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Yamah 01V Digtial Audio Mixer Console

You might think that you have a digital studio. But if you’re using an analog mixer, you’re putting your digital signal through a lot of analog stages, effectively undoing the benefits that come with digital production.

 

Each track from your digital recording deck goes through a digital recording deck goes through a digital-to-analog (D/A) converter to get your mixer. The mixer, in turn, feeds the analog signals to your digital effects processor, which reconverts the signals to digital, processes them and converts them back to analog in order to return them to the mixer. The more processing and converting these signals go through, the more degraded they become. D/A and A/D converts built into tape machines and processors vary in quality, and, yes, there are some excellent converts on the market. But if you want to make your studio truly digital, you need a digital mixer.

 

A few years ago Yamaha pioneered the concept of an affordable digital mixer for home or project studios with the ProMix 01. The company’s fabulous 01V Mixing Console expands on the concept with added features and functionality. The 01V offers 24 input channels (16 analog inputs, plus eight optional digital inputs available in ADAT, Tascam and AES/EBU formats), multiple analog and digital outputs (including coaxial-type digital stereo outputs), two built-in digital effects processors, dynamics processing and scene memory. Using the digital inputs and outputs, you can send digital signals into the mixer, where they are blended and processed in the digital domain and output as a digital signal.

 

For the most part, the 01V is laid out like a standard audio mixer. It was has 15 faders (one each for channels 1-12, two stereo pairs and a master), gain controls, RCA two-channel input and output, monitor out and a headphone jack with volume control. Where it differs is in its use of digital controls for eq (four-band on channels 1-16, two-band on channels 17-24), panning and aux sends. Combined with the unit’s motorized faders, these digital controls allow the mixer to memorize and store up to 99 mixes, or “scenes.” Scene memory allows you to instantly recall your mixers at a later date and, if necessary, tweak them without starting over from scratch.

 

It takes a while to adjust to using the digital controls. For example, unlike a traditional mixer, the 01V doesn’t have its eq controls and aux sends as pots on each channel. Instead, you punch up a channel on the mixer’s LCD screen and use pots on the mixer to adjust the eq. The screen gives you plenty of visual feedback, such as pot position, and even provides an eq curve. However, you can’t see how each channel is being eq’d at the same time, as you would on a standard console, and making adjustments on the fly wasn’t exactly a breeze. Yamaha has tried to simplify matters with an onboard library of present eq programs. It’s an interesting idea, and many of the programs were useful as reference points when adjusting my mix.

 

The 01V has six aux sends (controlled via the motorized faders), two of which are dedicated to the built-in effects processors. There are 42 preset effects, many of which use programs identical to those in Yamaha’s ProR3 and REV500 processors. These include reverbs, delays, chorus, flange, pitch shifting, sampling and guitar amp simulation. In addition, the mixer has built-in dynamics processing to handle your compression and getting needs within the digital domain.

 

The 01V sounds remarkably clear. Its built-in 20-bit A/D and D/A converts and dynamic range of over 105dB reproduce warm sounds, avoiding the harshness of many digital products. The variety of effects and dynamic processing make outboard gear virtually unnecessary, though the console’s routing is flexible enough to patch in whatever you need easily.

 

THE END LINE

 

Our test barely scratched the surface of what the 01V can do. It also has MIDI capability to send and receive information with outboard devices, and a To Host (RS422) port to connect to a personal computer. Plus, you can link together two units for a total of 48 channels. Even if your setup isn’t totally digital, or you’re using the board for live sound, the Yamaha 01v’s built-in processing and scene memory will save you time and improve the sound quality of what ever you’re doing. If you’re recording in the digital domain, the 01V will allow you to keep your signals completely digital, from the time they’re recorded until that final mix is ready for human ears.

By: Sarah Beers
Published: 07/16/08


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1 Posted Comments:

@ 4:53 pm 08/26/08 by R. Elizabeth C. Kitchen
Nice review.
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