Today’s venues expect more from their AV integration, with tighter control, simpler operation, and less time spent troubleshooting. The Pharos IO Module for Genelec Smart IP Installation Speakers enables the integration of high-quality audio with advanced lighting control. This gives you one smooth workflow for design, setup, and day-to-day operation across modern AV systems.
For any AV system integrator, this is a particularly valuable approach, as it helps deliver consistent experiences across rooms, floors, or entire campuses, while keeping operation simple for end users. By combining lighting control with networked audio, this approach supports smarter, more connected systems.
What is Genelec Smart IP?
Genelec Smart IP brings power, audio, and control to its speakers through a single Ethernet cable. Smart IP products use PoE or PoE+ and a network API for reliable integration in fixed AV systems.
The result is great sound with the centralised management that modern facilities need. Systems can grow from just a few IP speakers to larger audio networks across multiple rooms or zones. For an AV system integrator, Genelec Smart IP is a practical choice for projects that need both performance and flexibility.
To learn more, visit the Genelec Smart IP integration documentation.
How Genelec Smart IP integrates with Pharos Designer
The Pharos IO Module runs on Pharos Designer controllers and acts as a software bridge that connects the controller to Genelec Smart IP devices over IP, making it an ideal component in broader AV integration projects.
With Genelec Smart IP integration, Pharos Designer lets you control and monitor devices on your network. You can link their actions to lighting scenes and timelines, or to user triggers initiated from touchscreens, button panels or other event sources. This reduces custom coding, simplifies commissioning, and keeps audio and lighting synchronised within the same project environment.
For an AV system integrator, this means treating lighting and audio as one unified system. This makes it simpler to operate, easier to program, and more consistent across the installation.
What this integration allows you to do
Depending on your design, the integration suppports:
- Volume and mute control, per device or logical group.
- Preset or scene recall.
- Device status and feedback for troubleshooting and maintenance.
These functions make the integration more effective, especially where IP speakers need to respond to room modes, schedules, or trigger-based events.
Benefits for integrated AV systems
- Unified workflows – Connect audio settings to lighting scenes so room presets are easy to use. Modes like “Presentation,” “Collaboration,” or “Event” can adjust both sound and lighting together, improving usability.
- Scalable design – Genelec Smart IP and Pharos Designer LPC controllers support a single-cable method, reducing cabling and speeding up installation. For larger AV systems, this simplifies infrastructure and makes future expansion straightforward.
- Operational Visibility – Real-time device feedback supports proactive maintenance and smoother daily operations, particularly in larger networked AV systems where visibility into device status reduces downtime.
- Streamlined commissioning – An AV system integrator can configure Genelec Smart IP speakers using Genelec tools, then finalise logic and triggers in Pharos Designer for a smooth handover.
Use cases for AV systems
- Corporate and meeting spaces – Tie microphone and playback levels to lighting presets. Selecting “Video Call” could simultaneously reduce local playback, improve speech clarity, and adjust ambient lighting, making rooms more intuitive to use.
- Hospitality and retail – Schedule background music and lighting changes by time of day. Softer levels and warmer lighting in the morning, followed by brighter scenes and higher music levels during peak hours.
- Museums and multi-sensory spaces – Synchronise sound cues with lighting effects as visitors move through exhibits. Trigger localised audio alongside dynamic light transitions for more immersive storytelling.
- Education and civic buildings – Standardise controls across lecture halls, training rooms, and chambers. Provide simple room presets for staff, with centralised oversight for technical teams.
Getting Started
Plan the network
- Use a dedicated VLAN for AV traffic where possible.
- Validate PoE/PoE+ budgets for your Genelec Smart IP speakers and Pharos Designer devices.
- Confirm your IP addressing approach before deployment.
Configure Smart IP devices
- Use Genelec Smart IP Manager to name devices, define groups or zones, and apply initial tuning.
- Update firmware to the recommended version for compatibility.
Deploy the Pharos IO Module
- Add the IO Module into your project in Pharos Designer software.
- Configure the module with the appropriate settings.
- Add triggers and actions to interact with the Genelec Smart IP system.
- Upload the project to a Pharos Designer LPC controller on the same network segment as your audio devices.
Build control logic
- In Pharos Designer, create triggers and actions that send commands to your Smart IP system or respond to events within it. For example, you can set volume ramps, toggle mute, or recall presets as needed.
- Add touchscreen feedback and build logic so lighting and audio can respond together.
Best practices
- Keep naming consistent across Smart IP Manager and Pharos Designer software for simpler programming and servicing.
- Group devices logically by room or function to keep both lighting and audio easy to operate.
- Secure access with appropriate network segmentation and firewall rules.
- Monitor device status proactively and log device status for faster diagnostics.
Conclusion
By combining Genelec Smart IP with Pharos Designer, you create a networked AV integration that is easier to set up, maintain, and scale. You get the clear sound of Genelec Smart IP speakers along with the dependable lighting control of a Pharos Designer system that make scenes feel connected and operations run smoothly.
If you are an AV system integrator planning your next project, or a venue looking to upgrade, talk to the Pharos team. We can help you deliver an integrated system that performs reliably and adapts as your needs change.
