ALLEN HEATH GX4816 Portable GX Expander with DX Sockets Instructions

GX4816 Portable GX Expander with DX Sockets
Instructions

Firmware V1.97

Refer to www.allen-heath.com for instructions on how to update the dLive firmware and important notes about the update.
When downgrading from firmware V1.83 or higher to V1.81 or lower, please install firmware V1.82 first, then install any earlier versions.
When downgrading from firmware V1.90 or higher to V1.88 or lower, jumper JP3 and JP1 on the MixRack must be set to On to allow the firmware downgrade.
Recalling an existing Opttronik compressor library in V1.90 will reset the sidechain Emphasis to ‘Flat’ due to changes in the Emphasis filter modes.

V1.97 February 2023
Maintenance Release
Fixes
ID7740 Ducker now showing correct gain reduction value when key audio is silent.
Improvements
ID7716 Support of latest Surface hardware following component changes.
ID7726 Support of latest Dante Card hardware following component changes.
ID7549
IP Controller browser setup page may now be disabled.
Known Issues
ID7620
In some cases, MixRacks with the latest component changes might require an additional reboot after a firmware update.
ID7480 When DX boxes configured as ‘Connected’ offline, Director can show Offline configuration when connected to a MixRack.
ID6928 Connection of a ME personal mixing system to the DX2 socket on
GX4816 is not supported.
ID6623 PAFL delay is reset after a Mixer Config change.
ID7484 Director restart required to connect to IP controllers when going offline after previously being online.

V1.96 December 2022
Maintenance Release
Fixes
ID7725 Corrects clocking issue when using DX168 connected via a DX-Hub to dLive system.
Known Issues
ID7620
In some cases, MixRacks with the latest component changes might require an additional reboot after a firmware update.
ID7480 When DX boxes configured as ‘Connected’ offline, Director can show Offline configuration when connected to a MixRack.
ID6928 Connection of a ME personal mixing system to the DX2 socket on GX4816 is not supported.
ID6623 PAFL delay is reset after a Mixer Config change.
ID7484 Director restart required to connect to IP controllers when going offline after previously being online.

V1.95 November 2022
Maintenance Release
Fixes
ID7405 Closing the NEQ library could sometimes display additional library items.
ID7586 / 7608 Fixes to DX firmware update process.
Improvements
ID7614 Fader and motor calibration are no longer reset after a firmware update.
ID7561 / 7562 / 7626 / 7657 / 7541 Support of latest Surface, MixRack and DX expander hardware following component changes.
ID7621 / 7564 Improvements to firmware update utility, including correct labelling of invalid firmware.
Known Issues
ID7620
In some cases, MixRacks with the latest component changes might require an additional reboot after a firmware update.
ID7480 When DX boxes configured as ‘Connected’ offline, Director can show Offline configuration when connected to a MixRack.
ID6928 Connection of a ME personal mixing system to the DX2 socket on GX4816 is not supported.
ID6623 PAFL delay is reset after a Mixer Config change.
ID7484 Director restart required to connect to IP controllers when going offline after previously being online.

V1.94 August 2022
Maintenance Release
Fixes
ID7505 Correctly handles ‘impossible’ MIDI values being sent to console. (e.g. more than +10dB level on a channel fader).
ID7513 MIDI channel LCD Display now correctly reflects changes made by MIDI/Director.
ID7520 Various fixes to log viewing system.
Improvements
ID7548 Support of latest Shure hardware (QLX-D, ULX-D, Axient)
ID7543 / ID7546 Support for latest Surface hardware following component changes.

V1.93 February 2022
Maintenance Release
Improvements
ID7506 Support of latest Surface hardware following component changes.

V1.92 January 2022
Maintenance Release
Improvements
ID7471/ Support of latest Surface & DM hardware following component changes.
ID7494
ID7409 Support of latest DX012 hardware following component changes.
Fixes
ID7487 Resolves issue whereby the connection or disconnection of Custom Control could cause the app to temporarily freeze.

