Calrec Hydra2 User Manual

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HYDRA2 ORGANIZER USER GUIDE

Gigabit Ethernet Networking

H2O

Calrec Audio Ltd

Nutclough Mill
Hebden Bridge
West Yorkshire
England UK
HX7 8EZ

Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

calrec.com

No part of this manual may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
and scanning, for any purpose, without the prior
written consent of Calrec Audio Ltd.

Whilst the Company ensures that all details in this
document are correct at the time of publication,
we reserve the right to alter specifications and
equipment without notice. Any changes we make
will be reflected in subsequent issues of this
document. The latest version will be available
upon request. This publication is for International
usage.

Calrec Audio Ltd reserve the right to change
specifications without notice. E & O.E.

The established policy of Calrec Audio
Ltd. is to seek improvements to the design,
specifications and manufacture of all products.
It is not always possible to provide notice outside
the company of the alterations that take place
continually.

Despite considerable effort to produce up to
date information, no literature published by
the company nor any other material that may
be provided should be regarded as an infallible
guide to the specifications available nor does
it constitute an offer for sale of any particular
product.

Apollo, Artemis, Summa, Hydra, Bluefin and
High Density Signal Processing (HDSP) are
trade marks of Calrec Audio Ltd. Dolby®E is a
registered trade mark of Dolby Laboratories, Inc.
All other trade marks are acknowledged.

© 2014 Calrec Audio Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

H2O

CONTENTS

Information 5

Important Information 6
Health and Safety 8

Introduction - Hydra2 Networking 9

Over v iew 10
Single Console Networks 11
Multi-Console Networks 12
Router Cores 14
IP Address Management 15

Confirming IPs 15
Changing IPs 15

Master Routers 16

Configuring Master & Slave Routers 16

Sync in Multi-Router Systems 17
I/O Box Identification 18

Fixed Format I/O boxes 18
Address 2 18
Modular I/O box ID setting 18

I/O Port Identification 19

Default / Native Labels 19
H2O edited custom labels 19
Console edited custom labels 19
Port Description 19

Using H20 21

Connection and Login 22

Connection 22
Accessing H2O 22

I/O Boxes and Port Labels 23

Add / Remove I/O boxes 23
Box and Port Labels 23

Access Rights 25
Manage Folders 26

Organizing Folders 26
Adding Ports to Folders 26
Port Grouping 27

Manage Clients 28
Port Patching 29

Making a Patch 29

Source Settings 30

Accessing from the Port Patching Screen 30
Accessing from the I/O Box & Setup Screen 30

Port Protection 31

Patching to a Protected Output 31

Salvos 32

Viewing and Adding To Salvos 32
Executing a Salvo 32
Saving Salvos 32
Getting and Deleting Salvos 32

Sync Sources 33
Metadata and EMBER Control 34
Hydra Patchbays 35

Creating Hydra patchbays 35
Port Sharing 36
Un-patching 36

Label & SW-P-08 Data Import / Export 37

Editing CSV files 37

SW-P-08 Configuration 38

4 HYDRA2 Operator Ma nuel

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INFORMATION

6 HYDRA2 Operator Manual

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Should you require any technical
assistance with your Calrec product
please contact your regional Calrec
distributor. Customers within the
UK or Ireland should contact Calrec
directly.

For a complete list of worldwide
distributors by region, go to www.
calrec.com or contact us for more
information.

For pre-delivery technical enquiries, UK
and Ireland customers should contact the
Calrec project manager assigned to their
order. Post delivery, the Calrec Customer
Support team will take care of your
technical enquiries.

Our UK customer support team works
closely with our global distributor network
to provide the highest level of after sales
support. Your distributor should be your
first point of contact and will often be
able to provide an instant solution, be it
technical advice, spares or a site visit by
an engineer.

Calrec UK customer support and our
global technical team provide free of
charge technical support and advice to all
customers by phone or e-mail.

Calrec after sales support includes:

• Free of charge comprehensive
technical advice and support by phone
and e-mail

• Repairs

• Quick supply of replacement or loan
hardware in the event of a failure

• Provision of export documentation for
the return of faulty parts

• Operational training

• Maintenance / technical training

• Supply of replacement components

• Supply of documentation

• Service contracts

We offer a range service contracts to our
UK and Ireland customers, from 24/7
telephone support, regular health checks
and extended warranty, amongst other
benefits. Please contact our customer
support team for more information on
service contracts.

