WesAudio ngLEVELER User Manual Download Page 7

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WESAUDIO

4/10/20

NGLEVELER USER MANUAL REV2

Overview

ngLEVELER is an Automation system with full digital recall:

MAIN FEATURES:

16 channels of analog automation with total recall

+25 dBu (IN) / +28 dBu (OUT) of headroom

6dB passive attenuator (PAD) for better integration with high level signals

Very low noise and distortion – THD+N(20Hz-20kHz) at 0dBu < 0.008%

MUTE and SOLO for each channel

HUI/Mackie Control integration

16 channels of Proprietary THD

IN and OUT (before and after signal leveling) metering fully integrated with DAW plug-in

Flexible DAW/Live plug-in control for instant recall

DB-25 analog connectivity

Management via Ethernet or USB

Fully digitally controlled and isolated analog circuit,

Full automation record via HUI/Mackie Control

Free software and firmware upgrades

Summary of Contents for ngLEVELER

Page 2: ...WESAUDIO 4 10 20 NGLEVELER USER MANUAL REV2 2 Thank You for the purchase of ngLEVELER ngLEVELER Next generation 16 channel automation system With kind regards Radoslaw Wesolowski and Michal Weglicki ...

Page 3: ...nnel automation system ngLEVELER Next generation Leveler is analog automation system with convenient features for better studio integration Besides its automation engine it also brings analog saturation per each channel which helps tracks to get more presence in the mix ...

Page 4: ...t network configuration 17 5 2 2 Enable Disable DHCP 18 5 2 3 Static IP address 19 5 2 3 1 Windows how to check your IP address 19 5 2 3 2 OSX how to check your IP address 21 5 2 3 3 Set up static IP address 23 5 2 4 Direct connection setting IP address on PC MAC 24 6 Signal connection 25 7 ngLEVELER automation and recall 26 7 1 DAW Plug in 26 7 1 1 Plug in management panel 27 7 1 2 Plug in channe...

Page 5: ...n OSX 46 7 2 5 2 Virtual MIDI on Windows 47 7 2 6 Troubleshooting 47 7 3 ngLEVELER control from DAW faders 48 7 3 1 Configuration GCon system 49 7 3 2 Configuration DAW MIDI 49 7 3 2 1 Pro Tools configuration 50 7 3 2 2 Studio One 4 configuration 51 7 3 3 Configuration DAW Faders plug in 53 7 4 External controller and ngLEVELER s number of channels 55 8 Multiple ngLEVELER units 56 9 Metering 57 10...

Page 6: ...WESAUDIO 4 10 20 NGLEVELER USER MANUAL REV2 6 12 Warranty 64 13 History 65 ...

Page 7: ... Very low noise and distortion THD N 20Hz 20kHz at 0dBu 0 008 MUTE and SOLO for each channel HUI Mackie Control integration 16 channels of Proprietary THD IN and OUT before and after signal leveling metering fully integrated with DAW plug in Flexible DAW Live plug in control for instant recall DB 25 analog connectivity Management via Ethernet or USB Fully digitally controlled and isolated analog c...

Page 8: ... 0dBu 0 008 Freq response 0 250kHz 3dB Input impedance 10kohm Output impedance 50ohm Channels crosstalk 100dB Max input level 25dBu Max output level 28dBu Dynamic range 118dB Hardware Digital resolution 2500 steps per channel DAW or HUI MACKIE CONTROL controller may support lower resolution in that case it will translate to lower number of HW steps ...

Page 9: ... led to indicate traffic 5 IN metering signal level for each channel measured after PAD however before ngLEVELER main circuit Leveling THD Solo Mute 6 OUT metering signal level for each channel measured after ngLEVELER main circuit 7 IN 1 8 DB 25 socket input to channels 1 8 8 OUT 1 8 DB 25 socket output from channels 1 8 9 IN 9 16 DB 25 socket input to channels 9 16 10 OUT 9 16 DB 25 socket outpu...

Page 10: ...n USB driver will be installed application will inform that all devices should be connected please do so If USB driver installation is triggered user will be asked to restart computer We know that this is unwanted activity but it is necessary step for USB driver to install with success If computer restart is triggered this Installer will start again during start up If for some reason installer won...

