From the late-1960’s and mid-70’s Cadac consoles gained a reputation for superior audio performance in major recording studios and live theater. Today, Cadac continues its “audio-first” philosophy, introducing the new CM system, centered around the CM-J50 console. The CM-J50 delivers greater connectivity and control within a distinctive form factor that is faster, smaller and lighter than previous Cadac generations.
With 96 input channels and a whopping 56 output buses, the CM-J50 features exceptional audio performance and an innovative at-a-glance user interface. Centered around a large touchscreen, the CM-J50 allows users to fluidly scroll through input channels and output buses with simple touch, swipe and turn gestures. Faders and encoders seamlessly map to the screen’s active functions, for an intuitive mixing experience.
It’s All About the Audio…
The CM system is based around a proprietary FPGA / DSP mix platform utilizing 96 kHz, 24-bit Delta-Sigma A/D-D/A converters and 32/40-bit floating-point SHARC processors, delivering ultra-low latency performance. Utilizing Cadac’s newly designed, exceptionally low-noise, wide dynamics preamps, the CM-J50 has 16 analog mic inputs on its rear panel along with eight AES 3 inputs, eight AES 3 outputs and eight analog line level outs. Three new high-density stage racks utilizing the same high-performance I/O cards as the console are available, along with audio network bridges to connect the CM-J50 to MADI and Dante audio protocols.
The 4U CM-SR40 stagebox offers 32 analog inputs and eight analog outputs, while the CM-SR24 has 16 analog ins and 24 outs. For larger installations, the 7U CM-SR64 provides 56 analog inputs with 32 analog outputs. Each stage rack also includes 8 AES 3 inputs and 8 AES 3 outputs. To facilitate setup, each stage rack has a 2.4” color TFT display and menu buttons allowing local adjustment for mic gain and phantom power. An integrated headphone amp in each stage rack allows local audio monitoring — a useful and time saving tool.
Interconnectivity between the console and stage racks is via Cadac’s proprietary MegaCOMMS high-speed data protocol. Offering two MegaCOMMS paths (A and B) each using two BNC or duplex optical connections, up to 128 bi-directional channels of 96 kHz / 24-bit audio can be transmitted over a single path. Each path carries identical and synchronous data, providing redundancy if both A and B are attached to a single stage rack. Additionally, two stage racks can daisy-chained on a single MegaCOMMS path for increased flexibility.
Operating distance using RG6 cable on the BNC ports tops out at 328 feet (100 m). Using the duplex LC ports, the racks can be located up to 6,500 feet from the console. To facilitate connections, LED’s inside the BNC ports glow blue or red indicating transmit or receive status, a nice touch.
Attention to phase coherency and latency management helps the CM-J50 achieve its clean and transparent sound. By using an automatic latency management process to synchronize all audio samples before summing, the CM-J50 provides absolute phase coherency at all outputs resulting in a sub-0.4 ms overall latency.
Finally, for mission-critical applications, the console and stage racks have dual power supplies for redundant operation.
Intuitive Touch
The heart of the CM-J50 is its 23.5” high-resolution (1920 x 1080) touchscreen display (Fig.1). Below and to the right of the display, rotary encoders correlate to the display’s current status. Sixteen motorized 100 mm faders with integrated LED bargraph meters along with small, illuminated channel select, solo and “ON” buttons populate the console’s lower section. A dedicated 1” square OLED display for each channel offers channel-related status information including channel name and color. Although the displays were sharp, I felt a larger text font would be easier to read.
Eight illuminated input layer select buttons choose which group of channels appears on the screen. They can be set to display sets of 16 or 12 channels (1-16, 17-32, etc.). If you swipe the touch screen and it falls between a normal set, both buttons above and below the set illuminate. I found the screen sometimes lagged slightly behind the physical buttons and faders as I selected layers. (Cadac engineers told me a firmware update addresses this issue). Three small buttons select the output bus layers and a fourth calls up the VCA layer. I tend to use a VCA layer for mixing and will frequently put a single channel on a VCA just so I don’t have to build a custom fader layer. Having 16 VCA’s on the CM-J50 is nice.
