JP5327505B2 - Mixing console - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to perform signal monitoring in respective channels in a surround system without increasing operators in a mixing console with a monitoring function of the surround signals, and to monitor signals which are down-mixed from multi-channels surround signals to stereophonic 2-channel signals. <P>SOLUTION: Normally, 2-channel stereophonic signals selected by a source select operator, are output to a pair of output terminals selected by a speaker select operator. When the surround signals are selected by the source select operator, respective channels of the surround signals are assigned and output to a plural pairs of output terminals regardless of a selection condition of the speaker select operator. If the speaker select operator is operated in the condition, each channel mute setting of the surround signals is made according to the operation. It is possible to down-mix and monitor the surround signals. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a mixing console for a digital mixer, and more particularly, to a technique that enables convenient and convenient selection of a source and a speaker in a monitor function for monitoring various audio signals.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a mixing console that inputs an audio signal from various input sources such as a microphone, performs adjustment processing such as a volume level and frequency characteristics, and mixes and outputs appropriately (Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document). Reference 1). The mixing console has a function of outputting a selected signal from a selected monitor output terminal and monitoring it with a speaker or the like. Specifically, a dedicated button for performing source selection for selecting a signal to be monitored and a monitor output terminal for outputting a monitor signal are selected (in short, a speaker for outputting monitor sound is selected) for speaker selection. It is known that a dedicated button is provided. In addition, there is a type in which a predetermined screen is displayed instead of a dedicated button, and the button displayed on the screen is operated using a pointing device. Furthermore, the mixers of Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 1 have a function of monitoring a multi-channel surround signal.
JP 2003-134599 A Digital Production Console DM2000 Ver.2 Instruction Manual, Chapter 13 “Monitor, Talkback”, Yamaha Corporation, 2003

  Each of the surround signal monitoring functions in the mixer described in the above-described conventional document selects a target to be monitored and a monitor output terminal and monitors a desired surround signal from a desired speaker. However, the mute setting for each output channel of surround must be performed on a predetermined screen displayed. Therefore, when monitoring the signals of each output channel of surround individually or in any combination, mute must be set on the screen so that the desired monitoring can be performed, and the operation is complicated. It is. Naturally, it is only necessary to provide a new control for monitoring the signals of each surround output channel. However, there is no space to increase the number of controls on the external panel. For this reason, the number of controls cannot be increased easily.

  Further, the mixer of the above-mentioned conventional document does not have a function of monitoring how it is heard when a multi-channel surround signal is finally downmixed to a stereo 2-channel signal.

  An object of the present invention is to enable easy monitoring of a signal for each surround channel without increasing the number of operators in a mixing console having a surround signal monitoring function. It is another object of the present invention to monitor a signal obtained by downmixing a multi-channel surround signal to a stereo 2ch signal.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention normally outputs the 2ch stereo signal selected by the source select operator to the pair of output terminals selected by the speaker select operator. That is, when a signal other than the surround signal is monitored, the operation of the speaker select operator is validated. On the other hand, when a surround signal is selected by the source select operator, each channel of the surround signal is assigned to each output terminal of a plurality of pairs of monitor output terminals regardless of the selection state by the speaker select operator. Output. Further, when the speaker selection operator is operated in this state, the mute setting of each channel of the multi-channel surround signal is performed according to the operation, and the muted channel signal is not output from the corresponding output terminal. To control. Specifically, the speaker selection operator is a switch A, B,... For selecting one of the pair A, B,..., And the switch x (x is any of A, B,...) Is operated. Each time, (1) output from both left and right channels of the pair x corresponding to the switch x, (2) output only from the left channel of the pair x, and (3) only from the right channel of the pair x The output may be switched to either (4) mute for both the left and right channels of the pair x (however, the order in which (1) to (4) are switched is arbitrary).

