When I got a call from my contacts at Roland telling me they were working on a new mixer that they thought I was really going to like, I was excited. I've long felt the entire V-Mixing system represents a good balance between features and value, and I like the system concept that includes a recorder and personal mixers. In November of 2012, I made the short drive to Los Angeles to see a later version prototype. Indeed, I liked it right away.
More recently I had the chance to try out a full production model. My feelings about the product haven't diminished.
The M200i was designed from the ground up to be controlled by an iPad. Rather than build their own touch screen, Roland leveraged the fact that Apple has already perfected portable touch screen devices with plenty of power behind them. While many consoles have iPad control, this is the first one that I've seen where the control goes as deep as it does. But first, let's review the basic specs of the mixer.
SMALL PACKAGE, BIG FEATURES
The M200i has the ability to mix 32 channels from a total of 64 inputs. It features 16 on-board, recallable mic preamps, plus another eight line ins and a Roland Ethernet Audio Communication (REAC) port; eight aux sends plus four fully addressable matrix mixes; eight digitally controlled amplifiers (DCAs); four built-in effect engines; and four third-octave graphic equalizers (QECs). In addition to the left and right outputs, you also get an AES output plus 10 assignable outputs (six XLR, four TRS). The surface features 16 motorized faders (plus master), one button select of sends on fader mode, solo, mute and select of all channels, and a multi-function display for control.
In addition, the back panel features a USB port for connecting the M200i to a computer (both Mac and Windows versions of the Remote Control Software—RCS—are available), a network port for wireless access, and a proprietary locking dock connector cable. Roland includes a 30-pin dock connector cable with the mixer, and they've tested the 30-pin to lighting adapters and found they work fine.
Power is supplied by a small coaxial input from an inline power brick. I would have much preferred to see a standard IEC socket back there, but my guess is it was a packaging issue. Speaking of packaging, the entire mixer is designed to be rack-mountable via an optional pair of rack rails. It's very light, and is clearly designed to work well in portable applications.
MULTI-TOUCH CONTROL
While you can get to every parameter on the console using the built-in LCD display and arrow keys, I was told this is really designed as a backup in case your iPad unexpectedly crashes to the floor. The best way to operate the M200i is from the iPad. While some mixer control apps are very utilitarian, Roland spent a lot of time on the visual appearance of the app.
At under $3,000, i think the M200i represents a good value. And they still have the best iPad app going.
Nearly every single function on the console can be addressed, configured or controlled by the iPad. Basic mixing functions such as gain, EQ, gating, aux mixes, DCA and mute group assigning, channel naming and coloring and routing are all easily accessible. As the iPad is multi-touch, you can pinch EQ Q widths, and adjust gain and frequency by grabbing the handle and moving it around. It's also possible to control four faders at once with one hand.
You interact with the app in one of several modes. If you're going to be primarily mixing on the physical surface, you can switch off the faders on the iPad, giving you more room to display eight channel strips. In this view, you get expanded views of compression, gating, EQ, and aux send levels. Should you decide to grab the iPad and walk away from the surface, a “normal” mode gives you short faders, mute and solo buttons, pan control, EQ view, and gain control. It's great for initially setting up your mix.
The final mode is “Long Fader” view. As the name implies, most of the screen is taken over by eight faders with a mute button at the top. Once everything is set up, this is a great way to mix remotely. Even here, it's easy to get to full channel edit mode by simply tapping on the name at the bottom of the fader.
IN-DEPTH EDITING
Once you enter channel edit mode, you are presented with an overview screen for the channel (or aux, matrix, effects, or master). There are four additional, expanded views to be accessed: gate, comp, EQ, and sends. Each one has a button on the right side of the page, or you can simply touch the graphic representation in the main window.
Most iPad remotes give you this control. Roland went further in providing input patching, a 48-volt switch, phase, and direct out assigning—including changing the pick point from one of four places in the channel strip.
In the EQ and dynamics sections, you can directly manipulate the settings on the graphic display, or change the values on the rotary controls. If you like physical controls, you can also touch the value on the iPad, then turn a rotary encoder on the physical control surface to adjust the value. I found this to be very intuitive and fast when working on the surface.
More than merely giving you deep channel-level editing, Roland also included full setup and preferences for the console on the iPad app, as well. From the setup page, you can access the patchbay, the monitor/solo functionality, talkback, an oscillator, system settings, user preferences, and more. There is even a full meter page, which displays all input and output levels, with user-selectable metering points.
IN USE
We took the M200i (along with an S1608 stage box) to a conference center for our women's retreat. Physical set up was very fast, with a single Cat5 cable connecting the stage box with the M200i. It took a few minutes to assign the channels to the inputs, build our VCAs and set up effects, but once we were done with that, it all went pretty smoothly.
I tend to evaluate consoles by how responsive the EQ is, how hard can I hit the compressors before it becomes audible and how quickly I can get effects sounding the way I like. In consoles in this price range, these things tend to be more of a determining factor in whether the console sounds good—at least that's my experience.
Rating in those three categories, I would rate the M200i as good to very good. The EQ responded pretty much the way I would have liked, requiring perhaps a bit more cut or boost than I'm used to, but it was very acceptable. The compressors were very good for this range, and with a few very dynamic singers on stage, we dug into them pretty deeply without losing much tone.
The effects took a little more work than I would have liked, primarily due to the starting settings. If I owned the console, I would make use of the libraries to store settings I like for easy recall. Once I zeroed them out and started from scratch, I was able to get my usual compliment of halls, plates and delays sounding good.
It should be noted that Roland included both stereo in/stereo out effects and mono in/stereo out effects. The full stereo effects use a lot of DSP, and you can only use one of those at a time. However, you can load three more mono in/stereo out effects. This threw me off initially, mainly due to the labeling of the effects in the preset library. Once I figured out the labeling scheme, all was well. I was reminded that it's important to try things, even when you're not sure what they do.
One clever feature of the app is that it will detect the music you have installed on the iPad and give you an easy way to set up a playlist and play back through the dock connector, right from the M200i app. I can't imagine an easier way to do walk-in music.
CONCLUSION
Overall, the M200i is a solid product. The biggest challenge I had with it was the lack of digital scribble strips on the faders. I know I'm spoiled by them, but with five layers to contend with, keeping track of what is where can be a bit of a challenge. Again, if it were my regular desk, I would set up the two user layers exactly the way I need them, and use tape to label for both. Or, I might find myself doing most of the mixing on the iPad app in long fader mode.
With recent price reductions pushing the cost under $3,000, I think the M200i represents a good value. And they still have the best iPad app going.
