TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
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Avid S6 MIXING CONTROL SURFACE
After Avid’s acquisition of Euphonix in 2010, industry professionals have waited with baited breath to see what the two teams would create. Simon Allen gets his hands on the all-new S6 to see what the future of mixing holds.
THE HISTORY of mixing has seen some significant changes in the years since the original EMI and Abbey Road consoles of the 1960s. Today it’s mostly about workflow and this latest development from Avid is here to add to that evolutionary path. For everyone involved in
pro audio, whether in post or music production, the demand for fast turn-rounds and lower budgets is increasingly challenged by the demands of high track counts and output quality. Avid has recognised that its customers need something that is not only completely scalable in depth and width, but also offers a unique and intuitive new workflow method to speed up daily tasks.
The S6 is essentially only a chassis in which you can spec a number of networkable control modules and arrange them as you choose. This offers a complete pricing range, as well as making it suitable for sustaining traditional music
40 December 2013
production style layouts and more convenient setups for post production.
CONFIGURATION Every S6 begins with a master touch and a master automation module. There are two options for the master touch module: the M10 and the M40, both of which contain the brain for the entire surface. They appear identical, with the same 12in multi-touch touchscreen surrounded by eight rotary encoders and an additional two smaller screens with configurable soft buttons as well as monitoring and talkback controls. The differences lie in the amount of processing power they offer. The M10 handles up to nine modules, 24 faders, and two simultaneous DAWs, but does not support optional display modules. In contrast, the M40 runs a massive 41 modules, 64 faders, eight simultaneous DAWs, and supports the amazing display modules.
The master automation module includes the transport control with a very impressive jog wheel, which is more functional than most others I’ve seen. There are two more smaller displays with soft keys for user-configurable shortcuts, navigation tools, and of course the focus channel which always follows your on-screen channel selection. Once you’ve got the master
sections in place, you are free to build up your console from a selection of different modules including faders, processing, knobs, and displays. These are all individually powered and connected with an Ethernet cable utilising the EUCON technology.
IN USE Clearly one of the most important considerations for Avid was a whole new level of ergonomics. The basics, such as the sliding faders (taken from the System 5) and clearly marked buttons and knobs, all feel smooth and modern.
Users will find the unit very intuitive to use due to small details such as the rotary knobs that double as push buttons. These follow on from existing Avid hardware such as the ICON workstations. This is also apparent when using the multi-touch touchscreen, which supports modern gestures similar to those used on a phone or tablet. The main screens on the M10 and M40 are actually based on many Windows 8 functions. It also can’t be left unsaid that this has to be one of the best looking control surfaces on the market at the moment. The modules use high- resolution monochrome
INFORMATION Feature set
• Scalable and customisable modular design • Ergonomic design based around a central multi-touch touchscreen
• Extensive visual feedback including waveform scrolling • EUCON connectivity
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OLEDs for the channel name displays and RGB LED light pipes in the rotary pots. The use of colour is key to
how quickly I found myself navigating the console. The S6 uses colour palettes in two ways for quick recognition. The first simply matches the track colour palette from your host while the second is set per functional parameter such as EQ, dynamics, bus sends etc. This way it’s easy to find channels and see what the encoder knobs are currently editing via the process module selection. I kept finding myself
subconsciously guided by colour.
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