LIST PRICE: $2,100 | Yamaha
I first wrote about the Yamaha TF-Series last year, when I reviewed a TF-3 for this publication. I mentioned in that article that I was skeptical at first, because I didn’t expect a small, inexpensive console to deliver great results, but that I was proven wrong. That product really surprised me and turned me into a TF fan. Just recently I had a similar experience with the TF-Rack. At first, I thought a rack-mount mixer with no faders was going to be difficult to use or require multiple menu layers to accomplish basic tasks. Again, Yamaha has delivered a product that put my concerns to rest and really impressed me. They have managed to keep the interface simple and well conceived while still making powerful mixing features easily available to you.
Components & Features
Let’s talk about the part you’ll probably use the most: the touch screen. The thought of mixing on a touch screen makes many engineers uncomfortable. However, with the advent of phone and tablet apps for many mixers, many of us are already used to it. And the touch screen on the TF works just like what you’d expect from a great tablet: it supports multi-touch gestures, the screen scrolls to reveal banks of faders and different sections of the channel strips, and it’s very responsive. Navigating and mixing on it are a snap.
In addition to the touch screen, Yamaha has included six user-defined keys and four definable knobs on the front panel that can be assigned to nearly any console function. Out of the box, the buttons recall a series of preset scenes that are meant to act as starting points for various mixing scenarios. This is the only thing I don’t like about this console. Someone getting started with the console may press one of these buttons out of curiosity and wipe out their work when the scene recalls.
So, the first thing I recommend a new TF user do is change the behavior of these keys to prevent accidents. Luckily, this is easily accomplished in the setup menu. One of the more useful options for these keys includes storing and recalling “bookmarks” for different screen views to allow quick navigation to frequent settings. The keys can also be assigned to transport functions for the built-in two-track (i.e., stereo) USB recorder such as “record” and “play.” (The two-track USB recorder is designed to use high-speed USB sticks or SSDs.) The front panel user-defined knobs can either perform context-sensitive functions based on what page you’re viewing, or they may be assigned to control dedicated parameters such as specific channel levels.
Power users still have access to the fully adjustable parameters they want.
Coming back to the topic of USB recording, you should know about one of the most convenient features on this console: multi-track recording and playback on your computer via USB. Plenty of consoles offer this now, but none make it so easy. Because most of the routing is fixed in this console to prevent easy mistakes and simplify operation, multi-track recording just works without any effort. Simply connect your computer to the TF-Rack and launch your favorite digital audio workstation (DAW). A full version of Steinberg's Nuendo Live software (a $399 value) is included with the console. Waves Tracks Live is also a nice choice because it’s free and similarly easy to use. All 32 input channels, plus the stereo mix bus, are automatically sent to your computer (34 paths total), and the inputs are sent “pre-everything,” meaning none of your channel strip processing will affect the recording. Later, when you want to play back the multi-track recording through the console to simulate a sound check and work on your mix, you can do that with a couple of taps on the touchscreen.
The front panel also includes a dedicated tap tempo button, buttons to mute all inputs or just the effects, a “touch and turn” knob for accurate adjustment of on-screen parameters, and a headphone output.To extend the user experience beyond the front panel, Yamaha offers three applications. TF Editor is their off-line editor for Windows and Mac computers. It allows you full control of the console, which is particularly useful when you’re naming channels, and it also allows you to build your show file in advance and later upload it to the console. TF StageMix is the full-featured iPad app that allows wired or wireless control of the entire console while mixing.
Finally, MonitorMix, compatible with Apple and Android devices, allows up to 10 artists to connect their phones and tablets to control their own auxiliary mixes for use with in-ears or wedges.
More Church-friendly Features
The chassis has a practical amount of I/O on board. There are 16 mic/line inputs on Neutrik Combo jacks (an XLR an 1/4-inch TRS in the same jack). There is also a stereo RCA line input, presumably for a playback source such as your phone. There are also 16 outputs (eight XLR and eight TRS). Finally, there is a card slot for a Dante card, which can then connect to the company's TIO stage racks for additional, remote IO.
The console supports a total of 40 input channels (via the 18 inputs on the back, as well as from internal effects returns, USB from your computer, and Dante sources) and 20 auxiliary busses, six of which are stereo (intended primarily for in-ear monitors). It also offers eight effects engines (with two dedicated effects busses for convenient out-of-the-box reverb and delay), 10 graphic equalizers, and eight DCAs to allow you to conveniently manage your mix with group faders.
Much of the last several paragraphs sound like a lot of other products on the market. What sets the TF-series apart is a number of innovative mixing features that make this console easy to operate for the inexperienced audio engineer, yet still give power users the fully adjustable parameters they want. For example, Yamaha has created the “One-knob” feature that makes EQ and compression use remarkably simple.
In one of the “One-knob” modes, vocal EQ decisions are somewhat automatic. As you turn the knob, the console starts to apply equalization to help clarify vocals. Keep turning the knob and the equalization changes, not just in the amount, but also in what frequencies are being adjusted. Yamaha has incorporated some of the most common EQ tweaks used by professional audio engineers so that a new user just has to twist a knob to get similar results.Another “One-knob” mode for EQ takes any changes you’ve already made yourself and simply enhances them. If you’ve made a cut at a certain frequency and a boost at another, turning the “One-knob” up will simultaneously cut that first frequency more while further boosting the other frequency.
And the “One-knob” function works for getting compression dialed in too, which is a common concern for less-experienced mixers. Remember that you still have full control of all typical console parameters, but sometimes turning a single, “intelligent” knob just makes life so much simpler.Yamaha even makes setting your gain structure simple, which is something newer engineers often struggle with. In addition to normal level meters, there is a special level meter called GainFinder for setting mic input gain. It works similar to the way you might tune a guitar: you just twist the knob until your signal stays mostly in the large, middle segment, and you’re good to go.
Personal Takes
I particularly liked the channel presets Yamaha supplies with this console. Normally, channel presets are pretty useless. Every audio situation is different, so having a generic “kick drum” EQ preset doesn’t take into account, for example, what microphone is being used. Yamaha, however, has enlisted the help of industry pros to come up with QuickPro Presets that include head amp, EQ, compression, phantom power switching, and even labeling. Yamaha offers them as meaningful starting points for different real-world applications. There are presets based on various microphones for specific instrument uses, and they work.
If you’re new to mixing audio, you can probably just use the presets and get things up and running pretty well. If you’re experienced, you might use the presets as you might use the presets as a starting point and tweak from there.I also like the effects engines quite a bit. The reverb and delay effects sound good and, as I already mentioned, one of each is already pre-routed to dedicated effects busses to get you up and running quickly. However, there are also many other effects processor choices available to apply to individual channels or busses, including one of my favorites: the multiband compressor. This thing sounds great on individual channels, such as vocals, and it does a great job of keeping your overall mix smooth.None of this would matter if the console didn’t deliver sonically.
The good news is that it sounds great. The mic preamps are clean, the whole product sounds transparent, and all of the standard signal processing (such as EQ and dynamics) is smooth and does exactly what you want.Overall, this is a great product at an excellent price. It has every feature you’re likely to need or want in a compact mixer; it has just the right amount of flexibility for convenience (without providing too many opportunities for a newer user to get confused about routing, for example); it has a great suite of supporting applications; the “One-knob” functionality and channel presets are well thought out; and the effects engines are powerful. I would happily mix many shows on this.
Brad Duryea is director of audio technology at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. He may be contacted @bradduryea on Twitter or brad.duryea@gmail.com.