  Further, when the downmix operator is operated and the downmix operator is operated when the signal selected for monitoring by the source select operator is a multi-channel surround signal, the multi-channel surround signal is downmixed. The 2ch downmix signal generated in this way may be output to a predetermined pair of output terminals of the monitor output terminals.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to select and monitor a 2ch stereo signal and a surround signal by simply operating the source select operator on the mixing console, and the surround signal can be easily monitored. When the surround signal is selected, the mute setting of each channel of the surround signal can be performed by operating the speaker select operator, so that it is easy to monitor the signal of each channel of the surround signal. In addition, since the function of the speaker select operator that normally selects the monitor output destination is switched to the function as an operator for mute setting when monitoring the surround signal, each of the surround signals can be changed without increasing the number of operators. The signal for each channel can be monitored. Furthermore, it is possible to monitor a signal obtained by downmixing a multi-channel surround signal to a stereo 2ch signal.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration in which a mixer 120 to which a mixing console according to the present invention is applied and a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) 100 are connected by a music LAN 110. In the PC 100, digital audio workstation software 101 is executed. The software 101 implements a graphical user interface (GUI) 102, a MIDI track & MIDI mixer control unit 103, a remote control unit 104, an audio track & audio mixer control unit 105, and the like. The GUI 102 is a user interface program for displaying various screens on the display of the PC 100 and receiving various inputs from the user. The MIDI track & MIDI mixer control unit 103 implements recording / playback and other functions for MIDI data. The remote control unit 104 performs remote control of the mixer 120 connected via the music LAN 110. The audio track & audio mixer control unit 105 provides recording / playback and other control functions for audio data. Each of these control units 103 to 105 passes through an operating system (OS) application interface (API) 106, various music I / O drivers 107, and various music I / O (including music LAN I / O) interfaces 108. Thus, MIDI data and WAVE (audio) data can be exchanged with the mixer 120 connected to the music LAN 110. With the above configuration, the PC 100 is a so-called digital audio workstation (DAW) that realizes various music production functions (for example, hard disk recording function, MIDI data and audio data creation / editing function, mixing function, sequencer function, etc.). In the following, it will be referred to as DAW100.

  The music LAN 110 is a LAN that can transmit MIDI data and WAVE data in real time. The music LAN 110 has a plurality of channels. In this embodiment, it is assumed that there are 16 transmission paths (transmission channels), and each transmission channel is called output ports P1 to P16.

  The network mixer 120 includes an analog / digital converter (ADC) 121, an audio mixer 122, a digital / analog converter (DAC) 123, a control microcomputer 124, a user interface (UI) 125, a MIDI I / O 126, and a music LAN I / O 127. Is provided. The control microcomputer 124 is a processing device that controls the overall operation of the mixer 120. The UI 125 corresponds to various operators and LEDs provided on the external panel. The audio mixer 122 performs mixing of the audio signal (digital audio data) input from the ADC 121 or the music LAN I / O 127 based on an instruction from the control microcomputer 124. The mixing result can be output to the DAC 123 or output to the DAW 100 via the music LAN I / O 127. The MIDI I / O 126 is an interface for transmitting / receiving MIDI data to / from an external MIDI device. MIDI data input from the MIDI I / O 126 can be output to the DAW 100 via the music LAN I / O 127, or MIDI data input from the DAW 100 via the music LAN I / O 127 can be transmitted to an external MIDI device.

  FIG. 2A shows a detailed view of the functional configuration of an audio track and an audio mixer realized by the DAW 100. FIG. An acoustic signal input from the music I / O 201 having a function such as ADC is input to the input patch 202. The input patch 202 performs a process of assigning the input acoustic signal to an arbitrary recording / playback track 203 or input channel (ch) 204. The input patch 202 has a certain mixing function.

  The recording / playback track 203 includes a recording channel 231, an audio track 232, and a playback channel 233. The recording channel 231 performs a recording process of performing various adjustment processes on the acoustic signal input from the input patch 202 and recording on the audio track 232. The reproduction channel 233 performs a reproduction process of reading out an acoustic signal recorded on the audio track 232 and reproducing and outputting it after various adjustment processes. The input channel 204 performs various adjustment processes (volume level adjustment, equalizer adjustment, effect application, etc.) on the acoustic signal input from the input patch 202. A plurality of recording / playback tracks 203 and a plurality of input channels 204 are provided. Outputs of the reproduction channel 233 and the input channel 204 are output to the mixing bus 205.

  Stereo bus ST (L, R), 5.1ch bus 5.1 (L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs), auxiliary bus AUX (L, R), and mixing ch bus ch as mixing bus 205 (1-12) is provided. The bus ST (L, R) is composed of two buses for stereo left and right signals. The bus 5.1 (L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs) is 5.1ch surround front left (L), front right (R), center (C), woofer (LFE), rear left ( Ls), and six buses for the rear right (Rs) signal. The bus AUX (L, R) is composed of two buses for AUX signals. The bus ch (1-12) is composed of 12 buses for 12 channels of mixing ch.

