The digitisation of live PA, which started to pick up momentum in the late 90’s, has finally come to a point where no one can stop it, and today, a growing number of PA engineers are scrambling to go digital. The PM5D series digital mixing consoles are designed to respond to such demand in the industry and help mixing engineers step into the new era of live PA without a stumble. We talked to two of the key engineers who led the PM5D design team and had them share with us some inside stories on the project.
Masamitsu "Matt" Hasegawa
Hasegawa started his career with Yamaha in 1987 as a hardware engineer for digital mixers and later moved on to PA Product Planning, where he was involved in live PA product planning including PM1D, PM5D and PM5000. Since March 2004 he is a member of Commercial Audio Business Planning section.
Masaaki Okabayashi
Since joining Yamaha in 1987, Okabayashi had been a key software engineer in digital mixer development until 2001, when he was appointed a “producer” whose job is to supervise not only software development but also an entire design project. PM5D was the second product he was responsible for as a producer.
Can you tell us how you came up with the product idea of PM5D series?
Okabayashi: The first plan took shape in 2001, though that was still a rough one, and we started to look into details in early 2002 and work on the first prototype in August of the same year.
Hasegawa: In the late 90’s live sound engineers started using digital recording boards for live applications circumventing several restrictions, and by the end of 2000 we received quite a few requests from 02R users for live PA features. We, then, thought the digital console would soon become a crucial companion of live sound, and decided to add such features as Group To Stereo and Matrix to DM2000 and 02R96 we were developing at that time.
Okabayashi: We are really glad about that decision, because we hear half the customers of DM2000 and 02R96 are using them for live.
All the same, those consoles are still for recording and post-production in principle and, while working on them, I was always thinking live PA guys would need more mic inputs or a quicker work surface, etc. We tried to push that thinking a bit forward on DM1000 equipping all ins and outs with XLR connectors, etc., but making a major change was difficult. Don’t get me wrong, though. DM2000 and 02R96 continue to be used very successfully for many live applications.
Hasegawa: PM1D is such a high ticket item that users are limited to top professionals, but most of the PA engineers we met in market research wanted to go digital and asked us to develop a cost-effective brother of PM1D. So we felt it was our mission to make an affordable digital live board as soon as possible.
You didn’t hesitate at all to go that direction, did you?
Hasegawa: Reactions to PM1D being overwhelming, we had no doubt about the wave of digitisation making headway, but we had to think a bit about the timing. In the past, there were a few products that failed because they were far ahead of their time. We took some time to see in which price range digital mixers would be accepted most rapidly. There was an idea of developing an 02R-level live board, but eventually we gave it up, thinking DM2000 and 02R96 could cover such demand and concluded we needed a PM3500 replacement more than anything else.
At that time, PM5000 was in the works and we could have made a little brother of it. But PM5000 was something to pursue the ultimate in sound quality and ease of operation in the analogue domain and it didn’t make much sense to us to build a stripped-down version. Besides, there were fewer competitors in digital so, yes, it’s true we didn’t have much hesitation in going straight to digital. That was three years ago and we nicknamed the project “Vegas 3000”.
That’s interesting. Why Vegas 3000?
Hasegawa: Because we kind of kicked off the project in Las Vegas. That was at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel during NAB 2001. We met with our US colleagues and evaluated the first product idea then. The reason for “3000” was we wanted to make it clear that this product was a PM3500 replacement.
Are you going to focus on digital mixers only?
Hasegawa: Absolutely not. For one thing, analogue mixers will survive long into the future, and for another, we cannot neglect the analogue technology even in the digital mixer development, because the mic preamp, the most critical component for sound quality, is an analogue circuit. We will definitely continue with R&D of the analogue technology. And the time might come when the distinction between digital and analogue makes no sense.
What do you mean? Could you explain more?
Hasegawa: What matters to the user is reliability, sound quality and ease of use. Whether analogue or digital doesn’t matter. People using digital mixers today might grow tired of digital some day and want to go back to analogue again, if the analogue technology advances and can provide what the user needs. We have to keep abreast of the trends.
Let’s go back to PM5D. Why did you develop two models, PM5D and 5DRH?
Okabayashi: PM5D provides a relatively cost-effective solution for the customer who doesn’t need to change headamp gain frequently. It’s suitable to customers like fixed installations or concert tours on a single artist. Since gain settings are always visible on this model, it will give a sense of assurance to those who are used to analogue mixers, too. PM5DRH, on the other hand, can recall headamp gain and is a perfect solution to multi-artist acts like music festivals or applications like churches and theatres where multiple programs are repeatedly performed.
To tell you the truth, we didn’t have a plan for the RH version until the late stage of development, because considering the investment efficiency it is much better to focus on a single model. However, we got quite strong requests for RH version from various PA engineers and dealers who evaluated prototypes, and that made us change our mind. We discussed hard internally and finally decided to separate the RH from the original “Vegas 3000”. We usually avoid making this sort of critical change at the last moment, but as we cannot frequently develop a large format digital console, and as PM5D was supposed to create a main stream for the coming years, we were feeling we couldn’t make the wrong decision.
Which model is more popular?
Hasegawa: It depends on the country, but that’s about 50/50 at this moment. It’s still too soon to tell.
Do you think your decision of having both models was right?
Hasegawa: No doubt there are two types of customers. We are not 100% sure yet if the decision was right, but I believe it was.
What was the biggest challenge in the development? What do you want the user to see?