Product Warranty

A full list of our conditions and warranties
relating to goods services is contained in
Calrec’s standard terms and conditions. A
copy of this is available on request.

Repairs

If you need to return goods to Calrec for
whatever reason, please contact your
regional distributor, or Calrec customer
support beforehand for guidance, as
well as to log the details of the problem

and receive a reference number. For
customers outside the UK and Ireland,
shipping via the distributor saves
customers from dealing with exportation
paperwork. If there is a need to send
direct to Calrec, contact us beforehand to
log the incoming repair and for assistance
with exportation documents.

Standard of Service

Ensuring the highest standards is a
priority, if you have any comments on
the level of service, product quality or
documentation offered to you by Calrec,
please contact the Calrec Customer
Support team in the UK who will endeavor
to address your issues. Calrec welcomes
all customer feedback.

For feedback specific to this document,
please contact [e-mail].

Whenever you contact Calrec
Customer Support please have the
following information to hand:

• Name

• Company

• Email Address

• Full details of enquiry (e.g. fault report)

• Serial number of faulty hardware (if
applicable)

Once this information has been provided,
a service ticket will be created to log
your enquiry. The service ticket reference
number will be given via email.

Serial Numbers

All units produced by Calrec are given
a serial number and are booked into
a central record system at the time
of manufacture. These records are
updated whenever a piece of hardware is
dispatched to or received from a customer.

When contacting Calrec Customer
Support with a hardware inquiry it
is important that the correct Calrec
serial number is provided to enable the
customer support team to provide a high
level of service.

Telephone:

(9:00am-5.30pm)

[phone]

Email - Technical: [e-mail]

Email - General: [e-mail]

Postal Address:

Calrec Audio Ltd.
Nutclough Mill,
Hebden Bridge,
West Yorkshire,
HX7 8EZ,
UK

Fax: [phone]

Website: www.calrec.com

CALREC Putting S ound in the Picture 7

After Sales Modifications

Please be aware that any modifications
other than those made or approved by
Calrec Audio Limited or their agents, may
invalidate the console’s warranty. This
includes changes to cabling provided by
Calrec and variations to the recommended
installation as detailed in Calrec
documentation.

Modifications to this equipment by any
party other than Calrec Audio Limited
may invalidate EMC and safety features
designed into the equipment. Calrec Audio
Limited can not be liable for any legal
proceedings or problems that may arise
relating to such modifications.

If in doubt, please contact Calrec Audio
Limited for guidance prior to commencing
any modification work.

Installation

In many installations the AC power
connectors will not be readily accessible,
effectively making the equipment
permanently connected. The installation
should be carried out in accordance
with all applicable installation rules and
regulations.

Service Personnel

The AC power disconnect devices are
the 2 x IEC (IEC60320-1 C13/C14)
couplers located at the rear of each unit.
WARNING: The apparatus has a dual
power system. It is essential that BOTH
AC power IEC couplers are disconnected
to prevent exposure to hazardous voltage
within the unit.

Third Party Equipment

Integrating third party equipment into
a Calrec system may compromise the
product’s ability to comply with the Class
B radiated emission limits set in the EMC
(Electro Magnetic Compatibility) standard
EN55022.

Calrec Audio Limited can not be
responsible for any non-conformities due
to use of third party equipment. If in doubt,
please contact Calrec Audio Limited for
guidance prior to integrating any third
party equipment.

ESD (Static) Handling Procedures

In its completed form, this equipment has
been designed to have a high level of
immunity to static discharges. However,
when handling individual boards and
modules, many highly static sensitive
parts are exposed. In order to protect
these devices from damage and to protect
your warranty, please observe static
handling procedures, for example, use an
appropriately grounded anti-static wrist
band. Calrec will supply an electrostatic
cord and wrist strap with all of it’s digital
products.

All modules and cards should be returned
to Calrec Audio Limited in anti-static
wrapping. Calrec Audio Limited can supply
anti-static wrapping upon request.

This applies particularly to digital products
due to the types of devices and very
small geometries used in their fabrication,
analog parts can, however, still be
affected.

LEAD FREE STICKERLEAD FREE

RoHS Legislation

In order to comply with European RoHS
(Reduction of Hazardous Substances)
legislation, Calrec PCB and cable
assemblies are produced with lead-free
(tin/copper/silver) solder instead of tin/
lead solder.

