One channel at a time can be assigned to a single generic strip, called Selected Input Channel, on which detail settings can be chosen. Does that make sense?

In other words, these controls do not exist above every fader, the way they do on analog boards. On the singular Selected Input Channel, there are knobs (yes!), for the on-board compressor and gate, as well as gain, EQ, and sends for the mix buses. These can be thought of as either submasters or aux outs; the PM1D is equally suitable as a FOH or monitor desk.

There are 24 mix bus send level knobs for this chosen input, which is really helpful, nothing concentric here. There is also a 'Layer' switch to make mixes 1-24 into 25-48. Each channel can also be delayed up to 250 ms, to time-align distant mics. Sweet!

There are 24 matrices, each of which can be fed any combination of the mixes. I asked if the stereo mix can also be sent to a matrix and was told yes, via the screen that lives in the center of the console

Now, back on the individual faders, there are abbreviated controls, including LED's to show you when the gate or comp is functioning, and the input strength of the signal. Gain can be controlled, which is a digital function, addressing the actual head amp in a separate rack.

Like any pure digital console, what you touch is simply a control surface, which talks to a black-box rack somewhere. There is no audio per se in the console. There are two basic types of input cards in the remote rack - one has two sets of mic/line XLR's, each with A/B inputs. The other line-only input card also has 4 XLR's, all of which are active and can be selected from.

The virtual patch bay offers you the ability to choose from 320 possible inputs. In the physical realm, up to ten racks can be mounted, with eight cards apiece. Similarly sized racks provide for XLR analog outs, with optional modules that output to ADAT, Tascam, and AES/EBU formats.

All modules are cooled by fan-forced air, and Yamaha believes that hot weather operation should not be problematic. I asked because I had heard from one of my double agents that this was an issue with digital desks at outdoor festivals. There is a variable-speed fan in the desk itself, as well.

I liked the small, glowing, segmented meters that curve around each control knob, showing the extent to which you are changing that parameter.

Eight independent multi-effects units live in the PM1D, and can be patched to affect individual inputs, mixes, matrices, or the stereo master. Reverbs, delays, and modulation effects are available, and user-definable versions can be stored.

There is a total of 990 scenes available to be set in internal memory. More can be stored on PCMCIA cards, which are also used when an operator wishes to transport a given set-up to another PM1D. Will we all be flying around the world with these in little lead-lined wallets?

After getting the tour from Marc Lopez, I felt like I could walk up to this desk tomorrow, if it was presented to me with a competent tech, and mix a concert on it. I would probably want to run outboard EFX that I am familiar with; programming the onboard ones would require some time spent living with the board.

I radioed my pilot and told him to warm up the jet. Several of my shadowy informants were reporting in, by e-mail that I read on my Palm. More fires for me to put out. I shook Marc's hand, and headeded out into the hot Florida sun.