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Multi-room Gain Sharing Automixer

Overview

The Multi-room Gain Sharing Automixer mixes microphones automatically by sharing gain continuously between channels instead of switching them on and off. Every channel always has some gain: the loudest channel gets the most, and the rest are turned down in proportion to how far below it they are. Because nothing gates, there is no on/off transition to hear and no limit on how many mics can contribute.

What makes this module different from a single-room automixer is that up to 16 signal paths running it can act as one automixer: one leader plus up to 15 followers, covering up to 1024 microphones. Every signal path in the group measures against the same shared level, so a talker in one room correctly turns down mics in another rather than each room deciding on its own.

A single module works on its own as well. Leave Mode set to Leader with nothing connected to it, or set it to Stand-alone, and the module shares gain only among its own mics.

Note

The module coordinates decisions, not audio. Each signal path produces its own Mix output with its own main gain and mute already applied, and the module never sums the group's audio together. Combine mixes downstream if you need them combined. This is what lets two rooms share one automixer while their audio stays separate, or gets combined only some of the time.

How Gain Sharing Works

Each channel's level is measured, weighted by its priority, and compared against the level of the whole group. The difference sets that channel's gain:

  • Response sets how quickly gain follows changes in level. Shorter values track speech more tightly; longer values ride over syllables more smoothly.
  • Slope sets how sharply gain falls away from the loudest mic. Higher values turn quieter channels down harder.
  • Priority weights a channel so that it holds more gain than channels of a lower priority at the same level.
  • Level shows the level currently driving the gain calculation, which is the group level when this module is part of a group.

Note

Gain sharing has no gate, so there is nothing to watch turning on and off. Judge its behavior from the gain meters, which should move smoothly and in proportion to how loud each channel is. Speech is still the realistic test signal, as steady tones do not exercise the way gain moves between talkers.

Multi-room Operation

Modes

The Mode droplist at the top of the module's controls sets the role of that signal path:

  • Stand-alone — the module shares gain among its own mics and ignores any group.
  • Leader — the module calculates the shared level for the whole group. This is the default, and a leader with no followers behaves exactly like a stand-alone automixer.
  • Follower 1 through Follower 15 — the module contributes its mics to the group and uses the leader's shared level.

Give every follower in a group a different follower number. The number comes from the Mode droplist, not from how you wire the modules.

Connecting a Group

Connect the leader's Lead control output to each follower's Follow control input. That single connection per follower is the whole setup — no audio is exchanged between signal paths for the automixer to do its job.

You can also chain followers. A follower passes the leader's information along on its own Lead output, so you can wire leader to follower A, then follower A to follower B, instead of running every connection back to the leader. A chained follower still reports to the original leader, not to the follower it hangs off.

Routing a module's own Lead output back to its own Follow input, directly or through a selector, is rejected. A module cannot follow itself.

What the Group Shares

Setting or behavior Scope
Shared level Group-wide. Every signal path calculates its channel gains against the same level, so talkers in one room turn down mics in another.
Main Gain, Mute, Response and Slope Group-wide. One set of values for the whole group.
Highest Gain indication Depends on the Highest Gain Mode property.
Per-channel Gain, Mute, Auto, Priority and Scribble Local to the signal path that owns the mic.

Change a main setting from any module in the group, follower included. A follower forwards the change to the leader, which redistributes it, and every module then shows the new value. A follower's main controls act as a remote for the group.

Setting Up a Multi-room Group

  1. Place a Multi-room Gain Sharing Automixer in each signal path that has microphones, and connect the mic sources to its Mic input.
  2. Set Mode to Leader on the signal path that will calculate the shared level.
  3. Set Mode to Follower 1, Follower 2, and so on for each remaining signal path, giving each one a different follower number.
  4. Connect the leader's Lead output to the Follow input of each follower, or chain followers by connecting one follower's Lead output to the next follower's Follow input.
  5. Set the main parameters — Response, Slope and Gain — from any module in the group.
  6. Set Auto, Gain and Priority per channel on the module that owns each microphone.
  7. Choose a Highest Gain Mode in the Properties tab if you want the Highest indicators to report a single winner for the whole group.
  8. Route each module's Mix output to its own destination, and combine mixes downstream if the design calls for it.
  9. Confirm the group formed by checking the Following indicator on each follower and the Followers count on the leader.