Page 11: ...sue Can t find my device on plugin drop down menu Unfortunately there could be dozens of root causes On Windows machine it is very important to check if USB device is successfully connected on system level That can be checked in Control Panel System Device Manager Please note that for WINDOWS it is necessary to install USB driver which is critical to communicate with HW units It is required step o...

Page 12: ...during installation phase by default in c Program Files x86 WesAudio GConManager exe This section describes how manage firmware of available units but GConManager also provides other functions which will be described in next chapters 4 2 1 How to check firmware upgrade Each device reports to your workstation with particular version which indicates compatibility between your host application and re...

Page 13: ...ER MANUAL REV2 13 4 2 2 How to perform firmware upgrade To perform firmware upgrade go to GConManager upgrade and hit Start button This will trigger upgrade operation for all modules which are not up to date with your host software ...

Page 14: ...ible setups and describes main configuration steps Please note that audio signal connectivity is described in next chapter Signal connection this chapter describes digital management side In general ngLEVELER implements two connection types USB 2 0 Ethernet 10 100 based on UDP protocol LAN single subnet ...

Page 15: ...WESAUDIO 4 10 20 NGLEVELER USER MANUAL REV2 15 5 1 USB To connect your ngLEVELER frame directly to your workstation just connect it to any available USB 2 0 socket via USB cable ...

Page 16: ...your workstation In some cases it is mandatory to set IP addresses for your workstation and ngLEVELER Below you can find possible setup in your local area network and how different devices can access ngLEVELER resources In case you would like ngLEVELER to join already existing network most probably your workstation has IP address already set up through static configuration entry or through DHCP by...

Page 17: ...7 5 2 1 Default network configuration Each ngLEVELER chassis by default has DHCP enabled So if you would like to connect your ngLEVELER to your router just do it However if you would like to change that configuration please read description below ...

Page 18: ... cable If connection to ngLEVELER is already established through Ethernet cable this step is not necessary 2 Start GConManager and go to _CONFIG application 3 Then select your ngLEVELER unit from the elements tree on the left 4 Then change DHCP option to ON Unit will restart and your connection to ngLEVELER will be established again Now you can disconnect USB cable and connect ngLEVELER using Ethe...

Page 19: ...router doesn t support DHCP 2 When your LAN network is configured manually for example through hardware switch 3 When you would like to connect your ngLEVELER directly to your Ethernet socket in your workstation As a first step please check your currently configured IP address 5 2 3 1 Windows how to check your IP address Start cmd application hit Windows START button and type cmd ...

Page 20: ...rd Ethernet card or Wi fi card and check IP address In this particular case IP address is 192 168 0 100 ngLEVELER IP address has to be in the same subnet so for above example it would mean any IP address from 192 168 0 2 to 192 168 0 254 excluding currently occupied addresses by any devices connected to your network like your workstation address router address etc ...

Page 21: ...AUDIO 4 10 20 NGLEVELER USER MANUAL REV2 21 5 2 3 2 OSX how to check your IP address Start Terminal located in Applications Utilities application Type ifconfig which will show current network configuration ...

Page 22: ...rd and check IP address In this particular case IP address is 192 168 0 100 Unit s IP address has to be in the same subnet so for above example it would mean any IP address from 192 168 0 2 to 192 168 0 254 excluding currently occupied addresses by any device connected to your network like your workstation address router address etc ...

Page 23: ...our ngLEVELER directly to your workstation through USB cable If connection to ngLEVELER is already established through Ethernet cable this step is not necessary 2 Start GConManager and go to _CONFIG application 3 Then select your ngLEVELER unit from the left side of the screen 4 Then change DHCP option to OFF if it is currently ON Unit will restart and your connection will re establish 5 Enter IP ...

Page 24: ...Ethernet cable it is mandatory to set up IP address for your network interface Ethernet network card This activity is not in scope of this manual however it can be easily find online please find below help pages Windows http www howtogeek com howto 19249 how to assign a static ip address in xp vista or windows 7 OSX http www macinstruct com node 550 ...