V1.91 November 2021
Maintenance Release
Improvements
ID7252
IP Controller inhibit in Director now persists across sessions, with separate controls for MixRack and Surface IP controllers.
ID7427 Director graphical performance on Windows computers improved.
ID7373 Support of latest DX164-W & DX32 hardware following component changes.
Fixes
ID7434 RTA average control behaviour corrected.
ID7428 Recalling a Show with Gain Sharing enabled and redundant gigaACE connections could cause Gain Sharing to stop working on some channels.
ID7423 GX/DX intermittent connection faults handled more gracefully.
ID7413 Resolved fault with NEQ12 ignoring width control in certain circumstances.
ID7411 Opto soft rotary controls now reliably linked to main compressor page controls.
ID7403 Fixes bug whereby RTA controls could fail to be updated correctly after scene recall.

V1.90 September 2021
Feature Release
New Features

• New RTA tools – 2x RTAs
  o 61-band bar or line RTA display
  o Sonogram with 5m, 15m, 60m history views and Subtract mode
  o Dual RTA and sonogram view
  o Adjustable scale and ballistics, freeze and peak hold options
  o Channel locked or follow Sel/PAFL
  o Also viewabe on: PEQ/NEQ screen (overlay), South Area widget, external screen

• New DEEP Models
  o Source Expander
  o Dual Threshold Expander
  o Bus compressor

• Mix NEQ – 12-band PEQ with selectable LPF/HPF

• Gain sharing across 2 systems over gigaACE/fibreACE split

• Sennheiser wireless integration (300/500 G3/G4, 2000, 2050)

• LCR+ Main mode with Divergence control

• Softkeys:
  o Screen/Tab Bookmarks
  o Channel Processing On/Off
  o Virtual Soundcheck
  o USB Playback Controls
  o ABCD Range

• New ‘South’ Widgets:
  o Configurable system information

• o RTC clock and Last Recalled Show / Scene
  o RTA or sonogram

• I/O Screen:
  o Custom names for I/O Ports and DX ports
  o I/O card type display
  o Channel numbers now always displayed
  o I/O Library for Input, Output or Insert patch

• Talkback Groups:
  o Additive Mode

• Custom Channel Rotaries:
  o Stereo Width
  o Front/Rear Pan
  o Divergence
  o LPF
  o Gate Threshold and Depth

• DCA Spills:
  o DCA Fader Persist option
  o Freeze In Layers option

• Director:
  o Firmware update via Director
  o Suppress IP controller connections when Offline
  o Reset Touchscreen size
  o Catalina and Big Sur support

• Scenes:
  o Power-up MixRack Scene
  o Improved indication of Last Recalled Scene in Scene screen
  o Surface Scene pointer persistent after restart

• Shows:
  o Copy all shows to USB option

• Bank View:
  o Digital Trim visible
  o Gang membership visible

• PEQ:
  o Filter types now on 3 separate buttons

• Apps:
  o Access to new expander and RTA tools
  o V1.8 compatibility mode

• Opttronik “Model B”:
  o Additional model for another flavour of the classic optical compressor
  o New Emphasis control modes

• De-Esser:
  o New filter modes

• Diagnostics:
  o Manual and Auto Diagnostic modes

• Security:
  o HTTP access on / off

• MIDI/TCP:
  o On / Off / Secure Modes
  o GET messages
  o Added commands for PEQ, HPF, Group Assign

• Source Selector:
  o Off option added

• IP Controllers:
  o IP Controller lock when Surface locked

• Support of latest GX4816 hardware following component changes.

