The Audio Menu is used to select and configure various audio I/O parameters and values.

Audio Input

Audio input options include Analog, AES67, Livewire, and AES3. The up/down arrows scroll through the options. In this and in subsequent edit screens, the Checkmark button accepts and applies any changes while the X button cancels without saving.

AES67 Receive Channel

When using an AES67 audio source, the multicast address of the receive channel is set here. The up/down arrows change the number by a value of 1, and the left/right arrows navigate between fields.

Livewire Receive Channel

When using a Livewire audio source, the receive channel is set here. The up/down arrows change the number by a value of 1, and the left/right arrows change the channel number by a value of 100.

Input Sensitivity

When using an analog audio source, this value should be set to the absolute loudest level PDM II will see in your installation. The up/down arrows change the value. The "L" and "R" values represent the resulting digital levels for the incoming analog signal and can be used along with an externally generated test tone to adjust the sensitivity settings.

For most installations where 0 VU = +4 dBu, the recommended setting is +14 dBu = 0 dBFS.

Analog Output Level

The Analog Output Level screen displays how the analog output level reflects digital audio levels within PDM II's processor. With the setting as shown below, 0 dBFS within PDM II will yield a +14 dBu analog output. The output levels should generally be set to match the Input Sensitivity level, though levels can be adjusted to create a gain or loss at the analog outputs. Note that in Bypass mode, any such gain changes are also bypassed and the output levels will equal the input levels.

AES3 Default Output Rate

The default sample rate of the AES3 output can be set to 32, 44.1, or 48kHz.

AES3 Output Lock

The sample rate of the AES3 output can be locked to the sample rate of the AES3 input, even if the unit is not configured for an AES3 input. If there is no valid clock at the AES3 input, the output will revert to the rate set in the AES3 Default Output Rate screen above.

AoIP TX Type

Audio over IP (AoIP) audio can be sent from PDM II as either a standard AES67 stream or as a Livewire stream. It can also be disabled if desired.

AES67 Tx Address

The multicast address of the AES67 transmit channel is set here. The up/down arrows change the number by a value of 1, and the left/right arrows navigate between fields.

Livewire TX Channel

The Livewire channel number for PDM II's audio output is set here. The up/down arrows change the number by a value of 1, and the left/right arrows change the channel number by a value of 100.

The System Menu includes global system settings such as the date, time, and password as well as hardware-specific settings such as the front panel brightness, contrast, and screensaver controls.

Time Zone

When Network Time Protocol (NTP) is enabled, the Time Zone control selects a specific time offset for your location. Four specific U.S. time zones (with and without Daylight Savings Time) are included along with all internationally-supported offsets from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Time and Date

The current time and date can be set manually when NTP is not used. The left/right arrows change the field while the up/down arrows change the value.

Time Format

Time format toggles between 12-hour (with AM/PM designations) and 24-hour ("military time") formats.

Password

The Password menu allows you to set and change the password required to access the web-based remote control. The PDM II ships with no default password. You must set a password via the front panel in order to access the unit remotely. The left/right arrows change the field while the up/down arrows change the value. Valid characters include upper and lower case letters, numbers, and space between characters. Note that spaces at the end of a character string are automatically removed.

If there is no password, the display will show a flashing "Web UI Disabled" message.

Brightness

The Brightness control adjusts the overall brightness of the front panel LCD.

Contrast

The Contrast control adjusts the contrast of the front panel LCD.

Screen Saver

The Screen Saver control determines the length of time the front panel display stays on after the most recent button press, from 1 to 100 minutes. Setting it to "Never" will keep the display on continually, although this is not recommended due to the finite life of the LCD backlight.

While PDM II offers a comprehensive HTML5 browser-based user interface, most of the setup, configuration, and operation of the unit can also be accomplished via the front panel controls.

