Lake Updates Contour Controller Software

Lake Technology demonstrated the newly increased power and flexibility of the Lake Contour digital speaker controller at NSCA Expo 2004. The company is introducing a host of new features in its Contour Controller version 2.2 software, which is provided as a free upgrade to all existing Contour customers.

SMAARTLIVE INTEGRATION: Version 2 software introduced bi-directional communication between the Contour Controller and SIA SmaartLive on the same host computer or across an Ethernet network. This allows SmaartLive's analysis package, including Spectrum, Spectrograph, and Transfer Function measurement results, to be displayed within the Contour Controller EQ and XOVER Overlay pages while also passing control information from the Contour Controller back to SmaartLive.

Version 2.2 supports integration with the new Lake SmaartLive Controller version 1.22 software and adds SmaartLive metering information, with SmaartLive's peak meters displayed inside the Contour Controller when Smaart is running on separate computer.

SmaartLive Controller software is available as a 30-day, fully functional demo on the Lake Contour website, which is located at www.contour.lake.com. Fully functional Contour Controller software and software user guides are also available for download.

CROSSOVER GANGING & LINEAR PHASE CROSSOVERS: Crossovers can now be ganged in groups across multiple Contour processors. Users can create a single set of controls for multiple modules across multiple hardware processors through the use of the existing Contour Group functionality and Crossover Ganging. Each Lake Contour processor may be configured to provide various crossover configurations, supporting 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-way crossovers with up to 48dB per octave Bessel, Butterworth, or Linkwitz-Riley filters.

Version 2.2 software also introduces stereo 2-way and 3-way linear phase crossover modules. The 2-way module also provides an auxiliary channel. Users can select the linear phase crossover slope to be Brick Wall (default) or 24dB/48dB, enabling simple replacement of existing crossover designs. Lake Contour may alternatively be configured as a 4-way linear phase brick wall (LPBW) crossover using a single unit.

WEB SITE APPLICATION NOTES: New application notes for the linear phase crossovers, entitled "Lake Contour Linear Phase Crossovers - Selecting the best crossover filters for transparent sound reproduction," will be available on the Lake Contour web site. The site includes technical documentation, manuals, white papers, and contact details for distributors worldwide.

DIGITAL GAIN OFFSET: A stereo AES/EBU digital input and output (24 bit, 44.1kHz to 96kHz) is now available for Lake Contour. An Input Autoselect function provides signal redundancy, switching from digital to analog to maintain a continuous signal. In version 2.2 software, Contour processors equipped with the stereo digital I/O option are provided with an independent gain offset for the digital input level, providing to compensate for level differences between analog and digital inputs.

IMPROVED EASE OF USE: Additional enhancements include user selection of the A or B input or a mono sum of both; Overlay A/B switching within the EQ Overlay interface; user selection of milliseconds, feet or meters on the Delay units page; Stereo Linking of Crossover and Output EQ selectable across stereo modules on the same frame, and Crossover bypass, allowing users to create custom crossover functions with HPF and/or LPF filters removed from an output channel.

In addition to the software updare, Lake has recently posted a new preset library that includes settings for L-Acoustics and EAW loudspeaker systems