Page 25: ...ER via DB 25 connectors on the back ngLEVELER is fully analog automation system its digital connectivity only serves management purposes In that sense ngLEVELER is classic 16 channel outboard equipment and can be integrated in your signal chain according to your needs Please note that USB and Ethernet connections are implemented just to control the unit audio signal is not passed to ngLeveler in a...

Page 26: ... of ngLeveler automation is DAW plugin available in all common formats Depends on the configuration ngLEVELER can also be integrated with Third party controllers Third party controllers DAW via HUI ngLEVELER and DAW integration via HUI 7 1 DAW Plug in ngLEVELER plug in allows to control all unit s parameters and it is available in all common standards VST2 VST3 AU AAX ...

Page 27: ... Toggle connection button Button toggles connection status ON OFF Please note that button works only if ID has been previously selected using Select connection button 3 Connection details Additional connection information a USB unit has been connected through USB b ETH unit has been connected through Ethernet NOTE This fields shows also connection status a ON Font WHITE Style NORMAL Connection is ...

Page 28: ...eason which should be consulted with support wesaudio com 4 Connection ID Unique Connection ID of connected HW unit 5 Fast preset change A B C Button switches between available setups A B C Please note that this presets won t switch any connection related parameters That means Connection ID is shared between all available setups A B C and won t be changed if any of those buttons is hit 6 Undo Undo...

Page 29: ...or channels will be linked There are following options a Off No linking pure dual mono operation b Stereo Channels will share exactly the same settings absolute linking c Linked Channels are linked relatively relative linking perfect solution to compensate different channel levels while using dual mono analog devices as stereo pair d Linked Opposite Channels are linked relatively relative linking ...

Page 30: ...ignable and fully user configurable channel name please note that this name will be also communicated to external controller if in use 9 PAD Passive 6dB attenuator 7 1 3 Plug in automation of linked channels Please note that when channels are linked together using LINK or LINK OPPOSITE modes only one channel needs to be automated and second channel will follow accordingly If both channels will be ...

Page 31: ...orted protocols are HUI and Mackie control and it can work in two ways Server mode Controller manages ngLEVELER exclusively Server mediation mode Controller manages ngLeveler and DAW please refer to next chapters for more information Any of those modes doesn t put any limitations to a possible setup That means that any number of controllers can manage any number of ngLevelers ...

Page 32: ...ively this mode is called GCon Server mode As shown on above figure controller is connected directly to GCon Service application via MIDI This particular application runs in background and mediates all necessary information between controller and ngLEVELER In this setup DAW plug in doesn t have to be even started it is enough to configure GCon server mode and controller will start to manage ngLeve...

Page 33: ...onfigure controller MIDI Ports in GConManager _CONTROL application For example If more controllers are available it is enough to add additional MIDI Ports If adding ports didn t work controller didn t synchronize to ngLEVELER state please refer to troubleshooting section for more information Troubleshooting ...

Page 34: ... control all parameters of ngLEVELER This concept goes further and allow us to toggle between DAW and ngLEVELER control with one of the function keys F1 to F8 assignable in the GConManager application DAW Toggle 7 2 2 1 Configuration In this mode configuration is little bit more complicated as it requires us to create virtual MIDI ports For more information how to create Virtual MIDI Ports please ...

Page 35: ... more information Next step is to configure DAW to integrate with GCon Service and properly receive mediated information Now all DAWs have its own configuration methods this manual will cover configuration for Pro Tools and Studio One however for all other DAWs please refer to internet tutorials on how to add external controller instead of Controller MIDI ports please set up virtual ports previous...

Page 36: ... REV2 36 7 2 2 1 1 Pro Tools configuration Below example correlates with previous GConManager configuration You can access this window from Pro Tools application heading to Setup menu then Peripherals finally selecting MIDI Controllers tab ...

Page 37: ...2 37 7 2 2 1 2 Studio One 4 configuration Below example correlates with previous GConManager configuration You can access this window from Studio One 4 application heading to Studio One menu then Options external devices tab finally hitting Add ...

