Sound Devices A20-Mini User Manual Download Page 2

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Table of Contents

Welcome to the A20-Mini

Introduction to A20-Remote

Connecting Lavalier Microphones to A20-Mini

Tuning A20-Mini and the Receiver

GainForward

Recording WAV Files

Jamming Timecode on A20-Mini

File Transfer to a Computer

Updating A20-Mini Firmware

SD-Utility

PowerStation-8M

PowerStation-8M Specifications

A20-Mini Specifications

Antenna Guide

Servicing the A20-Mini

Warranty

Included Accessories

Legal Notices

Declaration of Conformity

A20-Mini

User Guide

Summary of Contents for A20-Mini

Page 1: ...A20 Mini Digital Wireless Transmitter with GainForward and SpectraBand Technologies User Guide v6 00 ...

Page 2: ... 24 Connecting Lavalier Microphones to A20 Mini 28 Tuning A20 Mini and the Receiver 28 GainForward 28 Recording WAV Files 28 Jamming Timecode on A20 Mini 29 File Transfer to a Computer 29 Updating A20 Mini Firmware 30 SD Utility 31 PowerStation 8M 34 PowerStation 8M Specifications 36 A20 Mini Specifications 37 Antenna Guide 39 Servicing the A20 Mini 40 Warranty 40 Included Accessories 40 Legal Not...

Page 3: ...s gain levels via trim control with an 8 Series or at the A20 RX A10 RX other mixers Full 10 Hz 20 kHz audio bandwidth 100 digital RF modulation and transmission Same excellent range and audio quality as the A10 TX Built in 32 bit float 48 kHz recorder with 64 GB storage for over 80 hours of record time USB C for file offload and optionally conform convert with SD Utility Powering via Lithium AAA ...

Page 4: ... with an appropriate license The IMT band 1518 1525 MHz Please see https www sounddevices com frequency tables for further detailed information on which frequency ranges are available for each country Panel Views Top and Bottom Panels 1 Battery Power LED Indicates the state of battery life Green Good Orange Marginal about an hour of battery life remaining Red Low 15 20 minutes of battery life rema...

Page 5: ...g Solid Blue Microphone is muted Pulsing Blue Timecode 00 frame only when unit is off Note Due to the high dynamic range of the microphone input under normal use the audio LED should never light up red If it does this is an indicator that the microphone itself not the mic preamp is clipping and the audio level should be attenuated acoustically by moving the mic capsule or using a lower sensitivity...

Page 6: ...izer AAA Lithium primary batteries for best performance Alkaline and NiMH are not recommended because of compromised run times 4 Red Button This button is used to power the A20 Mini on or off and enter Bluetooth Pairing mode Power On Press and release button Power Off Press and hold button for 3 seconds Pairing Mode While A20 Mini is off press and hold button for 5 seconds The Pairing LED on the b...

Page 7: ... does not charge AAA batteries USB C is the priority power source whenever connected To power the A20 Mini via USB C 1 Connect a USB power source to the A20 Mini s USB C port 2 Open the battery door then press the red button 3 To power the A20 Mini off press and hold the red button for three seconds To charge the Sony NP BX1 from USB C 1 Open the battery door and insert a Sony NP BX1 into the batt...

Page 8: ...to assemble holster The A20 Mini can be inserted with the antenna and lavalier microphone coming out of the top or bottom of the holster Inserting the A20 Mini in the A20 Mini Holster Slide the A20 Mini into the A20 Mini Holster s pocket in the orientation that works best for the situation Fold the security flap over securing the transmitter in place using the hook and loop fastener strips Use the...

Page 9: ... settings Mode power options and more Group control of powering recording and more Download and install the A20 Remote app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store https www sounddevices com a20 remote A20 Remote has the following minimum operating requirements Android tablets and phones running Android 8 or iPad and iOS devices running iOS 13 The device must have Bluetooth and Location Servi...

Page 10: ...A20 Remote Overview Tablet View A20 Mini User Guide 10 ...

Page 11: ...tters from the Transmitter View The list is horizontally scrollable and lists transmitters by name with their Status indicator Touch the Back button to return to the Transmitter List 4 Active Transmitter or Group Touch any transmitter or Group in the Transmitter List to make it the active view From a tablet the highlighted transmitter or group in the Transmitter List indicates the active transmitt...