ID7046 Improved accuracy of Real Time Clock.
ID7157 Opto compressor Burn and Transient behaviour improved.
ID7025 Improved SRC interpolation for Dante and Waves I/O cards.
ID6380 SIP Softkey would not work in Director.
ID6549 Soft rotaries would not display MCA adjusted send values over +10dB.
ID7221 ‘Listen’ overlay would sometimes display incorrectly when controlled by another device.
ID6800 Changing LR fader combined / individual setting would sometimes generate errors in the logs.
ID6997, 6993, 5172 Several bugs related to IP Controller Advanced and Quick Setup.
ID6946 Patching certain I/O with a Surface connected over the Network socket would sometimes cause the software to crash.
ID6767 PEQ full range option was missing for FX return channels.
ID6858 Solo-in-Place selection would clear after Director connection.
ID6929, 6865 Several bugs related to Soft Rotary widget area.
ID6977 A bus configuration change could sometimes cause the USB recording patch to display ‘unused’.
ID6373, 6984 Embedded Recall could not target a GLD or Avantis mixer.
ID6779, 7030, 6975 Several bugs related to Scene Updates.
ID7031 DX012 status was not displayed correctly in the Home screen.
ID5668 Fixes inconsistencies in DX expander gain control when connected over a DX Link card.
ID6913 Certain DX32 + DX Hub configurations would cause the touchscreen to freeze.
ID6841 LCR option would not appear in Director for 5.1 Main mode routing.
ID6943 Assigning multiple DCAs to an Input could cause audio artefacts to the Input Direct Out.
ID2535, 6861 Several bugs related to incorrect South Area widget visualization.
ID6895 Show memory menu would not scroll when more than 250 Shows were stored.

Known Issues
ID6928 Connection of a ME personal mixing system to the DX2 socket on GX4816 is not supported.
ID6623 PAFL delay is reset after a Mixer Config change.

V1.88 June 2021
Maintenance Release
ID7007 Custom Control Layouts could show invalid controls after a firmware update or Mixer Config change.
ID6999 Support of latest DX168 hardware following component changes.

V1.87 January 2021
Maintenance Release
Fixes
ID6559 Improved memory usage on consoles in use for extended periods of time.
IPC-20 Incorrect IP controller configuration could cause Surface to freeze intermittently.
ID6935 Fixes inconsistencies in GX4816 gain control.

V1.86 September 2020
Maintenance Release
New Features

• Support of GX4816 via gigaACE card.
• Support of latest revisions of Shure Axient Digital, QLX-D and ULX-D hardware.

Fixes
ID6909 Preamp controls were erroneously displayed for digital AES cards fitted in a DX32 and connected over a DX Hub.

V1.85 April 2020
Maintenance Release
Fixes
ID6616 The firmware update process could sometimes fail to connect to the MixRack.
ID6807 In rare circumstances, the Event Log could cause the Surface to disconnect and require a MixRack restart.
ID6836 Improved power management of C1500 Surfaces.
ID6837 Fader replacement parts with a different firmware version could cause issues.
ID6841 The LCR option for the 5.1 mains mode would not appear in Director.

V1.84 December 2019
Maintenance Release
Improvements

• New fader calibration mode.

Fixes
ID6757 Multiple fast scene recalls could result in erroneous control of DT expander preamps.
ID6760 Saving a Show with unassigned I/O Port preamps could result in an incorrect preamp gain reading and incorrect preamp gain value (+5dB) on re- assignment of the inputs.
ID6777 ME-U channels names could populate slowly, or not appear, when multiple DX expanders are connected to DX sockets on the Surface or MixRack.
IPC-16 Support for PoE+ allocation via LLDP stopped working in V1.80.

V1.83 September 2019
Maintenance Release
Kernel image for firmware upgrade purposes.
Fixes
ID4006
In rare circumstances the touchscreen could freeze.
ID6202 DCA Mix on Softkey LED could stop working after show recall.
ID6696 FX Return PEQ became range limited in 1.80.
ID6725 Under certain circumstances, a Surface cannot detect a MixRack when DHCP is enabled.
ID6729 MixRack log files could not be saved to USB when DHCP was enabled.
ID6754 Scene recall filter could become corrupted after deleting a Scene.

V1.82 September 2019
Maintenance Release
Kernel image for firmware downgrade purposes.
See note on page 1 of this document for more information.

V1.81 June 2019
Maintenance Release
Improvements

• Talkback Groups: “SoftKey Setup” button added.
• Support for Custom Control.

Fixes
ID6653 Changing Mixer Config in Virtual Soundcheck mode changes Trim controls to Gain controls.
ID6658 ABCD patches not visible on I/O page when an unassigned source is selected.
ID6663 External IP to PAFL Trim value reverts to -24dB on Show recall.
ID6704 DX expanders could lose audio sync over 3rd party network switches in 1.80
DID004 In some circumstances, dLive preamp settings would not sync to DT expanders on first connection.
Several other minor fixes.

