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Allen&Heath dLive DM0 | An installation-oriented mix engine for Allen & Heath’s DLive Series, the new DM0 has multiple options for connecting via any desired networking protocol.
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Roland M5000 | Roland’s flagship M5000 console uses the company’s own REAC protocol as its principal network but also offers expanded connectivity to use other popular protocols.
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Presonus StudioLIve AR16 | The new PreSonus StudioLive AR16 blends a cost-effective analog mixing platform with digital innovations like integrated multichannel USB recording interface, SDHC recorder for mains, digital effects and Bluetooth input.
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QSC TouchMix-30 Pro | By shifting faders and some other controls to an integrated touchscreen, the TouchMix-30 Pro from QSC offers an exceptionally attractive price-performance ratio.
Digital technology is reshaping how we do sound in church, and the focal point of change is the mixing console.
This is where worship sound comes together, and nowhere else in the signal chain has the digital revolution brought greater transformation—or more potential benefits.
Whether you serve a multi-campus metropolitan megachurch, a newly planted suburban portable church, or a small rural congregation, the changes underway will affect how you will do your job in the years to come.
Here I’ve isolated four digital technology trends as reflected in the designs of the newest mixing consoles. I’ve listed standout examples illustrating each, although please note that the trends are not exclusive to the specific examples cited as they are largely incorporated in mixers at similar price points. That also means some standouts cited in one category also could be exemplary candidates for another.
So, with that caveat, what technology trends in the latest generation of digital consoles will define how you mix audio in the decade to come?
1. Exquisite Audio Becoming (Relatively) Affordable
When the first generation of high-end digital consoles appeared at the dawn of the millennium, the new technology was celebrated throughout industry and quickly embraced by most users—who could afford it. Yet there were holdouts. Some high-profile tour sound engineers insisted that the sound wasn’t quite there—yet.
They claimed that they weren’t hearing the “warmth” or “transparency” or “delicacy” they were accustomed to. So, despite the lack of programmability and need for outboard equipment racks, they remained loyal to classic analog boards like the Midas Heritage, Gamble EX-56 and ATI Paragon.However, as leading console makers have rolled out their second or third generation flagship consoles in recent years, those arena-touring holdouts have largely come over to digital. A sound technology that was once—perhaps prematurely—touted as “perfect” has arrived, finally coupling the versatility and dynamic range of digital with the warmth and transparency of analog.
The ear-opening sonic improvements are largely due to massive upgrades of core technology in the digital mixing engines. In top-level mixers, these engines now offer 96kHz sampling rates for effortless transparency, complemented by 24-bit converters and 32-bit floating point internal processing for extended dynamic range. Many also feature the latest generation of Field Programmable Gate Array (FGPA) circuits in the DSP for greater processing speed and configuration flexibility.This is more than engineering jargon: the differences are clearly audible. But until recently, such sonic superiority was available only in flagship consoles with price tags reaching into the $150K range.
Fortunately, some new offerings have cut the price of entry by 30 to 50 percent, from slightly under $50k up to the $100K neighborhood, depending on model and configuration. It’s the same sound from the same mixing core, only now with smaller control surfaces, more limited touchscreens (fewer, smaller or lower definition), fewer processing paths, and more limited local I/O. But, hey, we’re not touring with U2. These new models are more than adequate for nearly all demanding church applications.
Digico SD12 | The new SD12 from Digico supplies top sonic performance identical to pricier SD Series desks, with a form factor suited to many larger church applications.
Digico’s offering is the SD12. In addition to the same superlative sonics as pricier cousins (due in part to the common Stealth Core2 software) it offers dual 15-inch touchscreens, 72 mix inputs, 36 assignable auxes or groups, 12 DCAs and plenty of local I/O. It also offers the new Hidden Til Lit (HTL) feature for instant association of encoders with active on-screen parameters.
SSL has a strong new entry with its L200, which again takes the same mix engine as the touring flagship L500 and pairs it with a more church-sized control surface. You still benefit from a generously sized 17-inch touchscreen along with 37 faders, 144 processing paths (96 inputs plus 48 aux), a 32 by 24 matrix and up to 48 simultaneous effects.
The Rivage PM10 anchors the top end of Yamaha’s console line, with impeccable sonic basics augmented by on-board exclusives like Neve SILK processing, Neve EQ and compressors, and effects processors from TC Electronic and Eventide. Introduction of the new CS-R10-S control surface makes packages available for up to 40% less than with the original large unit.
2. Extended multi-networking capabilities
Church audio is migrating rapidly into a networked world, and your mixing console is at the epicenter. Analog audio snakes and MADI signals over coaxial cable are giving way to Ethernet-based audio carried either on Cat-5e/6 copper cable or fiber optic extenders.Alas, although basic Ethernet technology serves as a common foundation, today’s audio systems are using a number of competing audio protocols, with most being mutually incompatible. As a consequence, today’s digital consoles must be far more adept at connecting with various types of network protocols—with built-in multi-network capabilities, or with optional networking cards, or a mixture of both.
