Fusion Research Audio Driver

This driver provides two-way TCP control of a Fusion Research music server, feedback about a player's current properties and the ability to browse the music library of the server. The player may be a stand-alone unit, or may be "built in" to a player/server combination unit.

Note: This driver will not work with products from other manufacturers.

Note: This driver is intended for Ovation products (introduced in 2016). For older products you may need a previous version of the driver.

Changes from Previous Versions:

- Library browsing is now view based. This means multiple panels can browse the music library independently.

- Multiple Player support. You can now control any number of players using a single driver instance.

To use this driver, you must do the following:

- You MUST have a driver instance for each music server.

- You MAY have one for each player, but this is no longer required.

- Each driver instance must have a MAC ADDRESS for each player to be controlled.

- Each driver instance must have the MAC and IP address of the server to be controlled.

- Have firmware version 21.7.10.0 or newer on all Fusion equipment.

Settings:

The driver must be configured with some information about the Ovation. All of the information can be obtained through the RTI Integration Guide found in the Configuration Utility.

Open the Configuration Utility, connect to your Ovation.

If you have not already done so, reserve a DHCP lease for the ovation so you will have a known IP address to provide the driver. Alternatively, you can give the Ovation a static IP address.

Select the Integration menu, then Guides and finally RTI.

This wizard will guide you through installing the RTI driver. It contains all of the information the driver requires for configuration, including the server's MAC address, IP address, and the MAC address of each output (or player) built in to the server.

Basic Driver Use

The driver has two main functions: browsing the music library and controlling what's currently playing. Additionally there are some auxiliary functions such as (syncing players).

When browsing the library, most music services will let you navigate by selecting something in the list and after selected, may enable buttons for playback.

Browsing the Library

The "Library" page is intended to let the user browse their music library. That includes local music (shared from other local data stores) as well as Internet Radio and streaming services like Pandora and Spotify.

The media is presented in a "tree" or "folder" view, where there is a top level (Home) which contains items. Items can be "opened" which updates the list to display the things "within that folder". In this way you could navigate to a particular track through Home -> My Music -> Artists -> Lorde -> Pure Heroine -> Royals as an example.

As you navigate, an item may support "playing" as well as have things "under" it. If something can be "opened" then selecting it in the list will open it. If that thing can be played, buttons to do so become enabled (visible) when the item is selected. The item selected is indicated in a set of “target” variables. The target is what is acted upon with Play Now and other library commands.

The Home can be customized for each player. This allows you to remove unwanted services or reorder them. See Integration -> Custom Home in the Configuration Utility.

Some items require "searching". For example, the Spotify service supports searching the Spotify library. When the appropriate "Search" item is selected, a variable to display a keyboard is set. A keyboard can then be displayed for the user. When the user completed the data entry, the search will be executed. This keyboard may be available in APEX but will have to be constructed in Integration Designer. See the demo for an example.

Using Favorites

The driver supports playing "favorites". A favorite is any playable item (a track, album, playlist, radio station, etc). These can be marked as a favorite. (Remember the Add Favorite command operated on a Library Target). Once marked, they are published through appropriate variables and can be played directly. Favorites can also be deleted.

Now Playing

The "Now Playing" variables indicate what a player is currently playing. A queue list is available to indicate items to be played (or having been played) in the player's queue.

Queue and transport controls are available, however certain capabilities may be limited based on service. For example, not all services support rating a track, or skipping tracks, etc. Further, not all metadata may be available depending on service. For example, Station is only available for Internet radio stations, Sound Machine does not provide cover art, etc.

About Hidden GUI Elements

The driver depends on the use of visibility variables to facilitate the user experience. For example, the Play Now command is not appropriate in all contexts. There is a visibility variable for Can Play Now that should be used to enable/make visible a button executing the command so a user does not think it is functional at inappropriate times. The keyboard functionality is a prime example of this.

Note: If services do not work (you cannot play or browse their contents), verify the appropriate account information has been provided. Test service functionality in the configuration utility to ensure proper access.

Notes about specific driver commands…

Library/Play From Library: This command has variable behavior depending on the target when the Action is “Now”. If there is nothing in the queue. The target is simply added. If there is something in the queue, the action depends on the first item in the queue and the target. If the target or the first item in the queue is one of the following: Internet Radio, Pandora, SiriusXM or SoundMachine, it will clear the queue and add the target. Otherwise it will insert the target in the queue AFTER the currently playing item AND perform a “next” on the queue to advance the queue to the first of the items inserted. This may not always be what the user desires. If it is not, use the other actions (Exclusive, Soon and Later) as they behave consistently regardless of the library target.

Versions

22.1 - Added support for UI Visibility.

21.3 - Rewritten for multiple players and views.

21.1 - Fixed bug in now playing cover art on synced players.

21.0 - Added debugging in search

18.1 - Fixed Rating on APEX.

17.5 - Updated art retrieval to accommodate https (SSL).

16.12 - Addressed metadata clearing bug and queue refresh.

16.8 - Fixed Play Favorite bug.

16.7 - Changed version numbering to line up with firmware versions. Changed "track rating" to be independent of the Pandora plug-in.

1.10 - Rewritten to use non-blocking HTTP. Removed Player management.

1.07 - Enhanced XML feedback parsing.

1.06 - Fixed bug in Custom Home where "back" from a specific service would not go to root (when Service was hidden).

1.05 - Fixed bug in player selection (status not updated)

Added Play Favorite EX command (Library) - Use this to play favorites in folders (zero based and dot separated)... For example, if the first favorite is a folder with three playable things in it, play the third one with ID "0.2".

1.03 - Fixed bug in feedback (incomplete instance separation)

22.03 - Fixed international character issue (UTF8)

22.04 - Changed default album information

22.05 - Update for Nano

22.06 - Update for ID11