In Broadcast - July 2012 - 32

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 10 - JULY 2012

InSOUND

What’s New In Audio Mixing
David Kirk discusses recent announcements in the competitive ﬁeld of audio mixing
Back in the mid-1980s when graphical user interfaces were beginning to replace dedicated control surfaces, I asked Antony David of SSL during a Brighton IBC whether audio mixer control surfaces were likely to go the same way. He surmised that this would be very unlikely given the need for tactile feedback, particularly when fading multiple channels simultaneously. And he was right – mixer design has progressed considerably over the past three decades but the operating interface has remained essentially unchanged. The following is a summary of recent announcements in this mature but highly competitive ﬁeld. Allen & Heath’s new GLD digital mixing system, conceptually based on the digital iLive series, offers 28 XLR microphone inputs with up to 48 inputs (including 44 XLR microphone inputs). The mixer incorporates 48 input processing channels, eight stereo FX returns, 30 conﬁgurable buses and 20 mix processing channels. An analoguestyle channel processing control section is complemented by an 8.4-inch touch screen. A fullycustomisable drag-and-drop layout allows assignment of inputs and mixes to fader strips. There are 20 fader strips in four layers, each with motorised fader, a channel LCD display plus a rotary control for direct access to gain, pan and aux/FX sends. Calrec Audio’s Artemis Light audio mixer incorporates a four rackunits-high compact processor and router. Artemis Light can be fully integrated with any existing Calrec Hydra2 network. Like the rest of the product range, Artemis Light also supports point to multipoint routing. Up to 16 main outputs and 48 audio groups can be assigned as mono, stereo or surround from a pool of 72 buses, as well as 48 track and 24 auxiliary output buses. DiGiCo’s SD5 audio mixer includes full colour TFT LCD screens, three of which are touch sensitive. It also accommodates two interactive dynamic metering displays and quick-access buttons. As standard, the SD5 comes with a two gigabit/ second ﬁbre optic system, which is capable of running 448 channels of input/output at 96 kHz sampling rate, plus 56 console-to-console tie lines, allowing connection to up to 14 of the SD variant racks. Fairlight’s Xe6 is a new six fader extension module which adds a high quality tactile mixing control to the Xynergi hardware platform. Up to four Xe6 modules can be installed. Features include colour OLED displays, touch-sensitive moving faders and fully assignable encoder controls. Faders are motorised and touch-sensitive. These normally control channel send level to buses but can be reassigned to parameters such as auxiliary send levels, record levels and reduction bus offsets (used when mixing to several different formats simultaneously). After a decade focusing on digital consoles, Harrison has introduced a new fully analogue console for music capture and mixdown. The 950m is geared to meet the requirements of a digitalaudio-workstation-based studio. It incorporates a linear power supply, balanced connections, gold-plated switches, through-hole components, and two separate mix buses (one transformer-balanced and one electronically-balanced) with built-in compressors. Customer-conﬁgured modular construction allows the 950m to operate as a tracking studio front-end, or an analogue summing platform, or both simultaneously. Innovason has integrated a new panning system into its Eclipse GT digital console. Named Pandora, it is claimed to allow an operator to pan a signal from full left to full right to create the feeling of a stereo image for the entire audience without losing any information for listeners sitting at extreme left or right. Lawo’s Ravenna technology allows real-time processing of audio signals in IP-based network environments. It forms the basis of new interface cards for all members of the mc² series and the Nova73

David Kirk

Wheatstone’s LX-24 modular control surface

HD routing system. Ravenna offers a latency of one sample per stream and accommodates 128 channels. Logitek’s ROC is a modular audio mixing system with a lowproﬁle control panel which can be placed directly onto an existing work surface. Available in 6, 12, 18 and 24 fader conﬁgurations, the console is easily integrated into permanent or temporary studios. The control surface includes 100 millimetre long-throw Penny & Giles faders, OLED source indicators and meters, plus a suite of controls to maximise the power of Logitek’s JetStream audio-over-IP platform. A durable reverse-printed overlay ensures that none of the printing will be worn off by surface abrasion. Each ROC fader module has a userdeﬁnable 16-character source labels
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Allen and Heath GLD 80

DiGiCo SD5

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In Broadcast - July 2012

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