Manual

Optimized Architecture
TM
Theidealstructureforsignalowandfunctionalblocks
throughasystemwidematrixisadirectpathfrominputs
tocrosspointstooutputs,withnoextrapathsortaps
necessarytoaddsignalprocessing.Itmustofferafull
capabilityofroutingeveryaudioinputtoanyoneorall
audiooutputswithoutlimitation.Everyaudioinputshould
haveitsowndedicatedsignalprocessingblockspresent
atalltimes.Everyaudiooutputonanyunitinthesystem
shouldhavefullaccesstoanycrosspointinthematrix,
andhaveitsowndedicatedsignalprocessingpresent
atalltimes.Thisidealstructureisfullyrealizedinthe
OptimizedArchitecture
TM
ofASPEN.
Allavailablesignalprocessingisenabledonevery
inputandoutputwithnoresourcemeteror“gasgauge.”
Signalprocessingblocksareconguredintheoptimal
sequence needed to ensure the highest signal to noise
ratio and lowest distortion. This architecture eliminates
the need to manually construct a drawing and connect
oneprocessingblocktothenextoneinthechain.Simply
enableacrosspointandtheconnectionsaremade.
Setupisstraightforwardandsimpleinspiteoftheim-
menseamountofprocessingavailable.Settingsare
appliedinrealtimeasthesystemisoperatingwithout
theneedtocompileanddownloadlestothehardware.
Oncethesetupiscomplete,itissavedtoapresetinthe
hardwareandtoadiskleforbackup.
InputProcessing
Inadditiontothedelay,ltersandcompressor,thereare
twospecialpurposeprocessingblocks:
• NRF(noisereductionlter)
• ADFE(autodigitalfeedbackeliminator)
NRFemploysaproprietarynoisereductionalgorithm
oneveryinputchannelusinga1/3octaveanalysisand
downwardexpansion.Theamountofnoisereductionap-
pliedtothesignalateachinputisadjustablefrom6dB
to35dBasneededforthesignalconditionsandtosat-
isfyindividualpreferences.Theprocessisveryeffective,
withalmostnoaudibleartifactsat18dBormore.Higher
valuesareavailableforextremelypoorconditionswhere
noiseisextremelyhighandintelligibilityispreferredat
theexpenseofsubtleartifactsintheaudio.
ADFE(autodigitalfeedbackeliminator)isanotchlter-
ingprocesswithstaticordynamicbehaviorasdened
inthesetup.Fixednotchlterscanbeconguredas
neededforappropriateapplications,anddynamicnotch
filters can be defined to deal with changing conditions.
OutputProcessing
Eachoutputchannelcantakeitssignalfromthematrix
or from an internal signal generator. The generator can
deliveravarietyofsignaltypesforsetup,diagnostics
andsoundmasking.Theprocessingblocksoneveryout-
putarearrangedintheoptimalsequenceusedtofeed
powerampliersandrecorders.
Audio
Input
ADC
Clip
Level
[dBu]
Delay
Noise
Reduction
Filter
ADFENRF
Tone Control
Compressor
To
AutoMix
Matrix
PreAmp (analog) Gain =
0, 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56 dB
Digital Gain
Input Gain = 0, 1, ...60 dB
1. Premap Gain is selected to be the greatest available such that
PreAmp Gain <= Input Gain
2. Digital Gain = Input Gain – PreAmp Gain
Feedback
Eliminator
Input Signal Processing Blocks
48 Final
Mixes
M
u
x
Delay
Parametric
EQ
Compressor Limiter
Comp/Lim
Level
[dBu]
DAC
Attenuation = 0, 20, 40 dB
Attenuator
Audio
Output
Channels
9 – 12 only
4 Internally
Generated
Signals
Output Gain [dB] = Off, -69,...0, 1,...20
Output Signal Processing Blocks