CFSound-II Digital Audio System
Copyright©1992-2006 by ACS, Sarasota, Florida
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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Q. Can I use a momentary contact closure to initiate a message, but the message needs to stop by
using another momentary closure (or open?). So, a momentary to initiate, and a momentary to stop
any message that is in progress ?:
Yes, the CFSound II can function as you described. A triggered message that is playing could be
'stopped' by activating another short silent message associated with another contact input.
Q. Can the Input ports be momentary, or do they need to remain in a closed or open ?:
It depends upon what you're trying to do. If you want a message that is triggered by a contact closure (or
opening) you only need a momentary switch.
If you want the sound to only play while the input is closed (or open) then you would need a latching
switch.
Sounds are associated with inputs by the filenames of the sounds on the CF card. How they are activated is
also controlled by 'decorating' the filenames with additional characters.
For example:
To play a sound whenever input 1 momentary closes, the sound file would be named 01C.WAV.
To play a sound whenever input 2 momentary opens the sound file would be named 02O.WAV.
To play a sound only while input 1 is closed, the sound file would be named 01CP.WAV.
To play a sound only while input 1 is open, the sound file would be named 01OP.WAV.
To repeat a sound only while input 1 is closed, the sound file would be named 01CPR.WAV.
Sounds are normally interruptable whenever another input is activated, but you can also add the character
"N" to the filename and make the sound(s) non-interruptable.
You can also control the unit through the RS-232 port to start and stop sounds.
Q. Can a background sound or music be played until another input is triggered ?:
You can have one or more background sounds that play (with an optional delay in between). The
background sound is interrupted by the contact input activated sound(s), and resumes (if active) when the
contact sound is finished playing.
With a 512Meg CF card, you can have up to 384 minutes of hi-fi stereo audio - over six hours.
Q. Can we use basic switches to control our various functions. There are no logic circuits, or
anything "hi-tech" in this design ?:
You shouldn't need any external logic circuits. We use 'dry' contact closures for the inputs and provide
'dry' contacts for the output(s). Simple off the shelf switches will work just fine. Water tight / weather
proof switches should be used if exposed to elements of weather.
Q. Can individual audio files/channels play simultaneously? i.e. can a file be triggered to play,
overlapping a file or files that are already playing ?:
The CFSound cannot play files simultaneously, but it does offer several features that get around this
limitation.
1) When the "BACKGRND.WAV" sound/file is playing, and it is interrupted by a contact input, it pauses
the "BACKGRND.WAV" sound, plays the sound triggered by the contact input, then continues playing the
"BACKGRND.WAV" sound from where it was interrupted.
2) When sounds are played by an external contact input/trigger, they can be configured by:
Characters in there filename to:
a. Not interruptible
b. Interruptible
Settings in the CFSOUND.INI file to:
a. Store inputs/triggers, and play them when the current sound in finished
b. Not store inputs/triggers while a sound is being played
