Broadcast Electronics Inc.

4100 North 24th Street, Quincy, Illinois 62305 USA Phone (217) 224-9600 Fax (217) 224-9607 www.bdcast.com bdcast@bdcast.com

AudioVAULT and Axia Livewire

10/09/2007 Rev A Axia Livewire is a networked audio solution offering an alternate technology for

traditional sound cards installed within a PC. Axia Livewire uses standard TCP/IP network where the Axia devices are installed and managed.

communication to transmit packets of audio from a PC, through a driver, and onto a

Livewire nodes replace traditional sound cards, offering 16 channels (8 in/8 out) of stereo analog or AES audio.

In the most basic configuration, Livewire nodes can be direct sound card replacements. Attached to an AudioVAULT PC using standard Ethernet cable, AudioVAULT sends audio to a Livewire output. Livewire audio can be connected to standard broadcast gear using StudioHub adapters, which convert the Livewire RJ45 connector to XLR connectors.

Devices like CD or DAT players can be connected to the Livewire inputs and outputs. Once the to an AudioVAULT PC or other device using TCP/IP. audio is in the Livewire system, it can be routed

Each input and output on the Livewire network

has a specific address. The AudioVAULT software uses a special driver to talk to Axia components installed on the PC to route audio to an addressed Axia input or output.

Livewire installation can grow into a complex yet easily managed system with all of the

With the addition of multiple networked nodes, a

capabilities of a conventional audio card-based system and traditional X-Y audio router.
2007 Broadcast Electronics Inc. All rights reserved. Specifications subject to improvement or change without notice. Broadcast Electronics and the BE logo are registered trademarks of Broadcast Electronics Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Since audio on a Livewire network exists as TCP/IP streams, dynamic switching and routing is executed very simply using software controls.

In addition to allowing system designers to easily integrate Livewire with conventional studio equipment and consoles using StudioHub XLR adapters, Axia offers control surfaces and a SmartEngine mixing/processing component. This allows sites to perform mixing functions without having to convert audio back and forth to the Livewire TCP/IP format. The control surfaces and SmartEngine are connected to the Livewire network with standard Ethernet cabling, vastly simplifying installation and deployment. Functionality is increased without sacrificing audio quality.

Page 2 of 10

2007 Broadcast Electronics Inc.

Network Requirements

An Axia system consists of a collection of devices that use TCP/IP communication to route audio. The devices on this network may include a collection of Livewire nodes, and various other devices all connected through Cisco switches. control surfaces and SmartEngines, AudioVAULT PCs with the IP Audio Driver installed,

qualified switches is available at http://www.axiaaudio.com/switches/fulllist.htm

Axia recommends and qualifies only Cisco switches. A complete list of

Broadcast Electronics recommends that the network that will handle the Livewire network traffic be a dedicated network requiring dual NICs in each AudioVAULT PCone to connect to the Livewire network, and one to connect to the AudioVAULT and office network.

work best when the network card connected to the Livewire network is not on the same bus in the PC as other devices. For example, if the network card is on the PCI bus, then video cards and USB hubs should not be using the PCI bus. The ideal solution is to take or PCIe bus.

Additionally, BE-conducted tests have shown that the Axia-based AudioVAULT systems

advantage of coexisting bus architectures, isolating the Livewire network card on a PCIx

Steps to Configuring an Axia Livewire System

network.

1. Configure your network so all devices are communicating on the same TCP/IP 2. Give each hardware node channel a unique name and ID. 3. Install the Axia IP Audio Driver on the AudioVAULT PCs. 4. Give each PC node channel a unique name and ID. 5. Establish basic audio routing. 6. Configure AudioVAULT applications.

Configuring Livewire Hardware Nodes

using the nodes front panel display.

Each Livewire hardware node must be assigned an IP address which can be assigned

Page 3 of 10

2007 Broadcast Electronics Inc.

Starting from the metering screen, press the <SELECT> button once. The default IP address is "0.0.0.0", so unless the unit has previously been programmed, the screen will show "000.000.000.000".

Press and hold the <ID> button for 4 seconds. A blinking cursor will appear (each press of this number will increment the displayed digit by one).

below the first digit. Use <SELECT> to change the digit indicated by the cursor Press the <ID> button to jump to next digit. Use <SELECT> to change the digit

indicated by the cursor. Continue until all digits of the IP address have been entered. Once the changes are complete, press the <ID> button repeatedly until no cursor is shown then press <SELECT> to exit.

