Glensound Beatrice B4 – Dante / AES67 Intercom Beltpack (5-Pin XLR Female) Glensound

The Glensound BEATRICE B4 is a robust, 4* channel beltpack intercom with crystal clear audio designed for broadcast, theatre and professional audio applications.

It is part of the Beatrice intercom system that utilises the reliable and proven Dante network audio transmission protocol to allow real time distribution of uncompressed audio across standard networks. As such the BEATRICE B4 is also fully compatible with other manufacturers’ equipment using the Dante protocol.

The Beatrice B4 is also AES67 compliant.

This small desktop unit was deigned to be very easy to use for the operator and simple to set up for the technician. It includes all the basic functionality required for small intercom systems and none of the overly complex installation requirements normally associated with large systems.

4 Channels
One single user connected to the unit can listen to and communicate with 4* separate locations on the network. Depending upon how the Dante network has been routed the incoming audio circuits and outgoing circuits can be different locations.
PLEASE NOTE THERE IS A LIMITATION TO INCOMING NETWORK STREAMS SEE ‘*’ IN SPECIFICATION

Dante Routing / Partyline
Audio routing to/ from other devices is setup using Dante controller which allows for point to multipoint routing on outgoing circuits (but only 1 single incoming circuit for each of the 4 channels). An inbuilt partyline facility allows any of the 4 incoming circuits to be routed to any of the 4 output circuits making both simple partyline and more complex group circuits easily configured.

External Mic Input
A good quality, clear sounding microphone amplifier, designed for communication purposes, is fitted which also has the benefit of a compressor/ limiter circuit to help keep levels and intelligibility consistent even when the operator gets overly excited. Twelve Volt Phantom power is also available and can be turned on/ off as required.

Volume, Panning and Incoming Levels
The front panel features an easy to use volume/ setup control. This multifunctional control provides day to day operational control of:
A) Overall volume control (just turn the knob)
B) Incoming channel level (push the speak key and turn the knob simultaneously)
C) Panning (push the speak key and push and turn the knob simultaneously)

PoE Powered
The Beatrice B4 is powered via the Ethernet cable by standard PoE (Power over Ethernet), which can be supplied by an external PoE switch or a midspan power injector.

Headphone Output
One of our unique headphone amplifiers is fitted to the Beatrice D4. This allows either low or high impedance headphones to be used, and automatically adjusts the output level to match the impedance of headphones in use. The headphone amplifier is stereo and sources can be panned to left or right ears as desired. The unique headphone amplifier can also drive mono earpieces from its stereo output without any performance issues. Headphone connection is via a standard 6.35mm TRS jack socket located out the way on the rear panel.

Optional Multipin XLR Headset Connector
As standard the Beatrice B4 is fitted with a normal 3 pin balanced XLR socket for the microphone input and a 6.35mm (1/4″) TRS jack socket for the headphone output. Optional single connector 4 and 5 pin XLRs carrying both mic and headphone circuits can be factory fitted and wired to any of the industry standards for connection to customers’ preferred headsets.

Call Function
A simple call function is inbuilt allowing the operator of one unit to call/alert other users that they want to communicate with them. To call another user the operator double taps the speak key of the channel they want to call, this then flashes a bright yellow call LED on the other user’s keypanel, which continues to flash until the call is answered. As well as flashing a LED at the receiving end of the call, an audible ‘beep’ can be set to alert the user that an incoming call has been placed to them.

Display for Setup
To make setup of the unit easy and intuitive a display is provided on the front panels. This display provides a simple menu system for setting up such items as: Button Configuration Input Type (Mic/ Line), Microphone Gain, Phantom Power On/ Off, Sidetone Level (Own voice in own headphones), Partyline/ Loop Through, Mode Mixing/ Cutting of Partyline when User Speaks

Presence Indicator
Each channel has its own red LED that acts as a presence detector on the incoming audio circuit. When audio is detected the LED is lit and it stays lit for a short period after the incoming audio stops

Small and Robust
The Beatrice B4 is manufactured using lightweight but strong aluminium. It has laser etched aluminium front and rear panels and powder coated aluminium sides. The form factor has been carefully designed to be as small as the internal electronics allow whilst keeping user buttons, microphone and headphone output ergonomically positioned for optimum user experience. Weighing in at just 850g it is light enough to transport easily and at just 92 x 164 x 39mm it won’t get in the way.