  An acoustic signal can be output from an arbitrary reproduction channel 233 and an arbitrary input channel 204 at an arbitrary level specified for the arbitrary bus described above, and the input audio signal is mixed in each bus. The mixing result can be returned to the input patch 202 side and input to the recording ch 231 and the input ch 204. The mixing result is output to an output patch 207 (with a mixing function) after being subjected to output side adjustment processing by an output channel 206 provided for each bus. The output patch 207 can assign and output the acoustic signal output from each output channel 206 to any channel of the music I / O (DAC) 208 and various music I / Os 108. Various music I / Os 108 include an interface to the music LAN 110. Audio data input from the music LAN 110 can also be input to the input patch 202.

  The audio signal output from the output patch 207 to the output port of the music I / O 108 is input to the network mixer 120 via the music LAN 110, and conversely, the audio signal output from the network mixer 120 is input to the music LAN 110 and the music I / O 108. The input patch 202 can be input via. FIG. 2B is an assignment table showing to which output port (transmission channel) of the music LAN 110 the output of the DAW 100 is output. In the output from the DAW 100 to the music LAN 110, each bus of the mixing bus 205 of the DAW 100 and the output port of the music LAN 110 are fixedly associated with each other according to the mode of the DAW 100. The DAW 100 has a normal mode and a surround mode. The normal mode is a mode based on outputting stereo LR (2ch) sound signals. In the normal mode, the bus ST (L, R) is fixed to the output ports P1, P2 in order, ch (1-12) is sequentially set to P3-P14, and AUX (L, R) is fixed to P15, P16 in order. Assigned and signaled. The surround mode is a mode based on outputting a 5.1ch surround sound signal. In the surround mode, among the 5.1 channel buses, the front left and right signal buses 5.1 (L, R) are sequentially assigned to P1 and P2, and the center and woofer signal buses 5.1 (C, LFE) is assigned to P3 and P4 in order, and rear left and right signal buses 5.1 (Ls, Rs) are assigned fixedly to P5 and P6 in order, and signals are transmitted. . Even in the surround mode, AUX (L, R) is assigned to P15 and P16 and output. In the surround mode, P7 to P14 are not used. The assignment in FIG. 2B is completely unrelated to the setting on the network mixer 120 side, and means that when the various signals are output from the DAW 100 to the music LAN 110, this output port assignment is used according to the mode. .

  FIG. 3A shows a detailed functional configuration of the audio mixer 122 of the network mixer 120. The ADC 121 indicates the input of an acoustic signal from the input terminals for 12 channels included in the mixer 120. The acoustic signal input from the ADC 121 is subjected to various adjustment processes by an adjustment processing unit 302 provided corresponding to each channel.

  The adjustment processing 302 for one channel includes an input switching unit 321, a compressor / equalizer 322, a fader 323, a ch on / off switch 324, a level & switch unit 325, and a pan & switch unit 326. In response to a user instruction, the input switching unit 321 uses an acoustic signal (shown in FIG. 2B) from an output port specified among the channels specified by the ADC 121 or the output ports P3 to P14 of the music LAN 110 as an input source. This is a switch for selecting one of the DAW 101 ch1-12 signals). The compressor / equalizer 322 performs automatic gain adjustment and frequency characteristic adjustment processing on the input acoustic signal. The output of the compressor / equalizer 322 is input to the pan & switch unit 326 via a fader 323 for adjusting the level and a ch on / off switch 324 for turning on / off the signal of the ch. The pan & switch unit 326 controls left and right localization (pan) when outputting a signal to the stereo bus 304 or the recording bus 303 in stereo, on / off control of signal output from the channel to each bus, To control the individual transmission level of the output signal to each bus. The output signal of the pan & switch unit 326 is output to the recording bus REC L / R 303 and the stereo bus ST L / R 304. The output of the compressor / equalizer 322 is input to the level & switch unit 325. The level & switch unit 325 performs on / off control of signal output from the ch to each bus of the AUX 305, control of individual output levels of output signals from the ch to each bus of the AUX 305, and the like. Further, the output of the compressor / equalizer 322 of each channel is input to the music LAN I / O 127, and is output to the output port of the music LAN 110 with the assignment described later.

