Parrot You Com User Manual

User Manual

You/Com

Audiocommunicatie

b.v.
Motorenweg 5-k
2623CR Delft (The Netherlands)
tel:

[phone]

fax:

[phone]
e-mail: [e-mail]
URL : www.youcom.nl

Parrot

v1.0

9 published November 16, 2007

Copyright 2005

No part of this publication may be reproduced and/or made public by means of printing,

photocopying, microfilm or any other way without a prior written permission from

You/Com (www.youcom.nl).

Table of contents

1

Quick start

.......................................................

7

2

Introduction

...................................................

11

2.1

Front view

..........................................................................

11

2.2

Rear view

...........................................................................

12

2.3

Memory card

......................................................................

13

2.4

Audio inputs

.......................................................................

13

2.5

Audio outputs

.....................................................................

14

2.6

Bluetooth

...........................................................................

15

2.7

USB

...................................................................................

16

3

Operation

......................................................

19

3.1

Pushbuttons

.......................................................................

19

3.2

Input sensitivity switches

.....................................................

20

3.3

Level controller

...................................................................

21

3.4

Visual feedback

...................................................................

22

3.5

Attention tones

...................................................................

23

4

Recording audio

..............................................

25

5

Organising audio samples

................................

29

6

Sending audio live or in a file

...........................

33

6.1

Pairing with a mobile phone

..................................................

33

6.2

Make a live connection (high-grade telephone quality)

..............

35

6.3

Record the LIVE connection (telephone logging)

.......................

36

6.4

Sen

d audio files (original high quality)

.....................................

36

7

Connect to PC

................................................

39

7.1

USB audio

..........................................................................

39

7.2

USB removable hard disk

......................................................

40

7.3

Insert memory card in PC

.....................................................

40

6

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8

User settings

..................................................

41

Annex 1: Analog overview

.....................................

46

Annex 2: Software upgrade

...................................

48

Annex 3: Troubleshooting

......................................

50

Annex 4: Specifications

.........................................

51

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7

1

QUICK START

Step 1: Connect cables

:

Connect the MIC/LINE cable to
the MIC/LINE-input and the
headphones cable to the
PHONES-connector on the rear.
Choose either the LINE or MIC
input with the LINE/MIC switch.
Select sensitivity with the H/M/L
switch (see below).

Step 2: Insert a memory card

:

Insert a Secure Digital

(SD

) card

into the memory-slot

on the

left
hand side of the unit with the
card’s topside facing away from
the belt-clip.
Switch ON the unit by pressing

for 1 second until the ON light
lights up. Green means there is
power in the battery.
The MEM light should not light up. This means that there is enough memory left
for a first recording.

Step 3: Adjust input level

:

Press the level-controller

on the
front briefly to light up [INPUT].
Talk into the microphone with a
level you think you will use.
Turn the level-control (while
[INPUT] is still lit) until your voice
makes the level-meter run into
yellow occasionally.

8

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Parrot

The top light of the level-meter is
a red overload

indication. This
can light up even when level
seems to be in the green or
yellow region.

!

This overload indication must never
light up. If so, set the L, H or M
switch to a lower sensitivity or even
to LINE and then re-adjust the input­level on the front.

Step 4: Adjust headphones level

:

Wait until the PHONES light is
on.
Talk into the microphone with a
level you think you will use.
Turn the level-control until you
have a comfortable level on your
headphones.

Step 5: Start Recording

:

Press (and hold briefly) the [REC]
button on the side panel to start
recording.
The red REC light on both the
side panel and on the front will
switch on and you will get a
‘beep-up’

on your headphones.

(Place Markers

):

During recording (or playback later on) markers can be set by pressing [MARK]
on the side panel. The MARK light will light up briefly indicating it has been set.

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9

Stop recording:

Press (and hold briefly) the
[STOP] button on the side panel
for at least 1 second to stop
recording.
The red REC light on both the
side panel and on the front will
switch off and you will get a
‘beep-down’

on your

headphones.

Play last item:

Press [PLAY] right after recording to

play-back this last item.

