A·X·U·M – Digital Studio Platform
Routing, Control & Mixing
The SOLUTION for now and future requirements:
AXUM is the solution for broadcast studios for the demands of today
and many years in the future. Not only will the AXUM be the
“Backbone” of your operation but a complete broadcast studio platform
easily adapted to forthcoming technical developments. Designed for
imminent growth, it can be expanded to suit your company’s wishes.
The following pages will allow you a look and virtual feel of the future
available today.
Maximum return with minimal investments:
With competition breathing down your neck and a fortune invested in
Announcers, Journalist, program material, and equipment, the design
team at D&R developed the AXUM so you can start with a small budget
and as demands come along expand the “heart” of your broadcast studio.
Built into the foundation of the AXUM is a “Design for future needs”
technology that will deliver the advanced studio solution you require for
your multiple broadcasts for today and future needs.
Exceptionally flexible for advanced applications:
The AXUM with its’ network platform makes it possible to start with a
simple and dedicated solution and as soon as you need more flexibility
and/or functionality you can easily add new devices to your network. This
delivers an ideal solution for equipment and more demanding applications
of the future.
Reliability vs. Redundancy:
History has proven that redundancy is a beneficial way to solve
reliability problems by duplicating critical parts like power supplies, but
when building a system using many different components from different
manufacturers, redundancy becomes virtually impossible and system
reliability becomes very important. The systems of today depend on the
connections to other components as well as the system components.
Running in the background of the AXUM platform, MambaNet™ is
implemented on standard Ethernet and is compatible with all
safety/security technologies available in the Worldwide accepted
Ethernet network (e.g. spanning tree protocol, trunking).
The Axum consists of several system components divided in two groups:
1. Control surfaces
The D&R AXUM is completely modular allowing your functionality
requests to select from various control surfaces. As technology
moves forward and your needs grow, other types of control
surfaces will be designed in the future to give you the possibility to
create the right layout for your individual requirements. As with all
D&R products, user feedback is always welcome.
2. I/O racks
An I/O rack is built using a 19” rack frame with a controller card
(the engine), DSP card(s), I/O card(s) and power supply card(s).
An example of a starter system is to have one I/O rack and one control
surface. If you require more control over your I/O’s you simply add a
control surface component to your networked platform. With the same
simplicity you can add a new I/O rack to your networked platform to have
a new mixing console for a different broadcast studio.
One network……. many work surfaces:
The concept of modular control surfaces fits perfectly in the virtual
world of networking. With the D&R MambaNet™ network, you’ll only
need to determine what the ‘perfect layout’ for your broadcast studio
should be by selecting the right control surface modules needed for
your application.
When you connect the preferred surfaces to the MambaNet™ network,
it is then possible to configure your system so the knobs and switches do
what you want them to do.
With the (currently available) four fader Broadcast Panel and Control
Room/Studio Panel, it is possible to create a small, medium, or large
“easy to understand” on-air or production console.
This platform will become even more flexible as other smaller and larger
control surfaces are added to the Axum.
Defining your I/O modules
With the D&R AXUM’s modular concept, MambaNet™ controls the
primary portion of the I/O rack. Each I/O card is shared in the network and
can be controlled from the network. The I/O cards together with the rack
will behave as a large Matrix in the network. If one or more DSP cards are
inserted, your matrix will have mixing capabilities. Available I/O Cards are:
-Microphone inputs
-Line in and outputs
-Digital in/outputs (src)
-Hybrid cards
-CRM/Phones outputs
-CobraNet in/outputs
-ADAT in/outputs
-FireWire
Rack-mounted system interface units:
The defacto standard for interfacing audio components to I/O racks use
RJ45 connectors with STP (Shielded Twisted Pair) cable. D&R used this
breakout system in the unique D&R AirMax Digitally Controlled analog
console with great success.
The rack-mounted interface units have balanced ¼” Jacks and XLR
connectors on the front panel and shielded RJ45 connectors on the back
panel which are used to connect to the I/O rack. Below is an overview of
some of the passive interface units