  As a mixing bus, a recording bus REC L / R 303, a stereo bus ST L / R 304, and an auxiliary bus AUX L / R are provided. The bus REC L / R 303 has two buses for stereo left and right recording signals, the bus ST L / R has two buses for stereo left and right signals, and the bus AUX L / R has two buses for AUX signals. Consists of a bus. A signal can be transmitted from an arbitrary channel pan & switch unit 326 to an arbitrary bus of the above-described REC L / R 303 and ST L / R 304 at an arbitrary specified level. A signal can be transmitted from an arbitrary channel level & switch unit 325 to an arbitrary bus of the above AUX L / R at an arbitrary specified level. The stereo signal DAW_ST (output ports P1, P2) from the DAW 100 input from the music LAN 110 via the music LAN I / O 127 is sent to the bus ST via the level adjustment fader 312 and the signal on / off switch 313. Similarly, the AUX signal DAW_AUX (output ports P15 and P16) from the DAW 100 is input to the bus AUX L / R via the level adjustment fader 314. Each of the buses 303 to 305 mixes the input signal and outputs a mixing result.

  The mixing result of the bus REC L / R 303 is output as a recording signal REC to an output port (described later) of the music LAN 110 via the music LAN I / O 127. The mixing result of the bus ST L / R 304 is assigned to the music LAN 110 as a 2ch (LR) stereo signal ST through the music LAN I / O 127 via the on / off switch 309 and the level adjustment fader 310. Output to the output port. Although not shown, the mixing result of the bus ST L / R 304 is D / A converted and output to an analog stereo output terminal. The mixing result of the bus AUX L / R 305 is output to the analog AUX output terminal via the level adjustment fader 307 and the DAC 123A. Reference numeral 306 denotes a branch of a signal input to an output patch 315 described later.

  FIG. 3B shows an assignment when a signal is transmitted from the audio mixer 122 shown in FIG. 3A to the output port of the music LAN 110 via the music LAN I / O 127. The signal (OUT1-12) of each channel taken out from the adjustment processing 302 of each channel is sequentially sent to the output ports P1-P12. The mixing result of the bus ST L / R 304 is sent to the output ports P15 and P16 in the order of LR, and the mixing result of the bus REC L / R 303 is sent to the output ports P13 and P14 in the order of LR. The assignment of the signal transmission to the output port is fixed.

  On the other hand, as for the input from the music LAN 110, the stereo signal DAW_ST from the DAW 100 is first taken out from the output ports P1 and P2 and input to the bus ST L / R 304 via the fader 312 and the on / off switch 313. Are extracted from the output ports P3 to P14 and input to the adjustment processing 302 corresponding to the respective channels, and the AUX signal DAW_AUX of the DAW 100 is extracted from the output ports P15 and P16 and sent to the bus AUX L / R305 via the fader 314. It is configured to input. The connection of the received signals from the output ports P1 to P16 of the music LAN 110 shown in FIG. 3A is also fixed. For example, the DAW 100 outputs the stereo signal DAW_ST from the output ports P1 and P2 in the normal mode, and the 5.1W surround front and left signals DAW5.1 (L, R from the output ports P1 and P2 in the surround mode. 3), the mixer 122 shown in FIG. 3 (a) processes the signals received from the output ports P1 and P2 by the connection shown in the figure regardless of the DAW 100 mode. Therefore, according to the mode of the DAW 100, the operator on the mixer 122 side turns on the switch 313 in the normal mode to flow the stereo signal to the bus, and turns off the switch 313 in the surround mode so as not to flow. The operation such as to do is necessary.

  It is assumed that one output port of the music LAN 110 has a function of simultaneously performing data transfer from the DAW 100 to the mixer 120 and data transfer from the mixer 120 to the DAW in real time.

