Cisco Room Kit CS-KITPRO-K9 mics solution

[AmmarBabutain8560]

Dears 

i'm using Cisco room kit with codec device  , it only have 3 mic ports,  i need to add  more 9 wired microphones and distribute it over my meeting room. is there any mics extender or device could be attached to the codec and split out 9 mics. 

Please Advise 

Respectful

Ammar

 

[Wayne DeNardi]

If you aren't willing to swap out the Room Kit Plus you have for a more capable codec such as the Room Kit Pro (with 8 mic inputs), then you will need to consider adding some external DSP to handle the extra microphones and then feed a mixed feed from these in to your codec.   I have many rooms with large numbers microphones configured this way. 

[AmmarBabutain8560]

thanks wayne , 

could you please name  the best external DSP 

Respectful

Ammar

[Wayne DeNardi]

"Best" is very subjective, and many people will have different answers.

We mainly use the Biamp Tesira range of DSP in our environment as we can do all the AEC on it as well as use it for other audio requirements in and out of our rooms.

[Robert McNeill · Accepted solution]

As mentioned you will need an external DSP with AEC on every input that will be used for a mic. AEC is Acoustic Echo Cancelation. 

I personally am a fan of open palate DSP(s) such as BiAmp TesiraForte or BSS Blu series. What you choose depends on what other items you may want to add in, what  you guys use already etc.

I lean towards the BiAmp solution just on personal preference but have used the BSS as well.

One thing to be very aware of, some DSP(s) do not have "phantom power" filtering on their outputs. The Cisco CODECs put out a voltage on the mic inputs to power the Cisco table mics, this is referred to as phantom power.

On the sx80 and PRO you can turn the phantom power on/off mic by mic but on the room kit plus you cannot do this, rather on the roomkit plus under Configuration/Audio if you scroll down past the three microphones section there is a section for "global" control for phantom power, this setting is for all three inputs.

If the DSP you choose does not tolerate phantom power on it's output AND you for some reason us a mix of the mic inputs on the CODEC that requires you to leave the phantom power on you will have to put a blocker in between the codec and the DSP. It is a really simple capacitor network that blocks Phantom Power DC voltage.

The best solution is not to mix inputs on the codec but to put all mics / line inputs on the DSP so you can take advantage of the superior AEC of the DSP.