In general, most console systems will operate with a built-in “backbone” network for connecting the work surface to the stage box and to other ancillary gear from the same manufacturer. This “internal” network could be proprietary (e.g., Roland’s REAC), third party (e.g., Dante) or open standard (AVB). In addition, the console may offer network connections using the same protocols or alternative protocols for external effects servers, recording systems, or broadcast feeds. A clear example of this trend is the MixRack DM0 from Allen & Heath, introduced at InfoComm in June. It’s basically a powerful mix engine that’s ready to connect—via just about any protocol of your choice—to a wide variety of external inputs, outputs and controllers. When all three optional network ports are fully loaded, the front of the 4U rack unit looks more like a big network switch, although—depending on options selected—the rows of RJ45 Ethernet connectors might be mixed with fiber optic connectors and BNC connectors for MADI. In addition to Allen &Heath’s own DX link, connections also are available for Dante and AES 67.Roland consoles thrived for years within their own proprietary REAC network ecosystem, which was widely respected for its reliability and one-call technical support. But with its new M-5000 flagship mixer, Roland has embraced the larger networked world with connectivity options for Dante, MADI and Waves SoundGrid.For its internal networking backbone, Avid’s S6L system adopted the open AVB/TSN standard. (The recently appended TSN is for “Time Sensitive Networking.”)
Yamaha PM10 | With introduction of a new downsized control surface, Yamaha is offering the notable sound of its flagship PM10 Rivage system at a dramatically lower price point.
However, for speaking to the outside world, the S6L has options for Dante, MADI, Aviom and Apple’s Thunderbolt.Several years ago, Midas adopted the AES50-based SuperMAC and HyperMAC protocols as its principal network for its PRO X flagship, with connectivity via the Klark-Technik DN9650 and 9652 interfaces. Now additional connectivity is available for MADI, Dante, Cobranet and EtherSound.
3. Faderless Options
Tactile faders have been taken for granted on audio mixing systems ever since we upgraded from rotary knobs back in the 1970s. But over the last five years or so, we’ve seen the rapid emergence of mixing systems that eschew faders altogether and instead employ either integrated touchscreens or external, third-party tablets (like the iPad) and even smartphones for personal monitor mixing.
At the upper end of this trend we have the Waves LV1 from the dominant maker of console software plug-ins. Since the company already had the in-depth expertise in software and screen GUIs, and with their SoundGrid server and interface hardware all tested and proven, it was a relatively simple matter to put it all together into a first-class total mixing system. Everything can be done on touchscreens; there’s no need for tactile faders or knobs. True, you can use third-party control surfaces and I/O packages—Peavey has developed one already—but these are not necessary. For those of the smartphone generation, it’s a way to go first class at a substantial discount by dispensing with superfluous hardware.
LAWO MC236 | Originally developed for broadcast environments with zero tolerance for failure, the Lawo MC2 36 Production Console is built for ease-of-use, versatility and reliability.
At a lower budget we have Mackie’s pioneering DM Series of mixers, which pair the mass market technology of Apple’s iPad with a simple, rugged analog interface and digital mixing engine. It became a sensation and started a trend that continues to gain traction. Mackie’s newest offering, the DL32R is a rackmount 32-input digital mixer offering 32 recallable Onyx microphone preamplifiers, a mixing and DSP engine with onboard compression and EQ, and a built-in 32x32 USB recording interface. True, if you really want the feel of faders (17 to be exact), Mackie will supply a DC16 control surface. But it will cost you more than the mixer.QSC’s successful TouchMix Series stakes out a middle ground. All the faders are on an integral touchscreen (and can be duplicated on one or more external iPads), but the control surface does incorporate a number of tactile switches and a large rotary encoder knob. This approach combines the speed and intuitive control peculiar to always-there tactile hardware along with the economies of touch-screen based control of other mixing functions. Principally, TouchMix acknowledges that moving faders (essential for digital mixing) are costly and bulky. Eliminating them saves space and weight, and also lowers costs. Case in point: the new TouchMix 30 32-channel mixer is roughly 18 inches square, weighs less than 18 pounds, and carries a street price of under $1,900.Finally, a nod to Ashly Audio’s new digiMix 24. Technically it doesn’t qualify since it does have one moving fader. But it really functions more as a master encoder, and by eliminating all discrete channel faders, Ashly can offer a full-function, 24-channel digital mixer for street prices of under $50 per channel.
4. Analog-digital Hybrids
This trend is great news for small churches as well as for larger churches in need of basic but versatile mixers for secondary rooms. By leveraging the cost-efficiency of mature analog technology and coupling it with innovative integration of digital components, these mixers extend utility and often eliminate a need for external devices.The Presonus StudioLive AR Series is a prime example. The basic mixing platform is analog through to the outputs. But the three mixers in the series (8, 12 or 16 channels) also incorporate a Bluetooth input, a digital effects unit, an onboard SDHC recorder for the master output, and an integral USB multi-channel recording interface. For dozens of church applications, there is literally “nothing more to buy.”
The Soundcraft Signature Series also incorporates digital effects (by Lexicon) and, in addition to enabling multitrack recording, the built-in USB interface allows insertion of computer-based plug-in effects into any channel. And finally, Yamaha’s MGP24X and MGP32X mixers start with a robust analog platform, add acclaimed REV-X reverb and SPX digital multi-effects, and then deliver it all through a unique analog-digital Hybrid Channel with priority ducker, leveler and stereo image control.
That’s it. One or more of these trends will shape the design of your next mixing console—for the better, we presume.
