Mastering Analog to Digital / Digital to Analog Converter User Manual Including March 2015 Version 7 Firmware and Feature Update Lynx Studio Technology, Inc. www.lynxstudio.com support@lynxstudio.
Purchase Date: _____________________________________________________ Dealer Name: _____________________________________________________ Dealer Telephone: _____________________________________________________ Hilo Serial Number: _____________________________________________________ LSlot Serial Number: _____________________________________________________ Lynx Hilo User Manual © Copyright, 2015 Lynx Studio Technology Inc.
User Manual Table of Contents 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Overview ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Features ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 In the Box .............................................
3.7.1 Backlight ................................................................................................................................... 31 3.7.2 Return to Meters ....................................................................................................................... 32 3.7.3 Show/Hide Settings ................................................................................................................... 32 3.7.4 Analog VU Reference .............................................
1 Introduction Thank you for choosing Lynx Hilo for your audio needs. The device you have received has been precision engineered to provide the very best audio quality possible, coupled with an innovative, intuitive user interface, and a unique and powerful feature set. Hilo is one of the first pro audio devices on the market that utilizes a full-color LCD touchscreen for control, metering and configuration.
1.6 Operation Requirements To operate Hilo successfully with your existing equipment, first let’s verify that you have compatible elements for best results. 1.6.1 Audio Equipment Requirements Hilo features a wide variety of audio I/O formats. Compatibility with these formats are, of course, only important for I/O ports that you intend to use. • • • • • • 1.6.2 Headphones: The Hilo headphone jack (PHONES) is suitable for driving stereo headphones through a ¼” TRS connection.
1.7 Using this manual To insure smooth sailing with your new product, we recommend reading through the entire manual before using Hilo. Thereafter, use the manual as a reference as needed when questions arise. The following typographic conventions are used in this manual: • • • 1.8 ALL UPPER CASE TEXT refers to a specific parameter selection control (i.e. SYNC SOURCE) or a cable connection. Text in quotation marks indicates a parameter selection value or menu option (i.e. “EXT”).
2 Getting Started Hilo was designed to be a product that is so easy to use that this section of the manual would scarcely be necessary. However, it is quicker to learn how the device works in one go, then to spend precious minutes figuring things out by randomly pressing buttons. We recommend reading this section thoroughly, before putting Hilo to serious use, if you can manage it. 2.
2.3 Cable Connections Hilo features a treasury of I/O types, suitable to accommodate whatever audio devices you wish to integrate. q USB 2.0 port Use the included USB cable or equivalent to connect Hilo to a USB 2.0 equipped computer. Cable Concerns: If using a third party cable, make sure that it is USB 2.0 compliant. 5 meters (16 feet) maximum. w LINE IN Use standard XLR cables (i.e. mic cables) to connect to a line level, balanced signal source.
2.4 Initial Setup It is important to set up Hilo in the proper order to avoid any speaker damage calamities. Follow these steps for the best results: • Connect the AC power cord to Hilo and to a quality, surge-protected AC power source. Check the Power and Safety section of this manual for additional information. • Connect cables from Hilo to whatever audio devices Hilo will be connected to. These could include powered speakers, mixing consoles, power amps, microphone pre-amps, effects processors, etc.
10. In a few moments, you will be prompted to accept the installation directory. Click “Install” to proceed. 12. When the installation completes, click “Next”. 11. The driver files will be written to your hard disk. 13. Click Finish when prompted. You may receive a warning that the driver has not been digitally signed by Microsoft. It is safe to disregard this warning and select “Continue Anyway.” On some systems the Windows hardware wizard will launch post driver installation.
With Windows Vista/Windows 7 Windows 8 and Windows 10 navigate to: Right-click Start > Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound > Playback. Right-Click “Speakers Lynx Hilo” or “USB Play 9-16” and choose “Set as default device”. 2.5.2.2 ASIO Application When using an application that supports the ASIO driver standard, one must specify the Hilo ASIO driver as the appropriate audio device. Once that is established, multiple stereo input and output devices will be available for use within the application.
Stream Buffer size, you typically will not have to change this again. The ASIO buffer size, however, may need to be increased or lowered from time to time depending on the context of use. Once you determine the lowest achievable buffer size, you will typically have to double the size each time you double the sample rate, but the effective latency will remain constant.
