Yamaha Evolves RIVAGE PM Series
Yamaha Corporation has announced new additions to the professional audio lineup: RIVAGE PM5 and RIVAGE PM3 Digital Mixing Systems. The release of two new control surfaces and two new DSP engines gives sound engineers greater choice and flexibility to deliver optimum sound in a wider range of applications.
New Control Surfaces
The core components of the new PM5 and PM3 are the CS-R5 and CS-R3 control surfaces. The CS-R5 has three large touch-panel displays and a condensed selected channel section. The CS-R3 is the most compact RIVAGE PM series console with one large touch-panel display and a condensed selected channel section for smooth, simple operation.
To maximize the advantages of the three large touch-panel screens on the CS-R5, the depth of the control surface has been reduced to bring the screens and controls within easy reach for comfortable, stress-free operation while simultaneously contributing to improved sight lines. At just 42 kilograms the CS-R5 control surface is also remarkably lightweight, and can be easily carried and maneuvered by just two people.
The CS-R3 has a single touch-panel display and condensed selected channel section that work together to deliver simple, intuitive control that will be familiar to current RIVAGE PM series users, and easy for users coming from CL or QL series consoles. A comprehensive range of physical controllers makes the CS-R3 a great choice for monitor applications too.
New DSP Engines
The new DSP-RX engine provides 120 inputs, 48 mix buses, and 24 matrices, while the DSP-RX-EX engine provides 288 inputs, 72 mix buses, and 36 matrices. A choice of two DSP engines with different mixing capacities, plus a total of five control surfaces including the two new models, gives engineers ample flexibility to create systems ideally tailored to a wide range of applications. The new DSP engines also allow DSP mirroring: two DSP-RX engines or two DSP-RX-EX engines can be used in mirrored configuration in situations where failsafe redundancy is required. If a problem occurs in one DSP engine, the second DSP engine takes over so the show can go on.
The RIVAGE PM Ecosystem
All RIVAGE PM systems use the same DSP engines, the same I/O racks, and the same firmware. That means whichever control surface is used, sound, features, and basic operation remain consistent. The system’s Dual Console function makes it possible to use a second control surface as a sidecar. Any control surface can be used for FOH one day, as a monitor console the next, and then as a sidecar as the need arises. All models feature the same basic fader configuration with up to three bays of 12 faders, so that the same fader layout can be maintained when using different control surfaces on different days of a tour, for example.
Like the RIVAGE PM10 and PM7, the PM5 and PM3 offer direct compatibility with two audio networks: the Yamaha TWINLANe network that can simultaneously carry up to 400 audio channels with extremely low latency, and the Dante audio network from Audinate that is standard in CL and QL series digital consoles and a range of other Yamaha pro audio products.
Firmware Version 4.0
Firmware version 4.0 for the entire RIVAGE PM series will be released simultaneously with the RIVAGE PM5 and PM3 hardware. Firmware version 4.0 provides a number of important user interface and function updates, including the addition of the premium SP2016 reverb plugin from Eventide. In addition to a large selection of top-quality presets, the SP2016 allows detailed editing for engineers who want to customize their sound.
Ray Maxwell, Eventide’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing comments: “The lush and distinct reverbs of the original Eventide SP2016 have been used in countless hit records for nearly 40 years. The original reverb can be heard on albums by Adele, Mariah Carey, Eminem, and more. Eventide is honored to partner with Yamaha to bring the signature reverbs from the SP2016 (Room, Stereo Room and Hi-Density Plate) to the RIVAGE PM10 console with V4.0 software. Users will have a faithful recreation of the original rack processor using state of the art analog component modeling to capture the unique sound of this widely acclaimed reverb.”
With this update the RIVAGE PM series is now capable of controlling L-ISA systems from L-Acoustics. For every mono or stereo input channel, a direct control of L-ISA Objects or Groups will be available on the RIVAGE PM console control surface.