Technically Speaking #4: 10 Tips and Tricks to Master Armonía

While we strongly encourage completing Powersoft's online Armonía training (available here), here are our top 10 tips to help you maximise your Void Acoustics setup with Armonía:

To download the latest preset library, you will need a Powersoft account and an active internet connection. Once the latest preset library is downloaded, the library is stored locally. New products and updates are released regularly. 

In Armonía navigate to Marketplace by selecting A+ > More > Marketplace, type ‘Void’ into the search then download the Void Acoustics Speakers Presets.

To update, navigate to the Marketplace by selecting A+ > More > Marketplace, click on Updates button. If there are any updates available, a red marker will show on the Updates Icon.

NOTE: Amplifier models are installed in much the same way.

Bridging an amplifier involves using one channel to drive the positive terminal of a loudspeaker and another channel to drive the negative terminal. This effectively doubles the voltage delivered to the loudspeaker, making it ideal for high-power applications such as subwoofers.

However, it is crucial to ensure the system meets both impedance and thermal requirements to avoid damaging components. If you are unsure, please contact our support team here.

1. Open Armonía and click the Design tab, then select Link at the bottom of the window.
2. Select the amplifier and the channel pairs you want to bridge.
3. From the top bar, select Bridge to enable the Bridge mode.
4. Refer to the amplifier User Guide for important wiring guidance of Phoenix and speakON connectors for bridge-tied loads.

Covered in Technically Speaking #1. Parallel wiring allows multiple loudspeakers to be driven from a single amplifier channel. This can reduce the number of amplifiers required for an installation. It is essential to let the amplifier know how many loudspeakers you intend to run. Armonía will calculate the total load impedance for you, as well as the total power required and adjust limiters accordingly.

Keep in mind that these loudspeakers now share a common EQ, and common delay path.

When parallel wiring loudspeakers, make sure to reflect this in your Armonía workspace by selecting the quantity as well as the parallel quantity. This lets Armonía know what power and impedance will be expected from that amplifier channel and prevent Health+ warnings.

Double-check the total power and impedance load of your parallel loudspeakers by hovering your mouse over the speaker stack in the workspace.

Use the Health+ to monitor load and any system health indicators.

Once system commissioning is complete, you should save a copy of your Armonía workspace. It is recommended to keep a backup of this file to assist with any future support queries or expansions. This file is also required to validate any warranty claims.

1. Although Armonía will prompt you to save the project when closing the program, make a habit to save regularly during setup, so you do not lose any progress if something unexpected happens.
2. When clicking on A+ > Save, workspaces can be stored Locally, or in the Cloud where you have additional options to ‘Share’.

Using the Cursor Tool, double click on an amplifier to access its settings. From this screen you can access the Source Selection page, where the inputs and priorities can be set.

Input Priorities mean the amplifier can automatically switch between sources, such as a backup secondary audio or setting a priority on emergency announcements.

From the Source Selection page, the Backup Strategy can be adjusted to use signal presence with or without a Threshold, Force or using a Pilot tone.

Using the Cursor Tool, double click on an amplifier to access its settings. This will give you access to various options, select Matrix from the left-hand side menu.

The Matrix in Armonía lets you freely assign any input to any output, with available amplifier inputs shown across the top, and channel outputs to the right.

There are 4 ‘quick’ presets in the top right of the screen if you want input to all outputs, reset, or ‘through’ with input 1 routed to output 1, input 2 routed to output 2 and so on.

The Matrix can also be accessed from the main Config page. Config > Matrix. Select an amp channel to check your input routing.

It is common for sound systems to require two or more loudspeakers to operate with a consistent gain difference between them. This is often the case in line array setups, such as with our Arcline 8s and Arcline 212s, or when using some of our loudspeakers as fills or delays.

However, relative gain differences can be lost if one set of loudspeakers enters limiting, potentially leading to a situation where all loudspeakers start operating at similar levels. This results in a compromised system where the levels no longer reflect the original design intent.

The shading function addresses this issue by simultaneously reducing both the gain and the limiter threshold. For example, when the loudspeakers set at 0 dB reach their limiting point, those set 6 dB lower, will retain the level offset.

This ensures the balance between your Void loudspeakers are maintained across the system.

To apply shading in Armonía, go to Tune > Shading.

From here you can adjust the levels of the loudspeakers and ensure that the system level balance will be maintained.

Switching an amplifier for an identical model is easily done through the ‘Match’ menu tab, using the ‘Discovery’ button, then linking the amplifier to the one in the workspace.

If you need to switch out an amplifier with another model number, switching from Bias Q2 to Bias Q2+ for example, there is another method.

1. In the ‘Design’ tab, right click on the amplifier you intend to replace, or would like to copy the settings from. Then navigate to PAM>Export and save this file.
2. Bring the new amplifier into the workspace, right click, navigate to PAM>Import. Then select the file you saved previously.
3. Once swapped, quickly check the network and signal paths to make sure everything is working properly.
4. This does not work for systems using the Zones, those will have to be reconfigured using the original workspace.

Armonía allows integration with Smaart software for interactive tuning, enabling live frequency and phase analysis to be overlayed onto the EQ window within Armonía. This feature is compatible with Smaart v8 or newer.

To enable interactive tuning, follow the steps below:

Open the EQ Window 

Go to Tune > EQ in Armonía and double-click the loudspeaker group you want to measure. This opens the EQ window for that group.

Access the Interactive Tuning Panel

In the bottom left hand of the screen, click on the Interactive Tuning icon.

Set Up Smaart

In Smaart, go to Options > Preferences > API to access the settings. Check the box for Enabled, make a note of the IP address then hit Apply and OK.

Configure Armonía

1. In Armonía, click the cog wheel in the bottom right-hand corner of the display to open the Preferences window and select the Interactive Tuning tab.
2. From the Extensions dropdown, pick Smaart. (Bonus tip: This is where you can set up a folder to save your EQ curves for future reference).
3. Under Analyser Connection Settings, set the Type to match the version of Smaart installed, then click the refresh button to update the list of IP addresses. Choose the IP that matches the one generated in Smaart and click Apply.

Once connected, the Interactive Tuning panel in Armonía will show a signal generator from Smaart. Hit Play to start generating a test signal.

To see live frequency responses turn on the Magnitude and Phase buttons in the Interactive Tuning panel. You’ll now see their real-time readings in the EQ window.

For a more in-depth overview of Interactive Tuning, here is a link to the Powersoft webinar.

When dealing with network connectivity problems in Armonía, here are some tips to help resolve the issue:

1. Go to the preferences cog wheel in the bottom right-hand corner of Armonía, select Communication Manager and make sure your connection interface is enabled, in most cases this will either be Ethernet or WiFi.
2. Check the Physical Connections, ensure all network cables are connected and in good condition.
3. Verify that the amplifiers and the computer running Armonía are on the same subnet.
4. Verify Network Configuration on Managed Networks. If you’re working on a managed network, consult the network administrator to confirm that your computer’s IP address falls within the correct range for communicating with the amplifiers.
5. Reconfigure IP Settings if Necessary. If your computer and the amplifiers are on different subnets, you will need to adjust your computer's IP address. The steps for this vary depending on your operating system.
6. For the Bias Q5 amplifier, the device will only appear in Armonía's Match screen when the Q5 is turned on.