Connect
Recent shows the most recently opened Projects (and their stored Project file location) and connected AHM processors. Projects are outlined with a White border while AHMs have either a grey outline or green outline, depending on their offline/online status, respectively.
Other Detected Units displays any discovered AHMs on the network that are ready to be connected with.
Click a Project or Unit to connect.
ⓘ An AHM’s firmware must match System Manager’s version in order to connect
ⓘ The default Username is Admin and its Password is blank/empty
If a Keyring has been set up and unlocked, the stored password can be used for the selected Unit by clicking the appropriate User found under Keyring in the login pop-up window. If it is not unlocked yet, enter in the Keyring password in this same window by clicking Unlock Keyring. If the Keyring is not yet set up, read about it further in the Keyring section of this guide.
New Project will create a Project. A window will appear to pick a file location and name the Project.
Open Project allows the opening of an existing Project.
Import Project allows a previously exported Project to be opened.
Export Project allows a Project to save as one archive to easily transfer from one PC to another (only available after a Project has been created).
To connect to an offline AHM, click Run Offline AHM-XX with the respective model of AHM. Offline AHMs have persistent programming (can be disconnected and reconnected while remembering its own programming) within each version of System Manager and can be used to test controls and programming. While connected to an offline AHM, one can connect Custom Control and test IP Controllers as well as 3rd-party Device Control. To read further on this, please see the Firmware Reference Guide.
Run New Instance allows a connection to another, separate AHM in an additional main window. We recommend using Projects for projects that are implementing multiple AHMs for the easiest navigation and management.
Unit Firmware Updater
To update the firmware of a connected AHM unit, click Unit Firmware Updater to open the firmware update window.
The version of firmware packaged with System Manager is shown.
Select the AHM unit to update by clicking on Detected Unit and selecting the Unit from the Unit to Update dropdown.
If the Unit is not automatically discovered or an attempt to connect over a WAN is occurring, select Connect by IP Address and enter in the IP address of the target AHM Unit. For those connecting over a WAN, and depending on the network setup, the address of the router will need to be entered here instead.
The AHM will be updated to the same version number as the instance of System Manager that is running. If needing to update or roll-back the AHM to a different version, downloading the appropriate version of System Manager will be required.
Click Update to perform the firmware update.
ⓘ The default Username is Admin and its Password is blank/empty
ⓘ For firmware versions previous to V1.43, updating the firmware results in a wiping of the Config file. We recommend saving the Config before updating firmware and restoring after the update process is complete
ⓘ For firmware V1.43 and newer, an option is provided to automatically save the Config before update and restore it after the update process is complete
Status
Available when connecting directly to a single AHM (outside of a Project), the Status tab shows the name of the currently connected AHM, with a Disconnect button just below it to disconnect System Manager from the AHM.
Also on this tab are the following pieces of information:
| Power Status | Displays the status of the internal PSU and, if present, the external +12V DC supply (AHM-64 only) |
| Unit Firmware Version | Displays the current version of firmware on the AHM unit |
| System Manager Version | Shows the current version of System Manager software |
The Unit’s IP address and MAC address are also shown for reference.
Project
Available when connecting to one or more AHM inside of a Project, the Project tab displays the currently opened Project’s name.
Each AHM that has been added to the Project will be shown alongside the User that has been used to log into each Unit.
ⓘ Projects can hold up to 24 AHMs
When an AHM inside of a Project has been connected to a real AHM unit, its IP address and MAC address are shown alongside any Description that has been applied, its firmware version, the internal power supply status, and information on the external +12V DC supply (AHM-64 only).
Clicking Edit Units allows the adding of online or offline AHMs, adding descriptions for each Unit and customising the colour identity of each. Additionally, one can change the name of the AHM, which User logs in inside System Manager, or delete the Unit out of the Project. Please see the Edit Units section of this guide to learn more about this window.
Click Connect on each AHM to connect to the detected AHM matching the Unit’s name.
Click Connect Sim to simulate the AHM when working offline.
Click Auto Connect to let System Manager search for each AHM on the network and connect to it. In this process, any AHM not discovered on the network will be connected to a sim.
Click Disconnect on each AHM to disconnect from an online AHM or from a sim.
Click Auto Disconnect to disconnect from all AHMs in the Project.
The Multi-Unit Configs button will allow the saving, restoration, or other management of a special Config file that houses the Configs of every AHM in the Project. For each AHM in the Project, there is the choice of optional elements to store within the Multi-Unit Config including User Profiles, Playback files, and any Custom Control Config. Multi-Unit Configs are stored at the Project level.
