Designer System Configuration Software enables integrators and system planners to design and implement accurate audio coverage for installations using a variety of select Shure microphones and other select Shure devices. Designer allows online and offline design, routing, configuration, and push to online devices, all in one tool. You can accurately model meeting and presentation spaces by importing a floor plan, scaling your room, positioning devices around participant areas, and arranging the pick-up lobes over the room diagram for precise coverage.
Designer allows you to create and edit coverage parameters before your devices are installed:
After completing your design work offline, you can push the settings to the live devices and fine-tune on site, all from within Designer. If you prefer, you can always export the device presets to upload and use each device's web user interface.
Start a Designer project and create a room that matches your planned environment. You can create a room (live) or create a room (design) that you can deploy at a later time.
Drag the devices that you want to work with into the room.
Click Optimize to allow Designer to connect your Shure devices. You must have at least one microphone and one processor in a room to use Designer's Optimize feature.
Do you only have microphones? You can continue to make manual adjustments by selecting individual devices to adjust their properties to the right or click Configure to access and change the more advanced settings.
Designer's Optimize workflow speeds up the process of connecting systems with at least 1 microphone and 1 audio processor. Optimize also creates mute control routes in rooms with MXA network mute buttons. When you select Optimize in a room, Designer does the following:
The settings are optimized for your particular combination of devices. You can customize settings further, but the Optimize workflow gives you a good starting point.
After optimizing a room, you should check and adjust settings to fit your needs. These steps may include:
Compatible devices:
Use the Coverage map to configure the devices and adjust the coverage areas in your room. Additionally, you should select individual devices to adjust their properties to the right or click Configure to access and change the more advanced settings.
Use the image to focus the audio coverage on the expected participant areas and design with greater accuracy using real room dimensions.
To complete configuring the devices in your room, you can make changes directly to your devices and fine-tune each channel by listening to the sound check and making adjustments in real-time from within Designer.
Download the application and learn more at www.shure.com/designer.
New versions of this software are periodically released to include new features and performance improvements. This documentation supports the latest version of the software. For more information on individual releases, see the release notes on www.shure.com.
Shure System Support provides regional support teams with in-depth knowledge of Shure devices, digital audio networking, and best practices for your installation. If you encounter any issues during installation or setup of the software, contact Shure System Support for assistance. In the Americas region, you can call 312-736-6006 or visit www.shure.com to find your local support contact.
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Four ports, dynamically allocated at install using available ports in the range of 10000-65535 |
Make sure your operating system is up-to-date before software installation.
The following operating systems are supported on a physical or virtual machine:
System memory | 16 GB of RAM available |
Hard-disk space | 2 GB available |
Processor | i5 Dual-core processor |
The following settings are automatically made during software installation.
MongoDB v5.0.3 is automatically added during the installation process.
LocalPort | 5568, 8427 |
Protect against data loss by backing up the MongoDB database (installed with Designer) that stores your Shure software information. Backups are also useful when migrating to a new server.
Backups store all projects, locations, and device settings that your team makes in the software. For backup restoration, only those backup files (.bak) that match the current operating software version are supported.
You must identify the dynamically allocated port for MongoDB by looking in the configuration section of:
"[location of Designer Software install directory]\Services\Mongo-5.0.3\Bin\mongod.cfg"
The port number is specified in the following lines:
"
net:
port: [port #]
"
Use the machine installed with the software to create the MongoDB backup.
"[location of Designer Software install directory]\Services\Mongo-5.0.3\Bin\mongodump.exe" --host localhost
--port [MongoDB port number] --gzip --archive="[path and file name of backup]"
Tip: Sample command line with default settings (all on one command line):
"c:\Program Files\Shure\Shure Designer\Services\Mongo-5.0.3\Bin\mongodump.exe" --host localhost
--port [MongoDB port number] --gzip --archive="c:\Shure.bak"
"[location of Designer Software install directory]\Services\Mongo-5.0.3\Bin\mongorestore.exe" --host localhost
--port [MongoDB port number] --drop --gzip --archive="[path and file name of backup]"
Tip: Sample command line with default settings (all on one command line):
"c:\Program Files\Shure\Shure Designer\Services\Mongo-5.0.3\Bin\mongorestore.exe” --host localhost
--port [MongoDB port number] --drop --gzip --archive="c:\Shure.bak"
iisreset
at the command prompt.