In the unlikely event of a customer
having to carry out any re-soldering on
Apollo, Artemis or Hydra2 hardware,
it is imperative that lead-free solder is
used; contaminating lead-free solder with
leaded solder is likely to have an adverse
effect on the long-term reliability of the
product. Circuit boards assembled with
lead-free solder can be identified (in
accordance with IPC/JEDEC standards)
by a small oval logo (see below) on the
top-side of the circuit board near the PCB
reference number (8xx-xxx). The same
logo is used on the connector hoods of
soldered cable assemblies.

If in doubt, please check with a Calrec
customer support engineer before
carrying out any form of re-soldering

ISO 9001 and RAB Registered

Calrec Audio Ltd has been issued
the ISO9001: 2008 standard by the
Governing Board of ISOQAR.

The award, for both UKAS and RAB
registration (see below), is the most
comprehensive of the ISO9000
international standards. Granted in
recognition of excellence across design,
development, manufacture and after­sales support, the certification follows a
rigorous and thorough review of Calrec’s
internal and external communication and
business procedures.

8 HYDRA2 Operator Ma nuel

Information

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Important Safety Instructions:

• Read these instructions.

• Keep these instructions.

• Heed all warnings.

• Follow all instructions.

• Do not use this apparatus near water.

• Clean only with dry cloth.

• Do not block any ventilation openings.
Install in accordance with the
manufacturer’s instructions.

• Do not install near any heat sources
such as radiators, heat registers,
stoves, or other apparatus (including
amplifiers) that produce heat.

• Protect the power cord from being
walked on or pinched particularly at
the plugs, convenience receptacles,
and the point where they exit from the
apparatus.

• Use only with the cart, stand, tripod,
bracket, or table specified by the
manufacturer, or sold with the
apparatus. When a cart is used,
use caution when moving the cart/
apparatus combination to avoid injury
from tip-over.

• Refer all servicing to qualified service
personnel. Servicing is required when
the apparatus has been damaged in
any way, such as power-supply cord
or plug is damaged, liquid has been
spilled or objects have fallen into the
apparatus, the apparatus has been
exposed to rain or moisture, does not
operator normally, or has been dropped.

• Warning: To reduce the risk of fire
or electric shock, do not expose this
apparatus to rain or moisture.

• Not intended for outdoor use.

• This equipment must be EARTHED.

• Before starting any servicing operation,
equipment must be isolated from the
AC power supply. The disconnect
devices are the 2 x IEC connectors
(IEC 60320-1 C13/C14 couplers).

• Do not allow ventilation slots to be
blocked. Do not leave the equipment
powered up with the dust cover fitted.

Cleaning

For cleaning the front panels of the
equipment we recommend using a soft
anti-static cloth, lightly dampened with
water if required.

Explanation of Warning Symbols

Triangular warning symbols contain a
black symbol on a yellow background,
surrounded by a black border.

The lightning flash with arrow head
symbol within an equilateral triangle, as
shown on this page, is intended to alert
the user to the presence of dangerous
voltages and energy levels within the
product’s enclosure that may be of
sufficient magnitude to constitute a risk of
electric shock or injury.

The exclamation mark within an
equilateral triangle, as shown on this page,
is intended to prompt the user to refer
to important operating or maintenance
instructions in the documentation supplied
with the product.

Earthing

This is a Class I product. An Earth
connection MUST be provided in each AC
power cord.

The Earth Bolt connection at the rear of
the console should be connected to Earth
using Earth cable at least 6mm2 in cross
section (10 AWG).

Lithium Battery Replacement

Caution: Danger of explosion if battery is
incorrectly replaced. Replace only with the
same or equivalent type. Batteries must
not be exposed to excessive heat such as
sunshine, fire or the like

This device complies with part 15 of
the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to
the following two conditions:

1. This device may not cause harmful
interference

2. This device must accept any
interference received, including
interference that may cause undesired
operation.

DANGEROUS VOLTAGES

IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS

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INTRODUCTION - HYDRA2 NETWORKING

10 HYDRA2 Operator Manual

Introduction - Hydra2 Networking

OVERVIEW

The Hydra2 system is designed to
provide seamless, scalable audio
networking of Calrec audio consoles
with Calrec audio I/O interfaces.
Hydra2 allows large numbers of
audio inputs and outputs to be easily
connected, shared and controlled,
irrespective of their location, as well
as providing comprehensive built in
redundancy.

