Handling the Automix Priority

The TC Bar has up to two Dante® inputs for external microphone channels (Ext. CH 1 and Ext. CH 2).

The channels allow external devices (e.g. TeamConnect Ceiling Medium) to be connected to the TC Bar via a Dante® network.

The Dante® inputs are managed via an integrated automixer, whereby the priority of the channels, including the internal microphone array, can be set via individual faders.

The settings via the Automix Priority only manage the priority of the selected channel. It has no influence on the actual gain level of the connected microphones.

Reducing the level by the corresponding control fader will add an virtual level reduction to the channel that makes it less likely to be selected by the automixer.

The level meters show the signal level of the inputs and the internal microphone array PRE fader and also PRE virtual level reduction. Moving the faders therefore does not change the displayed levels.

If you want to prioritize a single channel from the selection, you will have to reduce the virtual gain reduction of the other two channels.

Examples:

The following table shows examples of which microphone is given priority over other connected microphones depending on the setting.


Comments	Int. Mic	Ext. CH 1	Ext. CH 2
Ext. CH 2 has the highest priority and is therefore mostly selected. Int. Mic. is less prioritized and is therefore selected less often. Ext. CH 1 has the least priority.	-30 dB	-60 dB	0 dB
Ext. CH 1 has the highest priority and is therefore usually selected. Ext. CH 2 is less prioritized, and is therefore selected less often. Int. Mic. has the least priority.	-60 dB	-10 dB	-30 dB
Int. Mic. has the highest priority and is therefore usually selected. Ext. CH 1 and 2 are less prioritized, and are therefore selected less often.	0 dB	-30 dB	-30 dB

Best Practice for Handling the Microphone Gain

Use Ext. CH 1 and Ext. CH 2 for external microphone channels connected via Dante®.
Don´t change the settings, if no Dante® channels are connected.
Reduce Int. Mic to -60 dB, if an external device is connected to Ext. CH 1 (for example a TCC M) and you prefer to use the microphone pickup from that device most of the time. You can also disabled the Int. Mic so that Dante® microphone is used all the time.
When the Int. Mic and CH 2 gain is reduced to -60 dB, it is likely that the TC Bar chooses Ext. CH 1 for the microphone input. It does not mean that the actual microphone gain is reduced to -60 dB.
If you want to use the TC Bar‘s microphone pickup for people speaking close to the TC Bar but use the external microphone pickup of the external device (e.g. TCC M), simply adjust the priority of the selected microphone within the Automix Priority.
With Fade Time you can adjust the switching speed between the audio sources connected to the auto mixer.

In order to ensure reliable and consistent audio levels, use these best practices to handle the microphone gain.

Start reducing the Int Mic by -30 dB.
Talk in different positions and listen on the other side of a conference call if the audio meets your expectations.
Select different values of the Fade Time and listen how if effects transitioning from one microphone to the other.
The signal levels are pre-conditioned automatically by an internal gain control.
- Once the active channel is ready, have a person speak at a certain position.
Observe the signal metering of the active channel above each channel gain.
Determine which channel is selected.
Change the gains if you want to select a different channel instead.
Example:
A presenter is sitting in front of a Sennheiser gooseneck microphone (Ext. CH 2) and is speaking. You can see in the Control software that the active LED for Int. Mic is flashing. However, you want the sound of the Ext. CH 2 microphone to be selected.
- Reduce the gain for Int. Mic until Ext. CH 2 is selected. Start with 10 dB steps, speak for a few seconds, observe the LED of the active channel and adjust the gain further if necessary.