The following Shure devices are supported in Designer. Whenever possible, upgrade to the latest supported firmware version to take advantage of new features and system improvements.
Important:
See Firmware Updates for more information on updating firmware.
You can enable or disable specific network protocols on your devices using Designer. Navigate to that device in Live mode and click . The configuration options are:
Shure Designer software helps you develop and organize your audio installation projects. Set up your projects to best reflect your work flow:
Organize by project using locations
Projects are scalable: design a single room or develop several locations spanning buildings and campuses
Organize by layout using rooms
Copy and re-use room designs to create designs for similar rooms
To create a project,
Designer uses rooms so you can create multiple designs within each project. You can create a room in your project for each space you are designing. You can arrange rooms to match the project infrastructure (buildings and floors) or your own work flow (room types).
Designer creates a room with that name in your project list and opens a design window for that room.
If you are going to create multiple rooms and prefer to group them into folders, you can create a folder first.
Designer creates a folder with that name and adds it to your project list.
Double-click the folder to open it and follow the previous steps to create a room.
Export your Designer project to share and collaborate with other system designers, or to save a backup of your work. The export includes all rooms within your project, including all virtual device settings, routing, and coverage designs.
Designer projects download as .dprj files and are only compatible with Shure Designer software.
You add virtual devices to your workspace by dragging them from the left side menu onto your workspace.
Designer's Optimize workflow speeds up the process of connecting systems with at least 1 microphone and 1 audio processor. Optimize also creates mute control routes in rooms with MXA network mute buttons. When you select Optimize in a room, Designer does the following:
The settings are optimized for your particular combination of devices. You can customize settings further, but the Optimize workflow gives you a good starting point.
After optimizing a room, you should check and adjust settings to fit your needs. These steps may include:
Compatible devices:
To use the Optimize workflow:
If you remove or add devices, select Optimize again.
You can create Dante routes for the supported Shure devices by clicking and dragging to make connections between the devices.
After Designer creates the route, hovering over either endpoint identifies the Dante device and channel connections.
Note: By default, Designer pushes the routes when pushing virtual device settings to the discovered devices, but you can opt out of creating and pushing routes if you are using a 3rd party DSP, for example.
The Routing page uses icons to identify valid and invalid Dante routes :
Possible issue | Resolution |
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Receiver cannot locate the subscribed transmitter. or Transmitter cannot locate the subscribed receiver. |
If simply offline, the online device will locate the offline device when it comes back online. |
Receiver can locate the subscribed transmitter, but there is a coding mismatch because one of the endpoints does not have encryption enabled, while the other one does. | Re-key the encryption or disable encryption for both devices. |
Receiver can locate the subscribed transmitter, but there is a coding mismatch because the endpoints have different encryption keys. | Re-key the encryption or disable encryption for both devices. |
Receiver can locate the subscribed transmitter, but there is a coding mismatch or other problem preventing proper operation across the route. | Re-key the encryption or disable encryption for both devices. |
You use the Coverage map for the MXA910 and MXA920 Ceiling Array microphones, the MXA710 Linear Array microphones, and the Microflex Networked Ceiling Loudspeakers. The Coverage map is very helpful when you have added an image of the room and you can use it to position the microphone and its channels. You can drag one or more microphones onto the workspace, dragging to the desired position or typing the exact coordinates in Properties.
To create more accurate layouts, match the room specifications by editing the Workspace properties from the coverage editor or the Properties panel. To access workspace edit mode, you must click the dimensions above the workspace grid
With editing enabled, you can modify your workspace properties:
Workspace | |
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Length and Width | Set the length and width of your room. |
Ceiling height | Set the ceiling height of your room. This setting becomes the default device height when you add a device, though you can change them independently at any time. |
Units | Select the unit of measure for your room:
Tip: Match the unit of measure to your hardware device (for example, inches for MXA910-24IN or meters for MXA910-60CM). |
Grid: Grid starting point (X and Y) | Start the grid from a different point on the workspace to align with a reference object, such as a ceiling tile in the background image. |
Shortcut | Description |
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Delete | Delete the selected device or channel |
Up, Down, Left, or Right | Move the selected device or channel
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Shift + Rotate (drag using the mouse) | Rotate the selected device or image in 45 degree increments |
Control wheel | Zoom in or out on the workspace |
Add a background image to your room to help focus the design around the participant seating arrangements and presentation areas. Images can be scaled to represent real room dimensions for accurately positioning devices and audio coverage.