V1.80 March 2019
Feature Release
New Features

• MCAs
• A/B/C/D Alternative Inputs
• Talkback Groups
• Solo In Place (SIP)
• New DEEP Compressor: OptTronik
• Support for new hardware:
  o DX012
  o DT168
  o DT164-W
  o Dante 64×64
  o Dante 128×128
  o PRIME I/O Modules

Improvements

• Bank View: DCA Fader to 0dB button

• Direct Out: Follow All option (post DCA Fader/Mute & Ch Fader/Mute)

• Ext In Page: SigGen and Talkback On/Off buttons

• gigaACE: VLAN compatible (switch dependent)

• Libraries: Library button added to Overview and PEQ pages

• MixPad: Support for new iPad Pro screen resolution

• PAFL Improvements:
  o Mix To PAFL option
  o Stereo Mix to PAFL EXT IN is now true stereo
  o PAFL busses 3-8 now have same options as 1-2
  o Maximum Delay extended to 682ms

• PEQ: Latching Width option in Setup (C Class Surfaces only)

• Routing page improvements:
  o Direct Out information
  o Mute Group assignment
  o Send level values

• Scene Management: Undo Store

• SigGen: Individually assignable to L and R on stereo mixes

• Sidechain: BPF option

• New Softkey/IP Controller options:
  o Assign On/Off
  o Peak Hold Reset

Fixes
ID5426 Cascaded DX168 into DX Hub not always reported correctly
ID6189 Cannot hot plug expander(s) connected to DX1/2 when an expander is connected to DX3
ID6249 Occasional 1 second delay when recalling scenes with offline IP controller(s) configured
ID6289 Pans can appear incorrectly in Bank view when in GEQ Fader Flip mode
ID6308 Panning a mono Group could affect signal of next mono Group
Several other minor fixes and improvements.

V1.72 November 2018
Maintenance Release
Improvements

• Shure Integration: Support for the latest revision of ULX-D hardware.

• SoftKeys assigned to the Mute function with Invert mode enabled will now illuminate green.
  o Shows created in 1.71 or earlier will require the SoftKey Mute Invert function to be re-applied to enable the new functionality.

• Press F11 to show mouse cursor.

Fixes
ID2821 Under certain circumstances, the MixRack and Surface unit names could display as “Unknown” during a firmware update.
ID6146 Relative Scene Update could take a long time when updating a large number of scenes.
ID6284 The FX Library panel could flicker under certain circumstances.
ID6292 Scene Safes page could fail to show all active safes under specific conditions.
Known issues
ID5034 When updating firmware in a multi-surface system, firmware should be updated on one Surface at a time with the Surface connected to the main gigaACE socket and all other Surfaces disconnected from the MixRack. Alternatively the Surfaces can be updated whilst disconnected from the MixRack via the Connection Failed/ Firmware screen on boot up.
ID5475 When using a 3rd
party touchscreen with Director, drag and drop in the Cue list or Scene Import list will sometimes not complete on release and will require a subsequent touch of the screen.
ID5659 Mix highlighting can sometimes stop working in Director after adjusting the strip layout.
ID6261 Socket preamp displayed when SQ connected to gigaACE card.

V1.71 July 2018
Maintenance Release
Fixes
SID139 Director could sometimes fail to display all available Shure devices.
ID5940 The Scene Select function could stop working in the IP1 Simulator.
ID6055 An IP Controller could control an incorrect Aux master level after a Mix Config change.
ID6114 In rare circumstances Director could quit unexpectedly during a show recall.
ID6133 Director main PAFL meters had incorrect scale labels.
ID6138 Output polarity was not applied when first patching to a DX expander.
ID6142 IP Controllers would not connect to Director Surface in MixRack only mode.

