SONIFEX CM-AESX3 Single 3 way AES/EBU Passive Splitter Owner’s Manual

June 8, 2024
SONIFEX

HANDBOOK
Passive Packs
CM-AESX3 3 Way Passive Digital AES3 Splitter, with XLR Manufacturers of Audio Products for AV, Installed
Sound, Broadcast Radio & Broadcast TV

CM-AESX3 Single 3 way AES/EBU Passive Splitter

For the latest Sonifex handbook information please visit the Sonifex website at www.sonifex.co.uk

This handbook is for use with the following product:
CM-AESX3 3 Way Digital AES3 Splitter, XLR
Stock Code: 30-379
Artwork: AW10917
©Sonifex Ltd, 2020
All Rights Reserved
Revision 1.04, February 2020
Sonifex Ltd, 61, Station Road, Irthlingborough,
Northants, NN9 5QE, England.
Tel: +44 (0)1933 650 700
Fax: +44 (0)1933 650 726
Email: sales@sonifex.co.uk
Website: https://www.sonifex.co.uk

Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of the vendor. Sonifex Ltd shall not be liable for any loss or damage whatsoever arising from the use of information or any error contained in this manual.
No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, information storage and retrieval systems, for any purpose other than the purchaser’s personal use, without the express written permission of Sonifex Ltd. Unless otherwise noted, all names of companies, products and persons contained herein are part of a completely fictitious adaptation and are designed solely to document the use of Sonifex product.
Made in the UK by

Register Online for an Extended 2 Year Warranty
Product:
Serial No: www.sonifex.co.uk/register

Product Warranty – 2 Year Extended

As standard, Sonifex products are supplied with a 1 year back to base warranty. In order to register the date of purchase and so that we can keep you informed of any product design improvements or modifications, it is important to complete the warranty registration online. Additionally, if you register the product on the Sonifex website, you can increase your product warranty to 2 years. Go to the Sonifex website at: www.sonifex.co.uk/register to apply for your 2 year warranty.

Sonifex Warranty & Liability Terms & Conditions

Definitions

‘the Company’ means Sonifex Ltd and where relevant includes companies within the same group of companies as Sonifex Limited.
‘the Goods’ means the goods or any part thereof supplied by the Company and where relevant includes: work carried out by the Company on items supplied by the Purchaser; services supplied by the Company; and software supplied by the Company.
‘the Purchaser’ means the person or organisation who buys or has agreed to buy the Goods.
‘the Price’ means the Price of the Goods and any other charges incurred by the Company in the supply of the Goods.
‘the Warranty Term’ is the length of the product warranty which is usually 12 months from the date of despatch; except when the product has been registered at the Sonifex website when the Warranty Term is 24 months from the date of despatch.
‘the Contract’ means the quotation, these Conditions of Sale and any other document incorporated in a contract between the Company and the Purchaser.
This is the entire Contract between the parties relating to the subject matier hereof and may not be changed or terminated except in writing in accordance with the provisions of this Contract. A reference to the consent, acknowledgement, authority or agreement of the Company means in writing and only by a director of the Company.

