Calrec Hydra2, Installation Manual

Page: 10 / 104

10 HYDRA2
Installation Manual
Architecture & Networking
OVERVIEW
The Hydra2 system is designed
to provide seamless, scalable
audio networking of Calrec audio
consoles and routers with Calrec
audio I/O interfaces. It allows for
very large numbers of audio inputs
and outputs to be easily connected,
shared and controlled, irrespective
of their location, as well as providing
comprehensive built-in redundancy.
Audio consoles, routers and I/O can
be physically added to the network as
and when needed. Added hardware
automatically syncs with the rest of the
system and makes itself available for use.
The Hydra2 Organizer, H2O, is an
administrator level user interface designed
to provide control over the network
without the use of an audio console.
Amongst other things, H2O can be
used for source to destination cross-
point routing, and can change access
rights of individual consoles to selected
I/O on a port by port, or port group
basis—effectively splitting the network to
safeguard multi-production environments
and to aid control room and resource
management.
Hydra2 provides 1-to-n routing;
inputs may be routed to any number
of destinations. They can be used in
multiple places on a console, on multiple
consoles, as well as being sent directly to
multiple outputs by cross-point routing, all
simultaneously.
Hydra2’s interconnections are made using
SFPs—plug-in gigabit interface modules—
to provide copper connections on RJ45s
or LC fiber connections in either single-
mode or multi-mode. Distances are only
limited by the chosen SFP type.
Each connection between Hydra2 units
can carry up to 512 channels of audio in
each direction simultaneously.
I/O interfaces are available in a range of
format types including balanced analog,
balanced and unbalanced AES digital,
MADI, Dolby-E decoders, SDI embedders
and de-embedders. New formats can
easily be supported as they arrive. Hydra2
also supports non-audio I/O interfaces in
the form of general purpose inputs and
outputs (GPIO) for remote control input
tallies and output switching.
Connecting I/O to a Hydra2 router via
Cat5e or fiber allows it to be located
remotely from the router, close to the
audio sources and destinations that it
interfaces with, minimizing multi-core
and individually screened audio cabling,
installation time and costs, and maximizing
audio quality by reducing the distances
over which analog signals are passed over.
As with all Calrec products, audio
quality and product reliability are our top
concerns. All Hydra2 hardware and audio
interfaces are designed to the highest
standards with no compromise to audio
performance. All analog preamps and
line level paths are designed around our
well proven and highly respected circuitry,
providing very high headroom with a very
low noise floor. Our lossless proprietary
network transportation protocol does not
compromise the high audio quality within
the digital domain whilst maintaining
negligible latency. Particular attention is
also paid to communications reliability,
system status monitoring, power
generation and distribution, thermal
management and physical robustness.
The system is designed with redundancy
and fault detection at the forefront,
providing backup paths for data and audio
in the event of hardware or cable failure,
to keep any disruption of audio or control
to the absolute minimum. All critical
components are fed from dual power
supplies
Hydra2 also supports the Ember and
SW-P-08 protocols for integration with
third party routers and control systems for
remote control.