X32 Light Switcher

X32 Light Switcher is a custom extension module for Behringer X32 series. We made it for a radio station. The main task of this module is to switch the monitors and certain lights on and off.

Overview

The device must be connected to one of the Behringer X32 devices (X32, X32 Compact, X32 Producer, X32 Rack, X32 Core). When the input channel 1, 2 or 3 is opened or closed, each LED light connected to the module is switched on or off. It also works when each channel is muted/soloed. The module also features a port for the main light - it lights up when any of the channels is opened and switches off when all channels are closed.

Another feature of this module is to turn the monitors off when any of the channels is opened and turn them on when all channels are closed.

What is it for?

When radio presenter goes on air, his microphone input channel must be opened on the mixing desk. Presenter needs to know when he is on air - this is what the ON AIR lights (LEDs) are for. Our X32 Light Switcher module does just that - when the message from the mixing desk (X32) is received, it switches the light on. When presenter's channel is closed (or muted), the light switches off to let him know that he is not on air anymore.

When any presenter goes on air, the studio monitors need to be turned off to avoid feedback. This module does that too - it cuts the signal going to the studio monitors.

X32 Light Switcher supports channels 1, 2 and 3 on the X32 desk. So whenever each of these channels is opened, the specific LED is switched on and the monitors are switched off.

What else can it be used for?

To turn the lights on and off, our X32 Light Switcher uses relays. It means that you can connect virtually anything to it - it can be a complicated circuit which is turned on when the channel is opened and turned off when it is closed. The main point of this device is to get the information about opening and closing each of the first three channels and to switch the specific relay on or off.

Technical info

To get the desired information from the X32 desk, we needed to use the OSC protocol. Behringer's OSC implementation allows to get basically any information from the console and send any message to it. Communication in both ways works flawlessly. For this project, however, we only needed to get information from the console, there was no need to send any.

The module is powered by 9V wall-wart AC/DC adapter. The whole device is built upon one of the Atmel's AVR microcontrollers. Standard Ethernet cable is used for communication betwen the module and the X32 desk.