Page 12: ... set to RF Only 8 Transmitter Menu This menu offers control of the active transmitter s Name Frequency Mute Mic RF Power Mode and power options The menu also provides access to format media and information about the transmitter 9 Transmitter Controls Allows control of the active transmitter s Power On Power Off Record Stop and Identify mode 10 Transmitter Groups Group View See Group Control for de...

Page 13: ...touching the Transmitter List gear icon Pairing an A20 Mini with A20 Remote With A20 Mini off press and hold the red button until the blue LED blinks continuously USB must be disconnected from computers to enter Pairing mode Make sure all instances of A20 Remote are fully closed on other mobile devices before attempting to pair to a new device From A20 Remote s Manage Transmitters window touch the...

Page 14: ...requencies and RF Power options It is the users responsibility to operate on allowed frequencies in their region Group Setup Enters the Group Setup menu See Group Control for more information User Guide Touch to visit Sound Devices website with quick links to the A20 Mini User Guide FAQ and tutorial videos Restricted Frequencies Enters the Manage Restricted Frequencies menu This allows the unlocki...

Page 15: ...ransmitter List in Group Setup Each transmitter is listed with a high level view of the transmitter s status This includes the transmitter s name set frequency Bluetooth signal strength meter the status of battery level charging custom Group assignment and an A20 Mini Status indicator that displays the status of A20 Mini power audio presence mute record RF transmission and Identify mode A20 Mini U...

Page 16: ...ars with a blue circle in the top right corner when the microphone is muted A20 Mini Recording Transmitting Audio The A20 Mini is on recording transmitting RF and audio is present A20 Mini Identify Mode The A20 Mini appears with a flashing ID when the unit is in Identify mode A20 Mini Off The A20 Mini appears gray when it is powered off A20 Mini Off Holding Timecode The A20 Mini appears gray with ...

Page 17: ...tery Green Good Orange Marginal about an hour of battery life remaining Red Low 15 20 minutes of battery life remaining Flashing Red Critically low RF audio and recording disabled Remaining battery is displayed directly above the battery icon in percentage for Li Ion and in voltage for AAA batteries It is normal to see voltages increase for the first 60 90 minutes when fresh Energizer Lithium prim...

Page 18: ...ve a few frames difference between transmitter timecode displays If the transmitter is either off or not connected timecode values are displayed as Timecode values are not displayed in RF Only mode Transmitter Frequency Displays the RF frequency on which the A20 Mini is transmitting The RF frequency can be changed in the Transmitter View menu Reordering the Transmitter List Reorder Transmitter Lis...

Page 19: ...Transmitter Status window displays detailed information of the active transmitter The A20 Mini Status indicator Battery Power status indicator and Bluetooth Signal Strength meter are described in detail in the Transmitter List section These indicators are also present in the Transmitter Status window In addition the Transmitter Status window shows the active power source and RF Transmission detail...

Page 20: ...gray when recording is not permitted Stop Touch the Stop button to stop recording The button is yellow while recording is stopped The button is gray when recording is not permitted Identify Mode Touch the Identify button to put the A20 Mini into Identify mode All LEDs except the audio LED on the A20 Mini flash blue making it easy to locate a specific A20 Mini When Identify mode is active the Ident...

Page 21: ... mW setting can be helpful If significant body absorption is unavoidable or maximum range is required the Extra High 40 mW setting can be enabled via the settings menu Please be aware that the Extra High 40 mW RF Power setting can reduce battery life by over 20 Tip Try using Long Range Modulation to increase RF range prior to increasing the RF Power setting Mode Touch the Mode button to enter the ...

Page 22: ...n and off accordingly When Auto Power with Lav Mic Connection is active connecting a lavalier microphone to the A20 Mini automatically powers on the transmitter Removing the lavalier mic connection automatically powers the A20 Mini off This feature can be turned on or off Resume Record State Upon Powering On The A20 Mini by default powers on in Stop mode When Resume Record State Upon Powering On i...

Page 23: ...ew displays the status of all transmitters in the group and provides group control of the following functions Power On Power Off Record Stop Group Setup Navigate to Manage Transmitters Group Setup to change group options and create a custom group Show All Transmitters Group in the Transmitter List When active the All Transmitters group is displayed and accessible from the Transmitter List Deactiva...

