System Example D: Connecting stageboxes to a Live console over Blacklight II

Note: When using up to 128 inputs (4 MADI ports), compatibility across both 96 and 48 kHz sample rate operation can be maximised by attaching stageboxes/MADI devices to odd numbered BLII Concentrator ports. This reduces the requirement to physically re-patch MADI connections and re-route inputs, as the redundant connection scheme will still be valid when even numbered ports are deactivated for 48 kHz operation.
  1. Set the Live console's clock source to Internal (Int), as described in the main Clocking section.
  2. Connect each stagebox MADI port Out & In to an 'A' MADI port on the back of the Blacklight II.MADI Concentrator unit using a pair of 75 Ω BNC coax cables (max 75 m, conforming to spec defined in the Installation Guide).
  3. If a redundant MADI connection is required, connect each stagebox MADI port 2 Out & In to the corresponding 'B' MADI port on the Blacklight II Concentrator (e.g. stagebox ports 1 & 2 to ports A1 & B1 respectively). Note different connection points for 8- and 16-port Blacklight Concentrators:
    If an 8-port version of the BLII Concentrator is being used (one row of 8 MADI ports on rear), turn on Redundancy Status for the relevant pair of MADI ports in the console's I/O page (Menu > Setup > I/O) under the BL II column (the ports shown correspond to the physical MADI ports on the rear of the Concentrator unit).
    MADI connections on the 16-port version of the BLII Concentrator are always redundant so manual enabling of redundant mode in software is not required.
  4. Ensure each stagebox is set to clock from MADI, as described in the main Clocking section.
  5. Connect Blacklight Concentrator port A Main (and A Backup if a redundant Blacklight connection is required) to Blacklight port 1a (and 1b if connecting redundantly) on the (Master) console. Console Blacklight ports 2a and 2b may be used for connecting to a second Blacklight Concentrator unit.
  6. The console will clock the Blacklight Concentrator over the Blacklight connection, which in turn provides clock for each of the stagebox(es) over MADI.

The tables below summarise the connections required:

Blacklight II Connections Description
A Main Connection to Master Live console } Redundant pair
A Backup Backup connection to Master Live console

8-port BLII Concentrator
MADI Connections
(8-port BLII Concentrator)		 Redundant Mode:
4 MADI Stageboxes		 Non-redundant Mode:
8 MADI Stageboxes
1A Connection to stagebox 1 } Redundant pair Connection to stagebox 1
1B Backup connection to stagebox 1 Connection to stagebox 2
2A Connection to stagebox 2 } Redundant pair Connection to stagebox 3
2B Backup connection to stagebox 2 Connection to stagebox 4
3A Connection to stagebox 3 } Redundant pair Connection to stagebox 5
3B Backup connection to stagebox 3 Connection to stagebox 6
4A Connection to stagebox 4 } Redundant pair Connection to stagebox 7
4B Backup connection to stagebox 4 Connection to stagebox 8

Note that a mix of redundant and non-redundant connections may be used, e.g. two stageboxes connected redundantly to 1A-2B, four stageboxes connected non-redundantly to 3A-4B. Ensure the Redundancy Status button is enabled in software for stageboxes connected redundantly.

16-port BLII Concentrator
MADI Connections
(16-port BLII Concentrator)		 Redundant Mode:
4 MADI Stageboxes
1A Connection to stagebox 1 } Redundant pair
1B Backup connection to stagebox 1
2A Connection to stagebox 2 } Redundant pair
2B Backup connection to stagebox 2
3A Connection to stagebox 3 } Redundant pair
3B Backup connection to stagebox 3
4A Connection to stagebox 4 } Redundant pair
4B Backup connection to stagebox 4
5A Connection to stagebox 5 } Redundant pair
5B Backup connection to stagebox 5
6A Connection to stagebox 6 } Redundant pair
6B Backup connection to stagebox 6
7A Connection to stagebox 7 } Redundant pair
7B Backup connection to stagebox 7
8A Connection to stagebox 8 } Redundant pair
8B Backup connection to stagebox 8

System Examples

Setup: Clocking - System Example A: Connecting stageboxes to a Live console via MADI
Setup: Clocking - System Example B: Clocking the Live console from an external source
Setup: Clocking - System Example C: Connecting stageboxes to two Live consoles via MADI
Setup: Clocking - System Example D: Connecting stageboxes to a Live console over Blacklight II
Setup: Clocking - System Example E: Connecting stageboxes to two Live consoles over Blacklight II
Setup: Clocking - System Example F: Connecting stageboxes to three Live consoles
Setup: Clocking - System Example G: Daisy-chained stageboxes for 48 kHz operation

Useful Links

Clocking
Index and Glossary