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Hi Chris,
If you're brave enough to take the lid of the 'black box', you'll see that it is nothing more than a relay on a piece of board to switch the audio source on and off via the PCI1750 card. So if you've a decent level going in to the box then that's exactly what you'll get out of the box.
What you should be looking at is where the 'black box' sits in your audio chain? These are the common scenarios;
1. The output of the 'black box' is directly injected to a suitable input on your studio switch (Sonifex's Station Master or Red Box On-Air Control), if you have one, where it might need a slighly higher level to drive the mix these boxes create.
2. The output of the 'black box' is on its own fader channel on your audio desk, along with your Myriad source(s); therefore have control of the level. The box will only activate when controlled from the Myriad PC and then send audio to the already open fader channel. This is quite common on Hospital Radio Stations where there is only one studio and it is left on-air all the time.
You might also want to look at where the audio source (IRN/Sky) is coming from; is it shared with anything else through a basic 'Y' connector, or is it from it's own output from a DA (Distribution Amp). If it's the former then there will be a may be a drop in level before it gets to the 'black box'. Also check your wiring of the 15pin 'D-type'. Are you using 'balanced' or 'un-balanced' circuits?
We at Wayland Radio use a Sonfiex Red Box On-Air switch, with the 'black box' injecting its output into the Red Box's 'Mix Input' and the 'back box' source is delivered from its own output on the IRN/Sky DA in our rack, controlled, of course, by a PC in our Rack Room running Myriad with a PCI1750 card to switch the black box. Our switch is before our processor so any level issues are dealt with by the processor; but we've not experienced to date.
I hope this helps. if you need more get in touch.
Roger.
Roger Woods
Producer/Presenter/Engineer
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