Pressing the Fader Follow button assigns the faders to control the bus send levels for the currently selected input channel. If the console is configured in Monitor mode, shortcuts to the buses appear on the screen. Touching one allows the faders to act as the selected buss send for each channel.
To the right of the main touch screen is a smaller 6.5” LCD touch screen for system control and setup. Below the screen are buttons used for the powerful Cadac scene cue control functions. Finally, four additional fader/display/ button sets are provided for the main outputs. Operating independently from the channel faders, they typically control main L/R output, monitor wedge level, and headphone, but can be assigned to control other things as desired. Eight assignable user-defined buttons in two banks can be configured and labeled to control mute groups, tap delay, FX screen access, etc.
The Strips Have It All
Each channel on the CM-J50 is displayed in a vertical strip on the large touch screen. Starting at the top are blocks for the input settings, channel EQ and dynamics. At the bottom are blocks showing channel name/color, pan and channel signal levels. These virtual bargraph meters have a 0 dB reference and can be set for Pre- or Post-Fader indication.
In normal mode, a channel’s input settings block appears at the top of the screen and pan settings at the bottom with the lower encoder controlling pan. Pressing swap flips these on the screen and the lower encoder controls the input gain/trim.
The large section in the middle shows output bus routing. Bus sends only populate the screen when routed, providing an at-a-glance view of bus name and channel send level to each bus. If the channel is a Matrix output, the word “MATRIX” fills the segment and for VCA’s, a list of members is shown. Although the fonts are small, (There is a lot of information here…) the display is readable.
Get on The Bus
Forty-eight of the CM-J50’s 56 buses are assignable as Aux sends, Groups or Matrices. These can be individually configured for mono operation or linked as stereo and given names. For complex live sound scenarios, the CM-J50 provides a wealth of routing options. Route channels directly to any bus, send Auxes and Groups to the Master L/R or a Matrix. To send signal to a bus, simply touch anywhere in the bus sends block. When the routing window opens, touch the desired bus to select it, turn it on and set send level using the associated right-side encoders.
Monitor mode gives the engineer access to 54 user-assignable buses set up as sends-on-fader allowing for fast and easy monitor mixing.
Powerful Processing
Each input has a full complement of phase coherent, time-aligned dynamics processing including a gate and dual-mode compressor with side chain filtering. Six band EQ with (4-band parametric, variable hi/lo pass filters) is available for each input and output. The parametric EQ block includes a selectable dynamic function. When engaged, this option dynamically boosts or cuts a given frequency based on the frequency’s threshold. This powerful tool can help tame problems and add more punch to the channel EQ. Additionally, all output buses offer 1/3 octave graphic EQ and a compressor/limiter.
When an EQ or Dynamics block is touched, a large easy to read configuration screen appears and the rotary encoders map to labeled settings. Unlike other digital consoles, Cadac does not offer suggested starting points for channel processing (i.e., Kick, Snare, Male vocal, Female vocal, etc.). I will often use these as a starting point to save time when building a mix.
The CM-J50 offers 16 stereo effect “slots” each with reverb, modulation, and delay. The three elements within each effect slot can be configured in either series or parallel in any order. The preset effects sounded natural, and the large setup display made them easy to configure. Custom effect chains can be saved and recalled as needed.
Riding the Waves…
The CM-J50’s integrated Waves SoundGrid interface connects to an optional Waves Super Rack. Up to 64 channels of Waves plug-ins can run simultaneously alongside the console’s own native effects and the Waves interface allows multi-track recording or playback using the Waves QRec App on a PC or Mac.
Using a Waves server and optional Dan Dugan plug-in, up to 64 channels can be configured for automatic live microphone cueing and simultaneous auto mixing.