  Next, the monitoring function in the audio mixer 122 of FIG. 3 will be described. The output patch 315 has a source select function for selecting a signal to be monitored and a speaker select function for selecting from which monitor output terminal the selected signal is output. The output patch 315 includes a stereo signal ST (2ch) output from the bus ST L / R 304 via the switch 309 and the fader 310, an AUX signal (2ch) output from the bus AUX L / R 305, and a SOLO signal (2ch). 2TR input signal (2ch), DAW stereo signal DAW_ST (2ch) received from DAW 100 via output ports P1, P2 of music LAN 110, 5.1ch surround received from DAW 100 via output ports P1-P6 of music LAN 110 The signal DAW_5.1 (6ch) and the signal DAW_DM (2ch) obtained by downmixing the 5.1ch surround signal DAW_5.1 by the downmix unit 316 are input. Note that the SOLO signal is a signal extracted from the SOLO bus (not shown in FIG. 3A, but this mixer 120 includes a SOLO bus for solo-outputting only the sound of the channel designated by the solo switch). The 2TR input signal indicates a signal input from a two-track recorder (not shown in FIG. 3A, but this mixer has an input signal terminal from the two-track recorder). The output patch 315 selects a signal to be monitored from these input signals in accordance with a user instruction, and further selects an output terminal for monitor output in accordance with the user instruction. The selected signal is output from the selected output terminal via the level adjustment fader 317 and the DAC 123B, thereby realizing a desired monitor.

  FIG. 4 is a detailed block diagram of the output patch 315. The seven systems of input signals described in FIG. 3A are input to the source selection unit 401. The numerical value described in the vicinity of each input line indicates the number of channels of the signal of the system. The source selection unit 401 is a circuit that determines which signal is to be monitored and output according to the user's operation, and the speaker selection unit 402 is a circuit that selects a monitor output terminal (speaker) according to the user's operation. . The output of the speaker selection unit 402 is output from the monitor output terminal 405 via a monitor level adjustment fader 403 (317 in FIG. 3A) and a DA converter 404 (123B in FIG. 3A). . In this system, six monitor outputs are provided, and six DA converters 404 and six monitor output terminals 405 are also provided. The six monitor output terminals 405 are called A speaker pair left (AL), A speaker pair right (AR), B speaker pair left (BL),. A-L and A-R are collectively referred to as an A speaker pair. The same applies to B and C. Furthermore, when monitoring 5.1ch surround signals, these monitor output terminals are assigned such that A-L is the front left of the surround signal, A-R is the front right, and so on. As described in the monitor output terminal 405 portion, it may be referred to as [5.1] L, [5.1] R,.

  A headphone output terminal 414 is provided via DA converters 411 and 412 and a volume 413 for level adjustment. Basically, the monitoring target signal selected and output by the source selection unit 401 is output to the headphone output terminal 414.

  FIG. 5 shows the operation buttons and LEDs related to speaker selection and source selection provided in a part 500 on the external panel of the mixer 120. A, B, and C switches 501 to 503 are speaker select switches, and corresponding LEDs 511 to 513 are provided in the vicinity of each switch. A 5.1ch switch 505, a DAW switch 506, a stereo (ST) switch 507, an AUX switch 508, and a two-track recorder (2TR) switch 509 are source select switches, and corresponding LEDs 515 to 519 are arranged in the vicinity of each switch. Is provided. In addition, a downmix switch 504 and an LED 514 are provided.

  When one of the source select switches 505 to 509 is turned on, the LED (one of 515 to 519) corresponding to the switch is turned on, and the other LEDs (the rest of 515 to 519) are turned off. The 4 source selection unit 401 selects only the input signal corresponding to the turned-on switch among the seven systems of input signals and outputs the selected signal to the speaker selection unit 402. When any of the speaker select switches 501 to 503 is turned on, the LED (one of 511 to 513) corresponding to the switch is turned on, and the other LEDs (remaining of 511 to 513) are turned off. Any one of the speaker pairs A, B, and C corresponding to the turned on switch is selected, and the signal selected and output from the source selection unit 401 is output to the selected speaker pair. Although a switch for selecting the SOLO signal is not shown in FIG. 5, an SOLO switch is provided in the operation element corresponding to each channel of this mixer, and when the SOLO switch is turned on, the output of the channel is output. The source select unit 401 is configured to selectively output the SOLO signal.

  As described above, when the source to be monitored is selected with the switches 505 to 509 (and the SOLO switch (not shown)) and the speaker pair to be monitored is selected with the switches 501 to 503, the selected signal is the selected speaker. The basic operation is output from the pair. As described in FIG. 4, each of the speaker pairs A, B, and C has two output systems (L and R), so that the selected source is any one of ST, AUX, SOLO, 2TR, DAW_ST, and DAW_DM. If there is, the L side of the input signal is output to the L side of the speaker pair, and the R side of the input signal is output to the R side of the speaker pair. In this case, the source signal output to the speaker pair is also output to the headphone output terminal 414.

