Transcript
E Q U I P M E N T T E S T
Audient ASP 8024 A new analogue console from a new console manufacturer? Paul Mac takes a look.
W
hile Audient is still a relatively new company made up of, most notably, ex DDA engineers, it has generated a lot of interest in its user friendly and ‘good ideas’ approach to audio equipment design. You may have already come across their graphic EQ, which carries these philosophies forward in the face of a monopolised market – back-lit controls and labels, balanced I/O, a narrow band mode that only narrows in the ‘cut’ region’, and one-touch response tilt control. To carry this kind of innovation into the break-neck world of console development is not easy, so Audient has gone back to the fundamentals and tried to incorporate simplicity, quality, and flexibility. It’s not overly cynical to suggest that some might still consider that trio of attributes as an innovation in itself. The Audient ASP8024 is an in-line, 24-bus, analogue console with options of 24-, 36-, 48-, and 60-channel frame sizes. The developers say that it is aimed at anybody wishing to upgrade from, for example, a smaller analogue set-up, and can’t bring themselves to go digital just yet. Alternatively, larger facilities with space for a console in their B or C studios could well benefit from the Audient approach. Indeed, several already have. Interestingly, Audient has been very realistic in these environmental considerations, and have managed to make the ASP8024 digitally literate; not in the audio interface sense you understand, but in the metering sense. Also, an integral stereo bus compressor, not functionally dissimilar to the SSL equivalent, is an attempt to further endear the console into those vacant B and C room slots.
Down The Channel Strip The ASP8024 is an in-line console with, in Audient speak, the long fader (LF or ‘tape’) and short fader (SF or ‘channel’) paths sharing single channel strips. With the interests of tired engineers at heart, the ‘two paths’ sections along a strip are colour-coded light for the LF path and dark for the SF path.
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Each channel strip starts with a line input for the LF path and a choice between mic and line inputs for the SF path. Phantom power, gain (6dB to 60dB), a hi-pass filter, and a phase reverse switch begin the SF path, while a single gain control (±15dB) starts the LF path. Both paths have insert points, which correspond to separate send (ground sensing) and return (balanced) jacks. There’s an ‘Insert In’ switch for each insert point, even though they are still normalised at the return jack. With the insert switched out, the send still carries signal for an extra output. Two meters connect post insert point, switched into either the LF or SF paths. The short one is threesegment and the long one is 20-segment. True to the digital compatibility mentioned earlier, the meters are peak reading rather than VU, and marked with 0dB at the top of the scale (actually +18dBu) and peak LEDs that light at +20dBu. These are the default LF and SF input paths, but there is a flip switch here to swap the sources around. This point feeds the EQ switching arrangements. As would be expected, the EQ defaults to the LF path, although you can switch it, in two sections, between the two paths. One section is the LF/HF controls with switched cut-off frequencies of 50Hz/100Hz, and 10kHz/18kHz respectively; and the other is a dual, fully parametric mid section (60Hz to 1.5kHz, and 450Hz to 20kHz). An extra possibility for the SF path, just before the EQ section, lies in the LF Source switch. This takes either the pre or post fade LF path output (selected with an internal link) back to the source of the SF path, giving you the option of using the routing matrix for extra effects sends at mixdown.
Aux-A-Plenty There are 14 auxiliary busses in the console, all accessible from all of the channels, although there are only actually eight controls per channel strip. Auxiliaries one to six can be switched, in pairs, to be Auxiliaries seven to 12. The remaining two controls are Auxiliaries A and B, and although they have normal mono outputs next to the other auxiliaries, they are mainly intended as sources for the foldback system. On the first six, each pair can be assigned to the SF or LF paths, and set pre or post fade. In addition, there is provision for auxiliary linking at the master stage. In this case, it is possible to send signal from both the SF and LF paths on one channel to a single auxiliary output. There are several options here but as examples, you could link Auxiliaries three and/or five to Auxiliary one, or Auxiliaries four and/or six to Auxiliary two, and so on. The two linked auxiliaries
combine and emerge from the Auxiliary 1 output, with the Auxiliary 1 control acting as the master. A pre fade cut switch, the respective faders, pan, and routing controls (with the exception of the solo system) finish the input channel off. Although there are 24 bus outputs, there are only 12 routing buttons to a channel. A ‘Shift’ button switches the bank of 12 routing buttons between Busses one to 12, and 13 to 24. For panning between odd and even busses, you have to press the Pan button, and the ‘LF’ switch moves the routing to the LF path for bouncing and so on. The multitrack routing is also tied up with the eight sub-groups in as much as busses one to eight are paralleled to sub-groups one to eight. The solo switches for the LF and SF paths are at the whim of the master solo controls. They start with basic global AFL/PFL selection, move onto Solo In Place, and add in a solo level control. Even more usefully, there’s a ‘Solo In Front’ control. This adjusts the ‘solo mix’. In other words, rather than completely cutting anything that is not solo’d, you can set the level of the unsolo’d mix with respect to the solo signal – to give your solo’d material an unobtrusive context.