Audio consoles and I/O can be physically
added to the network as and when
needed. Added hardware automatically
syncs with the rest of the system and
makes itself available for use.

The Hydra2 Organizer, H2O, is an
administrator-level user interface designed
to provide control over the network
without the use of an audio console.
Amongst other things, H2O can change
access rights for individual consoles
to selected I/O on a port by port, or by
port group basis, effectively splitting the
network to safeguard multi-production
environments. Input to output cross-point
routing can also be carried out to aid in
control room and resource management.

Hydra2 provides 1-to-N routing;
inputs may be routed to any number
of destinations. They can be used in
multiple places on a console, on multiple
consoles, as well as being sent directly to
multiple outputs by cross-point routing, all
simultaneously.

Hydra2’s interconnections are made
using SFPs to allow use of copper or fiber
connections. Distances are only limited by
the SFP type. The capacity of the network
is vast, both in terms of the number of
input and output ports and the switching
capability.

Each connection between Hydra2 units
can carry up to 512 signals in both
directions, simultaneously, at 48kHz.

I/O interfaces are available in a range of
format types including balanced analog,
balanced and unbalanced AES digital,
MADI, Dolby-E decoders, SDI embedders
and de-embedders. New formats can
easily be supported as they arrive. Hydra2
also supports non-audio I/O interfaces in
the form of general purpose inputs and
outputs (GPIO) for remote control input
tallies and output switching. Please refer
to the Hydra2 installation manual for more
details on available I/O types.

As with all Calrec products, audio
quality and product reliability are our top
concerns. All Hydra2 hardware and audio
interfaces are designed to the highest
standards with no compromise to audio
performance. All analog pre-amps and
line level paths are designed around our
proven and highly respected circuitry,
providing very high headroom with a very
low noise floor. Our lossless proprietary
network transportation protocol does not
compromise the high audio quality within
the digital domain. Particular attention
is also paid to communications reliability
and system status monitoring, power
generation and distribution, thermal
management and physical robustness.
The system is designed with redundancy
and fault detection at the forefront,
providing backup paths for data and audio
in the event of hardware failure, to keep
any disruption of audio or control to the
absolute minimum. All critical components
are fed from dual power supplies.

Hydra2 supports the Ember and SW-P-08
protocols for integration with third party
routers and control systems to enable
remote control and data transfer.

CALREC Putting S ound in the Picture 11

Apollo, Artemis and Summa consoles
rely on the Hydra2 system for all audio
routing. A single, standalone console
uses a simple Hydra2 network with all
I/O boxes having direct connections
to the router card in the console’s
processing core. This creates a star
formation, in that all elements connect
to a central point; the router card.

FIGURE 1 - STAR FORMATION

The router card is responsible for directing
audio and data across the Hydra2
network and within the processing rack
itself. When an input port is patched to a
fader, the router card requests that the
relevant I/O box sends audio from the
selected input port and passes that audio
on to the DSP card within the processing
rack for use by the console. When an
output is patched, the router card takes
the output audio from the DSP card and
sends it to the relevant I/O box/port.
When an input to output patch is made,
the router requests the input and then
sends it directly to the I/O box output port
in question.

The comprehensive routing system and
the ability to perform point to point input
to output patching reduces the need for
I/O to be wired via physical patch points.
Any input can be used multiple times in
multiple places, simultaneously sending
audio to any/all input channels as well as
other locations on the console such as
external inputs or monitor inputs. All audio

can then be patched directly to multiple
output ports if the raw signal is required
by other equipment. Console DSP audio
outputs can also be sent to multiple
output ports / I/O boxes and be made
available to other consoles via Hydra
Patchbays.

SINGLE CONSOLE NETWORKS

Input to output patching provides routing
capability without the use of DSP or the
need for a control surface.

Multiple port patching to mixed I/O
formats along with input to output
patching reduces the need for external
audio routers, distribution amplifiers, and
convertors such as ADCs / DACs.

