Author: Debanka

You can view or modify the Compound Audio Object instance using the “Open Signal Flow” option. The Open Signal Flow option enables to view signal flow of CAO instance that is added to Main Signal flow. The view allows you to customize and save the Block Id and Display names of inner audio objects in CAO instances.

Steps to open CAO instance signal flow:

1. On the Signal Flow Designer window, right-click on CAO instance, and select Open Signal Flow option.
   

   When the Compound Audio Object version is updated, it will be highlighted in a different color in the Signal Flow Designer. In order to save the signal flow, the upgraded Compound Audio Object.

   Navigation to CAO instance Signal-flow will be allowed only if password validation is successful for password protected CAO templates and if CAO template is editable.

2. On the CAO instance signal-flow window, select the respective audio object and edit the Display Name and Block Id, if required.

   Except for Display Name and Block Id, all audio object properties on the CAO instance signal-flow window are fixed.

   Customized Display name /Block ID will be assigned only if it is unique across Main signal-flow.

   Block Id cannot be assigned for Compound Interface objects – Compound Audio IO , Compound Control In, Compound Control Out.

   

3. Click Save to save all updated Display Names and Block Ids.
4. Double-click on audio objects to open the native panel (if available). The native panel allows to tune audio objects. Audio objects can be tuned for CAO instance without additional custom panel creation.
5. Once you made all the changes in the CAO instance signal-flow window. Click Go Back to navigate to the primary Signal Flow Designer window.

Customized Display Name and Block Id will be updated in all device associated data, making it identifiable in DDF/State Variable Explorer/ Venue Explorer/ Custom Panel address editor.

Adding a password to a compound audio object (CAO) can ensure its security. During the creation or modification of a CAO, it is possible to add a password, although this step is not mandatory.

It is important to remember the password in order to access and view the signal flow of the Compound Audio Object (CAO).

To enhance the security of the CAO, it is advisable to periodically change the password at specific intervals. This measure can help prevent unauthorized access and ensure the continued protection of the CAO. The signal flow should be saved after entering or updating the password.

Click on the edit CAO option to view the signal flow. If the CAO contains a password, an authentication dialog box will be displayed. Enter the valid password to view the CAO Signal flow.

Preset or Tuning sets can be used to store the tuning data set of a CAO template signal flow. These stored tuning sets can be applied on instances of CAO template.

Preset control feature is available for all saved CAO templates. It can be used to store the tuning data set of CAO template.

To create Preset

1. On the Compound Audio Object editor, tune audio objects signal flow.
2. Select a free preset slot (numbers), enter a slot name in the text box.
3. Click on Store Preset to save and store the preset. The preset will be stored in the slot you had chosen. The blue color indicates that the preset is applied to CAO inner audio objects.
   

You can create several presets and switch between them to apply their values to the CAO template by simply clicking on them. Once they are clicked, you can also override the preset by changing the tuning data of inner audio objects or the preset name.

Only after Compound Audio Object is saved, the Preset control feature will be available for configuration.

If you do not enter a preset name, it will take the default name of the New Preset.

Set presets are available for application, only on exiting Compound Audio Object editor view.

Reset Presets

To Reset Presets

1. On the Preset section, select the slots, and then click on the settings icon.
   
2. Click on Reset Selected to reset the selected preset slots.

   If you want to reset all presets of the respective native panel, click Reset All.

Apply Presets on CAO Instances

If presets are available in CAO templates, you can apply these presets to CAO instances in the main signal flow.

1. On the Signal Flow Designer window, right-click on compound audio object instance, go to Apply preset tuning data, and then select the required presets displayed in sub-menu.
2. Click Ok to apply the tuning data of a preset to all inner audio-objects of the selected compound audio object. After applying the tuning data a successful message will be displayed.
   

 Apply preset tuning data option will be available only when signal-flow is in saved state.

Presets will be exported/imported along with a Compound audio object template.

Import a Compound Audio Object

To Import Compound Audio Object

1. On the Signal Flow Designer window, click on the Import Compound Audio Object option.
   
2. Browse the location of Compound Audio Object and click Open. The imported Compound Audio Object added in the toolbox.

If the same Compound Audio Object is already in the toolbox, you can overwrite it or import it as a new Compound Audio Object.

The Compound Audio Object in the Toolbox can be dragged and dropped into the Device Signal Flow, just like a basic audio object.

If device signal flow is designed with Compound Audio Objects, it is carefully considered to bundle them in a project file (.gttd).

Export a Compound Audio Object

It is very convenient to share the Compound Audio Object by exporting it to a .cao file. Compound audio objects are just like any other audio object in the Signal Flow Designer toolbox. Except that they are complex and not part of the audio library.

