MediaMatrix, a division of Peavey, announced several new products for its NION DSP audio processing platform at NSCA’s Expo 2007 in Orlando, Fla., which took place March 15-17. NION is built on an embedded Linux operating system architecture designed for stable, efficient and robust performance in situations that demand large amounts of audio processing.
The NION nX is a programmable digital audio processing node for professional and commercial audio and communications applications. Three floating-point Analog Devices SHARC DSPs drive the NION nX’s internal processing core. MediaMatrix’s Scalable I/O Architecture, a modular I/O scheme, supports a variety of optional plug-in cards for maximum versatility. The NION nX has two module bays that support up to 16 simultaneous analog audio channels, while an integrated CobraNet port provides 64 channels for a total of 80 simultaneously configurable audio channels.
NION nX uses NWare software, a Windows-based interface that works with multiple nodes across an Ethernet network, as well as additional support for third-party control and SNMP management tools. The NION front-panel interface features an LCD display, soft buttons and a rotary encoder to enable access to common system functions. RS-232 and RS-422/485 ports provide additional control interfacing, while a new configurable GPIO system is designed to make interfacing with hard contacts and logic systems easier.
New NIO input/output cards enhance the configuration possibilities of all NION nodes. NIO-AES has eight AES channel pairs, and each pair is software-selectable as either input or output channels with S/PDIF support; NIO-8i is a line input card with eight line inputs (24-bit A/D).
The company’s Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC) and Noise Reduction algorithm is included in all NION processing nodes, including NION n3, n6 and the new nX, and is supported by NWare Version 1.3 software, which the company will soon release. This AEC algorithm can also be used in projects along with the existing AEC/NC card available for the CAB 4n CobraNet Bridge. Bandwidth is variable up to 20-20k Hz, and echo span is also variable up to 256 ms.
Finally, MediaMatrix’ new ControlManager Host is a hardware/software package created exclusively for NION project management. It promises more extensive control of projects in large areas, allowing the user to shut down specific areas for maintenance or reconfiguration while other areas continue to operate normally. ControlManager also can manage multiple SNMP devices or CobraNet Audio Bridges separately from the NION DSP engines.
For more information, visit http://mm.peavey.com.
