Recording and mixing engineer, worked for many artists including Culture Club, The Beach Boys, Honeyz, and Gary Moore.
ADD-ON EFFECTS
“I am very impressed with the new Rev-X reverbs. These reverbs sound so good, a match for any current hardware reverb unit - the Rev-X room simulation is the best "room sound" I have heard since the famous Quantec room simulator. “
“For those producers that have a phobia of digital recording, the open deck plug-in is the answer, apart from having the best graphics of any plug in I have ever seen, the open deck plug-in adds the full analogue tape warmth, or even tape saturation/distortion, associated with high quality classic analogue tape machines of the 70's & 80's - without the hiss or the cost of the tape.”
“The vintage EQs & compressors really extend the range of EQ & compression options available. The original DM2000 EQs have been praised in the press for their sonic purity & accuracy now you have available EQs and compressors that add that "special vintage colour" that many artists, producers & engineers wish to add to their tracks, but without the sound of crackling pots !!!”
PM1D: 2001 tour with Jamiroquai
PM5D with Clear Channel, doing ‘instant live’ recording directly to CD in 2004, first started using the new effects then.
Now using PM5D (&DM1000) for Jamiroquai’s 2005 tour.
ADD-ON EFFECTS
“I use Open Deck all the time as a ‘finalizer’. We don’t have time to do proper finalising with Clear Channels’ live recordings, so the Open Deck gives it that finished result. Sounds like it’s mastered off a half-inch. I’ve tried all the types, and they are very subtle differences. I tend to use Swiss 85. You can really notice the difference between new and old tape. The Old Tape setting really sounds as if its been through the heads several times.”
“The comps (276, 260) are great. You’d be hard pushed to tell which is the real one and which is the add-on in a blind-fold test. I used to use all outboard gear, even with PM1D for vocals and bass, with an external comp. Now I’ve sacked them all. 276 is the one I prefer. I’d be happy to use them in a studio situation too. I used them in Studio 2 of Olympic Studios, and chose to use PM5D with the add-ons instead of their SSL. No reverb outboard either, just a Eventide H3000 for vocal doubling.”
FOH engineer, currently working for Duran Duran. Also worked for Craig David and Pet Shop Boys.
ADD-ON EFFECTS
“When I am not on the road, much of my time is spent in front of a studio based around multiple Macs running Cubase SX. If these components are the heart and brain of the studio then the myriad of VST plug-ins that I use are it's life blood. Now Yamaha, with a remarkable set of new effects, have brought live mixing a big step closer to this flexibility. The ability to choose a 'vintage' type compressor or EQ with the click of a mouse is taken for granted in the studio. This is finally within reach thanks to the new range of plug-in type of effects from Yamaha!”
Monitor engineer, Queen World Tour
PM5DRH
“Overall it’s sounding great, the band think so too. It’s a busy show with lots of musicians and there’s a 12m thrust stage out in the audience, so there’s loads of different mixes to provide; I’m using all 24 outs and 3 Matrix sends. What first struck me about the desk is I like the way you can make it feel like an analogue desk.”
“I find I barely need the on-board EQ because the desk itself doesn’t really colour the signal at all.”
Senior Dubbing Mixer, Noise London
DM2000, 02R96, 01V
“We went for Yamaha because we’re familiar with their equipment, and they’re easy to use.”
Monitor engineer for a TV show "Speciale per me" (RAI)
PM5DRH
“The console is definitely under greater pressure at live events, but it was also extremely useful with the limited broadcast times on “Speciale per me” – if they told us we’d five minutes for a changeover on stage, the deadline had to be respected!”
“With the PM5D, when a mic was added at the last minute, or a line had to be split on to two different channels, or a mic switched from one send to another, I just set the required configuration, then, at the right moment, with a simple recall, everything was ready instantly - equalization, dynamics and effects – this is an enormous advantage!”
Mixing engineer for a TV show "Speciale per me" (RAI)
DM2000V2
”I used the desk’s first 24 channels, with twelve lavalieres, eight hand-held mics, the audio tracks for the vintage film footage from RAI’s archives and a few service channels. By means of the DM2000V2’s MY16-AE (AES/EBU) card, the signals were fed out from the console directly into the DME64N. With just one conversion, we had more gain and less feedback risks than if we’d used an analogue console, which would have required two conversions. The twelve Aux sends on the DM2000V2 were thus connected to the DME, which in turn routed the mix-down to all the speakers in the studio. In this way, I could raise or lower the volume or equalize each enclosure or group of enclosures exactly as required by the show’s sound design, and there were 32 enclosures in all!”
