Sonifex AVN-CU2-DANTE Configurable Dante Commentary Unit for 2 Commentators

Description

The Sonifex AVN-CU2-DANTE takes a new approach to provide a multi-purpose configurable tool for commentary teams. Its power lies in the impressive mix engine which overlays the usual Dante® Controller settings. Once Dante® flows have been made, inputs and outputs can be mixed freely to AoIP or physical inputs and outputs, controlled using the programmable buttons and rotary encoders, which control the gain and pan of inputs, outputs or cross-points, allowing total flexibility for different situations.
It can be used in any number of different commentary situations, controlled manually or remotely and controls can be ‘locked down’ so that they can’t be tampered with or altered, to guarantee reliable operation. Housed in a rugged and intuitive, user-friendly package, it’s a truly different way of looking at how commentary units should operate.

 

Traditional commentary units have fixed analogue and digital I/O and fixed controls in fixed positions on the unit. Their inputs and outputs are defined at hardware design and are thus limited by that initial design, including limited routing, mixing and DSP of the audio pathways.

 

We’ve taken a different approach with the AVN-CU2-DANTE. It was designed from the ground up to be totally flexible in operation and the use of Dante AoIP means that inputs and outputs can be added as required (up to a max of 16 per unit). Because any physical analogue or digital input can be mixed and routed with any Dante AoIP input to any physical output or Dante output, you can define your own audio pathways. Additionally you can choose which of those pathways need to be controlled (volume and pan) by the use of rotary encoders. Using a built-in web GUI, up to 4 nameable pages of 6 rotary encoders (24 in total) can be placed on the mix matrix at inputs, outputs or cross-points. Each rotary encoder has a separate colour-coded meter section showing the channel name, detailed level metering and left/right panning on a bright daylight reading display. Colours can be programmed per encoder to quickly identify particular source groups, so headphone source selection becomes intuitive.

 

The Sonifex AVN-CU2-DANTE provides two mic/line inputs with a wide, adjustable gain range and has two stereo headphone outputs with lockable jack sockets, suitable for operation by two commentators.

 

It’s powered using Power over Ethernet (PoE), using Neutrik EtherCON connectors, with primary and secondary ports for power and data redundancy. There’s an additional 4 pin XLR 12V DC input. The unit supports up to 16 input and output AoIP channels and up to 16 simultaneous input and output AoIP streams.

 

The 6 push-button rotary encoders control input and output levels and panning. The 12 key-cap buttons are fully configurable for any button function.

 

Metering is available per input/output, with output metering configurable as pre or post level adjustment. The top of the display shows output metering, a limiter indication and the name of the output. An adjustable limiter is available on every output and is applied automatically to prevent signal clipping.

 

The unit has 2 x locking mic/line inputs with +48V phantom power indication and 2 x headphone outputs on locking 6.35mm jack sockets.

 

Four wire I/O on rear panel RJ45 connectors provide an AES3 or analogue input and output that can be assigned as mic outputs (line level), talkback outputs, programme inputs or talkback inputs as desired.

 

In addition, the AES/analogue connections can be used as an insert or exit point into/out from the AoIP network.

 

The unit has dual redundant network ports on both RJ45 (PoE using 2 x Neutrik EtherCON® connectors) and SFP cages for long fibre runs.

 

There are 10 x configurable GPIO on a 15 way D-type connector with 1 x switched changeover output.

 

All of the buttons have key-cap text and can be configured. There are some standard operations available:

 

• 2 x On-Air buttons can be used to connect mic audio to the main output, either over AoIP or via the AES digital audio connection. The On-Air buttons can be locked if required.
• A Menu button can be used to access limited setup options on the TFT display.
• 2 x Page buttons change the display and encoders to monitor an additional set of sources, mix points or outputs. Up to 4 pages can be pre-programmed, e.g. one for talkback inputs, one for outputs, one to monitor other sources.
• 2 x Cough buttons take the commentator off-air while pressed.
• A User button can be programmed to perform any function using the web server.
• 4 x T/B (talkback) buttons can be configured to initiate talkback over AoIP or AES digital audio connection, using 4 x talkback busses. The talkback buttons operate with lazy talkback, taking the commentator off-air when invoked.
• 6 x rotary encoders.
• 4 x pages of 6 rotary encoder positions (24 in total).

 

The illuminated ‘Sonifex’ logo acts as a power indication and there are illuminated LEDs to indicate network clock status, AoIP Primary and AoIP Secondary link status, PoE Primary, PoE Secondary and DC power active.

 

