The advent of the 02R was an epoch-making event for the music production industry. Along with the modular digital multi-track recorder such as adat and Tascam DA88, the 02R not only made it possible to achieve a professional quality recording at an extremely low cost but also changed the way of music production. It made history. At the same time, it was so successful that it was like a towering mountain for those who were engaged in the development of the successor products. It took them seven years to come out with DM2000 and 02R96. How did they improve on the 02R? We talked to some of the engineers that played key roles in the DM2000/02R96 development project.
Seiichi “Stevie” Miyawaki
Since joining Yamaha in 1981, Miyawaki has been engaged in Pro Audio marketing and deeply involved in product planning. He is now based in USA working for Yamaha Corporation of America as assistant general manager of Commercial Audio Systems division.
Hiroshi Hamamatsu
Since joining Yamaha in 1986, Hamamatsu had been always one of the key software engineers in digital mixer design projects. His career involves the historic DMP7, DMC1000 and 02R. In 2003 he was appointed a “producer” whose job is to supervise not only software development but also an entire design project.
Masaaki Okabayashi
Since joining Yamaha in 1987, Okabayashi had also been a key software engineer in digital mixer development until 2001, when he was appointed a producer. The DM2000/02R96 project was his first assignment as a producer.
First off, can you fill me in on the background of DM2000/02R96 development?
Okabayashi: Well, over the seven years since the original 02R was introduced, the way music is produced dramatically changed. For instance, 24-bit and 96kHz are no longer uncommon and, at the same time, many people transitioned from stand-alone recorders to DAWs. As these changes were occurring, we were receiving many upgrade requests from 02R users. Their wish list grew longer and pressure to respond quickly was increasing. Unfortunately, a high level of technology had already been applied in the 02R’s development, and in order to satisfy the user who had come to take it for granted, we would need to develop much higher technology requiring an ultra high performance DSP chip. Minor upgrades wouldn’t have been satisfactory. So, although it took longer than we would have liked, we finally got what we really wanted.
How did its development proceed?
Miyawaki: Based on the list of worthy recommendations received from 02R users over the years, we at least knew what people wanted. However, many days and nights were spent discussing whether or not our goals were realistic and achievable within the targeted cost and available engineering resources. After a long gestation period, we at last produced the first drawing. With it we visited world-class mixing engineers around the world to gather their input. A prototype was then built and taken back to those same engineers to get their feedback again.
Do you think DM2000 and 02R96 are the perfect answers to the feedback of 02R users?
Miyawaki: Although I cannot say it’s perfect, I can say we did everything we could think of and are very proud of the result.
After the advent of 02R, the trend toward so-called digital audio workstations emerged and is still gaining momentum..
Miyawaki: This was a major change for us. Long after the 02R’s introduction, the vast majority of recorders hooked up to it were still the stand-alone type such as adat and DA88. But the move toward computer-based recording came very quickly. As a result, it became essential that any new generation of Yamaha mixers integrate seamlessly into these systems, as well. 02R96 and DM2000 were, therefore, designed to work as remote controls for both ProTools and NUENDO. Well beyond the capabilities of just a control surface, however, they provide the means of converting analog signals into digital and porting them into ProTools, or taking multi-channel signals from Pro Tools and mixing them …… We were aware that a mere mixer would no longer be necessary in music production.
Okabayashi: ProTools users still need mixing, monitoring and talkback capabilities. Although the core of many studios may have changed from a console to a computer, most professional engineers still need something like 02R96 or DM2000 for their mixing and control capabilities.
I understand the feature sets and basic specifications of 02R96 and DM2000 have significantly improved.
Okabayashi: 02R was the best we could build seven years ago. But in the interim, music production technologically has dramatically improved, making what was impossible before possible now. Today, extremely delicate passages can be captured that could never have gotten recorded seven years ago.
Originally, the 02R was not expected to be more than a mixer for pre-production and other auxiliary uses. To our delight, however, many albums were mixed on it, with one having won a Grammy award. That motivated us to strive to create something sonically comparable to a several hundred-thousand-dollar mixing console like SSL, which became our goal.
Miyawaki: We didn’t intentionally cut corners on 02R. At the same time, cost control was a key issue and we weren’t allowed to go beyond set limits. So, with some regrets on having taken that approach, we decided to make 02R96s sound quality the most important criteria and costing a secondary consideration.
Has the sound improved?
Miyawaki: Absolutely. In 1995, everyone was amazed at the unique features 02R offered at its price, such as automix and sending/receiving audio signals to/from digital recorders while remaining in the digital domain. Staying fully digital was the big “WOW!” then. But the market’s matured to where sonic integrity is at least as important as the convenience aspects of digital. Fortunately, by the time 02R96/DM2000 development began, we were well aware that sound quality needed to take priority. Analog or digital was less the issue. We were more concerned to hear people say, “Why am I using this mixer? Because it’s great sounding!” Excellent specs mean nothing if you can’t get high marks on sound quality.
What did you do to improve the sound quality?