The green PLAY light on both the side panel and on the front will switch on.

Step 6a: Live contribution

including playback of item

(First make sure your Parrot has been
paired once. See paragraph

6.1

for

pairing with a mobile phone)

Press [GO] once and the LIVE
light on the front will switch on.
The NETW light will start blinking
slowly to indicate that it is trying
to reach the paired Bluetooth
device (may be very brief).

NETW lights up steady when the Parrot is successfully connected to the mobile
phone (see paragraph

6.1

for pairing with a mobile phone).
Use the keyboard on the mobile phone to make the desired connection (make
sure level on mobile phone is set right)
Hold down the level-controller until RETURN lights up and adjust the mix
between the local signal (low side of the bar) and the return signal (high side of
the bar). RETURN will normally be somewhere in the middle.

10

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Parrot

Use [-], [+ ] and PLAY to insert items in the contribution.
During playing out of an item, the microphone is muted
Use the keyboard on the mobile phone to end the connection to the studio.
Press [GO] twice to end the connection with the mobile phone.

Step 6b: Send one item (File transfer

)

Press [GO] twice and the FILE
light on the front will switch on.
The NETW light will start blinking
slowly to indicate that it is trying
to reach the paired Bluetooth
device.

The FILE light will flash fast during the transfer of the file. The LED-bar will
show the progress by lighting up 1 to 7

LEDs each for about 14% of the file
size already transmitted. (if this does not happen, try to pair your mobile phone
again to the Parrot; see paragraph

6.1

)

Transfer successful

: The FILE light will light up steady and NETW will blink
green. Press [GO] to end file transfer mode.
Transfer failed

: The FILE light will blink and NETW will blink red. Press [GO] to

end file-transfer-mode or try again by pressing [GO] 3 times.

Step 7: Switch off the unit

Power down the unit by pressing

for 1 second until ON light
switches off. Try pressing it for 5
seconds, if for some reason it
does not switch off.

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11

2

INTRODUCTION

The Parrot is designed to make quick and simple audio recordings using professional
microphones/line inputs and headphones. Once the recordings are made, you can
select the interesting audio samples and send them out to either a notebook for
further editing, as a file transfer directly into the studio

, or live on the air using a

mobile network.

2.1

Front view

6

7

8

9

5

4

3

2

1

1 - Level controller

for input level, phones volume and send/return mix

2 - Level indicator

for input level, level of stored audio during playback
3 - Indication for the current function of the level-controller
4 - Progress and function indication for the [GO] button
5 - [GO] button

to initiate a live audio connection or a file transfer

6 - [On/Off] button

to switch the unit on (press button until ON LED is lit) or
switch it off (press button until ON LED is off), pushing this button for more
then 5 seconds is a failsafe OFF function in case the unit is stuck.
7 - Indication for the ON/OFF status and battery-power-left alerts
8 – 2-digit display shows

takenr

., battery/memory status and level settings

9 - Indications for PLAY/RECORD status and memory-left alerts

12

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2.2

Rear view

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 - unbalanced

line output
2 - headphones output
3 - input sensitivity switches
4 - balanced

line/microphone input

5 - Bluetooth

antenna
6 - battery charge indication
7 - USB connector

(also used for battery charge power)

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13

2.3

Memory card

Any Secure Digital memory card

can be used for the Parrot to store the audio on.

We have tested

Sandisk and Dane-

Elec up to 512

MByte. The card can only be
inserted one way which is with the slanted side inwards and the bottom side
pointed towards the belt-clip

of the Parrot.

2.4

Audio inputs

Microphone-

or line-input

The Parrot has

one input for balanced
microphone- or line-level audio on a
female XLR connector

on the rear of

the unit.

LINE or MIC input is selected with a
slide switch on the rear.

The sensitivity

of this input is set with a second slide switch: H/M/L for high­medium- or low-sensitivity (e.g. a weak incoming signal needs a high sensitivity, see
also

Annex 4: Specifications

). The level-indication on the LED-bar should show only
green or yellow lights on the audio you want to use, with the level-control set to
about 70% (L7, see section

3.3

). Select a lower sensitivity or lower level-control

when the red LED lights up even briefly.