Background image
Supported file types:
After you add an image to Designer, you can scale it based on a reference point in the drawing. If you do not know an actual measurement in your image, you can always scale the image later.
Scale the image using a reference dimension
You can redraw to scale at any time from
.Use the grid in Designer to move objects to an exact point in the workspace. When Snap to grid is selected, the device reference corner aligns automatically to the closest grid corner.
Aligning devices on the grid
Open Grids & guides on the coverage page to enable or disable the positioning tools:
Use Layers to list and select the devices that appear on the coverage map. Use visibility ( ) to toggle the reference lines on and off for that device.
Align the grid with a reference point in your image, such as a ceiling tile or door frame, by adjusting the grid offset.
You can make changes to the devices in the Designer Coverage map.
Enter edit mode by clicking Edit image above the workspace.
To exit, select anywhere outside of the image.
Changing the opacity | Adjust the transparency of the background image to provide more or less visibility in relation to the workspace and devices. A lower opacity value results in a more transparent image, while a higher value results in a darker image that matches the original file. |
Resizing the image | Resize the image by dragging the corner of an image or entering a value into the properties panel. The ratio is locked so that changes to one dimension proportionally affect the other. |
Moving the image | Change the position of a device in relation to the top-left corner of the workspace. |
Rotating the image | Rotate the device to correctly position it in the room. Click and drag the handle to rotate the image to the desired position. Tip: Hold the shift key to rotate in 45 degree increments. |
Adding a device | Drag a device from the devices panel into the workspace. |
Selecting a device | Click on a device in the workspace to select it and to be able to edit its properties. To exit, click anywhere outside of the device. |
Removing a device | Select it and press Delete or ![]() |
Positioning a device | Drag or nudge a device into a desired position on the workspace. The device properties displays its position in relation to the workspace 0,0 point. Device reference point This point is used to measure coordinates. |
Rotating a device | Click and drag the handle to rotate the device to the desired position. Tip: Hold the shift key to rotate in 45 degree increments. ![]() |
Select the channel to edit its properties. To exit, select anywhere outside of the channel.
Adding a channel | Select the device and press Add channel |
Removing a channel | Select the channel and press Delete or ![]() |
Positioning a channel | Drag or nudge a channel into a desired position. The channel properties displays its position in relation to the device and the workspace 0,0 point. |
Resizing a channel | The channel size is a combination of selectable width setting and automatically calculated properties based on layout specifications.
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With multiple devices in a workspace, it can become crowded when trying to select a device or channel. Use the Layers menu to the left of the workspace to select the device with which you want to work.
Designer lets system planners work off-line and off-site by using virtual devices. Virtual devices allow you to prepare microphone coverage, set device properties, adjust equalizer settings, and configure Dante audio routing, all without a connection to the hardware. To work with virtual devices, select Create room (design):
After you complete your room or project, finish the job on-site by associating with discovered, online devices and deploying your design. You can then use Designer to fine-tune the properties on those devices in real-time.
After adding devices to your room, optimizing, and configuring your audio coverage, you can deploy your design to push the settings out to the discovered devices.
Associating a discovered device with a design device does not actually push the settings to the discovered devices until you click Deploy.
You disassociate a device by clicking X.
The green banner across the top identifies that you are in live mode and working with discovered devices.
To the left you see all of the discovered devices on your network that have not already been added to another one of your rooms. Designer automatically discovers supported Shure devices on the same subnet and you can add cross-subnet devices by navigating to Online devices where you can add them by IP address.
If you have many devices, you can sort by device name, IP address, or device model. You should initially hover over a discovered device and click to identify it, ensuring that you are working with the correct one.
When you Deploy, Designer overwrites everything on your discovered devices except for:
In live mode, you are making changes directly to your discovered devices and you can fine-tune them with Designer.
Note: Be aware that some of the changes you make can cause the audio to momentarily drop out.
When your devices are configured and set for a given room, you might want to save a specific design as a preset on all the devices. Presets are useful, for example, for a multipurpose or combinable room where the room can have different configurations. You can have multiple preset designs ready to apply when the room configuration changes.
