Expansion Units
A single HAL device contains a fixed number of inputs, outputs, RAD ports, and so on. So what do
you do if your audio system requires more connections than are available on the HAL you purchased?
Rane's crackerjack engineers anticipated and resolved this capacity issue by designing HAL to be
expandable, allowing you to pick and choose between various Expansion Units to create a HAL Sys-
tem that fits your needs. For example, if you purchased a HAL1 but you need more than four RAD
ports, you can attach the Expansion Unit known as the EXP1 to your HAL and suddenly have eight
more RAD ports in your system. Remember that you can also connect DRs to RAD ports, so you could
use the EXP1 to expand your DR connections as well.
Expansion Units connect to HAL via a
FireWire
1
expansion network, which is similar to a USB cable
and does not require IP addresses. The only limitation when using FireWire is its maximum cable
length of 15 feet. Given that the purpose of Expansion Units is to expand the HAL host device capabil-
ities within a single rack room, this FireWire distance limit should not pose a problem.
In addition to connecting the physical Expansion Unit hardware to your HAL device, you must also
add the Expansion Unit to your HAL configuration.
NOTE
:
You can connect a maximum of four input Expansion Units to a HAL1 device.
1
A form of connectivity similar to USB, meant to connect peripherals such as MP3 Players and digital
cameras to the computer. The HAL System uses FireWire to connect Expansion Units to the HAL
device. FireWire operates around 30 times faster than a USB 1.1 connection. FireWire is technically
known as IEEE-1394.
HAL SYSTEM INSTALLATION GUIDE
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