Page 38: ...ConManager _CONTROL application it is possible to assign function key F1 to F8 in GCon Server mediation mode it allows to toggle fader section of the Controller to either manage DAW session assigned function key will blink ngLEVELER s assigned function key LED will be ON ...

Page 39: ...l mode ngLeveler Eucon controller e g Artist Mix can control ngLEVELER s using a mapping described here Controller functions mapping to ngLEVELER To use EUCON controller with ngLEVELER eucon application needs to be already installed When it is done Eucon engine needs be configured in Mackie Control mode to do so Open EUCON preferences o On OSX go to the System Preferences and start EUCON o On Wind...

Page 40: ...be set up to Euphonix MIDI port 1 o MIDI device OUT should be set up to Euphonix MIDI port 1 GCon Server mode needs to be selected o Please note that Eucon service manages toggling between applications and thus Eucon controller can be used with DAW and GCon at the same time by switching application from DAW to GConManager having that in mind GCon Server mediation mode is no use in that scenario Pl...

Page 41: ...tual state of ngLEVELER s If this didn t happen please check chapter Troubleshooting When DAW window will become focused Eucon controller will switch to fader section of the DAW This allows to easily toggle between those two modes If this is not preferred setup eucon controller can be locked to particular device to do so Please go to EuControl Settings App and select ASSIGN tab Now select GConMana...

Page 42: ...WESAUDIO 4 10 20 NGLEVELER USER MANUAL REV2 42 ...

Page 43: ... This manual won t go into details how to configure Eucon controller to manage DAW faders To integrated DAW faders with ngLEVELER please refer to chapter ngLEVELER control from DAW faders 7 2 3 3 Eucon plug in control ngLeveler Eucon interface is designed to take control over channel plug ins in your DAW session This functionality can be used to control ngLEVELER plug in what will translate into H...

Page 44: ...NGLEVELER USER MANUAL REV2 44 pages for instance to control ngLEVELER 16 mono channels 2 pages on Avid Artist mix will be used Please find below example based on Artist Mix controller how ngLEVELER parameters are mapped ...

Page 45: ... how controls map to ngLEVELER s THD changes THD setting 3 steps by moving the encoder for some controllers THD can be toggled by pushing the encoder Channel Name channel names are editable from plug in view STEREO DUAL MONO this will either enable Absolute link between channels or entirely unlink two analog channels Please note that this function changes number of channels manageable via controll...

Page 46: ...ly controller MIDI ports need to be used 7 2 5 1 Virtual MIDI on OSX OSX operating system provides native support for virtual MIDI ports creation and those are easily manageable with few easy steps described below 1 Go to Applications Utilities and open Audio MIDI setup 2 Open Audio MIDI Setup and from Window menu select Show MIDI Studio 3 Open IAC driver and enable it by checking options Device i...

Page 47: ...to do so please go to the WesAudio Tray icon select service and hit restart If devices still won t start communication the last resort is workstation restart If GCon Server mediation mode doesn t work correctly please note that most DAW needs to be aware of MIDI ports during start up those can t be created while DAW is already running Also if Virtual MIDI ports doesn t work as expected it is advis...

Page 48: ...ntroller and ngLEVELER s number of channels Relative linking and opposite linking are disabled in this mode only true stereo or true dual mono modes are allowed DAW ngLeveler plug in VST2 VST3 AAX AU have to be active all the time in order DAW to properly communicate with HW unit MUTE SOLO In this mode ngLEVELER acts as HUI controller as it may be counter intuitive at first it will still allow us ...

Page 49: ...rts are created We have to create 2 Virtual ports to receive and 2 virtual ports to send MIDI information per ngLEVELER GConManager configuration needs to be modified To do so start GConManager and go to _CONTROL application If more controllers are available it is enough to add additional MIDI Ports 7 3 2 Configuration DAW MIDI Next step is to configure DAW to integrate with GCon Service and prope...

Page 50: ...ports please set up virtual ports previously created and configured in GConManager _CONTROL application 7 3 2 1 Pro Tools configuration Below example correlates with previous GConManager configuration You can access this window from Pro Tools application heading to Setup menu then Peripherals finally selecting MIDI Controllers tab ...