To cancel changes, do not press <SELECT> after reaching the last digit. After previous settings will be restored. approximately 10 seconds the display will return to the meter screen and the

directly to the PC with a crossover cable. Test the IP Address setting by pinging the address with a PC that is also on the Livewire network

Next connect the Node via the Livewire port to the switch with a Cat 5 cable or connect

Naming Livewire Hardware Node Channels

and 32767.

Every Livewire channel has a unique numeric and a text ID assigned to it. Channel

numbers are assigned by the system installer, and can be set to any value between 1

New hardware Livewire nodes are pre-configured from the factory to use and not assign them for routine use.

channels 1-8. For your network, you should reserve channels 1-8 for testing

Text IDs may be up to 24 characters, and will appear on the Router Selectors LCD, characters will truncate the IDs and show what they can.

studio mixing surface source select lists, etc. Devices that are not able to display all 24

You may wish to include in the name the rack number or room name of where the node is located, to help orient yourself in the case of a future emergency. A typical name might be: ST1CD2 for Studio 1, CD Player 2.

Hardware Livewire devices are configured either using a networked PC's web browser or with local pushbuttons and displays.

Page 4 of 10

2007 Broadcast Electronics Inc.

Configuring Livewire PC Nodes: Installing the AudioVAULT Axia Driver

Use only the driver supplied by Broadcast Electronics. This guarantees that the driver has been tested and can be detected by the AudioVAULT software. Launch the driver installation, and select Next

Accept the terms of the license agreement and select Next Select Install Select Typical Setup and Next

The following registration screen should now be showing:

Enter the License Number and Key that were provided. These may be located on When the following window appears, select OK. This window will be used at a the driver install disc. After entering the correct information, select OK.

later time for configuration.

Page 5 of 10

2007 Broadcast Electronics Inc.

Select Finish to complete the driver installation.

Installation of the Axia IP Audio Driver creates up to 16 DirectX inputs and outputs on the AudioVAULT PC.

Naming PC Node Channels

As PC-based Livewire nodes, AudioVAULT computers will have a configuration window that opens when you click on the Control Panel application icon. Axia-AudioVAULT channels are configured after installing the Axia driver on the AudioVAULT PC.

After installing the driver, the system administrator must give each of the DirectX channels created by the driver installation a name and channel ID so they can be published on the Axia network. A sample of mappings is shown below. Note that in our example, the sources and destinations have different (independent) channel numbers.

Page 6 of 10

2007 Broadcast Electronics Inc.

In this dialog, Sources (Send to Network) can be considered an output of AudioVAULT. Destinations (Receive from Network) can be considered an input to AudioVAULT.

After launching the Axia applet from Control Panel, select from the drop down list the network card that is on the same subnet the Axia node is using. box in the enable column. Individual channels can be enabled or disabled by checking or un-checking the Assign appropriate channel numbers in both the sources and destinations channel column. Default audio levels can be adjusted here as well. The recommended level for use with AudioVAULT is -20dbFS.

Sources in the applet configuration window should be the same as the the applet destinations.

destinations on the node to which the audio is to be routed and vice versa for

Establish basic Audio Routing

A web interface is used to configure each Livewire hardware node. To access the web The default username is user and the password is blank by default. On the web pages used to configure a node, a destination is considered audio sent out of the node, and a source is considered audio to come into the node. server, http to the IP address of the node (e.g. http://10.3.30.1). A login is required.

Thus, when trying to get audio from the AudioVAULT to the Axia network and then out a port on a node, the user would route a source in the control panel applet to Channel X, the audio on X and the node to take that audio to the port on the node. and then route a Destination on the web applet to Channel X. That tells the driver to put

Page 7 of 10

2007 Broadcast Electronics Inc.

The Node Configuration Tool is accessed by entering the IP address of the node in the Internet Explorer address bar.

Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 5 and later have been tested with the

Livewire 8x8 Analog Node. Other browsers may work, however they have not been tested. Your browser must have Java enabled and must allow pop up windows

Page 8 of 10

2007 Broadcast Electronics Inc.

When prompted for a user name and password use user with a blank password.

From this screen sources, destinations, system settings and network, and QOS settings for the individual node are configured. Other available functions include the ability to set passwords, and IP information in the System Parameters.

Configuring AudioVAULT

After the Axia driver is installed, AudioVAULT Setup will recognize the Livewire channels as sound devices and make them available for use with AudioVAULT applications.

Page 9 of 10

2007 Broadcast Electronics Inc.

Configuration of AudioVAULT applications is exactly the same when using Axia channels as it is when using conventional sound cards like Digigram audio cards.

Page 10 of 10

2007 Broadcast Electronics Inc.