Improved options for Rane’s HAL including Dante expander

Rane Corporation’s HAL1x system is now Dante compatible following the arrival of the EXP2x Dante expander. Also new is the HAL3 DSP upgrade and DR6 customisable touchscreen remote.

Supporting 32x32 channels, the EXP2x supports 48kHz or 96kHz sample rates while up to 16 of the expanders can be daisy-chained to a single HAL1x, delivering a maximum of 512x512 channels on a Dante network via a single cable. It is also equipped with a secondary Dante port for either redundancy or ‘switch mode’, while its front-panel includes indicators for the Dante connection, its network status, and whether an audio signal is present.

In terms of control, Audinate’s Dante Controller software provides all network setup, monitoring, control, diagnostics and troubleshooting; while Halogen reads, but does not edit the Dante setup.

The HAL3 DSP upgrade, meanwhile, reportedly features 10dB better dynamic range over previous versions, as well as adding the manufacturer’s Mic/Line/Line-Plus input stages for supporting a dynamic mic, condenser mic, balanced line input, or automatically monoed stereo unbalanced inputs. Additionally, the upgrade adds another RAD port to make HAL3s a six input, 10 output, entirely drag and drop device.

Finally, the DR6 customisable touchscreen remote for HAL is intended to support multiple pages or tabs, and any set of levels, toggles, selectors and/or commands.

According to Rane, users can drag and drop and resize controls as desired whilst using custom background images and logos in full-colour on the device’s 7-inch LCD display. Other features include a wall-mount bracket, a midspan power injector, on-screen user access logins and a programmable ambient light sensor that automatically dims the backlight.

Shipping: Q3 2014
Web: www.rane.com