To Export Compound Audio Object

1. On the Signal Flow Designer window, select the compound audio object under the Compound Audio Object category in the toolbox and click Export through the context menu.
   
2. On the dialog box, click Ok to export the Compound Audio Object.
   • If the “Editable on import“ option is checked, it means you can edit the Compound Audio Object on import.
   • If you uncheck the “Editable on import“ option, a new Compound Audio Object will be created while editing the Compound Audio Object on import.

   

3. Navigate the location, and click Save the Compound Audio Object. The exported file is saved in .CAO format.

Creating a Compound Audio Object is very simple. The designer has to select an audio object from an existing signal flow and extract audio objects into a Compound Audio Object. The application will replace the extracted audio objects with the Compound Audio Object in the signal flow.

To create Compound Audio Object:

1. Open a project and go to Signal Flow Designer window.
2. Select the audio objects in the Signal Flow Designer window and click on Extract. This opens the Compound Audio Object window.

   Extract can be performed only when valid audio objects are selected. Currently, the GTT Version does not support FIR MIMO, EOC, RNC, Audio IO, Control IN, and Compound Audio Object extraction.

   Extract functionality will be enabled only if Signal Flow is saved.

   On Compound Audio Object window the selected audio objects are surrounded with the interface objects like AudioIO and Control IO.

   The interface objects are used to configure Compound Audio Object’s pins (AudioIO, ControlIO). Also, you can tune inner audio objects just like basic audio objects.
   

3. Click Save and enter the Compound audio object Name and Description.
4. Select a free preset slot number, enter a name in the text box and then click on Store preset to save and store the preset.
   The preset will be stored in the slot you had chosen. The blue color indicates that the preset is applied to CAO inner audio objects.
5. Click Go Back after creating the Compound Audio Object.In the Signal Flow Designer window, you will see that the selected audio object has been replaced with the new compound audio object and the same audio object is listed under the Compound Audio Object category in the Toolbox.
   

   Block Id cannot be assigned for Compound Audio Object instances.

Rename a Compound Audio Object

Once you added a Compound Audio Object in the Toolbox. You can rename the Compound Audio Object as per requirement.

To rename Compound Audio Object:

1. Go to the Toolbox in Signal flow designer window, select the compound audio object under the Compound Audio Object category, and click Rename from the context menu.
   
2. On the textbox, enter the desired name of the compound audio object, and click Ok.
   

A successful message will appear after the modifications have been made.

CAO renamed will update CAO type name in all devices and projects.

The Global Tuning Tool allows you to combine audio objects into a single large component that can be reused. This is known as a compound audio object.

By grouping audio objects into CAO, designers can keep their signal flow elegant. Complex reusable audio objects and their connections can be saved as CAOs, allowing for faster signal flow generation when using these CAOs.

CAO stands for Compound Audio Objects.

Device will not know anything about Compound Audio Object. When the user sends signal flow to the device, GTT will scan the signal flow and replace Compound Audio Objects with the inner basic objects. It will establish all the connections so that when the signal flow reaches the device, it is expanded. This will ensure no further implementation is needed on the device to process CAO.

GTT has the ability to identify the author of a CAO, which will be provided to access the features such as editing and exporting. The compound audio object also allows for versioning, enabling authors to keep track of the different versions of CAOs they have created. GTT can validate the version of the CAO used in the signal flow.

It is carefully considered to bundle them in a project file (.gttd), so that CAO present in the signal flow can be exported and imported. GTT provides the majority of the existing CAO interfaces, so you will have no difficulty learning to create CAO.

Relative Topics

• Create a Compound Audio Object
• Import and Export CAO
• Tuning and Editing CAO
• Create Preset for CAO
• Edit CAO Instance
• Set password for CAO
• Linking Custom Panel to CAO
• Multi dll support for CAO
• Delete a Compound Audio Object

In the Signal Flow Designer, you can view static metadata and dynamic metadata of an audio object.

Static Metadata

Static metadata refers to the metadata information of an audio object that does not change frequently. By default, every object available in the toolbox has the static metadata. Right-click on the audio object in the toolbox section to view the static metadata details.

On the metadata dialog box, the following metadata information displayed.

Dynamic Metadata

Dynamic metadata includes metadata information of an audio object that changes frequently or is generated in real-time. Every audio object instance in the signal flow designer has dynamic metadata. Right-click on the audio object in the signal flow designer to view the dynamic metadata details.

On the metadata dialog box, the following metadata information displayed.

A signal flow designer can assign labels to audio and control pins of audio objects to make a flowchart design more informative. There are two items available in the context menu of each audio object “Add Audio Pin Label” and “Add Control Pin Label”.

• Add Audio Pin Label
• Add Control Pin Label

The process of signal flow design involves the labeling of audio and control pins for audio objects, which enhances the clarity of the flowchart design. To facilitate this, there are two options available in the context menu of each audio object: “Add Audio Pin Label” and “Add Control Pin Label.”