The front panel navigation cluster is made up of five buttons:

• Left, Right, Up, and Down buttons, for navigating through lists and adjusting values; holding down an arrow will generally repeat the action

• Checkmark button, for entering menus and confirming choices

• X button, to "Cancel" and exit a menu without saving any changes

To begin, press the Checkmark button to enter the top-level menu.

Pressing the Checkmark button from the normal status screen brings up the Configuration menu with sub-menus for Audio, Controls, System, Network, GPIO, and Information.

The Up/Down arrows scroll vertically through the current menu. The Right arrow is used to enter any available sub-menus.

Many of the PDM II's menus contain more than four items, and so cannot be completely displayed on one screen. In this case, the extra items above or below the visible items (as indicated by the word "More") can be seen by scrolling with Up/Down arrows.

For illustration purposes throughout this user manual, the screens will be merged into a single image so that all information can be displayed at once.

The full configuration menu is below; the sections that follow will describe each sub-menu.

The Controls menu is used to configure parameters and settings that determine how a delay is built, what happens when the delay is dumped, and what happens when you exit the delay and return to passing real-time audio.

Dump Size

The Dump Size screen sets the amount of audio deleted when the Dump button is pressed. The up/down arrows set a value between 1.0 and 60.0 seconds in 0.1 second increments.

Delay Size

The Delay Size control determines how much delayed audio PDM II will store in its buffer. The up/down arrows set a value between a minimum of 1.0 second and the maximum as determined by the setting of the Max Delay menu below.

Max Delay

The Max Delay setting determines the upper limit of the Delay Size range described above to help prevent operators from accidentally setting unrealistic delays. The maximum value is 90 seconds.

Build Speed

The Build Speed screen sets how quickly PDM II can build up to and exit from its delay memory. The default value is 7. Higher values will build the delay more quickly but may cause audible artifacts depending on the type of programming.

As a rule, content with more density (such as highly-produced music) will better tolerate higher speeds without audibly compromising the audio. More sparse material (such as speech) will more easily reveal artifacts.

We recommend starting with the default value, carefully listening to your on-air audio during the build and exit process, and making adjustments that balance the need to build a delay buffer quickly with your tolerance for any variation in the audio quality during that time.

Max Speed

The Max Speed screen sets a limit for how quickly PDM II can build or exit a delay. The Build Speed setting cannot be set faster than the value set here.

Build Mode

Build Mode determines the method PDM II uses to build its delay.

• Expand - PDM II will send the incoming audio to the transmitter but at a subtly slowed-down rate, taking more time until the delay memory is filled.

• Insert - PDM II will play a station jingle, ID, or other fill material from its internal memory.

• Pre-roll - PDM II will mute its output while you play material from another source, or while it signals your automation system to play audio.

Build File

The Build File menu allows you to choose which audio file will play out from PDM II's internal memory when building a delay using the "Insert" mode.

Exit Mode

The Exit Mode determines how PDM II behaves when transitioning between delayed and real-time audio.

• Compress - PDM II will play any remaining audio using time compression, subtly speeding up what's in memory to rejoin real-time faster.

• Roll Out - PDM II will stop adding audio to its buffer and play what's left in memory with no speed changes. This sometimes referred to as the "wait and exit" mode.

Dump Mode

When the Dump button is pressed, PDM II can respond in one of two ways.

• Dump - In this mode, PDM II deletes the objectionable audio and "jumps ahead in time", then immediately begins to rebuild its delay buffer.

• OverKill™ - This mode plays a pre-selected file in place of the objectionable audio. In this mode, the delay buffer is maintained and does not have to be rebuilt.

OverKill File

This menu allows you to select which previously uploaded audio file will play during a dump event when the Dump Mode has been set to "OverKill."

The Network Menu contains the controls necessary for configuring PDM II's two network ports. Note that not all menu items will be visible with all configurations.

Networking Overview

PDM II contains two network interface controllers with rear-panel RJ45 Ethernet ports labeled "Primary" and "Secondary".

