SymNet Designer Upgraded to Version 2.0
October 5, 2002
Symetrix announces SymNet Designer v2.0, the third software upgrade to SymNet, the modular audio routing and digital signal processing system introduced a little over a year ago.
The newest version of the Windows-based software builds on earlier updates adding even more functionality and further expanding the capabilities of the SymNet Audio Matrix System. The CAD-style "drag and drop" software makes it easy for audio professionals and their clients to design and configure a system custom tailored to their exacting needs.
For example, the latest version supports two new hardware add-ons to the SymNet line: BreakIn12 and BreakOut12. These products provide a cost-effective solution for extending the input and output capacity of a SymNet system. Containing no outboard DSP, BreakIn12 and BreakOut12 are intended for use in systems where additional channel count is required. SymNet still allows you to process signals brought in or sent out by the Break I/O devices by using available DSP resources on other attached SymNet DSP devices.
Two new sub-classes of modules called Programmable Filters have been added to the Filters and EQ class in the software's Module View Toolkit. They include mono and stereo programmable 6 dB/octave sloped low pass and high pass filters as well as band pass filters, which afford greater control than standard filters by adding controls based on filter type, resonance and slope.
SPL (Sound Pressure Level) computers with gap sensing technology are now a reality in the new mono and stereo SPL modules. The new modules are located under the Dynamics class in the software's Module View Toolkit and control the volume of a signal depending on the ambient room level that is measured by a sensing microphone during gaps in the program material.
With the addition of the mono and stereo output selector and distributor modules, a single audio source can be channeled to one of many destinations or distributed to all destinations simultaneously. The new modules have been added to the Input Selectors class (now labeled Routers).
The upgrade also incorporates presets. Specific parameters or entire groups of code modules can be change simultaneously using any of the 16 presets. Presets can also be triggered many ways including external control devices, by time in the Event Scheduler or from within the software interface.
Additionally, the software's application and hardware firmware has been upgraded to support up to 31 rings of 16 units each, for a total of 496 units and a maximum sustained DSP power of 245 GFLOPS (floating operations per second).
The product's adaptive remote control (ARC) box feature has been expanded. Up to 992 ARC devices can now be employed, thanks to a revision that allows each ring of SymNet units to support a different ARC network of up to 32 ARCs.
Other upgrades are focused on making the software easier to use. For instance, the Analyze feature has been improved to account for the contents of super modules. The Download Status window has been changed to indicate the current state of communication with hardware. And a duplicate feature has been added to the right click menu on items that formerly supported this feature only through the main menu.
Together with general improvements to system reliability and usability, the enhancements to SymNet Designer v2.0 promise to give audio professionals a new and better way of working with the SymNet system. Indeed, many of the enhancements were the product of user feedback.
"We're approaching the first anniversary of this product and marking the occasion by unveiling our third major software upgrade," says Jim Latimer, director of sales for Symetrix. "We've made the product stronger and more versatile, enhancing its value immensely in the process."
For more information, visit their web site at www.symetrixaudio.com. | 
