Fright Ideas BooTunes AMPED FI-418 Operating Manual

BooTunes Amped

OPERATING MANUAL

Manual Version 1.3 (Oct 24, 2016)

Tel: [phone] or 1-905-803-9274

www.frightideas.com

BooTunes Amped FI-418 Operating Manual - page 2

Getting Familiar with your BooTunes Amped

BooTunes Amped FI-418 Operating Manual - page 3

Connection Descriptions

Power Inputs

Power can be connected to the BooTunes Amped using either the 2.1mm barrel connector or the Power
Input/Thru terminals on the terminal block. These two power connections are internally connected, the ­terminal of the terminal block connects to the outside of the barrel connector, the + terminal connects to the
inside.

The BooTunes Amped can operate on any voltage from 12 to 24 volts DC. It draws about 50mA of current
when the amplifier is not used, or up to 2.5A when it is.

DO NOT exceed 24 volts on the power supply input or you will damage the amplifier. The power
supply used MUST be regulated to ensure the correct voltage at all loads. Unregulated power
supplies rated for 24 VDC will output a much higher voltage than shown on the label.

Busy Output

The busy output activates whenever the BooTunes is playing a triggered audio file. This output is an optically
isolated open-collector output, perfect for driving relays or inputs to other controllers. Max current is 100mA.

Power LED

This LED illuminates when the BooTunes is connected to a power source.

Play LED

This LED illuminates when the BooTunes is playing a sound. It is also used to blink error codes.

DMX LED

This LED illuminates when the BooTunes is receiving a valid DMX signal.

DMX

The DMX connection is used to connect this unit to another BooTunes Amped, BooTunes, BooBox, or a
generic DMX network. This is often done to add additional audio channels to a particular setup.

Trigger Inputs

The BooTunes has four optically isolated trigger inputs. Each trigger input has a status LED that will illuminate
when the trigger is active.

Audio Output

Use a 3.5mm stereo cable to connect this output to an amplifier or powered speakers. DO NOT use
headphones with this output.

Mixer Input

Line-level input mixed into the amplified Speaker Output. This audio will not be mixed into the Line Out output.

MP3 Output and Mixer Input Volume Controls

The MP3 Output Volume adjustment controls the Speaker Output volume of the BooTunes’ MP3 decoder only.
The Mixer Input Volume adjustment controls the Speaker Output volume of the Mix In audio.

Audio Output

Use a 3.5mm stereo cable to connect this output to an amplifier or powered speakers. DO NOT use
headphones with this output.

SD Card Slot

The BooTunes supports any standard SD card, as well as cards above 2GB (SDHC). Cards must be formatted

either FAT16 or FAT32.

BooTunes Amped FI-418 Operating Manual - page 4

Sound Folders

When the BooTunes starts up it will immediately look in the AMBIENT folder located in the root of the SD card.
If there’s a sound in there it will start playing it. Once that sound is done it will play the next one. Once all files
in the folder have been played it will start back at the first one.

If a trigger is activated any time during the playback of an ambient sound, the ambient sound is immediately
cancelled and the triggered sound is played. Once a triggered sound is playing, any additional triggers will be
ignored until the triggered sound finishes and the BooTunes returns to Ambient mode to start playing the next
sound.

Useful Tips

- If you’d prefer the ambient sound faded out instead of ending abruptly, see the _FADINT setting.

- If you’d prefer a particular triggered sound could be interrupted, see the _INT setting.

- If you’d rather the ambient mode would pick up where it left off instead of starting the next sound, see the
_RESUME setting.

- If you’d like to connect some of the extra inputs to buttons so they can be used to adjust the volume, skip a
track, pause a sound, etc. See the Settings section.

Those are just a few examples of the BooTunes settings. There’s lots more settings in the Settings section!

Sound Folders

The BooTunes needs the sounds to be located in specially named folders so it knows when you want them
played. There is an AMBIENT folder, as well as one for each input, INPUT1, INPUT2, etc. There may also be
a FIRMWARE folder. This is where it will look for firmware updates. Firmware updates are available free from
our website’s Product Support section.

SD CARD FOLDER LAYOUT

FOLDER

DESCRIPTION

\FIRMWARE\

Folder for firmware updates

\AMBIENT\

Folder for Ambient Sounds

\INPUT1\

Folder for Input 1 Sounds

\INPUT2\

Folder for Input 2 Sounds

…

\INPUT4\

Folder for Input 4 Sounds

Sound Filenames

If you want sounds to be played in a certain order then you must name them using a three-digit number with

000.MP3 being the first file. The BooTunes will play 000.MP3 first, and then next it will play 001.MP3, then

002.MP3, etc. Make sure the filenames are sequential, if the BooTunes tried to find the next numbered file and
it’s not there it will start back at 000. The highest numbered file you can use is 999.MP3

If you are not concerned about the order it plays the sounds then any filename is fine. The BooTunes will play
them in the order they were copied into the folder. When the BooTunes has played all the files in the folder it
will start back at the first one. A maximum of 65536 sound files can be put in each folder.

Operation

SD Card Layout

BooTunes Amped FI-418 Operating Manual - page 5

The BooTunes has many powerful features that can be enabled by simply creating folders with special names.
See the tables below for a list of the available features. Some settings affect the overall behavior, some are
only valid in Ambient mode, some only in combination with a trigger input. To enable a setting, simply create
an empty folder with the appropriate name. The setting folder you create must be located in the appropriate
location for it to be recognized by the BooTunes.

GLOBAL SETTINGS

The following settings are global, meaning they

affect the overall behavior of the BooTunes.

These can only be used in the SD card’s ROOT

folder.

FOLDER

NAME

#

VALUES

DESCRIPTION

_MVOL##

0 - 25

Master Volume - Think of this as the main volume control on a mixer. By
default it’s at the maximum value of 25. If you would like the BooTunes to
power-up at a lower master volume, use this option. The master volume
can also be adjusted using the trigger inputs combined with the _VOLUP,
_VOLDN, and _DUCK options in the corresponding input folders.

_BASS##

0 - 15

Bass Enhancement - This option will enable the BooTunes’ powerful bass
boosting DSP algorithm. By default this is set at 0 for no bass
enhancement.

_TREB##

0 - 15

Treble Adjust - This option can be used to increase or decrease the
treble. By default this value is set to 8. Using a lower or higher value will
decrease or increase the treble output.

_AMPMONO

Mono Speaker Output - This option sets the amplifier into a mono mode
allowing all 50 watts to be directed into a single 4 ohm speaker. Only the
right audio signal will be heard in this configuration. See the speaker
wiring diagrams for details on how to wire the speaker in this mode.

NOTE: Some units require a jumper on the circuit board to be moved

to enable mono mode. If the Busy LED continuously blinks 5 times
when this _AMPMONO folder exists then you have one of these units. To
set these units to mono you must remove the four screws, remove the lid,
then move the only jumper to the MONO position.

_NOMUTE

Disable Automatic Muting – By default the amplifier is muted if no sound
file has been playing for 5 seconds. This helps save power and reduce
heat. The two downsides are there is a very slight pop when the amplifier
is unmuted, and the Mix In input will not be amplified unless a sound file is
playing. Use this option if you prefer the amplifier to be enabled at all
times.

Settings