The Primary port supports Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Livewire+/AES67. The Secondary port does not.

The Primary port is always active. The Secondary port can be disabled if desired.

Using DHCP v. Manually Assigning an IP Address

Only one port can support DHCP, DNS, and a specific Gateway at a time according to the table below:

By default, the Secondary port is disabled and the Primary port has DHCP enabled.

Separate Ports v. Using a Single Port

Generally speaking, and when two separate Ethernet ports are available, it is preferable to connect the Primary port to the dedicated Livewire or AES67 network and the Secondary port to the "office" network for remote access.

• Separate Ports - In this scenario, both ports are enabled. The Primary port is used for AoIP (as the Secondary port is not capable of handling Livewire or AES67 traffic). A user-specified IP address and subnet mask are used, but there is no need for a gateway or DNS entries. The Secondary port is used to establish a remote connection with an IP address and subnet mask either assigned manually or through DHCP. Specific gateway and DNS settings can be entered. The two ports must be connected to different networks.

• Single Port - In this scenario, only the Primary port is enabled. Both AoIP traffic and the remote connection are present on one port.

Primary DHCP Menu

If the Secondary port is disabled, DHCP on the Primary port can be toggled on or off in the Primary DHCP menu.

When DHCP is disabled on the Primary port, its fields for manually setting the IP address, subnet mask, and gateway are visible.

Secondary DHCP Menu

The Secondary port is disabled by default but can be toggled on in the Secondary Net Enable menu.

When the Secondary port is enabled, it can be set to have DHCP enabled or disabled. When disabled, its fields for manually setting the IP address, subnet mask, and gateway are visible.

NTP Enable Menu

NTP (Network Time Protocol) can be enabled or disabled in this menu.

NTP Server Menu

This menu allows you to enter the IP address of a local NTP server. If no address is entered (the server is set to 0.0.0.0), PDM II defaults to using "pool.ntp.org" servers.

The Information menu allows you to scroll through various screens displaying the status of the audio inputs and outputs, time and date settings (including the NTP server status), networking information (including the MAC addresses of both NICs), available buffer memory, and the unit's firmware version.

The NTP Status display shows one of three messages indicating the current connection with the remote time server:

• Search: PMD II is seeking a path to the remote NTP server. If this message persists and the unit is connected to an NTP server, it may indicate the address entered is not valid.

• Query: PDM II has contacted the remote server and calibrating its internal clock which may take a few minutes depending upon the connection and how much adjustment is required.

• Sync: PDM II's clock is synchronized with the remote NTP server.

The GPIO menu allows you to program the hardware parallel inputs and outputs used to remotely control certain PDM II functions. Livewire GPIO is configured in the Configuration page of the web-based user interface.

The inputs and outputs are opto-isolated to easily interface with external equipment. A +5V supply and ground are available on the DB-15 connector for simple remote controls using pushbuttons and LED status readouts with a maximum total current draw of 200 mA. The supply is protected by an internal, self-resetting thermal circuit breaker; should the breaker trip, power the unit off for several minutes to reset it.

Inputs require at least 6mA from the input common pin and the individual input circuit pin. Outputs can carry up to 25 mA and up to 30VDC per channel between the output common pin and the individual output circuit pin.

If the output signal is a pulse, its opto-isolator will turn on for 250ms. This can be adjusted to between 100ms and 1000ms in the Configuration tab of the web GUI.

The pin-out of the DB-15 connector is as follows:

GPIO Enable

Hardware GPIO can be enabled or disabled in the GPIO Enable menu. When enabled, the rear panel DB-15 port is active.

GPIO Inputs

Each of the five input pins can be assigned a PDM II function. The same function can be assigned to multiple input pins.

GPIO inputs can either be triggered or level-sensitive. Triggered (or edge-sensitive) inputs cause something to happen when the input becomes active. Level-sensitive inputs cause a state to be true as long as the input is active. The CueX and Bypass inputs are triggered; all others are level-sensitive.