V1.70 May 2018
Feature Release
New Features

• Shure wireless integration:
  o ULX-D
  o QLX-D
  o Axient Digital

• Several new routing and patching options:
  o Input to Matrix routing
  o Mix busses and PAFL available as Input channel sources
  o Follow / Invert pan to Mains for Stereo Mix Busses
  o Mix busses can be patched to PAFL Ext. In
  o Mix busses and PAFL can be patched to Mix Ext. In

• Custom MIDI on Scene Recall

• MixPad follows User Permissions

• Support for new hardware:
  o DX164-W

Improvements

• Meters page and widget (incl. AMM meter) show Mute status
• Shelf option for Compressor and Gate sidechain filters
• Source Selectors can select Aux and Main as inputs
• Source Selectors can output to Matrices
• AMM input metering and PAFL source point now user selectable
• LPF default value is 10kHz
• Bank view is displayed on the Processing Screen when no channel is selected (dual-screen Surface only)
• IP controller faders and rotaries have the option for Audio Taper or a user defined range
• Input preamp Gain and Trim values shown on LCD
• Tap for quick assign of User Meters

Fixes
ID5179 Input pan to stereo groups doesn’t work if no Mains in Mixer Config
ID5281 Director – Stereo channels and mixes not displaying as stereo on LCD
ID5887 Certain Unicode characters in a file path could prevent Director successfully storing a Show
ID5888 Director – Touch issues with latest MacBook Pro Trackpad
ID5889 Director – “Last Recalled Scene” doesn’t reflect MIDI Scene recall

Several other minor fixes and improvements.

V1.64 April 2018
Maintenance Release
Improvements

• MixRack Boot-Up: More robust at low temperatures.

Fixes
ID5079
In rare circumstances the touchscreen could crash when recalling a specific show or changing mixer configuration.

V1.63 February 2018
Maintenance Release
Improvements

• USB Record/Playback: Increased USB device compatibility.
• superMADI: Ability to accept MADI streams with high levels of jitter.

Fixes
ID5814 When a superMADI card is fitted in the MixRack, the touchscreen could crash if an external VGA monitor is connected and displaying the superMADI GUI.
ID5803 The touchscreen could stop responding if an FX unit input is patched from Direct Output 128
ID5759 Under certain circumstances the touchscreen could crash when changing users.

V1.62 December 2017
Maintenance Release
Improvements

• dB values added to Send Level soft rotaries in widget area

Fixes
ID5759
In rare circumstances the touchscreen could crash when changing User Profiles
ID5756 PEQ/Comp swap with INS B assigned results in level change
ID5748
In some circumstances the touchscreen can crash if a particular FX unit has SEL active & is visible on more than one screen
ID5729 Virtual Soundcheck: Record Send patching fixes.
ID5728 Widget area Aux Sends can link together after mixer configuration changes.
ID5651 Multiple cursor visibility fixes.

V1.61 October 2017
Maintenance Release
Fixes
ID5673 Filter, Safe and Scene Update crosspoints not visible on some Macs
ID5674/ DX enumeration improvements
ID5705 ID5685 DX Link option card output patching offset
ID5693 Adjusting Send and Send-Pan parameters on IP controller rotaries could cause undesirable changes to the audio.
ID5708 SEL MIX PAFL Scene function on a softkey recalls wrong scene
ID5710 Pressing the “USB disk full” message can cause a crash

V1.60 October 2017
Feature Release
New features

• Multi-Surface
  o Up to 4 Surfaces can be connected to a single MixRack
  o Gain tracking
  o Partial show recall option (surface only)
  o Show based “role” system with discrete scene ranges and filters

• DEEP Auto Mic Mixer (AMM)
  o Up to 64 channels into 1,2 or 4 zones
  o AMM soft rotaries, soft keys and widgets

• New DEEP Compressor: “Mighty”

• New DEEP Preamp: “Tube Stage”

• Support for new hardware:
  o DM0
  o DX Hub
  o DX Link
  o GPIO
  o IP1

• Cascade Mode for DX168

• Source selector and scene select for IP controllers

• Director access over internet/WAN

Improvements

• Echo FX Unit – noise can now be turned ON/OFF
• Recall filter – copy and paste functionality added
• Scene pages GUI – improved responsiveness

Fixes
ID3396 gigaACE improvements.
ID4523 Recall filter icon could display when no recall filter present.
ID4854 In rare circumstances a Scene Update could cause a MixRack crash.
ID5132 Network traffic could sometimes pass through Waves3 I/O module.
ID5282 Several gigaACE improvements.
ID5319 Un-patching an active channel from VSC breaks the GUI gain control.
ID5401 Surface output polarity doesn’t work after reboot.
ID5469 Relative faders to main Scene updates would be treated as absolute.
Several other minor fixes and improvements.
Note: dLive Director 1.60 for Mac requires Mac OS X 10.10 or higher.