  On the other hand, there are some exceptional operations for the above basic operation. The exception operation will be described below.

  First, a case where the 5.1ch switch 515 is turned on will be described as a first exceptional operation. In this case, since the 5.1ch surround signal selected and output from the source select unit 401 as a monitoring target is a 6ch signal, all speaker pairs are present regardless of whether the speaker select state is A, B, or C at that time. Monitor output using A, B, C. That is, in FIG. 4, the front left signal of the input 5.1ch surround signal DAW_5.1 is to the speaker A-L ([5.1] L), and the front right signal is the speaker A-R ([5. 1] Monitor output to R) and so on. All the LEDs 511 to 513 are lit.

  In this state, the speaker select switches 501 to 503 function not as a speaker select function but as a mute instruction switch for each channel of the surround signal. For example, the initial state immediately after the 5.1ch switch 505 is turned on is that 5.1ch surround 6ch signals are output from the speakers of the speaker pairs A, B, and C with the assignment shown in FIG. Although turned on, when the A switch 501 is turned on once from this initial state, only the L side ([5.1] L) of the speaker pair A is output (R side is muted), and the LED 511 is fast It will be in a state of repeating blinking (flashing with a short cycle). Next, when the A switch 501 is turned on once, only the R side ([5.1] R) of the speaker pair A is output (the L side is muted), and the LED 511 repeats slow blinking. Next, when the A switch 501 is turned on once, both the speaker pair A and the LR are muted, and the LED 511 is turned off. Next, when the A switch 501 is turned on once, the LR of the speaker pair A is output together and the LED 511 is turned on again. In this way, by turning on the A switch 501 several times, both the front left and right signals of 5.1ch surround monitored by the speaker pair A are output, or only one is output, Can be easily instructed to mute. The same applies to the B switch 502 and the C switch 503. The order in which signals are output (muted) will be described later with reference to FIG.

  If any 5.1ch surround channel is muted by operating the switches 501 to 503 and the 5.1ch switch 515 is turned on again, all the LEDs 511 to 513 are turned on, and all the 6ch of the 5.1ch surround signal is turned on. Return to the output initial state. When the 5.1ch switch 515 is turned on, a signal DAW_DM obtained by mixing down the 5.1ch surround signal is output to the headphone output terminal 414 (regardless of the mute setting by the switches 501 to 503). And

  A case where the downmix switch 504 is turned on will be described as a second exceptional operation. The downmix switch 504 is a switch that is effective only when the 5.1ch switch 505 is turned on. When the downmix switch 504 is turned on, the source selection unit 401 selectively outputs the downmix signal DAW_DM output from the downmix unit 316. The downmix signal DAW_DM is obtained by combining the 6ch signal of the 5.1ch surround signal DAW_5.1 into a 2ch LR signal. When the downmix switch 504 is turned on, the speaker pair A is forcibly selected regardless of the state of the speaker select at that time, and the downmix signal DAW_DM is output to the speaker pair A. At this time, the LED 511 is turned on and the LEDs 512 and 513 are turned off. In this state, the switches 501 to 503 are not operable (meaningless even if operated).

  If the downmix switch 504 is turned on again while the downmix signal DAW_DM is being output on the monitor, the original 5.1ch surround signal is monitored again. Further, when the source select switches 505 to 509 (and SOLO switch not shown) are turned on while the downmix signal DAW_DM is being monitored and output, the monitor output of the downmix signal DAW_DM is stopped and the turned on source select switch is turned on. Move to the corresponding operation.

  As a third exceptional operation, a case where the 5.1ch switch 505 and the ST switch 507 are simultaneously turned on will be described. In this case, the 5.1ch surround signal monitor output and the stereo signal monitor output described above are mixed and output. Therefore, a signal obtained by mixing the front left signal of the 5.1ch surround signal DAW_5.1 and the left signal of the stereo signal ST is output to the output terminal A-L, and the 5.1ch surround signal is output to the output terminal A-R. A signal obtained by mixing the front right signal of the surround signal DAW_5.1 and the right signal of the stereo signal ST is output. DAW_5.1 C, SW, Ls, and Rs are output as they are.

