Digital mixing consoles: manufacturers are offering powerful digital mixers for all applications, and budgets too

Post, Feb, 2003 by Marc Loftus

It might sound crazy, but console manufacturers swear that 2002 was a good year for them. The makers of low-cost digital mixers say the struggling economy helped open some doors for their affordable tools, while higher-end console manufacturers say their post products offer application-specific features and performance that some studios just can't live without.

And all are optimistic for 2003. Sony and Yamaha are both taking advantage of their efficient manufacturing capabilities in Japan to turn out affordable and flexible units. Euphonix and Soundtracs are both planning new releases for later this year, possibly targeting short-form post. And Studer says the latest advancements to its Vista 7 have made it the most successful roll out in the company's history.

Here's the latest news in the world of digital consoles with products that target everything from boutique studios all the way up to large dubbing stages.

YAMAHA

Yamaha (www.yamaha.com) has made a name for itself in the world of small-format digital mixers, dating back to the ProMix 01 almost a decade ago. The company introduced its high-end DM2000 a few years back at a New York AES show and recently announced plans for the DM1000, a little brother to the 2000, which is expected to begin shipping in March.

"The DM1000 was designed specifically for post," says Yamaha product manager Mark Lopez. "We wanted to design a very powerful mixer in a small space for workstation users.

The DM1000 is a 96 kHz board that includes surround monitoring capabilities. The console works with Yamaha's Studio Manager software, a Mac- or PC-based tool that allows users to set up the mixer's snapshots offline. Settings can then be stored on a hard drive or on a memory card. Additional features of the DM1000 are 48 inputs/outputs, eight buses, four effects processors on board, eight aux sends, 100mm touch-sensitive faders and 16 on-board mic pres. Lopez says the unit will be priced around $5,000, with a $900 meter bridge option.

At the NAMM show in January, Yamaha introduced an upgraded 96 kHz version of its 01V console. The 01V 96 is now an eight-bus, eight-aux mixer. Designed for various applications, including sound for picture, sound reinforcement and as a general utility mixer, the 01V 96 now offers more input channel capability, with a maximum of 32. The 01V 96 does not have touch-sensitive faders, automation or surround monitoring capabilities, but can handle surround mixes. On-board processing includes four-band parametric EQ, gate and compressor. The unit will also ship in March, for $2,500. Yamaha upgraded its $11,000 02R to 96k status last year

SOLID STATE LOGIC

While the film side of their business has been a little quiet, Niall Feldman, director of product marketing for Solid State Logic (www.solid-state-logic.com), says the company has seen growth in the multimedia business (DVDs, games, etc.), particularly in Japan. SSL's Avant and MT consoles are both designed for post work and have both been enhanced to "Plus" status over the past year, giving them operation improvements and an increase in speed. As 24-bit, 48 kHz surround-capable consoles, the Avant features a post production design, while the MT takes an inline approach, similar to SSUs successful 4000 analog console.

"It's sort of a digital inception of it," says Feldman of the MT. "It's ideal for studios doing music for post, like studios doing music for concerts."

Many facilities cross over between the music and post worlds, and the MT's flexibility allows its users to accommodate both types of work. "It's hard to tell the difference between a music studio and a post studio any longer," says Feldman.

Feldman adds the SSL systems' 24-bit/48 kHz surround specs make them ideal for DVD video work, most of which is being done in surround at 48 kHz. Higher resolutions are still in question.

"The people who are looking for 96 kHz is where we are selling analog consoles," notes Feldman." The number is not as simple as 96k, because Pro Tools is 192 kHz capable. So to say this is definitely the new digital audio format is not so clear. But where people are working for broadcast or DVD video, all of that material is being done at 48k so it's not an issue."

To improve the Avant and MT consoles, SSL increased the amount of console processing, providing more channel processing capabilities while maintaining a small foot-print. And recognizing the success that Digidesign has had with its ProControl surface, SSL has added workstation control to its own systems.

While Feldman says the integration with DAWs, such as Pro Tools, Fairlight systems and RADAR, isn't meant to replace the respective editors' interface, it does help mixers make smaller changes without having to move away from the console.

HARRISON BY GLW

Mark Dooley, marketing manager for Harrison by GLW (www.glw.com), says that while there is a perceived slowdown in the market, his company has had pretty consistent business over the past year and has a robust forecast for 2003. Harrison offers a number of post-oriented consoles, including the SeriesTwelve, ST2 and the MPC motion picture console. The SeriesTwelve and MPC both began as analog boards that can now be upgraded to fully-digital mixers through the company's digital back end.