Notes:
To view the event log, click Event log from the main menu.
The event log provides a detailed account of activity within Designer. The log collects and time-stamps activity entries and retains them for the period of time that you specify in Settings, from 30 to 360 days. The Export feature creates a CSV (comma separated values) document to save and sort the log data.
To export the event log for a specific device, navigate to that device in Live mode and Click . This feature creates a CSV (comma separated values) document of the log data.
Refer to the log file for details when troubleshooting or consulting with Shure Systems Support.
Severity Level | |
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Information | An action or event has been successfully completed. |
Warning | An action cannot be complete, but overall functionality is stable. |
Error | A problem has occurred that could inhibit functionality. |
Log Details | |
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Event | Indicates the event type. |
Description | Provides details on events and errors, including IP address and room where applicable. |
Date | Date and time of the event. |
Tip: Select a category heading to sort the log.
To access coverage map settings:
To control automatic coverage, go to
.For most rooms, Shure recommends:
These numbers also depend on your room's acoustics, construction, and materials. With automatic coverage on, the default coverage area is a 30 by 30 foot (9 by 9 meter) dynamic coverage area.
When you use automatic coverage, the microphone captures talkers you want to hear and avoids areas you tell it to avoid. You can add a mix of up to 8 dynamic and dedicated coverage areas per microphone.
If you turn off automatic coverage, you can manually steer up to 8 lobes.
With automatic coverage on or off, the MXA920 uses Shure's Autofocus™ technology to fine-tune coverage in real time as talkers shift positions or stand. Autofocus is always active, and you don't need to adjust anything for it to work.Automatic coverage = On
When you open Coverage, there's a 30 by 30 foot (9 by 9 meter) dynamic coverage area ready to use. Any talker inside has coverage, even if they stand up or walk around.
Select Add coverage to add more coverage areas. You can use up to 8 coverage areas per microphone, and you can mix both types as needed. Drag and drop to move coverage areas.
Dynamic coverage areas have flexible coverage, which means that the microphone intelligently adapts to cover all talkers in the coverage area. Change the size to fit your space, and any talker within the boundaries of the coverage area will have microphone coverage (even as they move).
Dedicated coverage areas have microphone coverage at all times. They have a set size of 6 by 6 feet (1.8 by 1.8 meters) and work best for talkers that are in one position most of the time, like at a podium or a whiteboard.
If you need to exclude certain parts of a room from coverage, don't place any coverage areas or lobes in that part of the room. Talkers outside of coverage areas or lobes won't be picked up by the microphone. This strategy is also useful for avoiding noisy parts of a room or HVAC equipment.
There are multiple ways to do this:
Automatic coverage = Off
To use steerable lobes, turn off automatic coverage in . You can manually position up to 8 microphone lobes. This mode is best for when you need direct outputs, like for a multi-zone voice lift system.
The microphone doesn't use coverage areas when automatic coverage is off.
Before adjusting levels:
In this mode, there are 2 sets of gain faders:
The automatic coverage setting changes the number of Dante outputs on the MXA920.
Note: When automatic coverage is on, Dante Controller shows 8 transmit channels and the automix output. The automix output is the only channel that sends audio with automatic coverage on.
Reference these steps to get up and running with the MXA910 ceiling array microphone. For in-depth information on microphone properties and best practices, see the full MXA910 Ceiling Array User Guide.
Select the device and set the properties:
Independent width control makes it possible for some channels to capture individual talkers (narrow), while others cover multiple talkers (wide).
To change a channel width:
Width Settings:
Channel widths for the three settings with the microphone 6 feet above a table
You can use Auto position to correctly position the lobe for a selected channel:
Optimal microphone placement is determined by the seating arrangements and infrastructure. Follow these guidelines for the best possible results:
The maximum mounting height that can be set for the ceiling array microphone in Designer is 30 feet (9.14 meters). In a typical acoustic environment1, the microphone maintains an "A" rating based on the STIPA2 (Speech Transmission Index for Public Address systems) international standard at distances up to 16 feet between the microphone and talker. In better acoustic environments, the STIPA "A" rating may extend beyond 16 feet.