Technical Specification For AVN-CU2-DANTE
Network and AoIP
AoIP Standard:	Dante
Number of Channels:	16 receive, 16 transmit
Number of Streams:	16 receive, 16 transmit
Sample Rate:	48 kHz
Format:	Linear PCM, 16, 24 or 32 bit
AES67 Support:	Yes
Connectivity:	2 x RJ45 and 2 x SFP
Speed:	1Gbps or 100Mbps
Network Modes:	Switched or redundant
Dante Domain Manager Ready:	Yes
Mic/Line Inputs
Input Impedance (Mic Mode):	2.5kΩ electronically balanced
Input Impedance (Line Mode):	>10kΩ electronically balanced
Preamp Gain (Mic Mode):	User selectable 16dB to 76dB in 3dB steps (Ref. +18dBu = 0dBFS)
0dBFS Line-up (Mic Mode):	-58dBu @ Max preamp gain, +2dBu @ Min preamp gain
0dBFS Line-up (Line Mode):	User selectable +15dBu / +18dBu / +20dBu / +22dBu / +24dBu = 0dBFS
Frequency Response (Mic Mode):	+0/-0.2dB 20Hz to 20kHz Ref 40dB gain @ 1kHz
Frequency Response (Line Mode):	+0/-0.2dB 20Hz to 20kHz Ref 0dBu @ 1kHz
THD+N (Mic Mode):	<-90dBFS, -64dBFS, 20Hz – 20kHz, 40dB gain, 20kHz BW
THD+N (Line Mode):	<-98dBFS, -30dBFS, 20Hz – 20kHz, 20kHz BW
Equivalent Input Noise (Mic Mode):	125dB Ref. 76dB preamp gain, Rs = 200Ω
Noise (Line Mode):	<-100dBFS, 20kHz BW, Rs = 200Ω
C.M.R.R.	>60dB @ 1kHz
Phantom Power (Mic Mode):	+48V
High Pass Filter:	12dB/octave, user selectable frequency
Stereo Analogue/Digital Input
Input Impedance (Analogue Mode):	>20kΩ electronically balanced
Input Impedance (Digital Mode):	110Ω
Supported Input Rates (Digital Mode):	32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz, 96kHz, 176.4kHz and 192kHz
0dBFS Line-up (Analogue Mode):	User selectable +15dBu / +18dBu / +20dBu / +22dBu / +24dBu = 0dBFS
Frequency Response (Analogue Mode):	+0/-0.2dB 20Hz to 20kHz Ref 0dBu @ 1kHz
THD+N (Analogue Mode):	<-107dBFS, -30dBFS, 20Hz – 20kHz, 20kHz BW
Noise (Analogue Mode):	<-108dBFS, 20kHz BW, Rs = 200Ω
C.M.R.R (Analogue Mode):	>60dB @ 1kHz
Stereo Analogue/Digital Output
Output Impedance (Analogue Mode):	<50Ω
Output Impedance (Digital Mode):	110Ω
Supported Output Rates (Digital Mode):	48kHz
0dBFS Line-up (Analogue Mode):	User selectable 0dBFS = +15dBu / +18dBu / +20dBu / +22dBu / +24dBu
Frequency Response (Analogue Mode):	+0/-0.5dB 20Hz to 20kHz Ref 0dBu @ 1kHz
THD+N (Analogue Mode):	<-107dBFS, -30dBFS, 20Hz – 20kHz, 20kHz BW
Noise (Analogue Mode):	<-107dBFS, 20kHz BW
Headphone Outputs
Drive Capability	Drives 150mW into 32Ω to 600Ω headphones
0dBFS Line-up:	Fixed 0dBFS = +18dBu
Frequency Response:	+0/-0.2dB 20Hz to 20kHz Ref 0dBu @ 1kHz
THD+N:	<-107dBFS, -30dBFS, 20Hz – 20kHz, 20kHz BW
Noise:	<-110dBFS, 20kHz BW
Main Panel Operational Controls & Indicators
Power LED	Sonifex logo illuminates when power is present
Pushbuttons:	12 x Illuminated buttons that can be assigned to any of the following functions, and configured: On-Air / Talkback / Page # / Page Cycle / GPO / Cough / Menu / Brightness
Display:	480 x 107 pixel colour TFT display showing pan status, level, metering, control type, source/mix/destination names and main output metering
Status LEDs:	Clock / AoIP status / PoE status and PSU status LEDs to monitor power and connectivity.  Can be disabled if required
Rotary Encoders:	6 x robust soft touch rotary encoders with adjacent configurable light bars for group/source/commentator grouping and identification
Front Panel Connections
Headphone Outputs:	2 x Neutrik ¼” (6.35mm) locking jack sockets
Microphone/Line Inputs:	2 x Neutrik 3 pin latching XLR sockets
Rear Panel Connections
Stereo Analogue/Digital Input:	RJ45 socket (electronically balanced)
Stereo Analogue/Digital Output:	RJ45 socket (electronically balanced)
GPIO Port:	15-way ‘D’-type socket
DC Input:	Neutrik 4 pin XLR plug, 12VDC, Maximum 12W
Network:	2 x 1Gbps Neutrik EtherCON receptacles, with PoE 2 x SFP slots for alternative interfaces
PoE Power
Standard	802.3at Type 1
Class	0
PD Power Range	0.44 W to 12.94 W
Typical PSE Power Usage	13 W
Max PSE Power Usage	15.4 W
Equipment Type
AVN-CU2-DANTE	Dante® Commentator Unit, 2 Commentators
Physical Specification
Dimensions (Raw):	13.5cm (W) x 23cm (D) x 9.0cm (H – rear) 6.6cm (H – Front) 9.3cm (H – Maximum) 5.3” (W) x 9” (D) x 3.5” (H – front) x 2.6” (H – rear) 3.7″ (H – Maximum)
Dimensions (Boxed):	30.5cm (W) x 21.5cm (D) x 16.3cm (H) 12″ (W) x 8.5″ (D) x 6.4″ (H)
Weight:	Nett: 1.8kg  Gross: 2.1kg Nett: 3.96lbs Gross: 4.62lbs
Accessories
AVN-DCX60	DC Power Supply for AVN Range, 4 pin XLR socket, 60W
AVN-TC3 (Case Only)	Transport Case, AVN-CU2-DANTE & Power Supply Cut-out
CM-GM1:	Professional Gooseneck Condenser Microphone