Latency can be manipulated by changing the size of the buffers used to transfer data to and from Hilo. Core Audio buffer size controls are offered within most pro audio recording applications. With Hilo, buffer sizes typically range between 32 and 2048 samples. Smaller buffer sizes will give you lower latency. However, if a buffer size is too small for the system or context, audio anomalies such as clicks and pops may occur.
then pushing in the Rotary Control knob will allow you to toggle between Headphone and Monitor Out Volume Controls by default. This can be changed from the KNOB SETTINGS button, see section 3.76; Knob Settings. 3.2 Changing the Meter Page At this time there are four metering options: Analog VU Horizontal Bar Style All I/O The “All I/O” Meter Screen now shows the active USB channels. Hilo can be toggled between USB 8-channel mode (the default) or 16-channel mode.
The stereo 30 band Real-time Spectrum Analyzer (RTA) is a very useful diagnostic and reference tool. The Hilo RTA computes the RMS energy in 30 frequency bands for left and right channels of a selected stereo input or output every sample period. This is a brilliant tool for mixing, mastering and even system troubleshooting. The RTA display can be customized with several parameter controls. Tapping the icon, brings up the RTA parameter settings window.
outputs are receiving audio from at least one source. Please note that the ADAT I/O will not be visible in the All I/O page. The ADAT input meters may be seen in the Test Tone page. 3.3 Getting to the Menu Pages The in the lower right corner of any Meters page will send you initially to the Home page. Thereafter this will send you to the last Menu page that you accessed. The bottom of the menu pages has five round buttons which allow you to navigate between menu pages.
3.4 3.4.1 Home Menu Sample Rate Hilo will display the sample rate that it is currently operating at. If clocked externally, this may be the sample rate being generated by the clock source. If clocked Internally, the sample rate may reflect the rate of audio being played or the rate requested from an audio software application.
3.4.3 SynchroLock Lynx’s SynchroLock™ technology is a very effective form of jitter reduction for digital signals. Jitter is a type of clock error that may potentially result in distortion in an audio signal. SynchroLock reduces jitter by a factor of 3000:1 by using the Hilo’s high resolution crystal oscillator to generate a clock signal that is phase locked to the external clock.
3.4.5 Line In Trim Line In Trim can be set to any of eight preset trim settings. The Line In Trim button shows the currently selected trim level, the same for the Left and Right inputs. There are four Pro Level settings: +18 dBu; +20 dBu; +22 dBu; and +24 dBu. There are four additional levels most often used on Consumer Audio products: +0 dBV; +2 dBV; +4 dBV and +6 dBV. When the button is pushed, a Selection Window pops up.
3.4.8 Output Mix Routing Page Now this is where it gets interesting. Although Hilo is, at first glance, a two channel AD/DA converter, it is really much more and this page gets down to the nitty gritty. The Output Mix Routing page is where any combination of Hilo’s inputs can be routed to any combination of Hilo’s outputs. The principle here was to make the various I/O formats as independent as possible, very little is “hard-wired”. This is not simple point-topoint patching.
3.4.8.1 Monitor Source Modes The default state for each input source is stereo, with two channels of input, streaming through a two-channel output. There are 4 different options for routing an input signal to an output. These selections pertain to the operation of a specific input source routed to a specific output. The setting is not global, and must be set for each output that is being used.
3.4.8.3 Input Sources This is for signals from the Analog Line In ports. Of the three stereo digital formats: AES, SPDIF Coax and SPDIF Optical, only one can be active at a time. This is selected from the “Digital In Source” button from the Home menu. These sources correspond to USB play devices that will appear in the host computer. Unlike most computer audio interfaces, with Hilo these sources are user routable for maximum flexibility.
3.4.8.4 Outputs You may have noticed that, with the exception of the USB play channels, all input sources are muted/off by default. The output sources are the opposite, all un-muted/on by default. To select an Output to assign input sources to, to mute, or to control its level, press the Output Selection button to reveal the Select Output menu: Outputs are labeled clearly for selection. Unlike with input sources, all three digital outputs are individually selectable, as are the ADAT Outputs.
3.4.8.5 Analog and Digital Level Controls for Monitor and Headphones When the Monitor Out and Phones Outputs are selected in the Output Mix Routing Page, you will see an additional button. For these two outputs you can control both the Digital output level and the Analog output level. Analog Output Level – This is your primary monitoring level control. You can control this level / volume using the fader or the knob on the front panel.
3.4.8.7 Selecting Monitor Sources Let’s look at the process of assigning input sources to Hilo’s Outputs. Let’s say that we wanted to add Digital In as a source to route to the Line Out. We could simply enable the Digital In with either a single-tap or double-tap and the page would now look like this. In this state, audio streaming from USB Play 1&2 will be merged with audio streaming from the Digital Input.
