Yamaha has announced the RIVAGE PM10, which it describes as the first of a new generation of large-format digital mixing consoles.
Building on the heritage and reputation of the PM1D and PM5D digital mixers, the RIVAGE PM10 is a “brand new flagship” that brings greater levels of quality, flexibility, functionality and reliability.
The RIVAGE PM10 features the newly developed RY16-ML-SILK hybrid microphone preamplifier. This has an analogue section that is said to deliver supremely consistent, natural-sounding audio, even at high gain levels. This is partnered with a 96kHz, 24-bit A/D converter, along with enhanced Yamaha VCM digital modelling of Rupert Neve Designs transformer circuitry and ‘Silk’ processing.
The audio engineer can have a completely transparent audio input path or, using the Silk Red and Blue modes and the Texture control in the console’s selected channel, can be very creative with the colour and character of each individual input.
As well as forging closer ties with Rupert Neve, Yamaha has worked with TC Electronic to include the VSS4HD room simulation reverb and the highly creative ‘NonLin2’ stereo reverb, as featured in the company’s System 6000 devices.
Yamaha has also been working closely with Eventide to add the H3000-Live Ultra-Harmonizer as a future standard inclusion in the RIVAGE PM10 system.
The user interface will be familiar to every Yamaha console user, but offers greater flexibility of operation. Like the PM1D and PM5D consoles, the RIVAGE PM10 control surface has a full Selected Channel section.
Twenty-four of the control surface’s channel strips extend virtually seamlessly into the twin 15in touchscreen displays, while rotary encoders feature ‘horseshoe’ ring indicators for optimum visibility. A third display screen can be added via a DVI socket, if required.
Further innovations include greatly enhanced Scene functions, dual monitor busses, the ability to run up to 384 effects processors at once and four USB connections for data storage, mouse/keyboard control and two track USB recording.
The backbone of the RIVAGE PM10 system is Yamaha’s newly developed TWINLANe ring network, which can handle up to 400 audio channels at 96kHz, 32-bit over distances of up to 300m. TWINLANe can connect up to eight RPio622 I/O units and, at launch, up to two CS-R10 control surfaces and up to two DSP-R10 DSP engines.
The RPio622 features six of Yamaha’s new RY card slots, into which can be inserted three different types of I/O card, providing up to 96 mic preamps per rack. In addition, the RPio622 and DSP-R10 feature the new HY card slots (two and four respectively) for further i/o, while all three hardware components of the system feature two of Yamaha’s familiar MY card slots.
With the CS-R10 control surface also featuring 8 x 8 local analogue I/O and 8 x 8 AES3 I/O with sample rate conversion, a fully-expanded RIVAGE PM10 system can accommodate over 3,000 I/O.
A new optional HY-Dante card can be used to integrate multitrack recording or other hardware, including other Yamaha digital consoles.
In all, says Yamaha, RIVAGE PM10 is one of the most powerful and flexible digital mixing systems ever developed.
“For a number of years, the industry has been asking when Yamaha will launch a new, state-of-the-art digital console for large-scale productions. We have always said that, when it comes, it will be as much a landmark for the industry as the PM1D and PM5D were. So I am very pleased to say that, with RIVAGE PM10, that time has arrived,” saids Chihaya ‘Chick’ Hirai, director of pro audio business unit, Yamaha Corporation of Japan.
“We believe that RIVAGE PM10 will be another pivotal moment in the history of digital audio mixing. It delivers a system which will be the most versatile, the most user-friendly and the most reliable for all larger events. We look forward to introducing sound engineers to RIVAGE PM10 and inspiring them with the dawn of a new age for live sound digital mixing systems.”