Bass & Vocal, Level 42
DM1000
“I chose a Yamaha desk because I’ve used them previously and feel very comfortable with them. It does exactly what it says on the box.”
“The quality of the mic pre-amps and the A/D converters is fantastic. We have 11 mic lines in and the drum sound is the best I’ve ever had.”
“It’s a fantastic bit of kit. I’m very, very happy.”
Sound Supervisor/Lecturer, The Guildhall School of Music and Drama
PM5D, DM2000, DM1000
“We chose Yamaha digital desks because they’re well respected in the industry and also because most of our students will almost certainly use them in their future careers.”
Plus 4 Audio
PM5D
“The line of digital desks from Yamaha have already proved themselves, they are completely solid and reliable.”
FOH engineer, i-Tim tour
PM1D
“We had thirty seconds’ changeover time between bands, so while one played, the next did a line check. One of the big advantages of using the PM1D in this specific case – but also generally speaking – is the great visibility, and therefore its extreme immediacy. Then there the excellent ‘inboards’ – and it sounds fantastic too!”
Monitor engineer, i-Tim tour
PM1D
“I kept the monitor feeds all on the same layer, so didn’t need to switch between layers. While one band was playing, the stage manager called me, I changed over to the other ‘pattern’ and ran a line check for the next group. With any other desk, I wouldn’t have been able to do the gig by myself – the PM1D’s immediacy is fantastic!”
Manager of the audio and video department, Deutsches Theater
PM5D
"The PM5D has no pitfalls for users. The ergonomic, easy to use interface is completely intuitive. Often there are two or even more ways of achieving a specific result. The PM5D combines the modern features and self-contained design of the DM2000 with the analogue interface of the PM1D. In addition, Yamaha digital consoles have a good reputation in the industry because of their excellent price/performance ratio."
Scissor Sisters tour
PM5D
“It’s the first digital desk we’ve seen that looks really easy to use, very straight forward. As a company what we wanted was a desk that we could slot in instead of an analogue board without having to think about a new multicore or other peripherals.”
“I’ve had a go with the desk and I love the simplicity of it all.”
Monitor engineer, McFly
PM5DRH
“It did everything I hoped it would do. It’s a well thought out desk and proved to be very stable. ”
“This should have been the first digital desk to come out; it’s an ideal desk to try if you’ve never used a digital board before.
“Well I’ve been using the RH version with the head amps from the PM5000 and I have to say the sound quality is great. Generally, in terms of its intended market, I’d say that Yamaha have got it completely right.”
FOH engineer, Madonna tour
PM1D
“I’d been using a PM1D since the Vespertine tour with Björk and I thought in a Madonna show there would be lots of inputs and outputs. I know the console well and knew it could handle these tasks with ease and as a digital console, it’s proved to me, to be versatile, easy to use and very reliable.”
“In arenas like we’re playing the biggest battle is always the room, there are so many variables to deal with, but having the show programmed on a console such as the PM1D, allows me to concentrate on those variables.”
FOH engineer, The Ten Tenors tour
PM5D
“I am enjoying the PM5D because of its ease of operation. The automation is seamless from scene to scene, and programming is quite simple. The added bonus for me is its size. The Ten Tenors play mostly Theatres so it is nice for promoters that I only take limited space.”
FOH engineer, Pino Daniele tour
DM2000
“This is the very first time for me, as I was a convinced analogue user, but I must say that the DM 2000 has a really intuitive interface and is great to work with. Plus, it sounds really good and we get precisely the sound we want”.
Monitor engineer, Pino Daniele tour
DM2000
”I’ve been using it for two years on musical theatre shows – by itself, using it to control monitors from the FOH position, or along with another mixer. So it’s a desk I’m very familiar with – I’ve done over 200 hitch-free shows!”
FOH engineer, Elton John tour
PM5000
“I got very used to the Yamaha PM4000, but the PM5000 EQ is a lot warmer. I might only have been able to boost or cut a dB or so on the PM4000 and you’d hear it immediately, now I might end up boosting a channel by 5 dB.”
“I’m very impressed with the PM5000, the mic preamps are very good, it’s much quieter than the PM4000. It suits the type of mix I do, I like to let the mix breathe: I’m not an engineer who’ll just set levels and sit there. ”