3.4.8.9 Routing tutorial These powerful routing features are probably best demonstrated with a real-world scenario. Let’s pretend that the Hilo is being used for a recording session, where a keyboard part is being overdubbed on an existing project. The pre-recorded tracks are streaming through the USB Play 1&2 channels in the computer. For cable connections, the keyboard signal is coming in LINE INPUTS 1&2. The recording engineer is listening to the MONITOR OUTPUTS feeding speakers in the control room.
Now we’ll add Line In, so the performer can hear their input signal. This performer likes the levels of the backing tracks louder, but the overall level down a bit, so we’ll nudge the USB Play source signal up by 6dB, and attenuate the Phones output by 10dB. Now the performer and engineer each have their own monitor mix. Now we’re ready to record, keeping in mind that the signals from the Line In will appear in the DAW software as USB Record 1&2.
3.5 3.5.1 Tools Page Restore Default Routing This button restores the factory default settings, as covered in section 3.4.8. 3.5.2 Save Scene Button Once you have created a specific routing/level set up that you may want to recall, here is where you would store it. Hilo scenes store routing, clocking settings, level controls, sample rate conversion settings and more into an instantly recall-able “scene”. The “Save Scene” button on the Tools page is where this occurs.
3.5.3 Recall Scene This button lets you recall the Scenes that you have stored using the Save Scene button. 1. 2. 3. 4. Push Recall Scene. Up to 6 Scenes will be selectable on the Pop up. Select the Scene you wish to reload. The Scene will be instantly loaded with routing, level, meter, sample rate, sync source, trim, digital source and optical mode information. 5. If you do not want to Recall a scene, push the Close button at the bottom of the Pop up.
LT-USB Mode The LT-USB that comes with Hilo has two modes of operation: • 16 Channel operation – 16 input and 16 output channels at sample rates to 96 kHz. • 8 Channel operation – 8 input and 8 output channels at sample rates to 192 kHz. 8 channel operation is the default. Clicking on the button will toggle Hilo between 16 channel (96 kHz maximum) and 8 channel (192 kHz) modes. You should not change this mode while an audio application is utilizing Hilo.
When switching into DSD Mode to “Auto”, if Hilo is in 16-channel LTUSB mode, then a warning screen will appear. As DSD requires a sample rate of 176.4kHz available only in USB 8-channel mode, this screen will prompt you to switch to 8-channel LT-USB mode. Tap Yes and Hilo will automatically reset to LT-USB 8-channel mode and be ready for DSD playback. While DSD is playing, any page that has level meters will show a DSD logo instead of the meters.
3.6 Information Page There are several open buttons for future features. Another advantage of the Touch Screen is that status information can be quickly accessed. This information tells you what is going on “under the hood” of Hilo and provides crucial data for trouble shooting in the field. All Information pages will stay open until you tap “Close”, or the Meter screen comes up based on the “Return to Meters” delay time established in the DISPLAY CONTROLS page. 3.6.
Validity • Valid (green) Indicates the Valid channel status bit is set. • Invalid (red) Indicates the Valid channel status bit is not set. Emphasis • Off (gray) Emphasis is off. • 50/15us (green) 50/15us pre-emphasis. • J17 (green) CCITTJ.17 emphasis. • Unknown (green) Emphasis not indicated. Rate. Clock Rate displays a real-time measurement of the sample rates of the incoming signals.
3.6.5 About Hilo Also a status only button. This screen provides you with the hardware information for Hilo and the LT-USB card, including date of manufacture, hardware and software revision dates. 3.7 Display Controls These controls allow you to customize how you want the LCD screen to work and what information you want it to show. 3.7.1 Backlight The new Backlight button allows the user to adjust Hilo’s appearance by using the onscreen faders or Rotary control.
3.7.2 Return to Meters Hilo will revert to the Meters screen after some period of inactivity. The default period is 5 minutes. This is where you can change that delay time. • • • • • 3.7.3 Shows the current Menu Delay This sets the time that any menu, selection page, pop up menu or status page will stay active before the screen defaults back to the selected Meter page. The only menu page that does not “time out” is the Output Mix Routing Page.
3.7.6 Knob Settings This menu allows you to select which outputs can be adjusted with the Hilo rotary encoder. By default, the Monitor Out and the Phones Out can be attenuated with the rotary encoder, and pressing in the knob will toggle between those two choices. If additional choices are selected from the Knob Settings menu, then pressing in the Rotary Encoder will toggle through all the Outputs that have been selected. • • • • 3.7.