Okabayashi: Firstly, it was not an easy task to make them smaller and lighter than equivalent analogue consoles. Not that the smaller and lighter it gets, the better it is. We had to secure enough work surface for knobs and switches and also to make it robust and durable for live PA. At the same time, our goal was to make it lighter than 100kg so it can be carried easily by two people.
Secondly, we paid the closest attention to the user interface so the operator could concentrate on mixing without stress. Actually, when we invited some mixing engineers to test-drive a PM5D prototype, all of them quickly mastered how to operate it after a brief training session, although they had never touched it until that very day. I should also mention all of them were able to handle it without watching the LCD screen. It was as if they were on an analogue console. I’d be happy if you would see PM5D is definitely different from some other digital mixers, on which you will get lost unless you keep an eye on the LCD.
Having said that, what I really want you to pay attention to is the sound quality, because I think for most of the professional mixing engineers sound quality always comes before user interface. If you are a top pro and you have a great sounding board with a so-so user interface and a moderately good sounding console with a great user interface, you will no doubt choose the former without hesitation.
OK, then, let’s talk about the sound quality. How about the mic preamp?
Hasegawa: For PM5D and 5DRH, we not only optimised the technologies we developed for the recent consoles but also went on with further fine-tuning. We are proud of it and would really like every engineer to listen to it.
And how about the AD converter? PM5D uses 24bit/96kHz while PM1D uses 28bit/48kHz. Which do you think is more suitable for live applications?
Okabayashi: That’s a good question. 28bit is better than 24bit at reproducing the dynamic range of delicate acoustic instruments, while 96kHz excels 48kHz in latency, etc. But that’s just a theory. Of course, you can learn certain characteristics from such specifications, but regardless of whether digital or analog, sound quality depends rather on the quality of parts and the applied design know-how. So, I have to say it’s impossible to answer that sort of question just looking at numbers.
We were after the “PM sound” - warm, powerful yet transparent sound- for both PM1D and 5D. We did everything we could. I would like to leave further assessment to the user.
I guess you learnt a lot through the PM1D and DM2000 developments. In what did PM5D series improve on those consoles?
Okabayashi: Feature set of PM5D series is based on the latest version of PM1D’s hardware and software plus lots of requests from users, and it includes various new features. For instance, EVENT LIST provides you with a new method of memory management. Up to now, when there was a change in the program, you had to rearrange the order of scenes. With this new feature, however, you have a separate scene memory CUE LIST and can trigger each scene change via external time code, manual operation, or time interval from the previous scene without having to rearrange the scenes. Even though the order of acts or performances is changed, you can flexibly respond to it.
Also, we improved layout of some screens so you can check all the critical information at once. Plus, the effects section now comes equipped with REV-X, a new generation high quality reverb that was optional with DM2000, DM1000 and 02R96. REV-X is getting popular amongst live PA engineers worldwide.
Now, tell us why the system integration with DME and other products is so strongly intended on PM5D series.
Hasegawa: Among others, we wanted to take care of the complaints we got from quite a few customers in the installed sound sector that PM1D cannot control DME32’s parameters so those two products cannot be integrated in a system in an elegant way. When developing PM1D, we didn’t think it imperative to be able to control parameters of speaker processors and such directly from PM1D, because a concert that would use PM1D usually has a dedicated operator for the output system. But this was not necessarily the case with the installed sound market. And PM5D being much smaller than PM1D, we thought one-man operation would be standard in any case and the console should be able to control as many parameters of the entire system as possible.
Okabayashi: You can control parameters of DME components like speaker processor, equaliser and matrix from PM5D. This is a very powerful feature. Likewise, the stage box system that consists of PM5D and AD8HR’s should be interesting too. And what‘s important is you can operate these systems as if a single product.
Of course, you can cascade additional PM5D’s or Yamaha digital mixers like DM2000 into your PM5D.
Anything left to do?
Okabayashi: I think we made the most of design know-how and design philosophy we obtained through the past analogue- and digital-mixer engineering projects. Of course, there might still be room for improvement, so we will continue to go out and listen to the market.
Do you have any opportunities to operate a mixer yourself? If so, is that useful to your job?
Okabayashi: Not every one of us does PA, but mechanical engineers frequently visit where a sound company is setting up a concert and watch how consoles are handled in the real world, that is, how they are carried into the venue and set up, etc. Hardware and software engineers often meet with top professionals and learn how they use the console. On such occasions, we sometimes find “hidden demand” that even mixing engineers themselves are not aware of. I myself operate PA equipment in a live event from time to time, because I like doing it and also I believe that’s the best way to understand top pros’ words and what lies beyond their words.
I guess it’s important to use your products for yourself, isn’t it?
Okabayashi: Yes, of course, but I often use other manufacturers’ products, too. That’s also interesting because I sometimes feel what competitors’ engineers wanted to express on those products. In a way I communicate with them through products.
That’s interesting.
Okabayashi: Yes, it is.
What do you yourself want to achieve through your products?
Okabayashi: Since the advantages of being digital such as light, compact, and recallable are taken for granted nowadays, I think the digitisation will speed up more and more. As a leading manufacturer of digital mixers, we have to keep not only improving such advantages but also offering new ideas. And by doing so, I really want to contribute to the improvement of the “artistry” of live PA. That’s my goal.
That’s a great goal. Do you have any other comments on PM5D?
Hasegawa: PM5D is not only as easy to use as analogue consoles but full of features only digital can provide. We really want those who have never touched a digital mixer to enjoy these consoles.
Thanks a lot for letting us talk to you guys today.
