GEAR HEADS
YAMAHA RIVAGE PM7
TPi’s Ste Durham meets Andy Cooper, Manager, PA Application Engineering at Yamaha, to discuss the R&D process behind the company’s latest digital mixing console.
Can you give some details about the genesis of the RIVAGE PM7? The RIVAGE PM7 has inherited a great deal from its big brother, the PM10. The PM10 digital mixing system has a development story that goes back around 10 years. As the first generation of digital mixers for live sound, the PM1D and PM5D were increasing in age, there was a strong desire to replace them with something more scalable and networked. However, there were some difficult years for the market following the 2007/8 global financial crisis, and the existing networking technologies were not mature enough yet. So during that time, Yamaha’s own engineers in Japan invented TWINLANe. This is the backbone of the RIVAGE PM10 mixing system, and is optional with PM7. It carries 400 audio channels (plus a lot of control data) at 96kHz, 32-bit with a latency of only 12 samples, in a redundant ring. Also during this time, Dante emerged as an ideal IP-based audio network for smaller channel counts, yet larger numbers of devices. Yamaha learnt a lot by implementing Dante first in its mid-range mixers such as CL5 and QL1. Then, when Audinate invented a high-channel Dante module, we knew the technology was ready for a larger mixing system. Any user of PM7 and PM10 will recognise similarities in the workflow to the older PM1D and PM5D consoles, with the large selected channel area, and the LED rings around the encoders, allowing the operator to mix without staring at a screen. At the same time, there are many similarities to the CL5, with the way the channel strips run from the faders up through the touch-screen, and the menu layouts of the touch-screen itself. We wanted users of the older Yamaha digital mixers to feel instantly at home. Yet they will be instantly blown away by the increased amount and quality of features!
mixing engines, but decided that was too much of a compromise for the end user to accept. So we had the idea to simplify the system by including the DSP engine inside the larger control surface (but sacrificing a few channels), yet keeping almost all the features of the more powerful PM10. Allowing the use of Dante for the main network helps to reduce cost further, when compared to the higher capacity TWINLANe options. So much consultation had been made with sound engineers and system designers during the development of PM10, we knew the control surface was just about perfect. So we are very pleased that it didn’t need to be changed to meet the price point for PM7. Please can you talk through some of the key features? Are there any new attributes or is it mainly improvements on previous models? The key features of RIVAGE PM7 are shared with PM10. We cannot underestimate the importance of Yamaha’s collaboration with Rupert Neve Designs during the last 8 years. To have SILK available on the mic pre-amps brings a unique character and depth to the sound, while having 7 different models of RND plug-in dynamics and EQ processors available provides the sound engineer with the highest quality of audio tools imaginable. For the first time, you can practically tour the world with over 100 channels of Rupert Neve Designs EQs and compressors! Yamaha’s partnership with Eventide has also borne good fruit, with the H3000 Live Ultra-Harmonizer also appearing in the plug-in rack. PM7 has the capacity to run up to 384 plug-ins within the console, with as many as 8 per channel across 2 separate insert points. No other system has this kind of power, flexibility and quality in its price range. The “FOLLOW” feature for Mix and Matrix sends is also unique, where every input channel-to-send cross-point can have a different behaviour. For example, a vocal mic sending to the singer’s mix can be pre-dynamics and not affected by DCA fader levels, while the same mic sending to a keyboard player can be post-dynamics, affected by DCA fader levels, but not by channel fader levels. Or, you can be sending pre-EQ yet still post-fader at the same time!
What was the R&D process like? Does the finished product bear much resemblance to the original specification? The R&D process for PM7 was reasonably quick, following on from the long development path of PM10. We wanted a solution with high specification, but lower cost. We considered the idea of smaller control surfaces, smaller 92