• • • The Select Source button determines which signal source, will be streamed to ALL of the Hilo outputs. Choose between USB Play (play streams from the computer via the USB connection) or any of the other Audio inputs on the Hilo. Note: ADAT Lightpipe I/O is not available in Standard Mode. The Advanced Menus button returns the Hilo touchscreen to Advanced Mode. The METERS icon will return the screen to the Hilo METER display. The four METER options are still available from the METERs page.
7. Now we need to update the LT-USB card inside of Hilo. Launch the Hilo Update application again. This time from the “Select Unit to Update” drop-down menu, choose “LT-USB”. 8. 9. Verify that the New Firmware Version is higher than the Current Firmware Version. If so, click “Update”. When the updater is complete, close the pop-up window in your computer. Again, power cycle Hilo using the front panel standby switch, the rear panel power switch, wait three seconds, then turn the unit back on. 10.
5 Hilo Remote Control Application Hilo Remote is a software application that allows users to conveniently control the Hilo, change settings, and view its different meter options, from their computer. Settings on the Hilo display and in the Hilo Remote software will be identical in all regards, except for scene storage. Different scenes can be saved in the computer that hosts the Hilo Remote app, and on the Hilo itself.
q Main Menu This button launches the Hilo Remote Main Menu, where these additional controls and menus are available: Connection: This page reveals the method that Hilo Remote communicates to the Hilo hardware. In the rare case that both a Thunderbolt Hilo AND USB Hilo were connected to the same computer, then the user could select which unit the software controlled. The TCP/IP selection would be used when Hilo Remote is installed on a computer other than the computer that is streaming audio to the Hilo.
About: This option displays information about the Hilo, driver, and firmware as follows: • • • • • • • • • Hilo Remote Version and Build Date. Mixer/Driver Version: Displays the current mixer version and build number (Windows or TB Model only). Build Date: Displays the date the driver and mixer were released. Hilo Serial Number. Hilo Firmware Version and Firmware Release Date. LSLOT Device: Displays the installed Lynx LSLOT Expansion card, in this case the LT-USB.
t Adapter This button toggles whether the Adapter settings are visible from the Main window or not. The Adapter section, when visible, appears on the left part of the screen. y LSLOT This button toggles whether controls for the LSLOT Sources are visible from the Main window or not. LSLOT sources are relative to the connection method used by the Hilo, with a USB Hilo they would be the USB record and play devices in the computer.
The Monitor page is where signals are routed, levels and pan settings are established, and meters can be viewed for all channels on the Hilo. It is visible whenever the “Monitor” button is green in the Navigation Bar. The section on the right, with the Play and Record devices, is only visible when the LSLOT button is green. The upper row of faders are for the inputs.
To explore the controls available on the Monitor page, it makes sense to start with the outputs section, the row on the bottom. Each channel has the following elements in common: q Numeric Level Indicator This Level Indicator displays the amount of attenuation, in dB, performed on the associated Output. w Faders and Meters The FADERS in the Outputs row are for attenuation of the output levels. Levels can be reduced in ½ dB increments with a click-drag of the mouse.
q Pan Pot The Pan Pot knob controls the pan position of the input as it is being monitored through an output. IT HAS NO EFFECT ON THE RECORDED SIGNAL. It is only pertinent to monitoring. You would only hear the results of the panning if an input signal was being monitored through Hilo’s outputs. When channels are linked, then the pan controls are linked as well. Moving the pan control to the left will make the linked channel’s pan control move a corresponding value to the right.
The linked state also impacts the Pan controls. If one pan pot is moved to the left the other will move a corresponding amount to the right. For instance, if the left pot is set to -25, the right channel will pan to +25. Linked is the default state for pairs of inputs. To “un-link” a pair, click on the link icon and it will change to a single circle: this state, the mute, fader and pan controls operate on a single channel independently. .
This example shows a unique capability of the Hilo – the option to route a playback stream directly to a record stream. This is a great tool for capturing streaming audio from any source, without degradation. To set this up, select the Record Device you wish to carry the signal to be recorded. In the graphic we chose “Record 1+2”. Then un-mute the Play device carrying the audio to be recorded, in this case “Play 1+2”.
r Preferred Clock Source This portion of the Adapter section provides control of Hilo’s clock source. The default source is “Internal” and this is appropriate for the majority of users. Clock sources available to choose from are: • Internal: Clock derived from the on-board crystal oscillator. • Word Clock: Clock signal from BNC WORDCLOCK connector. • Word Clock/2: This feature is not currently implemented. • Word Clock/4: This feature is not currently implemented.