Monitoring Group Status

Read the two indicators at the bottom of the main control strip as a pair:

  • Following lights on a module that is set to a follower number and is receiving valid leader information. On a leader or a stand-alone module it stays dark and means nothing.
  • Followers shows how many followers are reporting to the leader, not counting the leader itself. It appears as text so that it can also report (conflict).
What you see What it means
A follower's Following is dark, and the leader counts fewer followers than expected That connection is broken. Check the wiring, the routing, or whether a preset changed a mode.
A follower's Following is lit, but the leader's count is short Two followers are sharing a follower number. Look for (conflict) on the leader.
The leader shows (conflict) More than one follower is set to the same follower number. Change one of them, and the indication clears on its own within a few seconds.

When a follower loses its leader, it falls back to sharing gain among its own mics only. Audio keeps working; only the group coordination is lost. Reconnecting re-forms the group promptly.

Note

A preset recall that changes modes can leave the group briefly without a leader while each signal path changes role. The group re-forms on its own.

Properties

Properties

  • Name: Type here to change the module name
  • Appearance: Click on the colored box to change the module color
  • Show Main Controls: Determines if the main controls are shown; when disabled only the channel strips are shown. Default: Enable. Options: Disable|Enable
  • Highest Gain Mode: Determines how the per-channel Highest indicators report in a multi-room group. Default: Local. Options: Local|Exact|Approximate
    • Local: Each signal path lights the Highest indicator for its own loudest-gain channel, regardless of what other signal paths are doing.
    • Exact: The leader picks one winning channel for the whole group, taking the per-channel gain faders into account. Only one channel in the group shows Highest.
    • Approximate: The leader picks one winning channel for the whole group from reported levels alone, ignoring the per-channel gain faders. This can name a different channel than Exact where a channel's fader has been turned down.

Tip

In a multi-room group, set Show Main Controls to Disable on the followers so that the channel strips of every signal path read as one continuous automixer. Hiding the main controls only changes the display: the main settings still apply to this signal path's Mix output, and you can still change them from the leader.

Controls

Controls

Main section:

  • Mode (Droplist): Sets this signal path's role in the group: Stand-alone, Leader, or Follower 1 through Follower 15. Default: Leader.
  • Mix Meter (LED, read-only): Audio level indicator for this signal path's automixed output.
  • Main Mute (Button, toggle): Mutes the mix output.
  • Main Gain Readout (Numeric): Displays the main gain value. Type a value or use the Gain fader. Range: -72 to +12 dB, off at minimum.
  • Main Gain (Fader): Adjusts the overall mix output gain.
  • Main Response Readout (Numeric): Displays the gain-sharing response time. Range: 0.005 to 5 seconds. Default: 0.1 seconds.
  • Main Response (Fader): Sets how quickly gain follows changes in level.
  • Main Slope Readout (Numeric): Displays the gain-sharing slope value. Range: 1.0 to 3.0. Default: 2.0.
  • Main Slope (Fader): Sets how sharply gain falls away from the loudest channel.
  • Main Level (Numeric, read-only): Displays the level currently driving the gain calculation, in dBFS. On a follower, this is the level the leader distributes for the group.
  • Following (LED, read-only): Indicates that this module is set to a follower number and is receiving valid leader information.
  • Followers (Text, read-only): Displays how many followers are reporting to this leader, and (conflict) when more than one follower shares a follower number.

Per channel:

  • Highest (LED, read-only): Indicates that this channel currently has the highest gain. What it compares against depends on the Highest Gain Mode property.
  • Auto (Button, toggle): Enables automatic gain sharing for this channel. Default: Enabled.
  • Mute (Button, toggle): Mutes this channel.
  • Gain (Fader): Adjusts this channel's gain. Range: -72 to +12 dB, off at minimum.
  • Input Meter (Meter, read-only): Displays the pre-processing input level for this channel.
  • Gain Meter (Meter, read-only): Displays the gain the automixer is applying to this channel.
  • Gain Readout (Numeric): Displays the current gain value for this channel.
  • Priority (Numeric): Displays the gain-sharing priority for this channel. Range: 0 to 10. Default: 5.
  • Priority (Fader): Sets the gain-sharing priority for this channel.
  • Scribble (Text): Names this channel. Default: In 1, In 2, and so on.

I/O

I/O

  • Follow (Input, Control): 1 signal, 1 channel. Connect the leader's Lead output here when this module is a follower.
  • Mic (Input, Audio): 1–64 signals, 1 channel
  • Lead (Output, Control): 1 signal, 1 channel. Connect to the Follow input of each follower.
  • Out (Output, Audio): 1–64 signals, 1 channel. Direct outputs, one per microphone input.
  • Mix (Output, Audio): 1 signal, 1 channel. This signal path's automixed output, with main gain and mute applied.