Chapter 1
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Zaxcom Fusion User’s Manual
28
Touch Screen Interface
Fusion‟s full color touch screen interface is the key to ultimate functionality. It provides instant control of over
300 mixer cross-points and over 200 user parameters. It‟s easy to read in direct sunlight and offers a lock feature
to prevent accidental operation.
Analog Inputs
Fusion incorporates eight very low noise, low distortion microphone preamps with 48V phantom power. Many
Emmy® and Oscar® winning productions have been recorded with the Zaxcom preamp. The transformerless
design enhances audio quality by eliminating low frequency distortion common in transformer-based microphone
preamps. Each of the eight inputs can be switched between mic-level and line-level operation and feature a
powerful 48V phantom power supply.
Analog Input Limiter
The Fusion's analog input limiter prevents high-level audio from clipping the A/D converter in the analog domain.
Digital Inputs
The Fusion has four AES input pairs with sample-rate conversion, allowing each input to have a different sampling-
rate. This is key on location, where it‟s not always possible to lock external AES sources.
Mixing
Fusion can mix sixteen inputs to eight output busses and record up to twelve tracks* on the internal
CompactFlash card. The mixer has infinite routing capability. Any input can be routed to any output pre-fader,
post-fader, with or without the phase inverted. The Mix-12 control surface can also be used to form an all digital
location recording and mixing package.
* Fusion 10 – maximum 10 tracks, Fusion 12 – maximum 12 tracks
Recording
The Fusion records to the Primary card using the Mobile Audio Recording Format II (commonly referred to as
MARF). MARF was developed to be fault tolerant, ensuring that should power be lost while recording, ALL audio
up to that point will be recoverable. The MARF system and its audio-centric operation have eliminated several of
the reliability issues associated with FAT32 recording.
While the backup process is enabled, the audio files are Mirrored (copied) to the Secondary card, which is in
standard FAT32 format. This card can be given to Post or copied to any computer.
Both the Primary and Secondary cards are CompactFlash cards. CF cards were chosen because of their immunity
to extreme temperature and motion.
Camera / Stereo RF Link Connection
The Fusion connects directly to the 10-pin Hirose connector located on most cameras, providing a two-channel
camera feed with a mono audio return. It can also connect to a TRX900AA transmitter with an STA100/150
Stereo Adaptor for a two-channel camera RF link with return audio and timecode transmission. All audio
connections are balanced line-level, which eliminates the mic level ground loop noise common in FM wireless
systems. The Fusion‟s camera output level is 0 dBu and is directly compatible with most cameras without the use
of external amplification.
Metering
The Fusion provides metering of all input channels and output busses in four different formats, based on user
preference. Channel metadata is superimposed on meters to aid in meter identification. Signal levels are color
coded to aid in rapid identification of overload conditions. Touching a meter selects individual channels for PFL
solo monitoring.
FireWire Port
The Fusion acts as a master to control and supply power for external FireWire HDDs and DVD-RAM drives.
RF Interference Protection
The Fusion was designed from the ground up to operate in close proximity to sensitive receivers. Wireless
devices can coexist in the sound bag with the Fusion running from the same power source.