Pin labels are not propagated downstream by default, although certain objects such as Gain, Biquad, or Delay do have this capability. For a design with four blocks like AudioIn, Gain, Delay, and AudioOut. Label the output channels of the AudioIn block, select all the blocks, and then press the “Connect Blocks” button. This is sufficient to propagate the labels since they will be inherited by the downstream objects.

Related Topics

• Tooltip
• Compound Audio Object Instance Pin Labels

Add Audio Pin Label

To add an Audio Pin Label

1. On the signal flow designer, right-click on the audio object, and select Add Audio Pin Label. This opens the Add Audio Pin Label dialogue box.
   
2. On the pin label dialogue box, enter the input pin and output pin details and click Ok. The label will be displayed on the audio object.
   
   

Add Control Pin Label

To add a Control Pin Label

1. On the signal flow designer, right-click on the audio object, and select Add Control Pin Label. This opens the Add Control Pin Label dialogue box.
   
2. On the control label dialogue box, enter the input pin and output pin details and click Ok. The label will be displayed on the audio object.
   
   

Tooltip

A tooltip is a graphical user interface (GUI) element that appears when you hover over pin connections. It typically contains a brief description or additional information about the pin connection. Tooltips can be used to obtain more detailed information on the connection between Audio Objects (AOs), tooltips are available that display the affected AO names and the corresponding pins used.

To access these tooltips, you must connect any two AOs first, then hover your mouse over the connection presenter (arrow). This will display a tooltip showing the Audio Object Name, Pin No., and Labels (if any) for the connected objects.

Compound Audio Object Instance Pin Labels

The Compound Audio Object (CAO) instance takes pin labels from CAO audio objects such as CompoundAudioIO, CompoundControlIn, and CompoundControlOut, and applies these labels to the CAO instance when extracting or dragging a new CAO type from the toolbox.

It will swap In pin labels with Out pin labels for the CAO instance.

On Compound Audio Object upgrade the Compound Audio Object instance takes the latest CAO type pin labels and updates it in the CAO instance.

Native panel is one of the important element of the Signal Flow Designer. The native panel has interactive widgets that help to tune complex audio objects easily.

The tuning of a signal flow will be illustrated by showing the tuning effects on virtual devices in IVP RTA. RTA is a multi-channel Real Time Analyzer for audio signals. It provides time and frequency domain analysis tools to measure RMS/peak levels, frequencies, THD, delays, magnitude, and phase responses.

Launch Native Panel

1. On the Signal Flow Designer window, double-click on any audio object to open a Native Panel.
   
   Use the interactive widgets on the Native panel to make the desired changes to audio object properties.

   When Native Panels is open, if there is any modification to Signal Flow Designer, a popup message will appear asking to save the changes.

   When Native Panels is open, you cannot make any changes to the Signal Flow Designer window. But you can open another native panel from the Signal Flow Designer window.

2. If the preset bar is present in the panel, select the free preset slot numbers, enter the name of the slot, and click Store preset. This saves and stores the current tuning data to the selected slot.
   

If you do not enter a name of the slot, then it will take the default named “New Preset”.

You can switch between presets and apply their values to the native panel by simply clicking on them. You can also change the values in the native panel or the preset name after you have clicked it to override the preset.

You can reset the selected preset or all the preset.

• Click Reset Selected to clear the preset that is currently selected.
• Click Reset All to clear every preset in the corresponding native panel.

Visualize a Signal Flow

You can check the tuning effects of the designed audio signal flow on the virtual device in IVP.

For more information, refer to Analyzer and Generator.

Perform Tuning

The audio objects that do not have their own native panel can create a custom panel and link the panel with the respective audio object.

If an audio object doesn’t have its own native panel, you can create a custom panel and link it to the appropriate audio object under the “Available Custom Panels” option.

Follow the below steps to view the signal flow performance:

1. Go to the IVP tab, start Generator, Analyzer, and Plugin Host.
   For more details about Generator, Analyzer, and Plugin Host settings, refer to the Real Time Analyzer User Guide.
   
2. Go to the Device Designer tab, click on Send Signal Flow to send tuning data.
   
3. Open the native panel and go back to the IVP window.
4. On the native panel, tune the signals. The signal flow in the IVP tab will change accordingly.
   

The Metering functionality in a signal flow design basically measures the audio signal output and control output from an audio object of the discovered device.

The SFD metering feature is available from V release onwards and supports discovered devices.