Two For A Pair The Audient console comes with four stereo input channels. These are pretty basic, although with enough about them to get the effects returns safely into the mix, or back to multitrack pairs. That is, as well as the ‘Mix’ routing, there are six multitrack routing buttons, plus a Shift button, which means that all 24 busses are available. It’s the same principle as on the input channel routing, only with bus pairs. There are controls for the Foldback A and B buses, gain, and mix level; and each stereo input has cut and solo switches. The output itinerary on the Audient console stretches from comprehensive monitoring and foldback systems to the buses and sub-groups. As mentioned before, the first eight sub-groups tie up with the first eight buses, even though each set has its own outputs. Indeed, the subgroups also have their own insert points, Pan controls, and faders, plus Solo and Cut switches. The manual mentions that if you want, the sub-group insert returns could add a few more inputs to your total. That about covers contributions to the main mix, aside from the stereo insert point and built-in compressor/limiter before the master fader. This processor is nothing but a straightforward tool to work the main output. You can’t switch it into any other part of the console. The controls are threshold, Attack, Release, Ratio, and Make-up Gain, together with an ‘In’ switch. There’s also a 12-LED gain reduction meter. As I mentioned earlier, the designers actually say that there have been no compromises in the design of this compressor, and that it has been built with the ‘Studio One’ manufacturers in mind.
Essential Extras The control room monitoring sources are either the mix bus, or a choice of three two-track inputs – Tape One, Two, and Three. The four sources are equalled by the
four output options of the main monitors, and three alternate monitors. Each ‘Alt’ monitor output has its own level control, and the Main output has Level, plus Mono, Cut Left/Right, Cut, and Dim. An on-board oscillator provides four frequencies, variable level, and the choice of bus and mix routing. The master studio monitoring section is split into three: Speakers, Foldback A, and Foldback B, although each of these has the same source choices. These are: Tape One, Tape Two, C/RM, Aux A, and Aux B. you can select Aux A/B left and right channels independently. As you’d expect, there are master level controls for each of these three studio outputs, plus an On switch for the studio speakers and Solo switches for the foldbacks. I/O on the Audient is straightforward. On the input channels, everything except the microphone input (line in, tape in, mic/line and tape insert sends and returns) are on TRS jacks. The sub-group outputs and the multitrack outputs are on 25-way D-subs as standard, although if you’re more of an Alesis type, you can have EDACs fitted as an optional extra. The rest of the inserts (subgroups and mix), and the stereo channel inputs, are on TRS jacks, and everything else is on XLR. All I/O is electronically balanced.
Conclusion It does seem that the design team at Audient has been thinking very carefully about what they want their console to do, and what it should be competing against or (possibly more importantly) complementing. These elements give a good idea of who might be interested in the console. For a start, the price, and the number of buses and auxiliaries, suggest a step up from the project studio, or a secondary room in a larger facility, for those who want analogue rather than digital. It’s just strange that someone should still be able to find a gap in the analogue market. In any case, it’s the little things that make all the difference, like a few extra auxiliaries, a solo mix control, a mix bus compressor, the ‘more flexible than average’ routing (complete with colour coding), and back lighting for the bigger, more important buttons. The list goes on a while, so make yourself comfortable if you go for a demo.
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Paul Mac is Editor of Audio Media Europe, and this review appears with the kind permission of Audio Media magazine.
Distributed by • Electric Factory Phone: (03) 9480 5988 Electric Factory on WWW: ‘www.elfa.com.au’ For more information: ‘
[email protected]’
Price • 60-channel: $48,000; 48-channel: $40,000; 36-channel: $30,000; 24-channel: $28,000. Prices ex tax.
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