JoeCo BBR-DANTE User manual
BLACKBOX DANTE RECORDER –BBR-DANTE - Quick Start Guide Page | 1
BLACKBOX Dante RECORDER
BBR-DANTE: Quick Start Guide
IMPORTANT: BY USING THE BLACKBOX RECORDER YOU ARE AGREEING TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE AND
THE SOFTWARE LICENCE. PLEASE SEE www.joeco.co.uk/licence or the User Manual for more details
The BBR is designed to make live multi-track audio recordings to a USB2 disk drive. In a typical live installation, the BBR
will be connected to your console using a standard Cat5 Ethernet cable (RJ-45 connector). The unit also includes 8
balanced analogue inputs on a 25way D-sub (TASCAM pin out) in case you want to take a separate feed from ambience
or audience mic pre-amps, etc..
Front Panel
The front panel of the BlackBox Recorder contains all the user controls for the unit. The buttons are all touch sensitive
which prevents them wearing out through constant use –just place the flat of your finger on the button to operate.
The left hand side of the unit contains the channel status and metering. Each channel or track [1 through 64] has a
bicolour LED [Green (varying = approximate level, flashing = Pre Fade Listen (PFL)), Red (flashing = armed / record ready,
dim = in record, bright = over)]. To the right are two high resolution meters that reflect the level on the PFL bus which
can be monitored on the headphone output on the rear of the unit. The BACK button in conjunction with the data
wheel selects which channels are routed to the PFL bus; the data wheel also controls the headphone volume. There are
also indicators for Disk activity and Playback Lockout which can prevent you from accidentally entering playback.
To the right of the JoeCo logo is the control or data wheel which has a number of functions that are explained in the
manual.
Then we have the main Transport controls [PLAY, STOP, RECORD] with the four other control buttons above [L-R: BACK,
MARK, LOOP, MENU]. Finally, at the right hand side of the front panel is the colour LCD display.
Rear Panel
The rear panel areas indicated in the diagram below are explained in more detail
in the user manual.
The D-type connector can provide an additional 8 analogue inputs for recording ambience or audience reaction. Enable
and track selection with MENU; INPUT/OUTPUT; ANALOGUE:
Signal levels can be adjusted in the Setup MENU. The cable must conform to the TASCAM analogue pin out.
Dante i/o
(RJ-45)
Balanced
Analogue in
SPDIF
Clocks
Disk
Keyboard
Phones
Sync and Control
Power
Channel Status and Metering
Transport Controls
Control buttons
Display
Data Wheel
Wordclock
BLACKBOX DANTE RECORDER –BBR-DANTE - Quick Start Guide Page | 2
Adjusting Settings
All user definable settings are
adjusted using the MENU and
BACK buttons and the data
wheel. Parameters are
displayed on a RED
background whilst being
adjusted. The MENU button
takes you deeper into the
MENU structure or selects
the currently highlighted item
for adjustment. The BACK
button takes you out of the
MENU structure.
The MENU button also
doubles as a CONFIRM button
and the BACK button doubles
as CANCEL
When recording digital signals it is essential to synchronise all the audio clocks on all the equipment. This is explained in
greater detail in the user manual but if in doubt set the BBR’s reference clock to Dante to extract the clock signal from
the incoming Dante data stream, and set the console to be the clock master. Clock signals may also be derived from
Word Clock or AES/SPDIF (bit) clocks.
Basic Set-up
You will probably need a computer to initially configure the Dante network
components and set up the routing table. However, once you have set up your
routing table using the Dante Controller application, you can power off any Dante
enabled device and it will remember its routing when it’s reconnected to the
network.
Plug the Ethernet cable into the console or Ethernet hub.
Plug a fast USB2 drive (7200rpm recommended) into the USB2 socket on the rear of
the BBR. Note that the disk drive MUST be formatted to the FAT32 standard –this
allows both Mac and PC workstations to use the recordings. The BBR can reformat
the drive if required (MENU; DISK MANAGE…).
Plug the power adapter into the BBR and turn the power on. As soon as the boot up
sequence has finished and the BBR has found and logged the disk drive, you are
ready to finish setting up the BBR.
Set the sample rate to be the same as your console: MENU; SETUP; SAMPLE RATE
Use the Dante Controller software (free download for Mac and PC available from www.audinate.com) to set up your
routing matrix table. Typically you will want the console or the Stage box to be the source of audio for the BBR-Dante.
However, if there are many devices connected to the network you
should probably set up multicast flows which broadcast the audio
sources to multiple destinations simultaneously without eating up
excessive network bandwidth.
Set the Reference audio clock: MENU; INPUT/OUTPUT; REF CLOCK:
(set this to Dante normally). The input status bar at the bottom on
the Input Setup Screen should now be green to show a good Dante
signal.
Set the time in MENU; SETUP; DATE/TIME. Now you’re ready to
press record.
Other aspects of the Dante interface are adjustable under MENU;
INPUT/OUTPUT
Linear Time Code (LTC) or MIDI Time Code (MTC) can be used to provide a timestamp for the audio files you record.
(MENU; SETUP; TIMELINE) or you can just use the real time clock
The Track Arm MENU allows individual tracks to be disarmed for record if required.
You may want to name the songs and the tracks that you record in which case you will require a keyboard with a PS2
connector. Ctrl+S allows you to rename Songs; Ctrl-T allows you to name tracks.
MENU; SETUP; RESET will return the BBR to its factory settings in case you get in a muddle. Other operational matters
are explained in greater detail in the user manual.
(c) JoeCo Limited 2009, 2010, 2011. E&OE. All rights reserved
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