The Assign tab can be used to patch or route audio in/out of or around an AHM. Additionally, this is where we can assign Control Groups, configure the Room Combiner, or manage the Monitor Bus.
I/O Patchbay
The I/O Patchbay is the best tab to navigate to for patching many Channels and sockets quickly.
Zoom in or out on the patching grid with the scroll wheel. To zoom in to the computer’s cursor location hold Cmd or Ctrl while using the scroll wheel. Click and drag to move the grid. Assign multiple Channels simultaneously by holding Shift + clicking and dragging on the grid (line assignment).
Click on a socket name to see more information about it. A pop-up window appears showing the socket’s nickname and its assignments, as well as a Polarity switch on any Output and Preamp control on any Input for convenience. Click the Pencil icon to add a socket name. Add up to 16 characters in the nickname and easily nickname the other sockets in the chosen category (local, I/O card slot, etc.). This name is only referenced in the I/O Patchbay but makes it easy to locate sockets and Channels without having to reference documentation. Reset will reset the name of the socket. Reset All will reset the names of all sockets in the chosen category. Click Close when done.
Any socket that has its name greyed out is available for patching but is not currently present in the system.
Begin by choosing whether to patch Zone Channels, Direct Outs, the Monitor Bus, Input Channels, or Tie Lines with their respective radio button. Then choose the Target or Source and patch accordingly with the grid in the main area of the tab.
Tie Lines can be used to patch a socket directly to another socket. This is helpful in scenarios that may call for sharing of sources exclusive of whether they’re being processed by AHM or not (e.g., duplicating signals to be processed elsewhere). Tie Lines have no impact on processing resources in the AHM. Choose a Source and a Target for the Tie Lines.
ⓘ When inside of a Project, many tabs include Unit-specific options. Change the Focus Unit by selecting the dropdown menu of the same name in the lower left of System Manager’s main window
XPoints (Crosspoints)
Quite often we would like to send Inputs on to be mixed with other Inputs or mixing buses with other buses before heading out to local sound reinforcement. We achieve this with XPoint Routing. While we can route audio in both the Channels > Inputs and Channels > Zones pages, it can be quicker to route many Channels of audio all at once and we can work this way by navigating to Assign > XPoints.
Zoom in or out on the grid with the scroll wheel. To zoom in to the cursor location hold Cmd or Ctrl while using the scroll wheel. Click and drag to move the grid. Assign multiple Channels simultaneously by holding Shift + clicking and dragging on the grid (line assignment) or holding Shift +Ctrl or Cmd + clicking and dragging (box assignment).
XPoints can be made by sending Inputs to Zones, Zones to other Zones, or the SR output of the AEC to a Zone (AHM-32 and AHM-64 with a Processing Expansion Module installed and configured for AEC). Select what to route with the appropriate radio buttons at the top of the tab.
The Show Fader/Mute button toggles a visual representation of the Level and Mute of the XPoints in addition to the assignments themselves.
ⓘ When inside of a Project, many tabs include Unit-specific options. Change the Focus Unit by selecting the dropdown menu of the same name in the lower left of System Manager’s main window
Control Groups
While assigning Control Groups in the Channels > Control Groups page is an option, it can be quicker to assign many Channels or XPoints all at once and we can work this way by navigating to Assign > XPoints.
Zoom in or out on the assignment grid with the scroll wheel. To zoom in to the cursor location hold Cmd or Ctrl while using the scroll wheel. Click and drag to move the grid. Assign multiple Channels simultaneously by holding Shift + clicking and dragging on the grid (line assignment) or holding Shift +Ctrl or Cmd + clicking and dragging (box assignment).
For XPoint assignment, because there are so many possible choices, select the XPoints radio button to use Combined Mode which allows the selection of a XPoint and then choose which Control Group(s) it should be assigned to. Alternatively, Single Mode allows the selection of the Control Group to edit and then choose any XPoints to be assigned into it.
