Are large frame digital consoles really necessary? Back in the early 2000s, we in the audio business were made aware of the upcoming digital revolution. The narrative being bandied about was in regard to a new wave of digital technology that was about to change and revolutionize the face of audio. As engineers, we were told that the innovative digital consoles would be smaller, lighter and more capable and efficient that the old analog technology. Most of us mixing on analog consoles had no idea what this meant in regard to look, size and operation of this encroaching new technology. Our digital reference point was predicated on the change we saw between such things as analog reverb and delay replaced by digital reverb and delay as well as analog audio tape storage replaced by disk systems.
In terms of size, we could see the advantage of recording to DAT tape or CD instead of reel-to-reel recorders. However, while these pieces of gear made for easier cartage, storage and capture of audio files, there were issues with compression and sampling rates that degraded the integrity of the audio itself. Of course, these issues did not impede the forward motion of the new industry, and analog recording and playback was quickly replaced by the new technology. Audio engineers were already accustomed to digital effects since the release of the EMT 250 in 1976 and the release of the Lexicon 224 XL in 1979. In the studio, these pieces were able to replace the spring and plate reverbs that predated them, but they were high-priced and not easily accessible to most live engineers.
By the mid-1980s, rack-mountable effect units became available at a reasonable price and soon became a staple of most live audio racks — both at FOH and monitors. Portable, rack-mountable digital effects were a game changer for most engineers, and large, overstated reverbs and delays became a signature of 1980s audio mixing. Of course, once the excitement of this digital tool abated, the effects used in live mixing calmed down and engineers settled in to a more reasonable approach regarding the use of reverb and delay.
Small digital consoles such as the Yamaha DMP7 had been around since the mid-1980s, and digital mixers had become a viable and accepted audio technology for studio work and sub-mixing. Meanwhile, by the late 1990s, the buzz was that large-format digital mixing consoles were on their way to drastically change the face of live event and concert audio. Although most of us in the field of live audio were excited at the proposition of placing this space-age technology in our knob-twisting hands, we still couldn’t envision how these large format consoles would look and behave any more than a person in the 1800s could imagine a horseless carriage. As promised, Yamaha debuted its large-format PM1D digital console at Carnegie Hall in 1999 and released it to the public in 2001. It was an innovative piece of technology that could do up to 320 input channels with added I/O, DSP and power racks as well as computer system engines. With a price point of about $110K, it was not an easy grab for most audio companies, and it wasn’t until the 2004 release of the PM5D and the introduction of the Avid D Show console in 2005 that large-format digital consoles became an affordable, must-have item on every band rider.
Once the large-frame digital consoles became more obtainable, the revolution seemed to happen overnight. One moment the Midas Heritage analog console was the number one requested console on riders and then, just like that, the PM5D became the star of every audio rider. By 2010, the Avid Profile and the DiGiCo SD series began to compete with the PM5D for top spots on band riders. These consoles were a bit smaller than their analog counterparts such as the Yamaha PM4K, Midas XL4 and Midas Heritage, but while they did eliminate the need for outboard racks by providing more I/O, onboard dynamics and effects, they were still bulky and heavy. Including the DSP and I/O racks, these consoles had a bit of weight behind them, and it didn’t really feel as if there was that much of a difference between the new large-frame digital consoles and their analog counterparts.
For example, excluding any racks, the Yamaha PM4K analog console weighs in at 403 pounds and the PM1D digital 264 pounds. The PM5D digital console comes in at 215 pounds — just a bit more than the newer PM7, which weighs 210 pounds, while the Midas Heritage analog console weighs in at a hefty 570 pounds. Just for comparison, the DiGiCo SD5 is 256 pounds and the SD10 weighs in at a lean 132 pounds. The Avid Profile is an anorexic 90 pounds, but the newer S6L 48 tops out at 212 pounds, with the Midas PRO6 digital console tipping the scales at 198 pounds. Remember, these weights are without cases or their accompanying racks, so they do bulk up in transport.
Granted, manufacturers are managing to put more power into smaller frames, as witnessed by consoles such as the DiGiCo SD11 or Allen & Heath’s dLive C1500, but the point here is that the large-frame digital console technology, which was revolutionary a mere 20 years ago, is due for an upgrade.
How this upgrade is accomplished still remains a mystery. Nobody wants to do a 196-channel mix using an interface with just four buttons and a joystick, but I am sure that console manufacturers are hard at work perfecting it while those of us whose imaginations are given to wander will speculate and wonder. That said, my wandering, wondering imagination was intrigued by a headline I saw that read, NASA Brings Voyager 2 Fully Back Online, 11.5 Billion Miles from Earth. This headline is just one piece of an amazing story that dates back to 1977, when Voyager 1 and 2 were launched with the hopes of harvesting information about interstellar space and beyond. Not only are the craft and the mission incredible, but also the fact that scientists were able to fix the problem remotely is an unbelievable feat of engineering.
Back to the Future
This led me to thinking about where the future of audio might lead. If I let my feverish imagination take the lead, I could possibly see each console manufacturer launching a series of satellites that would support their own console platform that would be downloaded by the purchaser of said console. Worldwide, these satellites would provide the program and console graphics for the specific make of console. The console itself would be a (10-pound?) 24-inch flat-screen monitor that would remotely connect to the satellite much like the way we already connect remotely from an iPad to a console.
Complete mixes could be modeled (in the same way different mic or guitar sounds are modeled) and created from the best of live mixes that could be accessed through the satellite’s library. These mixes could also be cataloged by name and genre. To do away with the I/O racks, an internal high-performance mic (or mics) in the screen would pick up the band on stage and be able to discern between all the various instruments and create an input list and a mix of the band based on the user’s choice of modeled mixes. This input list and mix would then be relayed to the screen and mix platform. If an engineer should choose to tweak an individual channel, the option would be available. Output to the speakers might be a fiber cable or — in the case of a monitor mix — multiple fiber cables, or maybe it could be the wireless units that are used by NASA.
Disclaimer: Please note that this is only a rough overview of how I imagine the upcoming new wave of audio technology and, while the probability of large frame consoles going the way of analog boards might seem like a bit of whimsy from a science fiction story, I might remind you that scientists just fixed a 40-year old computer from 11.5 billion miles away.
