN 55103 2 1997 Electromagnetic Compatibility Limits of disturbance for audio apparatus for professio...

Page 8: ...ious sources Product is offered as RoHS compliant or LF only after sufficient evidence is received from the component manufacturers that their components are RoHS compliant Sonifex Ltd relies solely on the distributor or manufacturer of the components for identification of RoHS compliance Thus whilst every effort is made to ensure compliance Sonifex Ltd makes no warranty or certification or declar...

Page 9: ...either DC or AC the default is AC The playback topology consists of a master output level mute control and peak meter and input monitor level and mute controls for each of the line inputs The record topology consists of a master input level mute control and peak meter and level controls and mutes for the physical input and digital loopback The digital loopback allows the output of the card to be d...

Page 10: ... The software package consists of the driver installation file Auricon44 inf or Auricon44x64 inf the kernel mode driver Auricon44 sys the configuration DLL Auricon44Coinstaller32 dll or Auricon44Coinstaller64 dll and the catalogue file Auricon44 cat or Auricon44x64 cat Switch off the computer and carefully install the Auricon card in any free PCIe slot observing the normal precautions against stat...

Page 11: ...e itself and the screen may flicker during this time Be patient Operation on Windows 8 7 Vista and Server 2012 2008 R2 2008 The audio subsystem of Windows 8 7 Vista and corresponding server versions has changed substantially from earlier versions of Windows although most applications should continue to work without modification The major differences likely to affect users of the Auricon 4 4 are de...

Page 12: ...ut pair had its own mixer device How this will work with any particular application that uses the mixer API can only be determined by experimentation Audio Engine The Windows audio engine runs at a fixed sampling rate and bit depth By default the Auricon 4 4 driver sets the sampling rate to the card s hardware rate and the bit depth to 24 bit for all the inputs and outputs The Windows sampling rat...

Page 13: ...he Auricon 4 4 topology is shown in the diagrams at the end of this manual The playback topology consists of a master output level mute control and peak meter and input monitor level and mute controls for each of the line inputs To these the kernel mixer adds virtual level and mute controls for wave synthesizer and CD outputs The record topology consists of a master input level mute control and pe...

Page 14: ...l audio applications a problem can arise when a low priority thread is using a shared resource that the high priority audio thread requires Since the processor has no concept of thread priorities the high priority thread is blocked until that resource becomes free resulting in gaps on playback or skipping while recording If this proves to be a problem on a hyperthreaded system the hyperthreading c...

Page 15: ...put will be too low so you will need an amplifier If this is the case it is probably best to do the job properly and use a balancing amplifier Finally note that the shields on the audio cables should only be connected at one end In the world of balanced audio the shields are simply that electrostatic screens and should not be used for earth returns Functional Description The balanced audio inputs ...

Page 16: ...7 1 Left 44 1 Left 22 1 Left 14 1 Right 36 1 Right 29 1 Right 6 1 Right 43 2 Left 35 2 Left 28 2 Left 5 2 Left 42 2 Right 20 2 Right 12 2 Right 34 2 Right 27 3 Left 19 3 Left 11 3 Left 33 3 Left 26 3 Right 3 3 Right 40 3 Right 18 3 Right 10 4 Left 2 4 Left 39 4 Left 17 4 Left 9 4 Right 31 4 Right 24 4 Right 1 4 Right 38 Ground 4 8 13 15 16 21 23 25 30 32 37 41 When configured for mono operation ch...

Page 17: ...ice A Playback Master Line Input 1 Line Input 2 Line Input 1 Loopback Loopback Line Input 2 Line Input 1 Line Input 2 Line Input 1 Line Input 2 Record Master Playback Master Record Master Record Software Device B Wave Out Midi Synth CD Wave Out Midi Synth CD Playback Software Device B Auricon 4 4 Topology Fig 1 4 Auricon 4 4 Topology ...

Page 18: ... Inputs 3 And 4 Only Present In Mono Configuration Wave Out Midi Line Input 1 Line Input 2 Line Input 3 Line Input 4 CD Any Number Of Direct Sound Streams Direct Sound Stream Direct Sound Stream Wave Out Stream Wave Out Stream eight if configured as mono master level control and peakmeter All level controls include a mute control as well Each waveOut stream is created by opening an instance of the...

Page 19: ...ply defined as another line connector 5 1 7 1 Driver Requirements Auricon 4 4 card with firmware revision 2 or later Auricon 4 4 driver version 8 0 0 3502 or later Windows Vista or later the driver doesn t support surround sound on XP The card must be configured for stereo on the driver configuration page The card must have four stereo inputs for 8 channel input and or four stereo outputs for 8 ch...

Page 20: ...t Enable Repeat this for the Recording devices Speakers Properties General Tab Right click on the Speakers Auricon 4 4 icon and select Properties The Properties page for the Speakers device appears as follows Speakers Properties Levels Tab Click on the Levels tab to show and alter the output levels ...

Page 21: ...urround sound speaker locations are mapped onto the physical output channels as follows Front left right Channel 1 L R Centre LFE Channel 2 L R Rear left right Channel 3 L R Side left right Channel 4 L R The Windows audio engine automatically maps 5 1 audio streams onto the 7 1 output using Front left right Centre LFE and Side left right However Windows Media Player bypasses this mapping and inste...

Page 22: ...r is disabled when the input is opened by an application in exclusive mode Microsoft are inconsistent in their mapping of 5 1 content onto 7 1 output devices with Windows Media Player in particular not following their defined mapping and using the rear speakers instead of the side speakers Windows will always name a speaker endpoint as Speakers with the driver unable to override this Windows will ...

Page 23: ...ighted Input Impedance 20k balanced KƵƚƉƵƚ ŵƉĞĚĂŶĐĞ ϰϬɏ ďĂůĂŶĐĞĚͿ Maximum Signal 24dBu 34 6Vp p Frequency Response Input DC to 88kHz DC coupling 1Hz to 88kHz AC coupling Output DC to 88kHz 192kHz hardware sampling rate Connector 44 pin high density D type female Equipment Type PC AUR44 Auricon 4 4 PCIe analogue sound card Physical Specification Dimensions Raw 14cm L x 12 5cm H x 2cm D 5 5 L x 4 9 ...

Page 24: ...www sonifex co uk t 44 0 1933 650 700 f 44 0 1933 650 726 sales sonifex co uk ...