The line between live and recording engineers has blurred in recent years with a dramatic increase in recording live shows and events, as well as virtual sound check.
Most newer digital consoles and mixers – and even a few analog models – provide some type of onboard recording systems that facilitate at least a basic two-track recording.
Several others offer multi-track recording onboard or allow convenient streaming of multi-tracks to a digital audio workstation and/or recorder. With digital networks increasingly replacing analog snakes on many gigs, some manufacturers have developed stand-alone multi-track recorders that can plug into the network to record and play back tracks without the need for complicated splitter snakes or dedicated recording consoles.
Let’s take a look at several recent consoles and mixers in terms of their overall capabilities and live recording facilities, starting with the new flagship RIVAGE PM10 from Yamaha. It offers 144 input channels, 72 mix buses and 36 matrix buses, along with a control surface sporting 38 faders and two large touch screens.
The PM10 connects to its DSP engine and I/O racks via a redundant fiber optic network that can carry 400 channels of 96 kHz audio. Additional redundancy can be had by connecting a second DSP engine to a single console, with expansion attained by linking an additional surface to a DSP engine.
Yamaha RIVAGE PM10
The I/O and DSP engines are outfitted with HY card slots that offer 144 channels of Dante, great for multi-track recording and virtual sound checks. In addition, the PM10 offers two-track recording (both MP3 and WAV) to USB.
Soundcraft has introduced several consoles over the past year or so, including the Vi5000, Vi7000, and SI Impact. The Vi5000 has 36 faders and four Vistonics touch screens, while the larger Vi7000 offers 44 faders and five Vistonics screens.
Both consoles can route audio to 128 inputs and 32 stereo or mono buses, and can interface with a variety of networks, including Dante, RockNet, EtherSound, CobraNet and MADI. The Dante and MADI recording interface accommodates up to 128 channels of audio.
Soundcraft Si Impact
The Si Impact template is optimized for both live and recording uses, retaining the familiar layout of the Si Expression and Si Performer Series. It includes 26 faders and a touch screen while adding scribble strips and eight TRS/XLR combo jacks to its 32 onboard inputs.
Multi-track recording and playback is accomplished via a 32 x 32 USB audio interface, with a free download of Ableton Live 9 Lite DAW software included. MADI, Dante, RockNet and CobraNet option cards are available to expand the networking options.