Router /

Processing

Rack

Audio I/O Audio I/O

Audio I/OAudio I/O

FIGURE 2 - EXAMPLE OF A SINGLE CONSOLE NETWORK

87654321

STATUS

ActConActCon

PORT2PORT1FANPSU

48V SIG1L48V SIG1R48V SIG2L48V SIG2R48V SIG3L48V SIG3R48V SIG4L48V SIG

4R 1L

48V SIG

5L 1R

48V SIG

5R 2L

48V SIG

6L 2R

48V SIG6RSIG SIG SIG SIG

RESET

R

YHD

A

AN LOGA

12 4-

INPUTS OUTPUTS

87654321

STATUS

ActConActCon

PORT2PORT1FANPSU

48V SIG1L48V SIG1R48V SIG2L48V SIG2R48V SIG3L48V SIG3R48V SIG4L48V SIG

4R 1L

48V SIG

5L 1R

48V SIG

5R 2L

48V SIG

6L 2R

48V SIG6RSIG SIG SIG SIG

RESET

R

YHD

A

AN LOGA

12 4-

INPUTS OUTPUTS

87654321

STATUS

ActConActCon

PORT2PORT1FANPSU

48V SIG1L48V SIG1R48V SIG2L48V SIG2R48V SIG3L48V SIG3R48V SIG4L48V SIG

4R 1L

48V SIG

5L 1R

48V SIG

5R 2L

48V SIG

6L 2R

48V SIG6RSIG SIG SIG SIG

RESET

R

YHD

A

AN LOGA

12 4-

INPUTS OUTPUTS

Control Room

Equipment Room Studio Floor

Audio Inputs / Outputs

Audio Inputs / Outputs

Audio Inputs / Outputs

e.g. for playout devices, external

effects units, loudspeaker monitoring

feeds etc.

e.g. for external routers, servers,

transmission equipment etc.

e.g. for microphones, foldback /

monitor feeds etc.

Control Surface

Processing Rack

Hydra2 Connection

Control Surface Connection

12 HYDRA2 Operator Manual

Introduction - Hydra2 Networking

MULTI-CONSOLE NETWORKS

Routers from different processing
racks can be connected together.
Networking consoles in this way
gives access to all I/O from all control
surfaces and system PCs on the
same Hydra2 network.

Each console’s access to I/O can be
managed from the Hydra2 Organizer
(H2O). Individual consoles can be denied
access to I/O by groups of I/O boxes,
specific I/O boxes, specific ports, or
groups of ports.

Inputs can be used simultaneously by
multiple consoles on the same network.
Any console with access can patch audio
to any of its DSP inputs and to any output
ports.

Router to router connections, like I/O
boxes, can be made using any of the
16 front panel Hydra2 router ports.
Connecting racks together creates
multiple linked star formations, as shown
in Figure 1. All 3 routers shown have
access to all of the I/O shown. The path
from I/O box to console may pass through
multiple router cards before reaching the
console’s own router.

It is important that there is only one path
between any two points in the network
(not counting secondary paths designed
for redundancy, or configured trunks for
increased bandwidth). Having multiple
paths between two points will cause
data collisions and instability. Figure 2
shows an incorrect connection of three
processing racks. The addition of a third
router-to-router link creates a duplicate
path. The route between any two
processing racks can be direct or via the
other processing rack. Removing any one
of the three marked links will correct the
problem.

When connecting two or more routers
together it is important that one of
them, and only one, is configured to
be the Master Router.

Please see the Master Router section of
this document for more details.

It is also important to the ensure IP
address compatibility of the systems
being connected together.

Please see the IP Address management
section of this document for more details.

FIGURE 1 - CORRECT CONNECTION OF A THREE STAR FORMATION NETWORK

Router /

Processing

Rack

Audio I/O Audio I/O

Audio I/OAudio I/O

Router /

Processing

Rack

Audio I/O Audio I/O

Audio I/OAudio I/O

Router /

Processing

Rack

Audio I/O Audio I/O

Audio I/OAudio I/O

Three router racks connected with no duplicate paths.

Router /

Processing

Rack

Audio I/O Audio I/O

Audio I/OAudio I/O

Router /

Processing

Rack

Audio I/O Audio I/O

Audio I/OAudio I/O

Router /

Processing

Rack

Audio I/O Audio I/O

Audio I/OAudio I/O

FIGURE 2 - INCORRECT CONNECTION OF A THREE STAR FORMATION NETWORK

Incorrect Connection The additional link creates duplicate paths.

Each Hydra2 link is capable of carrying up
to 512 channels of audio simultaneously
in each direction. This imposes no
limitations over I/O box to router
connections as no single I/O box contains
more than 512 input or output ports.

It is important however in multi-rack
systems to understand the network
topology; a single connection between
two routers is also limited to 512 channels
in each direction. This imposes a limit on
the amount of I/O that can be accessed
via other routers’ connections at any
given time. The bandwidth available is