Continuous Ambient Compensator

Inputs

Audio signal pins are represented by a () circle, and traditional wiring is represented by a thin black line.

Program - Connect the program material to this Input Pin, for example background music or announcements. If the program material is more than one channel, it should be summed to one channel for this input.

Microphone - Connect the ambient sensing microphone to this Input Pin. If multiple sense microphones are used, mix them and feed the mix to this input.

Reference - Connect the program material taken from the output that feeds the amplifier(s) after it has been post-processed by any filters/equalizers and non-linear components such as compressors and/or limiters.

Outputs

Audio signal pins are represented by a () circle, and traditional wiring is represented by a thin black line.

Program - The program material with the Continuous Ambient Compensation gain applied.

Ambient - Monitor output of the actual recovered ambient signal.

1. Set the Mic/Spkr Distance control to the distance (in meters) between the sensing microphone and the nearest loudspeaker.
2. Play the program material.
3. Force the ambient compensator to maximum gain:
   1. set the Ambient Threshold control at -60 dB
   2. set the Maximum Gain control to the desired value.
4. Adjust the microphone Max RMS Input Level (in the Mic/Line In component) so that the microphone signal level entering the Continuous Ambient Compensator is as high as possible but does not clip. Monitor the clip indicator in the Mic/Line In component.
5. The Program Reduction meter shows how much program material is removed from the microphone signal. After at least ten seconds, the reduction should be between -10dB and -20dB. If it isn't, see Notes and Trouble Shooting below.
6. Force the Continuous Ambient Compensator to minimum gain:
   1. set the Ambient Threshold control to 20 dB
   2. set the Minimum Gain to the desired value.
7. With the program material still playing, set the Ambient Threshold control to about 5 dB above the ambient signal level represented by the moving orange dot.
8. Now when the ambient signal level rises it will enter the gain region and gain is applied to the program material.
9. Adjust the Attack Time control to the desired value. The attack time determines how quickly the gain responds to a rising ambient signal detector level.
10. Adjust the Release Time control to the desired value. The release time determines how quickly the gain responds to a falling ambient signal detector level. The Release Time is forced to be greater than or equal to the Attack Time.
11. Adjust the gain Ratio control to its desired value. A value of 1 results in a gain change that matches the ambient signal level change. A value of 0.5 results in 0.5 dB of gain change for every 1 dB of ambient signal level change. Likewise, a value of 2 results in 2 dB of gain change for every 1 dB of ambient signal level change.

Continuous Ambient Compensator Properties

Audio Bandwidth

Since lower frequencies are dominant in most ambient signals, the Continuous Ambient Compensator provides the capability of specifying the upper limit of the audio bandwidth used to measure for compensation. Lowering the upper limit of the audio bandwidth causes the compensator to use fewer resources.

This property does not affect the program material audio bandwidth, which is always full bandwidth.

Microphone Filter

Determines if the Mic Filter is active and available in the Control Panel.

Relative Venue Size

This determines the size of the loudspeaker(s)-to-microphone or system response modeler.

The smaller the model, the fewer the processing resources required by the component.

If the Continuous Ambient Compensator does not sufficiently remove the program material from the microphone signal, increase the venue size.

Detector Time Constant

Selects a preset detector time (in seconds), or enables the Detector Time control in the Control Panel.

Graphic Properties

Label

Use the Label property to change the name of the component in the schematic. The Label property defaults to the component name. To learn more about renaming schematic elements, see Organizing Your Design.

Position

The coordinates reference a specific place in the schematic - for example,"100,100" (horizontal, vertical). 0,0 is the upper left corner of the schematic.

Fill

Sets the fill color of the component in the schematic.

Script Access Properties

Code Name

Displays the currently assign name for control access. You can use the auto-assigned name or customize it. Q-SYS will automatically check all Code Names in the design to ensure name is unique.

Script Access

Defines whether the component will be accessible by script and/or externally, or not at all. Choices include All, External, None (default), and Script.