Warranty

a. The Company agrees to repair or (at its discretion) replace Goods which are found to be defective (fair wear and tear excepted) and which are returned to the Company within the Warranty Term provided that each of the following are satisfied:
i. notification of any defect is given to the Company immediately upon its becoming apparent to the Purchaser;
ii. the Goods have only been operated under normal operating conditions and have only been subject to normal use (and in particular the Goods must have been correctly connected and must not have been subject to high voltage or to ionising radiation and must not have been used contrary to the Company’s technical
recommendations);
iii. | the Goods are returned to the Company’s premises at the Purchaser’s expense;
iv. any Goods or parts of Goods replaced shall become the property of the Company;
V. no work whatsoever (other than normal and proper maintenance) has been carried out to the Goods or any part of the Goods without the Company’s prior written consent;
vi. the defect has not arisen from a design made, furnished or specified by the Purchaser;
vii. the Goods have been assembled or incorporated into other goods only in accordance with any instructions issued by the Company;
viii. the defect has not arisen from a design modified by the Purchaser;
ix. the defect has not arisen from an item manufactured by a person other than the Company. In respect of any item manufactured by a person other than the Company, the Purchaser shall only be entitled to the benefit of any warranty or guarantee provided by such manufacturer to the Company.
b. In respect of computer software supplied by the Company the Company does not warrant that the use of the software will be uninterrupted or error free.
c. The Company accepts liability:
i. for death or personal injury to the extent that it results from the negligence of the Company, its employees (whilst in the course of their employment) or its agents (in the course of the agency);
ii. for any breach by the Company of any statutory undertaking as to title, quiet possession and freedom from encumbrance.
d. Subject to conditions (a) and (c) from the time of despatch of the Goods from the Company’s premises the Purchaser shall be responsible for any defect in the Goods or loss, damage, nuisance or interference whatsoever consequential economic or otherwise or wastage of material resulting from or caused by or to the Goods. In particular the Company shall not be liable for any loss of profits or other economic losses. The Company accordingly excludes all liability for the same.
e. At the request and expense of the Purchaser the Company will test the Goods to ascertain performance levels and provide a report of the results of that test. The report will be accurate at the time of the test, to the best of the belief and knowledge of the Company, and the Company accepts no liability in respect of its accuracy beyond that set out in Condition (a).
f. Subject to Condition (e) no representation, condition, warranty or other term, express or implied (by statute or otherwise) is given by the Company that the Goods are of any particular quality or standard or will enable the Purchaser to attain any particular performance or result, or will be suitable for any particular purpose or use under specific conditions or will provide any particular capacity, notwithstanding that the requirement for such performance, result or capacity or that such particular purpose or conditions may have been known (or ought to have been known) to the Company, its employees or agents.
g. i. Tothe extent that the Company is held legally liable to the Purchaser for any single breach of contract, tort, representation or other act or default, the Company’s liability for the same shall not exceed the price of the Goods.
ii. The restriction of liability in Condition (g)(i) shall not apply to any liability accepted by the Seller in Condition (c).
h. Where the Goods are sold under a consumer transaction (as defined by the Consumer Transactions (Restrictions on Statements) Order 1976) the statutory rights of the Purchaser are not affected by these Conditions of Sale.

Unpacking Your Product

Each product is shipped in protective packaging and should be inspected for damage before use. If there is any transit damage take pictures of the product packaging and notify the carrier immediately with all the relevant details of the shipment. Packing materials should be kept for inspection and also for if the product needs to be returned.
The product is shipped with the following equipment so please check to ensure that you have all of the items below. If anything is missing, please contact the supplier of your equipment immediately.

Item Quantity
Product Unit 1
A3 Folded Handbook 1

Repairs & Returns

Please contact Sonifex or your supplier if you have any problems with your Sonifex product. Email technical.support@sonifex.co.uk for the repair/upgrade/ returns procedure, or for support & questions regarding the product operation.

Conformity

The products in this manual comply with the essential requirements of the relevant European health, safety and environmental protection legislation.
The technical justification file for this product is available at Sonifex Ltd. The declaration of conformity can be found at: http://www.sonifex.co.uk/ declarations

WEEE Directive

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive was agreed on 13 February 2003, along with the related Directive 2002/95/EC on Restrictions of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment (RoHS). The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) aims to minimise the impacts of electrical and electronic equipment on the environment during their life times and when they become waste. All products manufactured by Sonifex Ltd have the WEEE directive label placed on the case. Sonifex Ltd will be happy to give you information about local organisations that can reprocess the product when it reaches its “end of use”, or alternatively all products that have reached “end of use” can be returned to Sonifex and will be reprocessed correctly free of charge.

Atmosphere/Environment

This apparatus should be installed in an area that is not subject to excessive temperature variation (<0°C, >50°C), moisture, dust or vibration.
This apparatus shall not be exposed to dripping or splashing, and no objects filled with water, such as vases shall be placed on the apparatus.