Page 51: ...previous GConManager configuration You can access this window from Studio One 4 application heading to Studio One menu then Options external devices tab finally hitting Add For this scenario 2 devices needs to be created for each ngLeveler Also please remember that for studio one those devices need to be grouped ...

Page 52: ...WESAUDIO 4 10 20 NGLEVELER USER MANUAL REV2 52 ...

Page 53: ...channels are used please refer to External controller and ngLEVELER s number of channels for more information Add ngLEVELER plug in to any DAW channel plug in is responsible just for controlling the device no audio is passing through it Please note that in case more ngLEVELERs are used more plug ins have to be inserted Finally connect plug in to the HW unit Now all plug in faders and DAW faders ar...

Page 54: ...WESAUDIO 4 10 20 NGLEVELER USER MANUAL REV2 54 ...

Page 55: ... Fader bank or Channel to switch between different sections Channel names will help to identify which section is currently controlled as those will be in line with plug in configuration That all being said number of ngLEVELER channels which are mapped to controller DAW fader section is dynamic as each channel pair of ngLEVELER can be either true stereo absolute link or dual mono link linked opposi...

Page 56: ...ntroller based on GCon ID For example if there are two ngLEVELERs available one with ID 1000 and second one with ID 1002 16 channels of ngLEVELER ID 1000 will be assigned to first 16 channels of the controller and ngLEVELER ID 1002 channels 17 to 32 will be assigned to channels 17 to 32 of the controller ngLEVELER Channels Controller channels ngLEVELER ID 1000 1 16 1 16 ngLEVELER ID 1001 1 16 17 3...

Page 57: ...That being said it is 32 channels of metering which is visualized In the VST2 VST3 AU AAX plug in GUI in variable form On the unit front panel using simple 3 steps LED presentation Green Orange Red Main idea behind ngLEVELER metering system is to give user overview of the changes how internal ngLEVELER controls are affecting signal between input and output It is simple VU style metering which does...

Page 58: ... out from our converter DAW automation will cause our compressor to behave differently This makes it impossible to automate and is quite problematic situation to handle even with simple signal level balance changes In this setup we can keep our summing stage signal level at same level and leave automation and signal level management to ngLEVELER so it can be easily recalled upon session load OUT s...

Page 59: ...WESAUDIO 4 10 20 NGLEVELER USER MANUAL REV2 59 10 1 1 Summing automation level management ...

Page 60: ...WESAUDIO 4 10 20 NGLEVELER USER MANUAL REV2 60 10 1 2 Summing mixer console insert points automation ...

Page 61: ...WESAUDIO 4 10 20 NGLEVELER USER MANUAL REV2 61 10 1 3 Summing mixer console groups insert points automation ...

Page 62: ...and output of course it can be configured only to output or only to input if needed ngLEVELER allows us to work with very hot signals where many audio interfaces can t deal with Benefits Precise level management of signal going IN and OUT High level signal support of outboard OUT signal ngLEVELER 24dBU and 6dB PAD allows us to properly tune signal going in to our A D converter ...

Page 63: ...tions allows to precisely set levels which will hit A D converter add some analog saturation and using Solo and Mute buttons manage our sessions with ease Benefits Signal level management going IN to A D converter with ngLEVELER 6dB PAD and 24dBu of headroom it is very easy to support very hot signals coming from our microphone preamplifiers Each session level signals can be easily recall upon ses...

Page 64: ...cts to be free of defective parts and workmanship for a period of two years This warranty period begins at the original date of purchase and is transferable to any person who may subsequently purchase the product during this time This warranty excludes the following conditions normal wear and tear misuse customer negligence accidental damage unauthorized repair or modification cosmetic damage and ...

Page 65: ...L REV2 65 13 History Editor Version Date Description Michal Weglicki V1 25 03 2020 Document created Michal Weglicki V2 10 04 2020 Mackie Control and Eucon integration chapters added Metering chapter added Linked parameter automation added ...

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