What’s on the Bleeding Edge Today Could Be in Your Rack Next Year
If you’ve ever had the chance to watch the original Star Trek series (by original, I mean the show ca. 1966 with Shatner, Nimoy et al.), it’s aston-ishing to observe how many technological prophecies were written into those scripts. Handheld communicators, miniature cartridges containing computer data, keyboards and touch screens for computer interfaces, talking computers that display photos and even a cloaking device are all Star Trek fantasies that have manifested in our world as common devices like cell phones, floppy disks (later, thumb drives) and everyday computers. Now, if I could only figure out teletransportation…. Keep in mind that these devices were dreamt up during a time when a CPU with around 64 ki-lobytes of memory employed vacuum tubes and took up more space than your living room.
As the world of science fiction continues to creep into our reality, the cost of such technological gadgets starts in the stratosphere and inevitably trickles down to a point where the working person can begin to think about incorporating them into his or her life. Once upon a time in these pages, we talked about what’s come to be known as Moore’s Law — the manner in which computer processing power doubles roughly every 18 months, while the cost of this processing power remains relatively stable. That concept is almost as true for audio professionals as it is for an office manager looking at new desktop CPUs. I recall the first digital multitrack I ever laid eyes on: It was a 4-track 3M machine, way bigger and certainly more delicate than any Studer analog multitrack. It probably cost several hundred thousand dollars at the time and was in constant need of attention. If my memory serves correctly, there was a gauze-like cleaning mechanism that wiped dust off the tape as it passed the heads to prevent errors. It ran at 44.1 kHz/16-bit, and sounded pretty darn good for early 1980s digital recording technology. Now, I can carry in my pocket a 16-bit/44.1 kHz digital recorder that has onboard DSP, records for four hours to solid-state media and costs 500 bucks.
The reason I bring this is up is that I (and I’m sure some of you) can be guilty of turning my attention thoroughly off when I see some kind of new super-whiz-bang gadget that some hot-shot tech company has just invented and unleashed on the marketplace — at a price somewhere near six months’ pay. Yeah, I’d love to have that right now, but unfortunately there are other diversions I must pay attention (and money) to, like rent and health insurance. Call me back when the price drops down to earth, and when you’re done beta-testing it. Announcements of “high” technology give us a glimpse of what we can expect in the not-too-distant future, whether they are as simple as a programmable coffee makers or as complex as a programmable mixing console.
Case in Point
Let’s take as an example the digital mixing console. When Yamaha announced the 02R digital mixer, it was way out of my financial league, and the base configuration didn’t include all the TDIF expansion cards I’d need to run my studio. More than once, I dreamt of Santa leaving that desk under the tree. Eventually, I managed to scrape together the cash to get an 02R into my studio, and it changed my life.
First, it sounded good and was way quieter than any analog mixer I’d used. Second, it was rock solid: It never crashed, and the automation per-formed exactly as it was supposed to (which is more than I can say for some of the newer digital recording desks I’ve recently worked). Third — amazingly enough — it wasn’t difficult to learn how to use. Sure, I had to consult the manual every now and again, but it was in a “how do I do XYZ” or “does this thing do ABC” manner, not in a “how do I get audio out of this @^#%&^!! thing” manner. Fourth, I could store every console setting, including fader moves, mutes, scene changes, effects, pan, EQ — and truly recall them on another day, if a remix was necessary. I always imagined how cool it’d be to have an 02R on the road, and indeed some engineers with bigger budgets (and larger trucks) took them out live.
Shortly thereafter, Yamaha rocked the world with the PM1D. Here’s all the inputs you need: comps and gates on every channel, comprehensive EQ and filters, onboard effects of an SPX nature that we’re all familiar with, and you don’t have to patch any of it because it’s all on board. Thanks guys for taking my gear lust up to another level. “Wonder if I can fit that in the living room?”
The PM1D was expensive — way more than an analog console with a similar number of channels. But I just knew that Yamaha had something else up their sleeve, and that was the PM5D. Now we’re talking. Plenty of channels, expandable onboard effects, a plethora of I/O options, a few less faders than a PM1D, yet under $50,000. Sign me up.
And Others Chime In
Not to be left standing at the alter, DiGiCo introduced the D5 Live, upping the ante with pressure-sensitive touch screens; Studer developed the Vistonics panel, the first (and only) interface to feature rotary encoders actually set into the touch screen. Digidesign rolled out the Venue and D-Show, and Midas introduced the XL8.
While these guys were giving new meaning to the term mortgage, cell phones were getting smaller, and companies like Motorola and Analog De-vices were developing their next generation of DSP chips.
How does that affect my life? Here is one example: The Mackie tt24 provides a 24 x 12 x 3 analog I/O (plus another 24 digital channels), the now-expected EQ, dynamics and filters on every channel, on-board effects, scene store and recall, 24 digital I/O via LightPipe and optional expansion cards for full DSP on the 24 digital channels. It has a touch screen interface, and you can get it for under $10,000. There it is again, La Cerra’s Star Trek Trickle Down Principle: Expensive technology eventually makes it way down to the working man.
Futurecast
What’s next? Well, if I knew exactly where technology was going, then you and I would be discussing this over martinis on the French Riviera. However, we can get some hints from the latest developments in the world of live audio. In addition to an affordable digital desk with some pretty serious audio muscle, Mackie has taken a big stab at a source of aggravation for every live sound company: the snake.
Mackie’s DS3232 Digital Snake solves a bunch of long-standing problems. Microphone preamps are located at the stage where they belong and are remotely controlled from the desk (keeping the preamp close to the mic reduces possibility for RFI as well as degradation of the mic signal). Sig-nals are sent to and from the stage using Cat5 (“Ethernet”) cable, which is way lighter and cheaper than copper multicore. A full DSP package is included with the DS3232, providing 4-band EQ plus dynamics, pad, phantom power and high-pass filter for all 32 input channels. All of these pa-rameters may be stored and recalled from the desk.
The Roland Systems Group has been busy with expansion of their V-Mixing System. At AES last fall, Roland announced the M-400 Live Mixing Console which features 48 channels, 18 buses, 56-bit internal processing, EQ and dynamics on every channel and a USB interface for recording to a USB drive or storing and recalling M-400 libraries. Also newly introduced to the V-Mixing System is the S-1608 digital snake, little brother to Roland’s S-4000 snake. As the name implies, the S-1608 is a small format (16 in/8 out) digital snake containing high-quality mic pres that are re-mote controlled from the mixing desk.
Roland’s REAC (Roland Ethernet Audio Communication) is used to transport audio that’s been converted to digital data at 96 kHz/24-bit resolu-tion, via Cat5e cable. The companion S-0816 complements the S-1608 with 8 analog ins and 16 analog outs, expanding the capabilities of the sys-tem to accommodate larger setups (try that with copper multipair). There’s even a dedicated splitter (S-4000 SP), which enables extension and splitting of the REAC data stream for simultaneous broadcast and recording purposes.
AES showcased additional small format/big technology mixers such as Studer’s Vista 5 compact digital console with that same Vistonics interface as the big boys, as well as the Allen & Heath iLive-80, which uses similar technology at a way lower price point.
The bottom line here is that you can’t ignore high-end technology because it ultimately works its way into your life somehow or another. Think about that when you see the Dexter from Jazz Mutant. It’s a control surface for DAW programs like Logic Pro, Sonar and Cubase. It provides touch screen faders instead of physical sliders. Hmmmm…faders without any moving parts…
Steve “Woody” La Cerra is the front-of-house engineer and tour manager for Blue Öyster Cult. He can be reached via email at Woody@fohonline.com