Take the Cue from Me
What sets the CM-J50 apart from other consoles is the powerful automation system. Going far beyond the typical “Show/Scene” concept, the CM-J50 takes its cue (no pun intended) from the theater lighting world. Any change (channel level, processing, send levels, mix level, mute, etc.) can be saved as a cue for recall later. Cues can be reordered as needed and settings can be marked as “safe” to block them from the automation. In default operation, the cue list appears on the 6.5” screen and cues are controlled by a series of button below the small screen. A list of cues is saved as a show file and a group of show files can be saved as a project. To facilitate building show files, Cadac is planning to offer an offline editor for the CM-J50.
During a show, an operator simply hits the “go” button to perform the next cue. Once a cue is active, the operator can modify things as needed without affecting the cue or sequence. If the modification warrants a change, simply overwrite the current cue. The automation system can also control external hardware via standard MIDI protocol.
For theaters, performing arts centers, dance, immersive audio events and Broadway-style musicals, this automation process opens a whole new world of creative sound opportunities.
In the House
For this review, Cadac also provided the CM-SR64 stage rack and RG6 connecting cables. I set it up in my shop, connected a set of powered speakers (subs and tops) along with a couple of monitors and dug in. I felt the overall build quality was excellent and the encoders and faders operated smoothly. Using a high-quality music source and some favorite mics I created a basic mix setup. It was easy to configure the processing and route signals using the touch screen and encoders. Audio quality was clear, clean, and detailed. I found the onboard EQ to be musical and the dynamics responsive. The big touch screen had an advantage of being easy to read when calling up the channel EQ and FX processors. Although it took some getting used to, the channel setup workflow (naming, color coding, etc.) became more intuitive after a few minutes. At times I found that some of the small button labels were hard to read, but a font size change should correct the issue.
I built a short cue list with changes to a microphone’s processing. As the cues were called up, the console reacted quickly, changing the settings without any noticeable artifacts. For a performing arts center doing musical theater, having this level of recall would take away much of the stress of doing a show.
I downloaded and worked with the Cadac iPad remote control app on an iPad Mini. The app performed as expected, but I did notice the white letters on light blue Bus labels were hard to read and you had to minimize the iPad keyboard after naming something.
Although I didn’t have time to get to all the features in the CM-J50, I enjoyed working with the console. In conclusion, the sonic quality of the legendary Cadac mic pres, coupled with state-of-the-art DSP and ultra-low latency audio performance make the CM-J50 a solution for those who do not want to compromise on performance or creativity.
At a Glance:
Clear, Clean and Detailed
Cadac’s new CM-J50 is a great-sounding digital console offering audio quality that’s clear, clean and detailed. It comes with an impressive pedigree, offering flexible, versatile operation and ultra-low latency performance in a solidly built package.
Cadac CM-J50
PROS
- Great sound; amazing preamps
- Large touchscreen
- Cue automation system
- More buses than Greyhound
CONS
- Small fonts are hard to read
- No starting point presets
- Pricey
SPECS
- Max Channels: 192 max; 96 with full processing
- Mix Engine: Proprietary DSP platform using 32/40-bit floating-point SHARC processors
- Buses: FOH Mode — 48 configurable plus dedicated LCR, monitor LR, headphones and talkback
- Local I/O: (16) XLR mic/line ins; (8) XLR outs, (4) XLR AES/EBU ins; (4) XLR AES/EBU outs
- Comms: (2) Cadac MegaCOMMS
- Graphic EQ: 31-band on all outputs
- Internal FX: (16) 96 kHz stereo effects processors
- Latency: Sub-0.4 ms
- Internal Processing: 40-bit floating-point
- ADC/DAC: 24-bit, 96 kHz
- Footprint: 35.6” x 30.2”
- Weight: 87 pounds
- Price: CM-J50 Console, $49,000; Stage Racks: CM-SR40, $16,380; CM-SR24, $10,920; CM-SR64, $10,710
MANUFACTURER: Cadac
More Info: www.cadac-consoles.com