  FIG. 6A shows the processing procedure of the source switching routine. This process is executed by the control microcomputer 124 when any of the source select switches 505 to 509 (and SOLO switch not shown) in FIG. 5 is turned on. In step 601, the current source selection state in the source selection unit 401 is acquired. Step 602 determines if the current source is the same as the newly selected source. If they are different, in step 603, the newly selected source is repatched. This is processing for setting the source selection unit 401 to selectively output a signal of a newly selected source. In step 604, speaker settings are initialized (FIG. 6B).

  FIG. 6B shows a procedure for initializing speaker settings in step 604. In step 605, the current speaker selection state in the speaker selection unit 402 is acquired. Steps 606 and 608 are determination processing for performing branching according to the settings of the source after operation (newly selected source) and the source before operation. When the source after the operation is 5.1ch surround, in step 607, all speakers (all 6 monitor output terminals) are set to output 5.1ch surround sound. Update the speaker settings as follows. If the source after the operation is other than 5.1ch surround and the source before the operation is 5.1ch surround, in step 609, the sound is set to be output only from the speaker pair A, and in step 611, the speaker is set as such. Update. If neither the source after operation nor the source before operation is 5.1 channel surround, the current speaker setting is used as it is in step 610, and the speaker setting is updated in step 611.

  FIG. 7A shows the processing procedure of the speaker switching routine. This process is executed by the control microcomputer 124 when any of the speaker select switches 501 to 503 in FIG. 5 is turned on. In step 701, the current source selection state in the source selection unit 401 is acquired. If the current source is other than 5.1ch in step 702, a speaker pair switching process (FIG. 7B) is performed in step 703. When the current source is 5.1ch, the process of muting in order at step 704 (FIG. 8A) is performed.

  FIG. 7B shows a procedure of speaker pair switching processing (step 703). In step 705, the current speaker selection state is acquired. In step 706, it is determined whether the currently selected speaker pair is the same as the newly designated speaker pair. If it is the same, the process ends. If they are different from each other, the currently selected speaker pair is muted in step 707, audio output is started from the newly designated speaker pair in step 708, and the speaker setting is updated in step 709.

  FIG. 8A shows the procedure of the process of muting in order (step 704). In step 801, the mode currently set for the speaker pair corresponding to the pressed speaker select switch is acquired. FIG. 8B shows the correspondence between the mode, LED display, and output signal. In the initial state when the 5.1ch switch 505 is turned on, all speaker pairs A, B, and C are set to mode 1, and all the sound of each channel of 5.1ch surround is output.

  In step 802, the next mode to be set for the speaker pair is determined. The mode is set independently for each speaker pair, and the mode is shifted in the order of mode 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 1 →..., So in step 802, the mode is determined in this order. In step 803, a speaker that outputs sound (speaker to be muted) is determined according to the determined mode. In step 804, the LED is turned on / flashes / turned off according to the mode. The LED display mode is shown in FIG. In step 806, sound is output from the speaker corresponding to the mode.

  As can be seen from FIG. 8B, from the initial state in which the 5.1ch switch 505 is turned on and 5.1ch surround sound is output from the speakers of all speaker pairs, the speaker select switches 501 to 503 are simply operated. It is possible to easily determine whether to monitor output or mute each channel of the surround signal. The state can be easily understood by looking at the display of the LEDs 511 to 513. Since the switches 501 to 503 and the LEDs 511 to 513 are diverted from those for speaker selection and have different functions only for the monitor output of the surround signal, the surround signal is not increased without increasing the number of operators and LEDs. It is possible to operate the monitor output of each channel.

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the downmix unit 316 in FIG. The 5.1ch surround signal DAW_5.1 received from the DAW 100 via the output ports P1 to P6 of the music LAN 110 is combined into a 2ch downmix signal DAW_DM by the attenuators 901 to 904 and the adders 911 to 914R.

  FIG. 10 shows the procedure of the downmix process. This process is executed by the control microcomputer 124 when the downmix switch 504 is turned on. First, in step 1001, the current source selection state in the source selection unit 401 is determined. If it is other than 5.1ch, the process ends. In the case of 5.1ch, the signal DAW_DM output from the downmix unit 316 is mixed with the speaker pair A in step 1002, and the sound is output from the speaker in step 1003.

  In the above embodiment, when switching is performed by the source selection unit 401 or the speaker selection unit 402, the switching is performed by interpolation over a predetermined time so that noise is not generated.