• None (default) - Not accessible by any script, plugin, or by Q-SYS Remote Control Protocol (QRC).
• Script - Can be accessed by scripts, such as Text Controller, Block Controllers, and plugins only.
• External - Can only be accessed by 3rd party controls systems using component commands from the Q-SYS Remote Control Protocol (QRC).
• All - No restrictions, can be accessed by 3rd party control systems via Q-SYS Remote Control Protocol (QRC), or script objects or plugin objects.

Tip: Use Script Programmer Mode to quickly view the Script Access setting directly on the component in the design schematic without the need to disconnect from the Q-SYS Core processor.

The available Control Pins depend on settings in Properties.

Pin Name	Value	String	Position	Pins Available
Ambient Detector Level	-100 to 20	-100 dB to 20 dB	0.000 to 1.00	Output
Ambient Microphone to Nearest Speaker Distance	0 to 10	0 mm to 10 m	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
Ambient Threshold Level	-60 to 20	-60 dB to 20 dB	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
Applied Gain	0 to 20	0 dB to 20 dB	0.000 to 1.00	Output
Attack Time	1 to 60	1 s to 60 s	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
Bypass	0 1	active bypass	0 1	Input / Output
Detector Time	1 to 60	1.00s to 60.0s	0 to 1.00
Input Gain	-20 to 20	-20 dB to 20 dB	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
Maximum Program Gain	0 to 20	-20 dB to 20 dB	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
Microphone Filter Bandwidth	.010 to 3.00	.010 to 3.00	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
Microphone Filter Bypass	0 1	active bypass	0 1	Input / Output
Microphone Filter Frequency	10 to 5000	10 Hz to 5 kHz	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
Microphone Filter Gain	-100 to 20	-100 dB to 20 dB	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
Microphone Filter Type	1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00	Low-Pass High-Pass Band-Pass Band-stop Parametric Low-Shelf High-Shelf	0 .167 .333 .500 .667 .833 1.00	Input / Output
Minimum Program Gain	-20 to 0	-20 dB to 0 dB	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
Output Gain	-20 to 20	-20 dB to 20 dB	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
Program Cancellation	0 to -20	0 dB to -20 dB	0.000 to 1.00	Output
Ratio	0.200 to 2.00	.200 to 2.0	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output
Release Time	1 to 60	1 s to 60 s	0.000 to 1.00	Input / Output

• Initially, the compensator needs program material in order for the model to converge to the venue's system response. Depending on the type and frequency content of the program material it may take from a few seconds to over a minute for the compensator to converge to a proper model.
• During this initial calibration, the gain starts at its maximum value and is gradually reduced to its minimum value. Once the model has converged, the compensator will continuously and automatically adjust to any changes in the system response.
• Monitor the recovered ambient signal (Ambient Output). In general, if too much program material is present, increase the value of the Relative Room Size property. If this doesn't improve the ambient signal, make sure the Mic / Spkr Distance control setting is correct and that the distance has been entered in meters.
• If possible, experiment with the distance between the sensing microphone and the nearest loudspeaker. Start with a distance of about 2 meters (6 feet).
• Make sure that the Reference input is connected to the same signal that feeds the final output. (Line Out, DataPort Out, etc.) In particular, there should be no time-varying or non-linear processing such as compressors and / or limiters between the reference signal source and the final loudspeaker signal. Refer to the following example.



• Make sure that none of the signals involved in ambient compensation are clipping. It is highly recommended that the ambient compensator's output signal is post-processed with a peak limiter as shown above.
• If multiple sensing microphones are used, mix them, then feed the mix to the ambient compensator's Microphone input.
• Do not use multiple independent ambient compensators in the same acoustical zone. They most likely will interact with possible runaway gain as a result. If the program material is multi-channel, mix the reference signal as shown in the (stereo) example shown below. Ensure all control settings on the multiple compensators track.