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

Post, Feb, 2003 by Marc Loftus

The SeriesTwelve, says Dooley, might be considered the Swiss Army Knife of mixing consoles. It can be used for film and traditional post, as well as for music recording and live on-air broadcasting. The SeriesTwelve offers an array of panel interfaces and can be outfitted in any number of configurations.

The ST2 is designed for feature film and other post applications requiring a large-scale digital console. It's offered with a wide variety of control surface options and features Harrison's PCI-based IKIS Automation, along with touch-sensitive control knobs and a two-toned color scheme.

The MPC console, notes Dooley, is really designed for feature film use. There is a limit on panel options, and both input panels and faders configurations are standard. Film mixers will appreciate the MPC's familiar pec/direct panel for interfacing with dubbers.

Harrison has been focusing its efforts on bringing its latest automation platform online. The new IKIS automation platform runs on the PC/Intel platform, stepping away from the Mac platform it's used for years. IKIS provides 10 EQ shapes, 30 dB gain/cut, expanded dynamics controls and increased control resolution.

What differentiates the PC platform from the Mac automation is its scalability. "There is no real limit as to the size that the console can scale out to," says Dooley. "It's dramatically more visual in terms of its interface."

Boards already using the Mac version with the company's digital back-end can switch over to the PC version without any problems, helping to future-proof the system.

The MPC3-D is an evolution of the company's MPC and brings forward its traditional controls and familiar panel layout. Controls have been enhanced and now include dedicated eight-band EQ controls per strip, dedicated dynamics controls per strip and expanded panning controls. The console can accommodate any combination of input sections and custom master section layouts. By design, the MPC3-D is a large-scale, multi-operator console and can be configured as a one-, two- or three-operator desk Software plug-ins allow the user to choose features and functions according to their need.

Sony Pictures was one of the first to switch to the digital back end. The facility has 10 Harrison consoles, five of which are digital.

SONY

Sony has seen a lot of success with itsDMX-R100 digital mixer (www.dmxr100.com). The company had sold 1,800 of them as of AES '02, and product manager Karl Kussmaul says it's possible that the number has reached 2,000 by now. Kussmaul attributes the RI 00's success to the efficiency in production that Sony offers through its manufacturing plants in Japan, combined with the feature set developments that come from its high-end OXF-R3 console.

Sony recently announced an upgrade to the R100 at the winter NAMM show in Anaheim. The console now features V. 2.21 software giving it MADI support that Kussmaul says is usually reserved only for higher-end, expensive consoles.

"We elected to go with MADI because it is truly a professional multichannel audio standard." A new system interface - the SIU 100 - will be available in April and expands on the number of I/O and its interconnecting capabilities.