Rane NM 84, Operator'S Manual

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Manual-1
OPERATORS MANUAL NM 84
NETWORK PREAMPLIFIER
WEAR PARTS: This product contains no wear parts.
CobraNet is a trademark of Peak Audio, Inc.
Quick Start
Why is it that the hardest thing about writing the Quick Start is the opening line? What I want to say is, “First, design the
network.” Only that’s hard to say with a straight face — but if you are going to jump right into this thing without reading all of
our hard work, then that’s where you begin. By designing a network. Okay, that works...let’s move on.
A dedicated network for CobraNet audio is recommended, but not required when using switched networks. The NM 84’s
CobraNet technology utilizes standard 100Base-T Ethernet hardware. For CobraNet and network design assistance and a list of
other CobraNet licensed and tested devices, visit www.peakaudio.com/cobranet. Also see Rane’s ethernet link collection:
www.rane.com/ethernet.htm.
Rear Panel: Connect up to 8 mic or line-level analog audio signals to the MIC INPUT XLR jacks. The 8 DIRECT
OUTPUTS spew an analog, line-level version of the corresponding 8 MIC INPUTS’ audio. Each of the four MONITOR
OUTPUTS can independently receive any of the 8 Local Mic Input audio channels or any single Audio Channel from any
CobraNet Bundle from 1 through 999, plus off/none. Connect the network cable to the 100Base-T RJ-45 jack. I bet you could
guess to use the RS-232 jack to transport RS-232 data over the network to other NM RS-232 device ports? Connect contact
closures to the Memory Recall Port (MRP) to recall Memories on this device or any other NM device(s) connected on the
same network. Connect the locking 5-pin DIN from the enclosed RS 3 power supply to the POWER connector. The RS 3
power supply does indeed connect earth ground – the 3rd pin of the AC line cord – to the NM 84 chassis metal. Depressing the
recessed FP LOCK (Front Panel Lock) button at this point disallows further front panel setup, so only press this button in once
you’re completely done setting up the NM 84.
Front Panel: There are 17 LCD edit pages allowing access to all NM 84 parameters. The first 8 screens set up Mic Inputs;
IN 1 through IN 8, respectively. Use the Copy field to copy and paste between the various pages.
The next four pages set up Monitor Outs; Monitor 1 through Monitor 4, respectively. The 8 Mic Input audio channels on the
NM 84 can be transmitted on up to 4 different CobraNet Bundles (Bndl). Each of the 4 Bundles contains all 8 Mic Input audio
channels when transmitting 20-bit audio. CobraNet designates each of the 8 Audio Channels AudCh 1 through AudCh 8,
respectively.
The two Network Transmit pages (NetTx A/B and NetTx C/D) allow selection of either 20- or 24-Bit Formats for each
transmitted pair of the four Bundles. The four Bundles to transmit to are independently assignable to one of the 999 Bundles
using the four Bndl fields; Bndl A, Bndl B, Bndl C and Bndl D. When using 24-bit audio, two Bundles are required by
CobraNet to transport all 8 Audio Channels. Use the Splt parameter to split the 8 Audio Channels across Bundles when using
24-bit transmission.
The Mem (Memory) page allows 16 unique NM 84 setups to be Stored and Recalled in the 16 Memory locations. Addition-
ally, the NM 84’s MRP status can be transmitted over the network for other NM devices to “listen to.” Set the MRP Tx (MRP
Transmit) and MRP Rx (MRP Receive) fields for any or none of the 16 available MRP channels.
The Serial page sets the RS-232 serial port’s Baud rate along with the 232 Tx and 232 Rx fields which set the transmit to
and receive RS-232 channels.
The Config page displays the current/editable IP Address and the editable Name of the NM 84 device (8 characters max).
Set the IP address to 0.0.0.0 (the default) to enable Peak Audio’s CobraNet Discovery Utility (Disco) to dynamically assign the
IP address. Disco allows you to plug into a CobraNet network with a standard Ethernet computer card (NIC) and discover all of
the CobraNet devices on the network. Disco has the ability to dynamically assign IP addresses as well as update CobraNet
firmware on the discovered CobraNet devices. Check for Disco availability from Peak Audio at www.peakaudio.com/cobranet
as well as many music retailers which carry The Bee Gees, Donna Summer and the like.
Do yourself a favor and go through the Optimizing Mic Preamplifier Performance on page Manual-7, and at least read
Important Big Picture Concepts on page Manual-8. Reviewing the Applications Examples provides insight into a logical
order for design work and may also avoid initial confusion.