Images courtesy of Cadac.
Cadac recently introduced its latest digital console into the marketplace, the CDC 7. If you are not familiar with Cadac, they are a British company founded in 1968 with a long history of excellence in the worlds of touring and theater. While the company does not seem to be overly well known in the church technical arena, its latest offering will likely help to change that positioning.
The CDC 7 is a feature rich mid-sized console that fits right in with other desks in the space when considering what has become expected capability for quality desks. The foundational specifications include 96 channels of full processing (including gates, comps, six band EQ), 48 busses (configurable in pairs) plus dedicated busses for LCR, monitor, and cue, as well as 16 stereo effects processors, local IO, 36 motorized faders, 16 VCA groups, 31 band graphic EQ’s, and host of other goodies.
What would appear to set the Cadac 7 aside from other offerings in this space, however, is its focus on the combination of top shelf audio processing and a user experience that attempts to distance itself from the traditional analog workflow that many digital consoles continue to emulate.
Processing capability
On the processing side, the Cadac runs using 40-bit floating point precision for internal processing and samples audio at 96 k/24-bit with an incredibly low latency rate that is below 400 microseconds (0.4 milliseconds) from analog input to analog output. This includes all input conversion, transport, console processing, mixing, and output processing. This is made possible, in part, by Cadac’s MegaComms protocol that uses dual coaxial lines for audio transport rather than using CAT 5 interconnects as used by most digital consoles currently in the church market. It should be noted that Cadac offers network bridges that will allow interoperability between MegaComms and other industry standard protocols such as Dante and MADI. One of the largest benefits from such a high-speed processing capability, according to Cadac, is a high level of phase coherency that offers a cleaner signal with less phase artifacts from the digital processing.
One of the largest benefits from such a high-speed processing capability, according to Cadac, is a high level of phase coherency that offers a cleaner signal with less phase artifacts from the digital processing.
Considering the user experience of audio consoles, many of us who are used to working in the arena of church audio have been exposed to a plethora of issues associated with training new audio engineers on our equipment. I have found that oftentimes the best way to start teaching a new volunteer to run a digital console is to start by explaining the operation of an analog console. This then provides a foundation that helps the student work through the various layers of menus and soft-keys.
Interface design
Cadac appears to have aimed straight at this problem by designing an interface that they say will be intuitive to anyone who has driven a modern smart phone or a tablet. That’s a pretty large swath in today’s technology driven society. The focus of the interface is a 23.5-inch 16:9 HD touchscreen display that supports gestures that we would expect on consumer electronics such as swipe, etc. Just one example of this is that layer selection via button, while available, is not the only method of getting access to a channel. As you would do with a remote console app on your tablet, simply touching the screen and swiping will scroll the available channels across the screen while continuously remapping the faders to what is being displayed. Controls for all on-board processing are touch-enabled, allowing easy adjustment of EQ curves, compressors, etc., while looking directly at them on the sizable high-resolution screen.
Controls for all on-board processing are touch-enabled, allowing easy adjustment of EQ curves, compressors, etc., while looking directly at them on the sizable high-resolution screen.
This capability also extends to the use of external processing. Cadac has tightly integrated with Waves plugin processing, allowing the console to integrate with SoundGrid. Using this interface, the desk can work with an external digital audio workstation (DAW), as well as make use of SoundGrid hosted plugins, while controlling those plugins directly from the graphical interface on the desk keeping things consistent and focused on the console’s UI.
Additional attributes
Onboard effects processing also takes on a slightly different presentation with the Cadac than it does in more traditional consoles. The desk has 16 effects slots, each of which are composed of multiple effects modules. Cadac has split its effects processing into three basic element types; reverb, delay, and modulation. Each of the 16 effects slots can be composed of user-selected element types ordered in a flow that they desire. This is done via the screen simply by selecting the elements that are desired and dragging them into the order desired. This allows for customizable effects capabilities that are composed with a modern graphical feel.
Cadac has split its effects processing into three basic element types; reverb, delay, and modulation. Each of the 16 effects slots can be composed of user-selected element types ordered in a flow that they desire.
Other capabilities, such as a monitor mode (that allows for one touch mix spills), cue-based automation, and SAM automation software, point to Cadac’s desire to create a powerful product that is intuitive to emerging engineers.
As church productions grow in capability and the pool of people who are stepping up to the consoles are getting younger, we will be required to change the way that we think about the application of technology in our audio systems. Cadac, with its latest offering, seems intent on taking a hand at shaping that direction.