Input functions include:

• None: No function assigned.

• Build: Front panel Build button.

• Exit: Front panel Exit button.

• Cough: Front panel Cough button.

• Bypass: Front panel Bypass button.

• CueX: Applies to Cue 1 through Cute 8 functions.

  • Cues are linked to incoming audio samples and stay with the sample regardless of how much time manipulation is being applied, allowing them to be passed along to other devices.

  • Cue marks generate a 250ms trigger when they are reached.

  • Cues typically indicate important programming events such as commercials or news breakaways. For example, if the network provides a contact closure to trigger a local break and its input is assigned to a Cue function, PDM II will generate a corresponding Cue output when that sample is reached in order to trigger external equipment to start the break.

• Flag: Applies to Flag 1 through Flag 8 functions.

  • Like cues, flags also indicate an important programming event.

  • Flag marks record a continuous logic input, and their output reflects that logic state when the appropriate audio sample reaches the PDM II's output

  • Flags can be used to activate a skimmer or logging recorder by connecting a mic's tally signal to the input and using its output to keep the recorded turned on whenever the mic is open, regardless of how much delay is used.

• Utility: Applies to Utility 1 through Utility 4 functions. Allows you to have input closure immediately cause and output closure with no delay. This is useful for implementing or diagnosing end-to-end relay logic when connecting PDM II to other devices.

• Pause: Suspends delay or exiting when active.

GPIO Outputs

Each of the five output pins can be assigned a PDM II function.

GPIO outputs can either be triggered or level-sensitive. Triggered (or edge-sensitive) outputs emit a pulse when something happens (the default pulse length is 250ms, but can be adjusted in the "Hardware GPIO" section of the web UI Configuration page). Level-sensitive outputs indicate that a state is true as long as the output is active. The CueX and various XXXTrig outputs are triggered; all others are level-sensitive.

Output functions include:

• None: No function assigned

• BuildTrig: A pulse indicating the delay has started building

• FullTrig: A pulse indicating the delay buffer has become full.

• DumpTrig: A pulse indicating a Dump has occurred.

• EmptyTrig: A pulse indicating the delay buffer has been emptied.

• Cue: Pulse from Cue 1 through Cute 8 functions. See the GPIO Inputs section for a full explanation of Cues.

• BuildLamp: Duplicates the front panel "Build" button lamp. Note that all "Lamp" pulses cause a "Low" state when the lamp is on, a "High" state when the lamp is off, and cycles on and off when the lamp is flashing.

• ExitLamp: Duplicates the front panel "Exit" button lamp.

• DumpLamp: Duplicates the front panel "Dump" button lamp.

• CoughLamp: Duplicates the front panel "Cough" button lamp.

• Bypass: Indicates the unit is currently in bypass.

• Building: Indicates the unit is currently building a delay buffer.

• Exiting: Indicates the unit is currently exiting delay.

• DelayFull: Indicates the delay buffer is full and the maximum delay has been reached.

• DelaySafe: Indicates there is a sufficient buffer for at least one delay dump.

• DelayUnsafe: Indicates there is not enough audio in the buffer to perform a full delay dump.

• DelayEmpty: Indicates the delay buffer is completely empty.

• Muted: Indicates the unit is currently muted.

• Flag: Applies to Flag 1 through Flag 8 functions. See the GPIO Inputs section for a full explanation of Flags.

• Util: Applies to Utility 1 through Utility 4 functions. See the GPIO Inputs section for a full explanation of Utilities.

• StreamFail: Indicates the currently-selected digital input has failed.

GPIO Test

The GPIO Test screen lets you verify that hardware GPIO connections and external remotes are properly wired.

The "Ins" line shows the current input state of the five hardware GPIs. The "Outs" line allows you to set the five hardware GPOs to any desired value.

When you leave the Test screen, all outputs will be restored to their configured values.