Page 24: ...or unassign all paired transmitters to the custom group A20 Mini transmitters assigned to the custom group appear with a Custom Group Indicator in the Transmitter List and Transmitter view Selecting a Group from the Transmitter List Groups appear at the top of the Transmitter List Groups are shown with the number of available transmitters in the group Touch a group to enter the Group View Group Vi...

Page 25: ...when on By default a confirmation pop up message appears when powering off A20 Mini transmitters from the app This can be deactivated in Manage Transmitters by deactivating Power off from app requires confirmation Group Record Touch the Group Record button to start recording on the group of A20 Mini transmitters The button is red while the group is recording and black when stopped The button is gr...

Page 26: ...played for each A20 Mini in the group The status text is green while sending the command white when successful and red if the A20 Mini was unable to accept the command Touch the Cancel button to abort the group command Canceling a command does not revert any changes already applied and may result with the group in a Partial state A20 Mini User Guide 26 ...

Page 27: ... Power Mode LEDs Modulation and Format Media for all transmitters in the group Partial is displayed in the menu button when transmitters in the group have different settings Touch the Group List button to return to the Group View A20 Mini User Guide 27 ...

Page 28: ...lained Adjusting Audio of the A20 Mini Signal from the Receiver From the A20 RX or A10 RX home screen press the channel s arrow button twice to enter the Input menu From the Input menu press the middle button to select a sub menu to adjust gain low cut or limiter of the incoming A20 Mini transmitted signal Gain is adjustable from 0 to 60 dB Low cut can be set to Off 40 Hz 60 Hz 80 Hz 100 Hz or 200...

Page 29: ... accessory cables visit https www sounddevices com product xl tc usbc bnc https www sounddevices com product xl tc usbc lemo A20 Mini can also jam timecode from 8 Series Mixer Recorders using a standard USB C to USB A cable Connect the A20 Mini to the 8 Series USB A port Enter the 8 Series Menu Timecode Sync Jam A20 Mini then select Jam A20 The 8 Series Jam A20 Mini menu displays the current timec...

Page 30: ...ormation 2 Download the A20 Mini firmware PRG file from 3 https www sounddevices com download prod a20 mini 4 Copy the PRG file to the root of the A20 Mini media 5 Eject the A20 Mini from the computer At this point the LEDs dance to indicate the firmware update is in progress The firmware update can take a few minutes to complete Wait for all LED activity to stop before using or powering off the A...

Page 31: ...20 Mini 32 bit float 48 kHz monophonic WAV and RF64 WAV files can be renamed snipped by timecode values converted to 24 bit conformed to a CSV Sound Report exported as monophonic or polyphonic WAV and more SD Utility is also a companion application for the Audio Ltd A10 TX A10 RX and A20 RX For details specific to those products please refer to their respective user guides A20 Mini User Guide 31 ...

Page 32: ...files by timecode start times from lowest to highest Click again to reverse the order from highest to lowest To manually order the list of source files click and hold a file row and drag it into the desired position Selecting Files to Export Highlight the file s to process and export from the Source window Multiple files can be selected using keyboard modifiers Apple and Shift in MacOS Ctrl and Sh...

Page 33: ...s To convert the WAV files to 24 bit integer select the Convert WAV to 24 bit check box Files that contain audio that exceeds 0 dBFS will be normalized to 0 1 dBFS to avoid clipping when exported as 24 bit Combining to Poly Combine to Poly allows for the export of a single polyphonic WAV file containing audio tracks from each relevant transmitter for takes of the CSV Sound Report or a select timec...

Page 34: ...Inserting A20 Minis with AAA batteries into the charging bay will not damage anything but the unit will not charge Insert the A20 Mini into an enabled charging bay of the PowerStation 8M The A20 Mini slides into a charging bay with the antenna side first the antenna may be left attached Sound Devices recommends disconnecting lavalier microphones before inserting the A20 Mini into the charging bay ...

Page 35: ...all eight slots are filled The File Transfer LED lights red when USB C File Transfer is plugged in without a power adapter connected The File Transfer LED lights green when USB C File Transfer and either TA 4 or USB PD are plugged in See File Transfer to a Computer for more information Updating A20 Mini Firmware via PowerStation 8M Using File Transfer in combination with the PowerStation 8M Firmwa...

