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| Euphonix
System 5 Digital Mixing Console, by Larry the O |
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 Known
primarily for its large-format, digitally controlled analog mixing consoles,
Euphonix unveiled the System 5, its first all-digital console at the Fall
’99 AES convention. Fully equipped for 24-bit, 96kHz operation and
surround mixing, the first System 5 was installed at One Union Recording
in San Francisco, and there are now around 26 in operation worldwide. For
this review, Mix visited Nicasio, Calif., where a System 5 was being evaluated
for purchase by Skywalker Sound. [Editor’s note: The facility has since
purchased two System 5s.]We encountered a well-designed and engineered platform with impressive first-release features and silky smooth sound. Although still missing some important functions, the System 5 is clearly a product Euphonix intends to grow. Functionally, Euphonix has designed a control surface that leverages the flexibility and comprehensiveness offered by assignability while also benefiting from an intuitive, “one knob/one function” approach. ARCHITECTURE The most common hardware architecture for large-format digital consoles is based on three sub systems: Surface (including software), Core and I/O. The System 5 essentially fits this model, except that some control functions have been split off to an outboard computer. The hardware has been designed as a mission-critical device, with reliability, fault-tolerance and minimal downtime as primary goals. Examples of this are a backup power supply with automatic switchover facility and DSP frames that automatically switch to a spare DSP or controller card in the event of a card failure. Failed cards may be “hot swapped” and channel strips are also hot-swappable in self-enclosed “buckets.” Rather than having everything in the system under the control of a single computer, the System 5 takes a distributed processing approach employing a number of pilot computers, a strategy intended to prevent an entire system crash because of the failure of one component. One pilot tends to the mic/line interfaces, monitor interface, machine control and MIDI. Each frame also has a pilot computer. Finally, the Studio Computer, a single-board Intel computer running Windows NT, drives a monitor (a 15-inch flat-screen comes with the system), keyboard and trackball and runs the software that configures the System 5 (Euphonix eMix). The Studio Computer also sports a CD-RW drive for data backup. (Once the system is up, the Studio Computer is not in the critical path; the system will function without it.) The pilot computers and the control surface communicate via a network switch using Euphonix’s EuCon networking scheme, a variant of 100BaseT Ethernet. MADI is fundamental to the System 5’s audio bloodstream, running in and out of a large MADI router hub. The hub receives 28-channel 44.1 to 96kHz MADI ports from a selection of 24-bit/28-channel audio interfaces (Lightpipe, TDIF and S/PDIF audio interfaces and are slated for release this month.) On the other side, the hub feeds the Digital Core, which comprises multiple frames containing the DSP cards, and handles all the mixing and processing. (A dedicated MADI output feeds the monitoring.) Each frame holds up to 10 active DSP cards. (One can be designated as a spare that is automatically and seamlessly brought into play if one of the others fails.) Each DSP card holds six Analog Devices SHARC chips. The frames output MADI streams that feed the router hub. Audio moves in and out of the System 5 at 16-, 20- or 24-bit resolution; the internal signal path is 32-bit floating-point and the DSP uses 40-bit floating-point math. Euphonix recommends using the MADI-to-AES interface for sending 16- or 20-bit data to ensure that it is properly dithered. CONFIGURATION The number of available channels and buses (Group, Mix and Aux) is determined by choosing a fixed configuration, called a “Mixer Model” in eMix. The eMix screen for selecting a Mixer Model clearly shows the available options and details channel, mix, bus and aux numbers and how frames are allocated in order to provide those facilities. The choice of Mixer Models offered depends on the number of frames and DSP cards installed; the largest model available allows 226 channels. Up to 48 group (multitrack) buses, 48 mix buses and 24 aux buses are available depending on the Mixer Model. Operating at 96 kHz obviously requires more processing power than the more traditional 48/44.1 rates, so the maximum number of channels is reduced. Mixer models can be changed at any time, allowing reconfiguration from a stereo broadcast setup to a multichannel surround stem mixing environment for film. Once a model is selected, the mix buses can be formatted into mix stems as needed. For example, a Mixer Model with 24 mix buses would accommodate four 5.1 mixes. This assignment is very easily executed from the System PC screen. One need only drag the 5.1 icon from the pop-up menu of mix stem sizes onto six unused mix buses in the matrix. The mix buses will instantly be identified as belonging to that stem, which can then be named. Auxes can be defined as mono or stereo, and complex configurations can be set up extremely quickly. Patching is executed in another part of eMix called PatchNet. All of the channels running in and out of the Studio Hub’s I/O ports, which include interface I/O and console channels, group, mix and aux buses, appear in PatchNet and can be connected as flexibly as in a traditional analog patchbay. Patching is performed by dragging in a matrix of inputs and outputs to select and then connect. I found PatchNet both unintimidating and fast, and the simple, intuitive and powerful interface makes it easy to create complex setups very quickly on-the-fly. Reprinted with permission from Mix Magazine, June, 2000 © 2000, Intertec Publishing, A Primedia Company All Rights Reserved |
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