Okabayashi: A new mic preamp design was one major way. As you know, every mixing engineer has his/her own preference in mic preamps. So, from a very early stage in development, we asked numerous engineers to compare our prototypes and select their favorite ones. In doing so, however, we needed to keep in mind that we were developing a mic pre for a mixing console, not a stand-alone type. Repeated discussions took place over what the mic pre built in a mixer should be like. And finally, we decided to select one that was completely neutral, with as little coloration as possible. No addition and no subtraction. It had to be truly transparent. Based on this principle and in collaboration with several mixing engineers, we finalized our design.
After a series of trials and errors, our hardware engineers then singled out the best combination of parts for the discrete circuit. That proved a difficult task. As it turned out, there was no room for cost considerations. Super high quality metal-film resistors and capacitors specifically designed for the use in audio applications were what was necessary. Believe me, we made no compromise over the sound quality.
It seems very difficult to develop a mic preamp acceptable to everybody.
Miyawaki: Some people have said that Yamaha digital mixers may be appropriate for fusion music but aren’t so good for other types. Well, despite the fact that engineers of all genres, ranging from classical to rock music, love and use our products, we really wanted to kill that sort of criticism once and for all. Of course, we’d been trying our best all along, but getting out of the lab more often and listening to more engineers proved extremely valuable.
How did you test the new mic preamp?
Miyawaki: We compared the digital output of a digital recorder to the same machine’s analog output. Also, we had mixing engineers listen to vocal, piano and acoustic guitar, on mic and off mic, on our prototypes and on their favorite ones, and let them compare how much air vibration each mic preamp captured. Both music and pulse signals, like the sound of rolled newspaper hitting a hard surface, were used to check the stereo separation. These sounds were recorded with two microphones and then we compared how much ambience and spaciousness each mic preamp captured. We tried everything mixing engineer’s sense and hardware engineer’s instinct could think of. Testing and evaluations were conducted in many studios.
Was there any mic preamp among the ones the mixing engineers brought that you felt was much better than yours?
Okabayashi: Frankly, I don’t think totally neutral mic pres are always everyone’s favorite choice, but a mixer isn’t a musical instrument. Each musical instrument, such as an electronic keyboard, has its own characteristics and sometimes you need that particular piece to create the music you want to create. That’s the value of the musical instrument. But this shouldn’t be the case with recording equipment. We decided mic preamp had to be as transparent as possible. That is the basic philosophy behind 02R96 and DM2000.
Although we are very proud of the one created for 02R96 and DM2000, we recognize that sometimes you may want to use your favorite mic pre for a specific vocal, etc. So, 02R96 and DM2000 allows you to bypass the built-in mic preamp, hook up your favorite to the insert return, and turn the insert switch on. This may sound like a small thing but it’s a huge feature to those who have been waiting for it. And there are many such users. I believe this shows you how much attention we paid to the analog domain.
As one of the top recordists collaborating on the project said, “Compared to 02R, both consoles are far cleaner and more transparent on both the top and low ends…no haziness anywhere…very crisp…mid-range is comfortable, too. As far as vocal and acoustic guitar are concerned, they’re much better than my favorite $1k-per-channel preamp.”
Many users hook musical instruments directly to the console. How’s the quality of line inputs?
Okabayashi: Some mixers can sound thin or distort at certain gain levels when used this way. However, this should never happen with 02R96 or DM2000, whose line inputs are even better than 02R. No doubt about it.
One of the great features of 02R96 and DM2000 is that all channels remain operational at 24bit/96kHz. This must require huge processing power.
Miyawaki: That’s true. Our new ultra high performance DSP called “DSP7” handles all the audio processing other than effects. The DSP7 is four times as powerful as the DSP3. So, since O2R had six DSP3s and 02R96 uses seven DSP7s, if you do the math, you’ll see 02R96 is almost five times as powerful as 02R. DM2000 uses 14 DSP7s because the number of inputs is almost double.
Hamamatsu: To be exact, one DSP7 can process 12 channels at a time at 96kHz, while DSP3 is able to deal with only 2 to 3 at most.
In addition, 02R96 and DM2000 can “soft-patch” all the ins and outs. 02R didn’t have this flexibility, but now you can freely direct internal signal flows without re-patching cables. For instance, you can control the level of a microphone connected to CH1 from the fader on CH16, or you can direct digital signals coming from a CD player to any stereo-paired channels. Such increased functionality was also made possible by DSP7.
How about effects?
Hamamatsu: All the effects are processed by DSP6, which is much more powerful than either the DSP3 used in the 03D or effect chips in the 02R. Coupled with its 96kHz sampling rate, expressiveness improved significantly. In addition, 02R96 has four effect processors, including the newly added multi-band compressors, compared to 02R’s two, while DM2000 comes with eight.
Hiroshi, I heard you had responsibility for all software development. How many software programmers were involved in the development?
Hamamatsu: Going back to 02R, there were only six of us, all of whom had audio experience and knew mixing consoles pretty well. This time, at our peak, we had 30 programmers, some of whom had little or no familiarity with digital mixers because they were borrowed from other fields. Worlds apart.
Okabayashi: However, every staff member was encouraged to develop a recording engineer’s way of thinking by observing the production of an entire recording project.
