Introduction 

Today, many hospitality and conferencing facilities rely on flexible room configurations to better suit customer needs. This can be anything from Ballrooms divided into smaller rooms to conference rooms that can be expanded to other conference rooms.  For the spaces to function, the room control and audio sources must be dynamically shared across areas.  Typically, this includes sharing the inputs of both areas by combining any mixers in the areas. This can also be used overflow, where additional sources are not mixed but the audio is routed to other areas.  

Download

Download the AVX Architect project file HERE.

Design Requirements

• Independent gain control and source selection for each room
• Individual input processing for microphones within each zone
• Combination of zones in any configuration
• Uniform gain control across combined zones
• A simple and intuitive control interface

Operation

The key to this example is the matrix router.  While it is possible to create presets in the router for different combinations with eight rooms this would require too many presets to be practical.  An easier way is to create some busses or groups.  Room grouping combines rooms using a numerical value.  If two or more rooms have the same group value, they are combined.  The number of groups is the total number of rooms divided by 2, rounded down.  Thus, if there are two rooms, only one group is available.  With 8 rooms, we will need 4 groups.  In this case, a 12x12 matrix will be required (8 rooms + 4 groups).  Outputs 9-12 will function as group outputs.  When a room is routed to a group output, its channels are mixed with any other rooms sent to that output.  That audio can then loop back to a matrix input, routing it to the rooms output.  We can also disable the original rooms' signal to itself to avoid gain summing of the group and original toom.  Now sources have uniform gain with other rooms with which they are combined.  Gain controls added to the group outputs gives the user volume control of combined rooms.  This design also gives us flexibility for source gain for a room.  If we control it in the matrix, we can disable the individual source when a room is in a combined state.  Independent gain control is still available at the Room Mixer output as well.  
 

To automate the group assignments in the matrix, the cross points can be tied to logic bindings and controlled with a logic source.  

The entire circuit looks like this when finished.

Here is an animated example showing how Logic Sources changes the group assignment in the image below.

Another benefit of using the logic bindings is that the entire circuit can be replicated through copy and paste.  Each new copy will have the logic links bound automatically to the new matrix.  This eliminates having to relink logic when replicating this circuit. 
Controls can also be placed on a control panel that can be loaded on devices such as tablets and computers via AVX control.  In the example panel here, the room groups are assigned to buttons for each room.  The independent source volume controls are used only when the rooms are separated.  Once the Rooms are added to a group, the group volume takes over.  

The BGM Volume controls and Room Output Controls are still independent for individual adjustment.  The BGM may also be made to track with Source Volume if required by moving the BGM to the Room Mixer input.  
 

With this system each of the eight rooms can combine in any combination due to a unique, yet simple, bussing arrangement within the matrix.  Some room-combining systems cannot achieve more than the adjacent combining of the sub-rooms.  But because of the unique bussing arrangement mentioned, non-adjacent rooms can be joined together.  This feature has been in demand more often as events become more complex in terms of their requirements, and booking schedules require flexibility.  Essential functions such as green rooms, backstage areas, production control rooms, and recording rooms or any combination of them are easy now when the adjacent space to the main event is booked by a conflicting event.