V1.52 September 2017
Maintenance release
Several fixes – please refer to V1.52 Release Notes for details on fixes and improvements.

V1.51 August 2017
Maintenance release
New features

• Support for new superMADI module
  Several fixes – please refer to V1.51 Release Notes for details on fixes and improvements.

V1.50 May 2017
Feature Release
New features

• Multiple scene system improvements:
  o Scene import from USB & User show files
  o Scene update: Manual and Auto Tracking modes
  o Scene update: Absolute and Relative level modes
  o Wider range of Update and Global Safe parameters
  o New GUI for Update and Global Safe functions

• MIDI over TCP/IP Protocol for 3rd party control

• Mains channel strip ganging in “Individual” mode

• Support for new AES module

• Support for new DX168 Remote Expander (Cascade mode not supported in 1.50)
  Several fixes – please refer to V1.50 Release Notes for details on fixes and improvements.

V1.42 April 2017
Maintenance release
Fixes
ID3742 In rare circumstances a MixRack could lose connection to Surface/Director/IP Controllers

V1.41 March 2017
Maintenance release
Improvements

• Addition of a 3-band mode to the Dyn8 multiband compressor.
• Per band In/Out buttons in the Dyn8 multiband compressor now fully bypass the multiband processing, thus avoiding phase distortion.
• Improvements to system responsiveness and management of network traffic.

Several fixes – please refer to V1.41 Release Notes for details on fixes, improvements and known issues

V1.40 January 2017
Feature release
New features

• Virtual Soundcheck mode
• DCA spills
• Dyn8 insert-able dynamic engine
• DEEP Processing Peak Limiter 76
• Multistage ducking
• Dimension Chorus effect
• 3rd screen view on VGA output
• Support of dLive C Class products and fibreACE audio networking card

Several other improvements and fixes – please refer to V1.40 Release Notes for details on fixes and improvements.

V1.31 September 2016
Maintenance release
Several fixes – please refer to V1.31 Release Notes for details on fixes and improvements.

V1.30 July 2016
Feature release
New features

• Support for IP6 and IP8 Remote Controllers
• Support for Waves V3 and gigaACE audio networking cards
• MixRack and Surface Network settings are now available in Director when in online mode

Several fixes – please refer to V1.30 Release Notes for details on fixes and improvements.

V1.21 June 2016
Maintenance release
Several fixes – please refer to V1.21 Release Notes for details on fixes and improvements.

V1.20 June 2016
Feature release
New features

• dLive Director software for Mac and Windows
• Dual-Stage Valve Preamp
• 5.1 Main mode
• 8 Mute Groups
• User defined meter ballistics and Peak Hold
• Multi PAFL Bus

Several other improvements and fixes – please refer to V1.20 Release Notes for details on fixes and improvements.

V1.11 March 2016
Maintenance release
Several fixes – please refer to V1.11 Release Notes for details on fixes and improvements.

V1.10 January 2016
Feature release
New features

• DX32 support – Up to 3 DX32 modular I/O expanders can be connected to a dLive system.
• ME-1 names and stereo links – Channel names and stereo links are now communicated over the Monitor port to connected ME-U and / or ME-1 units.
• I/O Port card discovery and settings – Cards fitted to the I/O Ports are now listed on the relevant screens and their options displayed.
  Several fixes – please refer to V1.10 Release Notes for details on fixes and improvements.

V1.03 December 2015
Maintenance release
Several fixes – please refer to V1.03 Release Notes for details on issues fixed.
V1.02 November 2015
Maintenance release
New features and improvements
ID1225 PAFL Delay time increased, now up to 170ms.
ID1149 Fader calibration added.
ID1279 Contextual Help added.
Several fixes – please refer to V1.02 Release Notes for details on issues fixed.
V1.0 September 2015
This was the first public release of dLive firmware.

References

• Allen & Heath - Heard Everywhere
• Allen & Heath - Heard Everywhere

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