ⓘ When inside of a Project, many tabs include Unit-specific options. Change the Focus Unit by selecting the dropdown menu of the same name in the lower left of System Manager’s main window
Room Combiner
Each AHM can configure up to 16 virtual rooms that can be combined or divided depending on the needs of the space. With Room Combiner, we can configure and design our room layout for use inside System Manager and on control points such as Custom Control and IP Controllers.
In the Assign > Room Combiner tab we can use Configure Rooms to open our configuration window. In this window a grid is displayed that can be used as a visual representation of a floor plan of a building, multifunction room or space.
Start by selecting which Room to design first by clicking on its coloured radio button below the grid. Then simply click and drag to draw with the grid squares the size of the Room. If a mistake is made, simply right-click and drag to erase. Clear Layout will wipe the entire grid. Centre Layout will make a best-fit adjustment to centre the current design onto the grid.
All Rooms must be assigned to a Zone. Click Assign Zones to decide which Zones will be assigned to which Rooms.
When complete, click OK to return to the Room Combiner tab. Rooms with a Party Wall (walls that touch) will have a Combiner button in the middle of their shared wall. Click on it to combine or divide Rooms from this view. Buttons to the right of the Room Configuration display show all possible combinations (Party and Non-Party Walls) from the perspective of the Room in the dropdown menu at the top right.
Room Combinations follow the lowest-numbered Room in the Combination. If you combine Room 2 and Room 3, Room 2 is the Primary Room as it is the lowest numbered room, and 3 will follow it. Adding Room 1 into that same Combination will cause all three Rooms to follow Room 1, as it will then be the lowest numbered room in the Combination.
When Combining Rooms, the XPoints of the Secondary Rooms (and thus the Zones they are assigned to) are temporarily disabled while they are fed by the Primary Room. The XPoint blocks are darkened in the Bird’s-Eye-View to indicate this, as well as a notification inside the XPoint block. When Rooms are divided again, they return back to their normal mix and function.
ⓘ There is not currently a way to pick and choose which Inputs are gathered from each Room in a Combination
Room Controls
With Allen & Heath’s IP Controller series, the local Controllers to AHM (Front Panel, GPIO, etc.), and even external control by 3rd-party devices, there is the option to assign Zone control and Room control of assorted flavours (e.g., Levels, Mutes, Selectors).
Zone controls are static regardless of what a Room may or may not be doing. If an IP1 is set to be Zone 3’s Level, it will always be Zone 3’s Level (unless explicitly told otherwise via a Preset).
Room controls are dynamic and change depending on which Rooms are combined or divided. When an IP1 is set to be Room 5’s Level but Room 5 becomes combined with Room 1, Room 5’s IP1 effectually becomes Room 1’s IP1. When the Rooms are divided again, the IP1 goes back to being Room 5’s IP1. This makes it easy to have Controllers follow the Rooms so any control point is taking care of the entire (now combined) space.
Within Custom Control is a Widget that is an exact display and control point for the Room Configuration called Rooms. Use it to give end users a floor plan of their building with combination and division control without having to build out the interface from scratch. The Rooms Widget can be customised and colour-coordinated to match the branding of the GUI, among other things.
ⓘ When inside of a Project, many tabs include Unit-specific options. Change the Focus Unit by selecting the dropdown menu of the same name in the lower left of System Manager’s main window
Monitoring
AHM includes a stereo Monitor Bus that can be freely patched to any output sockets. In the Assign > Monitoring tab view a 31-band 1/3 octave Real Time Analyser (RTA) for the currently monitored signal, as well as a Fader and Mute.
The Monitor Bus follows the cursor inside System Manager. While a block is opened, the Monitor Bus will hold there while working. The current monitoring point is described in the Status Bar at the bottom of the System Manager window.
Click and drag the fader to the right of the tab to set a level, double-click the value field and type in a value, hold shift while clicking and dragging to move the fader in 5dB increments, or hold Cmd or Ctrl + Click to jump the fader to the position of the computer’s pointer. Additionally, right click on the fader to set the level to 0dB or -Inf easily.
ⓘ When inside of a Project, many tabs include Unit-specific options. Change the Focus Unit by selecting the dropdown menu of the same name in the lower left of System Manager’s main window.