Click Close Project to close the currently opened Project and return to the Connect screen.
Click Export Project to export a .exp file containing the Project file, any Simulated AHM Configs and any stored Multi-Unit Configs. This makes it easy to move entire Projects and Configs with simplicity, or to store for reference once a project is complete.
Click Import Project to import a .exp file. The pop-up window will ask for a Project Name and a location for the new Project. AHMs will be populated and any Multi-Unit Config that’s been stored in the Project will be available to restore by clicking the Multi-Unit Config button.
Edit Units
To manage AHMs in a Project, click Edit Units in the System > Project tab.
Add Unit in the lower-left section of the pop-up window adds any detected AHMs (under Detected Units) or manually by their Unit Name. When adding a Unit manually, be sure to select the correct Unit Type (this can be changed later).
Once added, select an AHM in the left window and adjust its properties in the right window. The properties include which model of AHM the selected Unit is, a description of the Unit (such as location), and an identity colour used to identify the engines more easily in the System > Project tab as well as the Channels > Inputs and Zones tabs.
The properties of each AHM also include the ability to log in with a different User (though, Admin is typical) or to delete the Unit from the Project altogether.
Click Close to exit the Edit Units window.
Keyring
Keyring is a tool that can hold all the User logins for your AHMs, making it faster to log into an AHM you’ve logged into before with a single password that you set.
Click Manage Keyring under System > Connect or System > Project to access your passwords.
The initial opening of your keyring will prompt you to create a password. This password is only known to you and can be managed or deleted if you want to change it or have forgotten it. Once you have chosen a password and successfully entered it twice, click Set Password to enter into your keyring.
ⓘ The passwords stored in the keyring are hashed and encrypted for security
The following are options for management of your keyring:
| Add New Unit/User Password | Add a new Unit (by name), including the Username and their password |
| Change Keyring Password | Change the password used to access the keyring |
| Delete Keyring | Delete the current keyring configuration, wiping all saved Unit/User passwords and the keyring password. This process will cause the prompt to make a new keyring begin the next time you enter Manage Keyring |
| Change Entry Password | Change the stored password used to log in for the currently selected Unit and User. Note that this does not change the password on the AHM |
| Delete Entry | Delete the currently selected Unit/User log in from your keyring |
Click Close to exit the Manage Keyring window.
User Libraries
User Libraries give us a chance to save and reuse certain processing that we find ourselves using many times, even between AHM Configs.
We have the option of libraries on Gates, PEQ, GEQ/PEQ, Compressors, Delays, Selectors, Ambient Noice Compensation (ANC), and Speaker Processing. The option to save and restore these libraries are available on each respective processing block.
We also have the option to save Inputs and Zones as libraries. These will include all of the above-mentioned processing blocks as they are available on the respective channels. Notably these do not include channel names, colours, preamp settings, inserts, AMM settings, level/mute values, or XPoint routing.
In the System > User Libraries tab, we can see all our stored libraries, which are stored locally on the machine running System Manager. Select a library to Rename or Delete it.
Click Export Libraries to archive any number of User Libraries into a single archive to create a backup or transfer to another computer.
Click Import Libraries to choose an archived library and import it into System Manager for implementation.
Logs
System > Logs allows us to view the logs of notifications, errors, certain changes, and Device Control information. Logs can be useful for diagnostics or when contacting us for support.
The System Manager radio button will filter the logs to show information regarding the System Manager connection, including which Units it connects to (or attempts to).
The Unit Logs radio button filters the logs to show pertinent information regarding the Unit System Manager is connected to. These are persistent between different Unit connections. When working in a Project, this radio button displays Focus Unit (Unit_Name) Log with the Unit’s name inside the parenthesis. These logs display any back-and-forth messaging from 3rd-party Device Control, TCP communication information, and more.
AHM, Offline/Simulated Unit, and System Manager each keep a cycle of Logs across multiple files maxing at a combined 275KB. A single file is created until it fills 25KB – at that point, a second file is created and filled. This cycle continues until all 275KB are filled wherein the oldest Log file is overwritten with the new Log file. Exporting the Logs creates a single archive of all available Logs.
Click Clear Logs to delete all the logs and begin a fresh cycle.
Click Export Logs to save the logs to a computer or storage device as a .txt file.
ⓘ A red entry in the logs (also indicated by a red exclamation point at the bottom-right of the System Manager main window) indicates an error message or warning
ⓘ A blue entry in the logs (also indicated by a blue exclamation point at the bottom-right of the System Manager main window) indicates an important notification