Yamaha’s had a long history of building solid analog consoles, going back to 1974’s PM1000, which brought balanced I/O’s, 3-band channel EQ, matrix mixing and tough, roadworthy construction into 16/24/32-channel packages and began a legacy of pro-quality live gear that continues to this day. As the years progressed, Yamaha evolved digital consoles, which like its analog boards, have become world standards. There’s no doubt that the future lies in digital technology, but our old pal analog still survives and thrives, particularly in certain market segments.
In fact, I own and regularly use are a number of analog boards, including a well-worn Yamaha MG16/6FX that’s been through a lot and still sounds great. And I’ve found that analog mixers are often a preferred solution when a system is used at a small church or community center, where they may be operated by untrained people who need a system that’s simple to use. In such cases, features such as multiple layers, complicated menu structures and input banking are definitely not the answer.
A while back, when Yamaha announced the new MGP16X — which combined digital connectivity, flexible onboard DSP and improved analog components, I was intrigued. Now that Yamaha has expanded the line to include the larger MGP32X and MGP24X models, I really needed to check these out.
In addition to adding mixing channels, the new 4-bus 24/32-channel mixers (which are nearly identical except for the added eight mic input channels on the larger model) boast three new digital features: stereo recording and playback to USB FAT32 drives, audio play from iOS devices, graphic EQs and a multi-band compressor on the stereo buses, along with newly designed D-PRE preamps, which use a Class-A all-discrete inverted Darlington circuit design. Other nice touchs are the one-knob compressors provided on channels 9 to 16 [on the MGP24X] and 9 to 24 [on the MGP32X], which put troublesome sources under control fast. Of course, if you want more control, you can access master bus dynamics (either single or multi-band) with individual control of attack, release, threshold and ratio, but it’s nice to know you have options.
Back View
You can learn a lot about a console by starting on the back panel. Each of the first 16 (or 24) mic input channels has an XLR and TRS input with a TRS insert jack. The eight stereo line-only inputs have 1/4-inch and RCA jacks. Also +4dBu TRS are the four group outputs, stereo monitor outs and two outs for the 6-by-2 matrix. The six aux sends are all balanced XLR, as is the mono output. The main outputs are either XLR or 1/4-inch on separate jacks with TRS inserts on both channels. An XLR talkback mic input, 4-pin XLR lamp socket (12-volt), AC switch and IEC power connector completes the tour. I definitely appreciate the built-in power supply and the fact that it handles 100 to 240 VAC for travel. No wall warts here!
Getting Physical
Both consoles have a fairly compact footprint; the 42-pound MGP32X is 40.4 x 22.2-inches and the 34.2-pound MGP24X is just over 32-inches wide. With a one-knob-per-function design, things are fairly tight, with 1-inch channel widths and 60mm fader throws. The 2-inch by 1.5-inch LED display for status and parameters is really on the small side and the gray silkscreening on the mix surface can be tough to read in poor lighting, so you may need that aforementioned light socket. That said, the layout of the board’s controls is logical and straightforward — no mysteries here. Anyone with any familiarity with an analog console can go to work right away. The mono input channels have individual phantom switches for each channel, a serious plus over the global switching approach found in other consoles in this price range.
There’s a smooth high pass filter (12dB/octave at 100Hz) and the 3-band, ±15 dB EQ has a wide-ranging mid sweep (250 Hz to 5 kHz) band with LF/HF shelving at 125 Hz and 8 kHz. The sound of the EQ — which is designed to emulate vintage circuits — is musical, and I could quickly dial in EQ changes for meddlesome sources like kick drums that always seem to need a bottom boost (+3dB), a -5 dB lower mid chop around 450 Hz and a little +2.5 dB HF boost to add some beater snap. Sure, a full-on 4-band parametric might be nice, but the MGP’s EQ definitely does the trick and does it well.
The DSP is where these mixers really shine. Yamaha is no stranger to digital processing, and what’s in the MGP24X and MGP32X is top-notch. There are two onboard effects engines: Yamaha’s high-end REV-X reverb has three high-resolution halls, plates and room effects; while the familiar SPX digital multi-effects provides a useful selection of 16 advanced digital effects (reverb, echo, delay, chorus, flange and more). The room programs are silky and detailed, while the effects are a useful touch. Alternatively, if you don’t want to use the onboard DSP, a switch on each channel routes the effects send from internal to an XLR output send. There’s also a convenient pushbutton for quickly setting tap echo rates on the fly (with blinking LED). I don’t use tap echo much and found the constantly flashing speed LED on the mixer surface somewhat annoying, but this was resolved with a small bit of gaff tape. Two of the stereo line-only input channels also offer ducking, leveling and stereo image processing (this narrows the image for playing stereo sources in systems where wide stereo playback is not desired). All three are useful additions.
The stereo bus has various graphic equalizers, with a 14-band version and Flex9GEQ, a mode that offers access to any nine bands selected from standard 31-band ISO centers. All can be used as discrete left/right or stereo linked. Also on the stereo bus are both single-band and multi-band compressors, with the latter separating the audio into three bands for more flexible dynamics control.
Overall, I like the mixers’ design. The audio was clean, the EQ was musical, the DSP was well-designed and useful. My main gripe was dealing with that 2-inch by 1.5-inch LCD screen. Fortunately, Yamaha came up with a clever and most utile solution in the form of MGP Editor, a free software app that provides intuitive, fast additional control of the mixer’ DSP settings via an iOS device. One quick download and you have detailed touch screen control of REV-X and SPX effects parameters — as well as ducker, leveler, graphic EQ’s, master channel compressors and iPod/iPhone playback from an iTunes play list. It all happens simply by connecting your iOS device’s USB cable into the console, which instantly the process of DSP tweaking into a joy. I like that.
At a Glance
More Console Options
New affordable 24- and 32-input, four-bus analog consoles combine a straightforward logical layout with powerful onboard DSP, musical EQ, and a useful iOS app that simplifies parameter tweaks.
PROS: Excellent audio, flexible DSP, useful iOS control app.
CONS: Very small LED display, short-throw 60mm faders.
PRICE
MGP24X: $1,199/street
MGP32X: $1,399/street
MORE INFO: www.yamahaproaudio.com
