MRA Amps with no MRA switcher

Thanks everyone, based on comments I will apply + from the power supply to pins 5,8 and - from my power supply to pins 3,6.

 

There is zero ohms between the pairs of pins on both the amp and the power supply, so they must just be for current sharing.

 

Just to let everyone know that it is all working after providing + to pins 5,8 and - to pins 3,6.

Thank everyone for your assistance.

 

Hi Roosta,

I'm hoping you read this!

I too am about to embark on an audio setup similar to yours with no matrix switcher. I'm interested in your global source that is connected to the audio distribution unit.
Is this unit constantly powered or do you turn this on each time you wish to listen to the radio for example.

All my audio gear will be hidden so having the convenience on being able to turn the amplifiers on from any cbus switch or phone is negated by having to stick my head in a cupboard in another room to turn the source on!

I'm wondering if there is anything out there that detects when its being asked to output and turns on automatically and goes to sleep after no output is requested.

Ideas here from anyone would be appreciated.
Cheers

 

Depends how basic you want the fuctionality
You could use a C-Bus wireless plug adaptor if the radio would come on/off with mains power being supplied or removed.
Nicer solution if you have IR control would be to use a NIRT plate and tie it in with some logic, maybe then you could change the station. Just remember there is no feedback from IR control, hence discreet buttons are better than toggle button.
If you have the knowledge and equipment you could try control via serial strings, and with the correct code you could have quality feedback of status.

 

As stated - it depends on what you have.

If you source has options for monitoring state (serial or IP interface, contact closure) you can then use that with C-Bus.

What is it that you want to use - more info will help with indicating what you can do specifically with the unit in question.

 

Thanks for the feedback wonkey & znelbok.
ok so more info! At the moment i don't have a lot. I ran speaker cable from my 'comms' cabinet to speaker locations ages ago (approx 40/45m run), I also have an old yamaha amp which was good in its day (approx 20 years ago!).
So i'm at the stage of buying the gear and installing, making sure it works before the suspended ceiling is installed. I did a test with my current amp in regards to the cable run, as i thought, the cable run is just too long/cable too small which is fine and kind of what i expected.
I was heading down the path of a new yamaha amp with musiccast but the speaker cable length is too long and not overly keen on wireless speakers as i was hoping to install in wall/ceiling speakers for a neater and minimalist solution.
One thing to add is this will be purely for music, not a big movie watching fan so there will be just two main speakers in the living room (dimensions are approx 12m x 5m x 6m), so a reasonable sized room.
At the moment, all is simple, just turn on my old yamaha amp with the remote and the radio kicks in, my aim is to keep this as user friendly as possible. (needs to be girlfriend proof!)
so i guess i'm now looking at the cbus remote amplifiers, specifically the 560125R/2 as i assume the smaller 10w wont be sufficient (are these 25w per channel?) as i can get pink cable to the location easy enough. Just not sure how to handle the input side of this as the matrix switcher is way too expensive!
There is the option of using the original airport express (majority of apple devices in use) connected to the cbus audio distribution unit that connects to the cbus remote amp, just wanting to know other peoples solutions before i start buying any gear.
Cheers

 

The amp has two inputs - analog and digital (not coax or toslink, but C-Bus digital audio).

Depending on what your source is and how close you can mount it will depend on the input used.

If the source needs to be located a distance away from the amp then the digital input is the way to go. You can daisy chain it between amps if you have more than one installed. Use a cheap switcher as the input to the audio dist unit and you have a simplified matrix switch (such as your Yamaha amps line out).

I used a Rpi emulating a squeeze box near the amp and used the analog input. I am also thinking of adding a blue tooth adapter so I can just connect any random phone tablet if there is something on them that I want to listen to (podcast etc).

So if you just want a radio only, work out which way works best for you to get that to the MRA.

The 560125R/2 is 25W/channel. I was told 10W would be fine but I tend to think that it wouldn't based on the 25W in use now, but I have not put a 10W in to hear it in operation yet. Maybe 10W for the kids rooms will do.