Consider the following when determining a mounting height:
[1] Room conditions: RT60 (reverb time) = 500 ms @ 1kHz, A weighted room noise = 40dBSPL(A)
[2] IEC-602682-16 standard
The intelligibility scale objectively compares the acoustic performance of the array microphone with a cardioid gooseneck microphone at various distances. This information is useful for predicting how the array microphone will perform at a given distance and to determine an ideal mounting height. The data in the intelligibility scale table is derived from measuring the microphones to meet an equivalent value from the Speech Transmission Index IEC-602682-16 standard.
Ceiling Array Microphone (Distance to Talker) | Cardioid Gooseneck Microphone (Distance to Talker) |
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6 ft (1.83 m) | 3.75 feet (1.14 m) |
8 ft (2.44 m) | 5 feet (1.52 m) |
10 ft (3.05 m) | 6.25 feet (1.91 m) |
12 ft (3.66 m) | 7.5 feet (2.29 m) |
Data was collected in a typical huddle room with the following measurements:
Note: These values are specific to the described room. In a well-controlled acoustic environment, the array microphone may perform with equivalent Speech Transmission Index values at even greater distances. In highly reverberant rooms, the performance is less predictable.
A = Distance between array microphone and talker
B = Distance between cardioid microphone and talker
In this example, the acoustic performance of the array microphone mounted (A) feet from the talker matches the cardioid gooseneck microphone placed at a distance of (B) feet from the talker.
This microphone uses built-in Autofocus technology to fine-tune each lobe's position in real time, even if meeting participants lean back or stand up. You'll see the lobes moving in Designer's coverage map as participants shift positions. Autofocus only responds to in-room sound sources.
For best results with Autofocus, always route a reference source to the microphone's AEC Reference In channel. Even if you're only using direct outputs from the microphone and a different DSP, route a reference signal to the microphone's AEC Reference In channel to take full advantage of Autofocus.
To control microphone coverage, use Designer. Microphone coverage is at the room level, meaning that there is one coverage map for all microphones in a room.
These coverage templates are designed and tested to fit most common installations.
The solid blue line in each lobe represents where the coverage is the strongest. The edge of the blue coverage area for each lobe represents where the lobe's sensitivity reaches -6 dB.
Autofocus technology fine-tunes each lobe position in real time, even if meeting participants lean back or stand up.
This microphone uses built-in Autofocus technology to fine-tune each lobe's position in real time, even if meeting participants lean back or stand up. You'll see the lobes moving in Designer's coverage map as participants shift positions. Autofocus only responds to in-room sound sources.
For best results with Autofocus, always route a reference source to the microphone's AEC Reference In channel. Even if you're only using direct outputs from the microphone and a different DSP, route a reference signal to the microphone's AEC Reference In channel to take full advantage of Autofocus.
Each microphone has 4 channels that can be aimed independently, based on the seating arrangement. Each channel features independent polar patterns and additional channel settings, accessible through Designer .
Designer provides increased positioning flexibility over traditional conferencing microphones:
Each channel can capture one or several talkers. In rooms with flexible furniture arrangements, microphones can be moved to cover various seating arrangements as long as they are plugged into the same network.
Note: Settings are saved on each microphone, and are retained when plugged into a different network port. Presets can be recalled and deployed through Designer , or through an external control system.
With four independent channels and polar patterns, coverage can be customized to match the table shape, size, and seating arrangement. The automatic mixing feature helps reduce extraneous noise (such as typing or paper shuffling) from interfering with speech intelligibility on the far end.
The toroid pattern rejects sound from directly above the microphone to reduce noise from video projectors or other sources of unwanted sound. It is the simplest way to ensure equal coverage among all talkers, while retaining the benefits of the rejection provided by a directional polar pattern. When this pattern is used, the audio is sent over a single channel. Therefore, when automatic mixing is desired, configure the microphone to use multiple directional patterns instead of the toroid pattern.
Noise from a ceiling-mounted projector is rejected, while all talkers are covered.
For a table with a single microphone and more than 4 talkers, the toroid pattern to ensures that all voices are heard equally.
For large tables, a series of microphones captures all talkers. Place the microphones in the center of the table for balanced pickup and accurate aiming. For the best audio quality and clarity, use enough microphones so that each talker has their own channel.
A table with 10 people is covered by 4 microphones, with an independent channel for each person.
For a large table with 2 microphones, place the microphones to cover equally sized areas. Use the Toroid or Omnidirectional setting to cover the entire table.