5.5 Using Hilo Remote from a WiFi or WLAN connected computer. In some cases it is useful to run the Hilo Remote from a computer other than the one that Hilo is streaming audio to and from. This could be for control over a dedicated media server, a situation where level changes are made while monitoring from the “sweet spot” using an iPad, or cases where audio is streamed from one computer to another and it is desirable to control the parameters of both from a single computer. 5.5.
Finally, launch Hilo Remote on the Target Computer/Tablet. You should see the Wi-Fi connected icon on the right side of the toolbar: You should also see the “Connected to” indicator with the IP address of the Target Computer/Tablet show up on LynxRedirector on the Host Computer. You should now be able to control your Hilo using Hilo Remote on the Target Computer/Tablet. 5.5.
Simply uncheck the “Local Subnet” check‐box, then enter the IP Address, Computer Name or Domain Name in the “Address:” field. If the Host Computer is separated from the Target Computer/Tablet across a wide‐area network (such as behind a router with NAT [Network Address Translation]), you will need to specify the router’s IP Address and open port 5645 to forward to your Host Computer.
6 Support We are devoted to making your experience with Hilo trouble-free and productive. If the troubleshooting and operational sections of this manual did not help resolve your questions, several support options are available to you: 6.1 Lynx Website Support Resources Logging on to http://www.lynxstudio.com > Support, will provide several options for resolving your support issues: Downloads A library of current firmware and driver files are available for download and installation.
7 Appendices 7.1 Methods of Connection Hilo doesn’t just sound great, it is impressively versatile as well. There are a number of ways to use Hilo in a wide variety of contexts. 7.1.1 USB 2.0 This is the method detailed in this manual, a single USB cable connection to a Mac or Windows computer 7.1.2 Thunderbolt A Hilo/USB can be transformed into a Hilo/TB by removing the LT-USB card installing the Lynx LT-TB card instead.
7.3 Setting Trim Pots As discussed in sections 3.4.5 and 3.4.6, Hilo’s Line Inputs and Line Outputs can be set to Trim values of +18 dBu; +20 dBu; +22 dBu; +24 dBu; +0 dBV; +2 dBV; +4 dBV and +6 dBV. These trim positions are factory calibrated to these values within 1/100th of a dB. Trim levels can be selected from the Hilo Home Page. These set levels will satisfy the overwhelming majority of Hilo users.
7.4.
The wiring method for unbalanced connections with XLR connectors to unbalanced RCA/Phono phone connectors using coaxial cable (1 wire + shield) is as follows: XLR Pin 1 (GND) no connection XLR Pin 2 (+) to signal wire and to the Phono center pin XLR Pin 3 (-) to the cable shield and to the Phono sleeve XLR Male or Female Single conductor shielded cable RCA/Phono Plug (Unbalanced) 1 2 3 7.5 Setting the Monitor Out Level Mode By default, the Hilo Monitor Outputs are calibrated to a maximum of +10dBu.
8 Troubleshooting & User Tips Q. Why are there circles and red lines through my Sample Rate, Sync Source and SynchroLock icons? A. When Hilo is connected via USB, these controls lock out. Hilo will respond to Sample Rates changes that occur in your DAW. To make changes when not using your DAW, go to the Sound Control Panel in Windows or to AUDIO MIDI SETUP in a Mac. Q. I want to change my Sync Source but it is locked out. A.
9 Specifications Line In L/R THD+N Dynamic Range Frequency Response Crosstalk Full-scale trim settings: Female XLR connectors -114 dB @1kHz, -1dBFS, 20kHz filter, +22dBu trim 121 dB, A-weighted, -60dBFS signal method ± 0.
10 Certifications 10.1 FCC DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY MANUFACTURERS NAME: MANUFACTURER ADDRESS: Lynx Studio Technology, Inc. 190 McCormick Avenue Costa Mesa, CA 92626, U.S.A.
10.2 CE EMC DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY MANUFACTURERS NAME: MANUFACTURER ADDRESS: Lynx Studio Technology, Inc. 190 McCormick Avenue Costa Mesa, CA 92626, U.S.A.
11 Warranty Information Hilo One year Free Labor / One year Parts Exchange This product must be returned to the factory for repair. Who Is Covered? You must have proof of purchase to receive warranty service. A sales receipt or other document showing when and where you purchased the product is considered proof of purchase. This warranty is enforceable only by the original retail purchaser. To be protected by this warranty, the purchaser must register online within 14 days of purchase.
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LYNX STUDIO TECHNOLOGY, INC. www.lynxstudio.com © Copyright, 2012-2015 Lynx Studio Technology Inc.
