“It was obvious from my first rehearsal that Yamaha put a lot of thought into making everything about this console shine.”
Yamaha is a pioneer, and has been one of the leading innovators in the digital audio console market. The PM1D, which Yamaha introduced in 2001, and PM5D in 2004, were true game changers. Mixing for artists like Kari Jobe and John Mark McMillan, I walk into churches every day and it seems like at least half of them have a Yamaha M7CL, which the company debuted in 2005. So, it's no surprise that Yamaha has decided to base its new CL series console on a look and feel similar to the highly successful M7.
Recently, I've had the pleasure of traveling with one of Yamaha's newest digital console, the CL5, on Kari Jobe's “Where I Find You” tour. Here's a run down on features and then I'll get to my experience in use.
Observations
First off you need to understand that the CL series, which Yamaha introduced early this year, is a scalable system. All three of the consoles in the CL Series consoles, the CL1, CL3 and CL5, work in the same manner. They can be networked together to share head amps and all use the same Rio I/O rack. The CL1 can provide 48 mono/8 stereo channels with 18 faders. CL3 has 64/8 input channels with 26 faders, and the CL5 (what I've had my hands on for the past three weeks) provides 72/8 channels with 34 faders. Each console provides the same local I/O options. If you have ever used an M7, this is going to look really familiar. There are eight omni in/outs, one AES out, three slots for expansion cards, word clock, MIDI, GPI, control port (for the CL editor and WiFi connection), and Dante network connectability.
Yamaha provides two options for I/O. Rio3224-D provides 32 channels of analog input, eight channels of AES output and 16 channels of analog output. Rio1608-D provides 16 in and 8 out of analog in/out. They both connect effortlessly through the Dante network protocol over CAT5e cable. With no specific start-up sequence, setting up this console is very easy. As soon as a working connection is found between a Rio unit and a CL series console, a confirmation window pops up and audio is passed. Another benefit of the Dante network is network redundancy. By using a network switch with the primary and secondary Dante connections, your systems become redundant. And in the event of a CAT5e cable failure, audio switches seamlessly over to the secondary connection.
Another fantastic feature is the capability of multiple consoles sharing the same Rio I/O. When setting up two consoles in this way, you could typically run into problems when setting head amp control between FOH and monitors. Here's the scenario: let's say you are sharing head amps between FOH and monitors. Two songs into worship your drummer is playing much harder then he did in sound check and is now clipping the kick and snare channels. If the monitor engineer grabs the head amp control and backs off the gain by -4 dB, then that is going to change the FOH mix. It's a frustrating situation. Yamaha has solved these issues with a feature called Gain Compensation. If the head amp is changed on console No. 1, it can automatically compensate on console No. 2. This feature removes the previous headache of sharing head amps between consoles.
The look and feel of the CL5 is beautiful. With LCD channel label, new buttons and fader “feel,” the CL5 responds in a very detailed manner that feels solid. If you use StageMix, Yamaha's iPad-based remote control, there is a shelf to the left of the CL5's touch screen that perfectly cradles your iPad. The CL5 has 16 user-defined keys, four user-defined knobs and nine user-defined fader banks, allowing the engineer to truly customize the console to their liking. Yamaha continues with the Centralogic user interface navigation package. If you are familiar with the M7 or LS9, you'll feel right at home navigating selected channel strips, making EQ changes, and switching between dynamic controls. There are a total of 24 mix plus 8 matrix bus options for the CL series, and one nice addition is the physical lighted button above the touch screen to switch the use of the 16 encoders that adjust your mix sends.
Enhancements
One of the exciting expanded areas of the CL series is the rack options available to the user. In the CL series there are 16 31-band graphic equalizers (or 32 dual flex 15 bands), eight effects racks (home to the Yamaha effects you already know—with a new graphical interface), and eight premium racks that include a host of new virtual effects designed utilzing Yamaha's VCM (virtual circuitry modeling). They include: Portico 5033 EQ and Portico 5043 Comps—high-fidelity effects from Rupert Neve Designs. The U76, Opt-2A and EQ-1A. Yamaha's recreations of classic compressors and EQ's from Universal Audio and Pultec. Finally, there is a Yamaha-designed dynamic EQ that provides compression/expansion/limiting to frequency-specific bands.
The virtual soundcheck that Yamaha offers in the CL series may be the simplest solution offered by any console manufacturer. Using Audinate's Virtual Soundcard software on your PC or Mac, a simple network connection to the Dante network turns your laptop into a multi-track recorder. Using a DAW like Steinberg's Nuendo Live (included free with every CL console) you can record and play back 64 tracks of audio—and more. You can also use the USB connection to record a two-track mix straight to MP3 format on a USB memory stick. Playing back MP3's from a USB memory stick is just as easy; this allows for instant file sharing of a rehearsal or Sunday morning service.
In Action
So how does the new Yamaha CL5 sound and work in a show? Amazing. This console has been a dream to work with. It was obvious from my first rehearsal that Yamaha put a lot of thought into making everything about this console shine. The new preamp and word-clock design provide excellent sound quality. I've been running monitors from FOH on the “Where I Find You” tour and all band members have commented on how happy their instruments sound through the CL5.
Setup for this tour has been very tight at times. On Sunday shows we have to load in later after the host church finishes its morning service. There have been times when I wire the entire stage, power up the Rio units, then head out to FOH to take my console out of the case. I turn on the console, with the Rio units already powered up, recall my scene and within seconds I am sound checking the band. No complicated start-up sequence or need to re-assign I/O's. The console finds what is connected to it and begins to pass audio.
Likewise, there have been days where the first thing I do is get my FOH console up and tie into the church PA. By assigning the stereo L/R to the local omni outs I am able to listen to the system and tune the PA while the band and crew set up and wire stage. Once wired, the Rio units power up and I instantly have all the stage inputs ready to go with no interruption to the system tuning.
For the current show, I'm using 37 inputs. With the customization available on the CL5, I have been able to set up the console in a way that allows me to switch between banks of channels fader banks, DCAs, and stereo inputs and return very quickly. The size of the console seems near perfect, everything is within reach, and nothing is too far away.
I've been able to experiment extensively with the premium effects rack. One of my favorite applications is the dynamic EQ on the lead vocal. I'm able to de-ess sibilant vocals to very specific frequencies without loosing intelligibility. The U76 effect sounds fantastic as a drum bus compressor. It really gives the kick, snare, and toms a punchy character that helps define them in the mix.
I've heard two descriptions of the CL5 from other engineers, and after using the console now for three weeks I don't think that either is a good description. The CL5 is much more than an “updated M7” and it's not a “child of an PM5D and an M7.” The CL series is simply the next progression in Yamaha console design. Utilizing some familiar feature sets, Yamaha sets the CL series to be the console that can grow with your church as it grows and changes in the future.
