For some years now, the Roland Systems Group has enjoyed a great deal of success with its M-series digital mixers. That said, I have never had the pleasure of mixing on one. Which is why editor George Petersen felt I was the perfect choice to review the Roland M-480 V-Mixer digital console. So, what you are about to read are my first impressions of this piece of technology.
Meet the M-480
The flagship in the series, the M-480, features 48 mixing channels and six stereo returns, providing a total of 60 channels for mixdown. Its 27 buses consist of 16 auxes, eight matrices and full mono, stereo or LCR mixing. With a wide variety of optional digital I/O boxes, the M-480 can support up to 90 inputs/90 outputs — all fully assignable via the digital patchbay. The patchbay can route any input to any output without going through the mixer. Each mixing channel has two stages of dynamics processing, 4-band parametric EQ and delay. And every output also has dedicated 4-band PEQ, limiting and delay available.
Physically, the console has a relatively compact 29.5-by-24.25-inch (WxD) footprint and weighs just over 44 pounds. Retail is $9,995; optional stage boxes, I/O racks, etc. are extra.
Beyond the channel processing, the console has six dual-mono onboard multi-effect DSP processors, useable as auxes or inserted effects, including reverb, delay, chorus, pitch shifting, emulations of vintage Roland effects (such as the RE-201/SDE-3000/SRV-2000), 31-band graphics (or 8-band parametrics) and more. Six multi-effects and 12 GEQ/PEQs can be used at the same time.
Although I hadn’t previously used one of Roland’s V-Mixers, I am aware of the company’s REAC (Roland Ethernet Audio Communication). What is so cool about this proprietary communications/data protocol technology is that it gives the end user (me) the ability to transfer up to 40 channels of digital audio at a 24-bit/96 kHz over a single Cat-5e Ethernet cable. And, of course, that lightweight Cat-5e cable also carries the signal to the digital snake boxes (and other things) that Roland manufactures. No arguments about who gets the first split.
Several live recording options are offered. Stereo mixes can be stored via the onboard USB memory recorder Multitrack 48-channel 24-bit recording is also possible via the REAC Cat-5e connection to a Roland R-1000 hardware recorder, DAW or optional Roland S-MADI bridge.
The M-480 shipped for this article included two 100-meter (330-foot) spools of Cat-5e cable, one S-4000 digital snake stage box and one S-1608 digital snake stage box. The fact of the matter is that I could do a review just on the digital snake boxes. But for now, all I can say is that these devices are technically advanced with great preamps and more features than I can go into.
The Console
Taking a closer look at the M-480 mixing console, the front/top panel is where most of the action is. Let’s start with the fader module section. Along the top row are the select buttons that determine the channel you want to control. Directly under these are the solo buttons for each channel. When either of these are engaged, they light as an indicator. Each channel has a meter to indicate signal level and a channel mute button below the meter. The channel faders are 100mm motorized types.
To the right of the fader section is the Layer section. Here, a User button calls up user faders to the fader module and a Aux/MTX button assigns auxes 1 to 16 and matrices 1 to 8 to the fader module section. The main fader section has a select, solo and mute button and, of course, the main fader itself. At the upper left corner of the front panel we find the Channel Edit section. This is the bells and whistle section of the board.
Once you’ve selected a channel from the Fader Module section, an array of buttons and knobs offer quick access to tweaking the signal. Along with a gain knob, there are dedicated buttons for selecting phantom power and a -20 dB pad. DISP buttons for the gate/expander and another for the compressor display the different processors on the bright 800×480 backlit TFT color screen. The Touch button lets you select a channel by touching the fader and the Channel DISP button accesses the screen. HPF is the high pass filter area with an on button and a frequency adjustment knob. The Equalizer section has an on button and a display button. The four bands of EQ are true parametrics, with individual knob adjustment of Q, frequency and gain. Next there is a pan knob for L/R stereo control. The Aux/MTX section has an on button, a level knob and a button that sends the Aux/MTX to the faders. This is a very nice and handy feature. There are 16 buttons that handle the Aux and MTX sends.
Right under the Display screen are eight softkey function buttons that select the tabs that switch between the display screens. To the right of the function buttons are the Effects and Meter buttons. Next to the screen is the Screen control section and USB Memory Recorder section. This section sports the recording buttons and display button, the large Cursor Dial, shift, exit, enter and help buttons. The Setup section has patchbay and system buttons and the Group section has DCA and mute buttons. The Scene Memory section has a display button, previous and next buttons and recall and store buttons. In the User section there is (of course) a display button and eight user buttons that can be assigned to different functions.
The Talkback/Oscillator section has a mic level knob, a display button and talkback button a solo clear switch that turns off the solo setting on all channels in a single operation. Next is the Monitor section used to set up the parameters of the optional M-48 Personal Mixing System; this has a level knob, display button and solo button and opens a separate screen for setting up and tweaking M-48 monitor mixes and parameters from the FOH position. When not using an M-48, monitors can be run from FOH in the traditional fashion by simply assigning auxes to create the monitor feeds.
The point is, there are a lot of dedicated controls, which simplifies operation so you’re never more than a couple button presses from getting to where you need to be. And as I am writing this piece I realize that I could do a review on any one of the M-480 Front Panel sections. All these features are so deep that I could go on and on. However you’re probably more interested in knowing how well this console performed in a real world audio situation.
At FOH
Even on my first outing with the M-480, I had a great show. There’s a lot going on with this console, yet it’s surprisingly easy to learn and operate the different functions. The term “user friendly” truly applies here. That also goes for the stage boxes and Cat-5e cabling/REAC interfacing. Anyone who’s set up live shows with a portable sound system has had the experience of hauling around a huge, unwieldy snake. The Cat-5e cable is like pulling out a string compared to a standard snake. At my first show, I had to run the cable across 20 feet of narrow of crown molding — much too narrow for a regular snake. Needless to say, the Cat-5e crossed the area easily and effortlessly. The console, stage boxes and cable are all very easy to plug in and set up.
I was mixing an R&B band with a brass section, drums, bass, guitar, keys and three singers. Along with the band mics, I was sending five aux/monitor mixes. During sound check, I was particularly impressed with the EQ section of the board. It has a wide range of frequency shaping and control features that made my EQ very precise. I also found the compression section equally precise and authentic in sonic control.
Having the ability to throw the aux sends to the faders at a touch of a button is a very handy feature, and I used it regularly. The screen definition and resolution was very sharp and easy to understand. There is a great deal of logic in the screen displays. Obviously ,Roland has been building digital consoles for some time now but it really shows in the M-480 overall design.
Another strength in the M-480 is Roland’s continual program to improve the product. A recent free firmware v1.5 upgrade offered a variety of new features and functions — all for a download. These upped the DCA groups to 24 for more complex mixes such as 96-channel operation with two M-480s in cascade mode. Intended mostly for theatre applications, a new Scene Fade function allows fades of up to 100 seconds — to trigger whenever a scene is changed. Version 1.5 also adds five new channel effects.
And at press time, Roland announced a dedicated iPad M-480 control app, to be unveiled at this month’s InfoComm show. The app provides full wireless control of M-480 parameters/faders/scenes via Roland’s new WNA1100-RL Wireless Connect USB adapter and your wireless network.
Features are great, but how did it sound? The sound of the M-480 is very clean and very real. I guess another way of putting it is that the board sounds much more expensive than it actually costs.
More information at: www.rolandsystemsgroup.com