  In the above embodiment, the speaker pairs A, B, and C may be switched using the source select switch without providing the speaker select switch. For example, when the ST switch 507 is first turned on, it is output from the speaker pair A, when it is next turned on, it is switched to B, when it is next turned on, it is switched to C, and so on. In this case, the 5.1ch switch 505 is output from the speaker pairs A, B, and C when it is first turned on, only [5.1] L is output when it is next turned on, and [5.1] R when it is next turned on. It is sufficient to output only one channel in the surround signal each time it is turned on. An appropriate combination of channels in the surround signal may be output.

  In the above embodiment, the example of 5.1ch surround has been described, but the present invention can also be applied to other surrounds (such as 7.1ch). Also, the number of speakers may be changed. In the above embodiment, the 5.1 channel surround signal input from the music LAN has been described as being monitored by the mixer. However, it is not necessary to input from the music LAN. If a surround signal can be generated in the mixer, it can also be applied to the monitor.

Overall configuration diagram of an embodiment in which a mixer and a PC are connected via a music LAN Detailed diagram of DAW functional configuration and diagram showing allocation table of DAW output and music LAN output port Detailed functional configuration diagram of the mixer and a diagram showing an allocation table between the mixer output and the music LAN output port Detailed block diagram of the output patch Diagram showing controls and LEDs related to speaker selection and source selection of the mixer Flow chart of source switching routine and speaker setting initialization process Flow chart of speaker switching routine and speaker pair switching processing The figure which shows a response | compatibility with the process and mode which mute in order, LED display, and the signal to output Block diagram showing the configuration of the downmix section Downmix processing flowchart

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Personal computer (PC) 101 ... Digital audio workstation software, 102 ... Graphical user interface (GUI), 103 ... MIDI track & MIDI mixer control part, 104 ... Remote control part, 105 ... Audio track & audio mixer control part 106: Operating system (OS) application interface (API) 107: Various music I / O drivers 108: Various music I / O (including music LAN I / O) interfaces 110: Music LAN 120: Network Mixer, 121 ... analog / digital converter (ADC), 122 ... audio mixer, 123 ... digital / analog converter (DAC), 124 ... control microcomputer, 125 ... user interface Over scan (UI), 126 ... MIDI I / O, 127 ... music LAN I / O.

Claims (2)

A mixing console having a function of monitoring at least a 2ch stereo signal and a multi-channel surround signal,
A source select operator that selects the signal to be monitored;
A monitor output terminal for outputting a signal selected as a monitoring target, and a monitor output terminal provided with a plurality of pairs of 2ch output terminals capable of outputting a 2ch stereo signal;
A speaker selector for selecting a pair of the output terminals;
When the signal selected as the monitoring target by the source selection operator is a 2ch stereo signal, the selection of the output terminal pair by the speaker selection operator is validated, and the 2ch stereo signal to be monitored is converted to the speaker. When the signal selected for monitoring by the source select operator is a multi-channel surround signal, it is assigned to the output terminal pair selected by the select operator, and the output terminal of the output terminal by the speaker select operator is selected. Allocating means for allocating and outputting each individual channel of the multi-channel surround signal to each output terminal of the plurality of pairs of the monitor output terminals, regardless of the pair selection state;
When the signal selected for monitoring by the source select operator is a multi-channel surround signal, when the speaker select operator is operated, the mute setting of each channel of the multi-channel surround signal is performed according to the operation. Mute control means for controlling so that the signal of the muted channel is not output from the corresponding output terminal , and
The speaker selection operator comprises switches A, B,... For selecting one of the pairs A, B,.
The mute control means is a switch x (x is any one of A, B,...) Of the speaker select operator when the signal selected as a monitoring target by the source select operator is a multi-channel surround signal. Is operated, (1) Output from the left and right channels of the pair x corresponding to the switch x, (2) Output from only the left channel of the pair x, (3) Right channel of the pair x (4) Mute both left and right channels of the pair x sequentially (however, the order in which (1) to (4) are switched is arbitrary). Mixing console. The mixing console according to claim 1 .
A downmix operator,
2ch downmix generated by downmixing the multi-channel surround signal when the downmix control is operated when the signal selected for monitoring by the source select operator is a multi-channel surround signal. And a means for outputting a signal to an output terminal of the predetermined pair of the monitor output terminals.

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