 

Thanks znelbok, after some more research!
I have discovered some rack mount DAB+ Digital Tuner & Internet radio units with serial interfaces. I could possibly use the analog out of these into the audio distribution unit that will connect to the remote amps.

With this i could add on/off buttons to eDLT's that when activated could send the serial command to the rack mount DAB to turn on/off etc.

The only issue here is the serial comms that you and wonkey have mentioned, i read on this forum that you cant use the 5500PC for serial comms (only serial > cbus, not the opposite direction), is this correct? (I don't have one anyway!). Seems the only way i understand to talk cbus > serial is via the PACA, is this correct?

Cheers

 

The 5500PC cannot be used for general serial comms. It only talks CBus serial protocol. You can use a PACA, Touch screen with a serial port and logic, or a Wiser in conjunction with a network to serial interface.

Of course if you are really keen you can hook a 5500PC up to a Arduino or Raspberryt PI etc and write a bit of software to do whatever you want

 

ok thanks Ashley. Think the Arduino or Raspberry Pi maybe a little out of my knowledge base!
However I am interested in the Wiser option as i do have a WiserII. Is there anything you know of that i could read (online or specific forum topics)
that will guide me on how to setup the wiser to talk to an ip device on the network (This being the network to serial converter).
Cheers

 

Yeah, to keep it simple and in the C-bus world you would use a PACA's serial ports and send out the serial commands needed to achieve the control you want (and is available).

Best thing to do is play around with the serial connection on the PC first to get a feel for the commands etc and then move to the PACA. Hercules is a great piece of free software that I regularly use for testing - better than hyper-terminal (which is not installed by default anymore in windows) - it also does hex.

I would stick with serial as well - you don't need to complicate it with a Pi. The PACA also gives you more logic control for C-Bus as well.

 

I do agree with Mick that a PACA is the simplest way of talking to a serial device but it is an expensive option if you don't have one. Given that you can buy a network to serial converter for around $30 these days if you have a Color Touch screen or Wiser it is a good cheap option and not that complex to set up. If you set up the converter in UDP mode you can talk to any number you like and you don't have to worry about either end dropping the connection. The logic help shows how communicate to a UDP device. It's much the same as a serial device. Just open up a connection and read/write to it.

 

Yes the PACA cost is a bit prohibitive for what i want to achieve, I'm quite happy with the WiserII and can't see me ever needing more logic capability etc.
Seems this may be the solution, DAB radio with serial comms to cbus. RCA from DAB radio to audio distribution unit to remote amps,
just a shame i need to convert the audio from digital to analog, analog back to digital and then digital back to analog.

Thanks for your help, i'll read up on UDP comms for wiser.
Cheers

 

Hey guys

Back onto this again with a new amp for my sons room.

I want to use the analog input with a bluetooth adapter and the optial digital input for his TV.

How do I switch between the two?

I have absolute source set, but reading the help its local, analog 1-4, digital and optical with what I assume is all for the matrix switch and not the actual local amp.

So can I achieve the switching between inputs by setting a value of a group?

 

I read that and understood that as either the optical or the electrical digital input - I am using it as a stand alone amp with no matrix switch so using the optical digital only is fine. The statement does not indicate that the analog can't be used.


Use this to connect a digital optical audio source to the Amplifier instead of the digital audio (zone) source. The digital audio format must be 44.1 or 48
kHz stereo. Some digital audio formats (such as surround sound) are not compatible with the Amplifier. Either a digital audio (zone) or digital optical audio source may be connected to the Amplifier, but not both simultaneously.

What I want to do is switch between the local analog input and the local digital input.

So if I cant use both, how do I select the optical input - what level does the input selection group get set to?

 

Yeah - my initial thoughts were that setting the group level to 1% would select local input which would switch the amp to the analog input.

Switching it to anything else (2% - 7%) would switch it to the digital input and the MRA would switch to the input selected as defined by that level.

So if an Audio Distribution Unit is used (AKA a local digital input to the MRA) what is the level set to?

I am testing another two amps that are connected together via the digital audio output and input (as covered in the manual). I can't get the daisy-chained amp to switch to the digital input and produce any sound.

I must be missing something simple here - but I don;t know what yet?