Tech Notes from the Field

Received complaints from PD about some odd changes on air in the sound of the station. Last time this happened I basically pulled the AES digital input briefly. Once it was back in all was stable again. Thought nothing of it as little blips and burps occur in the electronics world.

Today there was another complaint. OK, a couple months have passed, we had some fun, let’s check things out. My first indication of a possible issue on the Omnia 11 is the fact that when I look at the detail page of the input settings I saw AES Sync: Unlocked. Now that is very interesting. I run a SAS shop, so my reference for anything digital is this system, and if one box is having issues, then all units would have issues. I spot checked anyways. All 48kHz sample rate, all good. Let’s do the old unplug the AES input from the processor, wait a moment, and plug it back in. No, still unlocked. time to dig.

I look at the output of the processor to see what it should be synchronized with and find that it was set to External. No, that should be set to Input as I am using the SAS as my house clock. Changed it. Still AES unlocked. Let’s plug a source into the External Reference on the processor. Still unlocked. Now this has become interesting, so back to the output and change it to sync with the internal at 48k. AES unlocked. I believe we are due for a reboot, so I check online for any updates. I see there is a 3.6 for the Omnia 11, so I get it. In addition, I send a note to the Alliance. They confirmed the unit either needs a reboot, or there is an I/O issue with it. Tomorrow I get to test this theory.

A new day and morning drive is over. Let’s play processor roulette! I double check and make sure I still the AES sync still unlocked. I have a spare Orban 8500 setup and ready to go, so let’s do this. Uploading the file is a breeze. As the first thing to do after the update is applies is a power cycle, everything gets a fresh start. Mental note I saw that the I/O board received and update during this cycle.

After a few minutes, like almost 10, the processor is up and running. Only details is to apply the saved I/O configuration and preset. First thing I check is AES sync. It reports locked. I change the setting to sync to input. It stays locked. I’m good to go. I figure I have another 11 I proceeded to update that one, too. Only time will tell if this is permanent. Being a computer, it does not surprise me that a reboot would take care of the issue. I will continue to monitor this and keep an ear out for screaming PDs with audio degradation!

Cheers!