After installing IntelliMix Room on all devices, use Shure Designer software to activate your licenses. Designer is usually installed on a separate computer since it manages all installations of IntelliMix Room.
There are a couple terms to know as you manage licenses for IntelliMix Room:
Here's an example workflow for the whole process:
To connect IntelliMix Room to videoconferencing software, select IntelliMix Room Echo Cancelling Speakerphone as the speaker and the microphone in your videoconferencing software. Do the same thing in the computer's sound settings.
The microphone setting sends signals to the videoconferencing software from any microphone connected to IntelliMix Room.
The speaker setting sends a far-end signal from the videoconferencing software to IntelliMix Room. This is how IntelliMix Room gets an AEC reference and a signal for local sound reinforcement.
If you choose a different source as the speaker, you won't be able to get far-end audio from the videoconferencing software into IntelliMix Room to use as an AEC reference.
To route your microphone's signal to IntelliMix Room for processing, use Designer.
This example reflects a small conference room with:
To route signals to the DSP:
Note: If you're using a non-Shure Dante microphone, use Dante Controller to route the near-end signal to IntelliMix Room.
The 2 metering modes allow you to monitor signal levels before and after the gain stages.
Use this setup to mute the P300 by pressing the mute button on the MXA310. In the P300’s signal chain, muting happens after the DSP so that the AEC stays converged.
This device supports up to two transmit flows and two receive flows. A single flow consists of up to four channels, through either a unicast or multicast transmission.
This device can connect with up to two Dante devices.
The Shure MXA310, ANI22, ANIUSB-MATRIX and ANI4IN support multicast transmission. This means that flows can transmit to multiple devices -- as many as the network can support. If using unicast flows, each of these devices can connect with up to two Dante receiver devices.
The Shure ANI4OUT connects with up to two Dante transmitter devices.
Use this setup to mute the ANIUSB-MATRIX by pressing the mute button on the MXA310. In the ANIUSB-MATRIX's signal chain, muting happens after the inputs.
Designer 4.2 and newer:
Designer 4.1.x and older
To route audio to the loudspeakers, you can use Shure Designer software or Dante Controller software.
If you're sending a signal from one loudspeaker to another, use a pre-DSP signal.
In rooms with multiple loudspeakers installed, you can route a signal from one loudspeaker to another using the Dante output channel, or you can route the signal to each loudspeaker individually.
Use this method when:
Learn more about Dante flows in our FAQs or from Audinate.
If you're using a Shure P300 or other devices with high unicast Dante flow limits, route a signal to each loudspeaker individually using Designer or Dante Controller.
Use this method when:
Learn more about Dante flows in our FAQs or from Audinate.
If you encounter unicast Dante flow limits, route from one loudspeaker to another using the Dante output channel.
The network mute button is a simple muting solution for rooms with no microphone on the table, for when the microphone has no mute button, or for when you need another way to control muting. Use Shure Designer software to link mute buttons to a compatible device.
You can link mute buttons to Shure microphones, DSPs, or audio network interfaces. When you link mute buttons to a DSP or audio network interface, any supported devices connected to the DSP or audio network interface match the button's mute status.
For example, in this room, 2 mute buttons are linked to a P300. Two MXA910 microphones are connected to the P300, and the P300 sends the near-end signal to a soft codec running on a computer. When you press one of the mute buttons, all connected devices show the correct mute status. The signal gets muted at the best point in the signal chain for DSP performance.
Use Designer to link one or more mute buttons to a device. When you link the mute button to Shure devices with IntelliMix DSP, the AEC stays converged to deliver the best performance.
In most rooms, all mute buttons control muting for the same device. To set this up:
From here, you can link mute buttons to compatible devices.
In rooms with at least 1 microphone and 1 audio processor, you can use the Optimize workflow to let Designer automatically create mute control routes for you.
Use these guidelines to choose what device to the link the mute button to:
Microphone with IntelliMix DSP (MXA910 or MXA710), no separate DSP: Link the mute buttons to the microphone.
One or more microphones connected to separate DSP (P300, IntelliMix Room, or ANIUSB-MATRIX): Link the mute buttons to the DSP.
Microphone connected to third-party DSP: If using the microphone's IntelliMix output, link the mute button to the microphone. If using the microphone's direct outputs, use third-party command strings to set up muting.