Miyawaki: Sharing information was not always easy. The more compartmentalized software development became, the more difficulties we faced. Someone is working on part A, but this part doesn’t work by itself. It needs part B on which someone else is working. And part B needs part C, etc. It became obvious that a firm work mechanism would be necessary for us to be successful.
Having said that, we relied on Hiroshi. As the guru of Yamaha’s digital mixer history, he’s been engaged in our digital mixer development going all the way back to the historic DMP7 and DMC1000. As long as he was in charge, we remained confident.
Tell me about the word clock. Is it better than 02R?
Miyawaki: When the PM1D large-format digital sound reinforcement console was developed, we upgraded the circuit and LSI chip handling jitter performance. We applied the same circuit to 02R96 and DM2000. In addition, the chip in 02R96 and DM2000 can handle 96kHz.
Okabayashi: Needless to say, when word clock accuracy is doubled, signal delay is halved.
The world is full of digital equipment capable of outputting digital signals, including CD players, VCRs, synthesizers, etc., but it is not so easy to remain in the digital domain due to word clock and synchronization issues.
Miyawaki: I don’t think you always have to remain digital. There is no perfect solution to clock frequency conversion; sometimes it is better to receive an analog signal and process it at 96kHz. As a result, we developed a digital I/O card with sampling rate converter. We think we picked out the best converter available, both from engineering and economic viewpoints.
How about the surround capabilities of 02R96 and DM2000?
Miyawaki: Surround production requires setting up a monitoring system in the proper way. Merely placing two speakers left and right and sitting in the center position doesn’t get it. You’ve got to tune up the whole listening environment, including room acoustics.
The 02R96 and DM2000 are, probably, the world’s first mixing consoles to provide discrete delay and level attenuation for each monitor speaker. Both consoles have 8 OMNI outs, where surround monitors are connected. Delay on each OMNI out can be adjusted either in 0.02 millisecond or 8 millimeter increments, allowing the user to push any comb filtering out of the audible range.
Secondly, in surround monitoring you have to sit right at the center of a circle and set left, center and right speakers on the circumference of that same circle, otherwise, your monitoring won’t be accurate. But there isn’t always enough room and the monitors end up being placed in straight lines. In this case, a 02R96 or DM2000 can correct the alignment by applying delay to the center speaker. Detented attenuators on power amps and powered monitor speakers are often not fine enough to provide the accuracy required. But 02R96 and DM2000 can adjust sound pressure level of each speaker in 0.1dB increments.
“Bass Management” functions on both the 02R96 and DM2000 also allow a control room’s low frequency environment to be set up easily and correctly.
Wow! That’s amazing.
Okabayashi: Some companies are now bringing out standalone surround monitoring processors that we’re already building into our mixers. A major issue in surround monitoring is the lack of monitoring environment consistency between studios. It’s almost impossible to duplicate these critical listening conditions. That’s why we need to give the user as much flexibility as possible in trying various settings.
With DTV on the horizon, there is little doubt that surround is going to be more popular in the not-too-distant future. In addition, the transition from CD to DVD has prompted major record labels to produce both stereo and 5.1 masters, stockpiling multi-channel-audio software. This being the case, we are very proud to be the only mixer company catering to the needs of this industry at an affordable price point.
One last thing I want to mention is that our surround monitoring specifications were set with the help of an architectural acoustician who designs THX pm3 studios. A lot of what we learned from him materialized in both the 02R96 and DM2000.
Its cosmetic design also changed greatly.
Miyawaki: We had post-production studios in mind as one of our main customer groups. So, we aimed at a cosmetic design acceptable to that market.
The dark blue panel and silver-color fader combination gives a posh and classy impression.
Miyawaki: Silver-color faders are really not a cosmetic element. These faders are touch-sensitive and, therefore, are metal-coated so as to be conductive. On the 02R, you had to move a fader to select a channel, but now you only need to touch it. Of course, this function can be defeated, if needed.
Are there any other significant features worth mentioning?
Okabayashi: Well, maybe we should touch on vertical pairing, where you can “stereo pair” two channels of different layers. For instance, even though CH1 is on the first layer and CH25 on the second, you can group these channels as a stereo pair and control it from one fader.
Who needs such a feature?
Okabayashi: Although many people don’t need it (laugh), some people, including broadcast stations, find it very important. They only need a few microphones but mix lots of stereo sources. Since 02R didn’t provide vertical pairing, we got many complaints from broadcast engineers asking, “Who needs two faders for stereo?”
Miyawaki: This feature is also very useful in live applications where a keyboardist mixes a bunch of stereo tone generators and keyboards on stage.
Lastly, what kind of products you would like to develop in the future?
Miyawaki: We hope to meet or exceed the expectations of Yamaha’s customers. Our mission is to excite those who love music and music production. Although it is difficult to constantly come out with “wow” products like the DX7 and 02R, we are always thinking ahead and developing technologies, dreaming of future homerun products. At the same time, we are working hard to speed up our development cycle, so we can deliver something you need today as quickly as possible.
Thank you very much for your time today.