14

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2.5

Audio outputs

Headphone output

The 6.3mm jack socket on the rear
connects to 8-32ohms headphones to
give highest power output. Higher
impedance headphones can also be
connected, but may result in a lower
signal level.

Line output

The rear panel also holds a cinch
socket (

a.k.a. RCA or PHONO jack) to

connect to

an unbalanced line input

.

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Parrot

15

2.6

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a wireless interface and there is therefore no physical connector. This
interface connects to another BT device like a mobile telephone. Depending on
whether LIVE or FILE is selected with the [GO] key, the Parrot can be either a
‘modem’ or a ‘headphone

’ to this mobile phone.

Bluetooth used as a headset (LIVE

)

Audio coming in from in this case the mobile phone can be heard in the headphones.
The mix of your own input signal and this return-audio is made with the RETURN
level adjust (see section

3.3

). The signal from the MIC/LINE input or a played out
recording on the Parrot is sent towards the mobile phone. The level of this signal is
adjusted by the sensitivity switches described in section

3.2

) and by the level

control (see section

3.3

) on the Parrot. This function is also called “digital hybrid”.

Both the incoming and outgoing signal can be stored separately in a ‘stereo’
recording when RECORD is pressed during a LIVE connection. This function is also
called “telephone logging

”.

Some mobile phones have an extra
volume control for the Bluetooth
headset. Make sure that this is set to a
comfortable level (see the manual of the
mobile phone).

See chapter 6 for pairing with another
Bluetooth device and making such a LIVE
connection.

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Parrot

Bluetooth

used as a modem (FILE)

Most mobile phones that have Bluetooth, also have modem functionality (see the
manual of your mobile phone). This could for instance be used to read your email
with your laptop through this Bluetooth modem. The Parrot can use this function to
set up a data link to a server in the studio and store the audio-files there to be used
for further editing or broadcasting. The parameter “

file_transfer_profile” in the user-

settings-file (see chapter

8) should be set to “0 ->

Zmodem Modem”. The file will
only be sent to the local mobile phone, in case this parameter is set to “1 -> Object
Push Profile (OBEX)” and can then be forwarded to the studio by email (e.g. through
a 3G network

like UMTS

). See chapter 6 for pairing with another Bluetooth device

and making such FILE connections.

2.7

USB

The Parrot introduces itself as both
an external audio-card and a file
storage device, when the mini-USB is
connected to

a USB-host (e.g. a PC).

!

The Parrot will activate the

audio

function when the Parrot is switched

ON.
!

The Parrot will activate the

storage

function when the Parrot is switched

OFF

.

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17

USB audio

The Parrot’s headphones

are an extra output and the MIC or LINE input is an extra
audio input for the PC (when the Parrot is switched ON). So while editing some
audio on a notebook

, the result can be monitored on your own professional
headphones. The mix of your own input signal and this return-audio is made with
the RETURN level adjuster (see section

3.3

). The extra professional input can be

used to make good quality recordings on the PC.

USB mass storage device

The memory card inside the Parrot will act like a removable hard disk on the PC
(when the Parrot is switched off). The audio files with their markers can now be
used directly by any program. This also enables you to edit the settings inside the
.

ini file (see chapter 8). Taking out the SD card and putting it in the PC’s card reader

has the same effect.

USB battery charging

The internal batteries are charged when the Parrot is connected to another USB
device that is capable of giving out enough current on the USB-power (up to
500mA, like any standard PC or mains adapter with such a connector). The Parrot
will limit the power used for charging, to prevent damaging the other USB-device.
Therefore charging the batteries will go faster when no power is needed to feed the
Parrot itself and so it is better to switch off the Parrot for battery charging. The
green LED indicates the charging status: fast-blink means ‘charging’, slow-blink
means topping-of (slow charge), occasional flash means ‘trickle-charging’, off
means ‘no power coming from USB’