Passive Packs

The passive packs are a range of small utility products which use transformers to change audio input & output impedances and levels and to distribute audio signals.
There are a range of different products to suit different needs:

CM-HPR1 Headphone Volume Control
CM-HPX1 Headphone Volume Control
CM-ULR1 Unbal to Bal Audio Converter
CM-ULX1 Unbal to Bal Audio Converter
CM-LUR1 Bal to Unbal Audio Converter
CM-LUX1 Bal to Unbal Audio Converter
CM-AESX3 3 Way Dig AES3 Splitter, XLR
CM-AESB3 3 Way Dig AES3ID Splitter, BNC
CM-MS3 3 Way Microphone Splitter

CM-MNT1 Desk Mount Panel

All of the products, along with the CM-TBU and CM-TLL, can be mounted to the underside of a desk using the CM-MNT1 desk mount plate. This fixes to the top side of the product and screws to the underside of a surface.

Fig A: CM-MNT1 Desk-Mount Plate Fitted on CM-AESX3 Fig B: CM-MNT1 Desk-Mount Plate With Screws

CM-AESX3 3 Way Passive Digital AES3 Splitter, with XLR

The CM-AESX3 is a passive digital splitter, designed to split a single AES3 source to up to three destinations, using Neutrik XLR connectors. 110Ω termination can be applied, if desired to unconnected outputs. The CM-AESX3 is a single “one-to-three” splitter housed in a small form box, and utilises a locking XLR socket for the input connector.

Fig 1-1: CM-AESX3 Front & Rear View

Block Diagram

Fig 1-2: CM-AESX3 Block Diagram

Connectors & Controls

AES/EBU Input(s)
Both units use a stereo balanced line input on a RCA phono connector with the following connections:
The single digital audio input is via a female XLR connector with the following pin assignment:
Pin 1: 0V Common
Pin 2: Phase
Pin 3: Non Phase

AES/EBU Outputs 1-3
The digital audio outputs are via male XLR connectors with the following pin assignment:
Pin 1: 0V Common
Pin 2: Phase
Pin 3: Non Phase

Termination Switches
It is possible to terminate Output 2 and Output 3 with 110Ω in the event that they are not connected to a destination device. It may be necessary to remove termination from an unused output if a used output is connected to a destination via a long cable run, in order to increase the level of the AES3 carrier signal.

Fig 1-3: CM-AESX3 Examples of use of Cumulative Cabling

Technical Specification CM-AESX3

CM-AESX3: Cable Drive Capability
The table below sets out the minimum signal amplitude required to drive 100m (cumulative) of 110Ω twisted pair cable, based on the sample rate of the digital audio:

Sample Rate Minimum Signal Amplitude
32kHz *2Vpk-pk
44.1kHz *2Vpk-pk
48kHz *2Vpk-pk
88.2kHz 5Vpk-pk
96kHz 5Vpk-pk
  • Minimum of 2Vpk-pk is defined by the AES3 format specification.
    The table below sets out the minimum signal amplitude required to drive 30m (cumulative) of 110Ω twisted pair cable, based on the sample rate of the digital audio:
Sample Rate Minimum Signal Amplitude
176.4kHz 3Vpk-pk
192kHz 3Vpk-pk

Audio Specification

Input & Output Impedances: 110Ω
Insertion Loss: 0.17dB 1:1, 1.3dB 1:3
Impedance Match: +/- 2%
Max Signal 10 V P-P: Up to 96kHz
Attenuation Loss: 0.17dB 1:1, 6.2dB 1:3

Connections

Inputs 1 x XLR 3 pin female
Outputs: 3 x XLR 3 pin male

Equipment Type

CM-AESX3: 3 Way passive digital AES3 splitter with XLR connections.

Physical Specification

Dimensions (Raw):| 7.7cm (W) x 8.3cm (D) x 4.2cm (H) 3.0” (W) x 3.3” (D) x 1.7” (H)
---|---
Weight:| Nett: 0.22kg Gross: 0.33kg
Nett: 0.49lbs Gross: 0.73lbs

www.sonifex.co.uk
t:+44 (0)1933 650 700
f:+44 (0)1933 650 726
sales@sonifex.co.uk

References

Read User Manual Online (PDF format)

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