The following audio objects are compatible with Control Metering functionality.
– LUT
– Control Math
– Control Smooth
– ControlMultiAdder
– ControlIn
– Control Grouper (Level meter is not usable on ControlGrouper’s control outputs until GTT supports level meter on BlockControl outputs)

To use this feature, you need perform following actions:

1. You need to enable Streaming functionality in the device view and configure the parameters.
2. Then, you need to add Level Meters in the signal flow design. When a device is connected, you can use Level Meter to monitor the audio output (Peak or RMS values) by adding them to the audio out connections. Similarly, control output value can be monitored in level meters for control out connections.
   

Enabling Streaming Functionality

In order to utilize Metering feature for each core, you need to enable Streaming functionality.

To enable Streaming functionality:

1. Open the Device View and select the Virtual core layer of the device.
2. Go the Virtual core properties and select the Streaming checkbox. This will enable the Streaming functionality.
   Additionally, in the Streaming functionality you need to configure the number of level meters that can be added in the signal flow to monitor control out connections or audio.

A core can be configured with up to 32 level meters, and by default it is set to zero. These values will be sent to device while sending device configuration to allocate required memory for level meter streaming.

All level meters under a core will be deleted if the number of level meters you configure in device view is less than the total number of level meters added in a core.

If you modify any of the Streaming configurations, make sure to perform “Send Device Configuration” operation while connecting device.

Level Meter Panel

The Level Meter panel displays number of maximum allowed level meters , number of added level meters and the color coding for different ranges of audio output values.

If the streaming is enabled and the number of level meters configured for the core is greater than zero, a Level Meter panel appears in the top right corner of the signal flow designer.
By default, the Level Meter panel is collapsed.

Click on the expand option to view the Legend section. The legend section shows the color coding for various audio output value ranges in addition to the quantity of level meters.

• Green – Peak/RMS value is less than -12.
• Yellow – Peak/RMS value is in the range of -12 to -3.1.
• Red – Peak/RMS value is greater than -3.1.

Configuring Level Meter in Signal Flow Designer

The Level Meter allows you to monitor the audio output and control output in the Signal flow design. In order to monitor you need to add Peak or RMS to the audio out and control out connections of audio objects.

Configuring Audio Output connection

You can view the peak or RMS value of each audio out connection by adding level meters via the connection context menu.

The Peak and RMS are computed based on current block only which means the block length chosen would decide the peak and RMS value. Shorter the block length more fluctuations in peak/RMS value.

When the Peak option is selected from the context menu, a level meter will be added to the connection to display the connection’s peak output value.

When the RMS option is selected from the context menu, a level meter will be added to the connection to display the RMS value of the output in that connection.

The color of the connection changes when a level meter is added. The color of the connection indicates whether a level meter is present in that connection. The level meter color will get updated dynamically based on the Peak/RMS value of the audio output.

The level meter control and value will not be shown if the device is not connected.

After adding Peak or RMS level meter, delete option will be enabled in context menu. Even the type of level meter can be switched by selecting the enabled level meter context menu option(Peak/RMS).
You can use delete option to remove level meter from a connection. On deleting level meter, level meter control and value will be disappeared, and connection color will reset to default.

Configuring Control Output connection

The Control output value of each control out connections can be viewed by adding level meters through context menu of the connection,

When the Add option is selected from the context menu, level meter will be added to the connection to show control output value of that connection.

In addition to the control output value, the pin label will be displayed. A tooltip for the pin label has been added in order to see longer pin labels.

The color of the connection changes when a level meter is added. The connection color indicates the presence of level meter in a connection.

If device is not connected, level meter control and value will not be displayed.

Once after adding level meter, delete option will be enabled in context menu.
You can use delete option to remove level meter from a connection. On deleting level meter, level meter control and value will be disappeared, and connection color will reset to default.

While configuring Level Meter in signal flow designer, you can Undo or Redo the Add, Delete and Switching Parameter (Peak/RMS) operations.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are available to add/delete level meters in signal flow designer screen. Following are the keyboard shortcuts available for different operations:

• Ctrl+Shift+P – To add Peak Level Meter
• Ctrl+Shift+R – To add RMS Level Meter
• Ctrl+Shift+A – To add Control Out Level Meter
• Ctrl+Shift+D – To delete Level Meter

Once one or more connections in the signal flow have been selected, the keyboard shortcuts can be used. This option makes it simple to add or remove multiple level meters.

Export and Import Level Meters

While exporting the project, the added level meters will be exported as part of GTTD file. On importing the project, exported level meters will be imported to GTT.

Delete all Level Meters

You can delete all level meters added in an instance by using “Delete All Level Meters” option in instance context menu. GTT will display a message after all level meters have been successfully deleted.

If no level meters are present, following error message will be displayed.

Level meter streaming will get stopped on disconnecting the device. On reconnecting the device, streaming will get resumed for existing level meters if SFD screen is active.

Level meters are not supported for below connections in V release:
– CAO output connections.
– Connections in CAO signal flow.
– Block control connections.