Page 36: ... 18 VDC 36 W or higher Pin 4 hot pin 1 ground pin 2 and pin 3 data for smart batteries Leave pins 2 and pin 3 disconnected if not using smart batteries LTC Input Input impedance 5k ohm Signal level 0 3 5 Vp p USB C USB 3 0 SuperSpeed internal hub Dimensions HxWxD 40 mm x 220 mm x 136 mm without feet 1 58 in x 8 66 in x 5 35 in without feet Weight 670 g 1 5 lb Included Accessories Power Supply 2x U...

Page 37: ...tal RF modulation Standard or Long Range selectable Antennas UHF RF SMA connector removable 2 4 GHz built in Audio Frequency Response 10 Hz 20 kHz 1 dB re 1 kHz Audio Input Type Lavalier Microphone via 3 pin LEMO Pin 1 ground Pin 2 5 V bias Pin 3 audio bias 8k ohm to 5 V Bias Power 5 V Input Impedance 8k ohms Input Clipping Level 5 dBu Dynamic range 130 dB min A weighted Menu and Controls Power Pa...

Page 38: ...onnector or from optional PowerStation 8M Timecode Frame Rates 23 98 24 25 29 97 DF 29 97 ND 30 DF 30 ND Frame rates are auto detected from incoming source USB C Mass Storage USB C USB 2 0 high speed for file transfer Powers A20 Mini Powering 3x AAA batteries Energizer Ultimate AAA Lithium primary batteries recommended or Sony NP BX1 rechargeable Li Ion Built in Li Ion charger via USB C 7 5 W or m...

Page 39: ... the Antenna Length chart 2 Measure the antenna for the cut point Measurements should begin from the bottom of the SMA connector 3 Using a pair of cutters cut the quarter wave antenna at the specified cut point 4 Position the antenna cap onto the cut end of the antenna and push the cap firmly onto the antenna Antenna Length Chart Frequency Range Antenna Length in mm Antenna Length in inches 1 470 ...

Page 40: ...on at no charge Warranty claims due to severe service conditions will be addressed on an individual basis THE WARRANTY AND REMEDIES SET FORTH ABOVE ARE EXCLUSIVE SOUND DEVICES LLC DISCLAIMS ALL OTHER WARRANTIES EXPRESS OR IMPLIED INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE SOUND DEVICES LLC IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR SPECIAL INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING ...

Page 41: ...LOST PROFITS PENALTIES DELAY DAMAGES LIQUIDATED DAMAGES AND OTHER DAMAGES AND LIABILITIES WHICH END USER SHALL BE OBLIGATED TO PAY OR WHICH END USER OR ANY OTHER PARTY MAY INCUR RELATED TO OR ARISING OUT OF ITS CONTRACTS WITH ITS CUSTOMERS OR OTHER THIRD PARTIES NOTWITHSTANDING AND WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING IN NO EVENT SHALL SOUND DEVICES BE LIABLE FOR ANY AMOUNT OF DAMAGES IN EXCESS OF AMOUN...

Page 42: ...h the antenna types listed below with the maximum permissible gain indicated Antenna types not included in this list that have a gain greater than the maximum gain indicated for any type listed are strictly prohibited for use with this device The transmitter is supplied with the above unique antenna types to replace a lost damaged or faulty antenna please contact Sound Devices LLC Part Manufacture...

Page 43: ...nterférences et 2 ce dispositif doit accepter toute interférence y compris les interférences qui peuvent causer un mauvais fonctionnement de l appareil WEEE Statement If you wish to discard a Sound Devices product in Europe contact Sound Devices England for further information Battery Advisory Incorrect use of batteries poses a danger of explosion Replace only with the same or equivalent type Prop...

Page 44: ...Declaration of Conformity A20 Mini User Guide 44 ...

Page 45: ...Post Office Box 576 E7556 State Rd 23 and 33 Reedsburg Wisconsin 53959 USA support sounddevices com 1608 524 0625 main 800 505 0625 toll free U S only www sounddevices com A20 Mini User Guide 45 ...

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