Using the Control4 driver with your AudioControl Dante Amp
The Control4 driver for AudioControl’s Dante-enabled amplifiers makes setting up a large-scale Dante audio system easy in just a few steps. The process is the same whether you are using the M4800D, M6800D, or CM-70v Dante amplifiers.
The Control4 driver for each product following the link here: https://avproglobal.egnyte.com/fl/GoJupHrjnf#folder-link/Dante/Control4
If this is your first time setting up an AudioControl Dante-enabled product, please read through our Dante Best Practices knowledge base articles, which go through everything you need to know before getting started with Control4.
Set up your AudioControl Amp
The first step is to set up your AudioControl amplifier as you normally would. Open the web interface for your AudioControl amplifiers, give them Static IP addresses (if you so desire), set up input names & output names, and adjust all the typical DSP settings.
We highly recommend renaming the amps and the inputs before configuring Dante to make it easier to differentiate between multiple AudioControl amps on the Dante network. If amps are renamed after configuring Dante, the other devices in the system will not see that change automatically.
Once the amp is set up, open the Dante Configuration panel, give each of the amps an ID number, and click “Look For Devices” on each amp. Be sure to note which amplifier has which ID number, it will be important later.
If you have Dante sources from products other than an AudioControl amplifier, make those connections in the Dante Controller software now.
For more detail about setting up your AudioControl Dante-enabled amplifiers and using Dante Controller, check out our Dante Best Practices Part 3 article here.
Control4 Setup
Open the Composer software, install the AudioControl drivers and add the amplifiers to your system. If you have multiple amplifiers in the system, you may want to give each one a unique name, so it is easier to differentiate between them in Control4. In the network connections tab, set the IP addresses for each amplifier.
System Design
Each Dante amp instance in Composer will have 2 sections: A main section and a subsection.
The main section is where most of the amp controls are, allowing you to see and edit device properties. Both the main and subsections have controls useful in the Connections tab of composer.
Select your AudioControl amplifier's main section in Composer to see its properties. Set the amp’s Dante Device ID, being sure it matches the ID set on the amp’s web interface.
Be sure to click "Set" to save the ID.
IDs help Control4 and the AudioControl amps matrix inputs over Dante. If you want your device to listen to audio from amp 2, Control4 will send the command "Set input to ID #2 input 3-4," and the amp will know exactly what to do. If the Dante Device ID is set incorrectly, the wrong input will be selected when a command is sent.
Connections
Switch to Connections mode in Composer. The first selection lets you tell Control4 about the non-AC Dante inputs from sources routed via Dante Controller. For example if you had a Sonos Port connect to a Dante Encoder, and that encoder routed signal to your M6800D's inputs 9-10 on Dante Controller, in Control4 you would connect the Sonos Port to Non-AC Dante input 9-10.
Here you can also tell Control4 about the Digital Input connections made directly to the amp, set the zones' End-Points.
The second item is for analog connections made directly to your AudioControl amplifier that will be shared with other AudioControl amps over Dante.
Make sure only the sources that are physically connected to this amp are listed here! If your AudioControl Dante-enabled amp has no analog sources connected directly to its RCA inputs, leave this section blank!
An Example (without Dante Controller)
Say you have 4 Dante-enabled AudioControl amps, each of which has their IDs set on the web GUI and in Composer, and 6 unique sources. Sources A, B & C connect to Amp 1, and D, E & F connect to Amp 2, and there are no other connections made directly to the other amps.
In Composer, open the subsection for the amps and make connections A-B-C to Amp 1 and D-E-F to Amp 2. Do not connect any other inputs to any of the AudioControl amps in the system, and do not make any connections to the Non-AC Dante Inputs.
Set the End-Points in composer for each amplifier, and your done!
Now if you want to listen to Source B, it will be made available to every zone in the system powered by a Dante-Enabled AudioControl amp!
Remember, in this example connections were only made to amps that have sources physically connected to them. All of the other amps in the system should have no connections made in composer, the only thing they need to have set is the Dante Device ID and the Audio End-Points.
An Example (with Dante Controller)
Now let’s say you have the same system as described above and a 7th source – Source Z – which comes from a TV connected to a Dante audio encoder.
Make the connection from the Dante Encoder to each of the amps using Dante Controller.
Be sure to put the Dante Controller input on a channel separate from the physical connections; if the amps have connections on inputs 1 through 6, connect the Dante encoder source to inputs 7-8.
Once the connection is made in Dante Controller, open composer and follow the steps from the previous example. In the Non-AC Dante Inputs for each amplifier, connect the Dante encoder source to inputs 7-8. Now, the audio from this source is available in every zone in the system!
Remember
Sources physically connected to a Dante-enabled AudioControl amplifier need only be assigned to the one amp it is connected to in the Connections settings of Control4.
Connections made to amps through Dante Controller must be assigned to the Non-AC Dante Inputs on every amp in the system to become available for every zone.
Sources physically connected to a Dante-enabled AudioControl amplifier need only be assigned to the one amp it is connected to in the Connections settings of Control4.
Connections made to amps through Dante Controller must be assigned to the Non-AC Dante Inputs on every amp in the system to become available for every zone.
Need additional assistance?
Contact our tech support team at 425-775-8461, or by email at techsupport@audiocontrolpro.com
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