FACTORYDIRECT
Yamaha’s PM5D-EX system doubles
the number of inputs over a stand-alone PM5D digital mixing console.
Yamaha PM5D-EX
Digital Audio System
Inside the process from concept to completion. by Seiji Kurauchi
This Designer Notebook was submitted by Yamaha. Live Sound International makes
every effort to eliminate any use of marketing-inspired hyperbole.
The Yamaha PM5D-EX digital audio solution is the latest addition to the PM5D
family, enabling control of up to 96 inputs from one control surface. The PM5D-
EX was developed in response to requests from thousands of existing PM5D users
worldwide for expansion of input channels. The PM5D-EX consists of a PM5D (or
a PM5D-RH) and a DSP5D digital mixing system, allowing for numerous setup
possibilities to control up to 96 inputs at a full 96 kHz sampling rate.
The DSP5D unit, an I/O box that doubles the I/O and DSP power of the
PM5D system, can be placed at the Front of House position, or can be utilized as
a stage box to send up to 48 inputs to the Front of House position via a CAT 5e
cable (additional DCU5D unit needed at Front of House). The PM5D-EX system
replaces the need for two PM5D consoles that were required in some applications
with a considerably smaller footprint and much smarter cabling.
The DSP5D is designed to achieve the same sonic characteristic as the PM5D.
Like all other Yamaha digital consoles to date, the DSP engine is powered by proprietary chips specially designed for digital mixing. Yamaha was able to self-produce
powerful DSP dedicated chips at a reasonable price point.
The PM5D-EX is based on PM5D V2, a major upgrade from the original with
application-specific features that are particularly useful in Front of House, monitoring or broadcast applications. New features include Virtual Soundcheck, using pre-
recorded material for setup and detail
adjustment when musicians aren’t available for soundcheck. Other features
include output patching, allowing convenient patching of all outputs to just
about anywhere, and output isolation,
which allows full input channel control
while preventing scene recall operations
from changing output parameters that
need to remain constant.
The PM5D and PM5D-RH are
powerful “all-in-one” type mixing consoles that offer I/O, DSP and a control
surface in one physical unit. This “
all-in-one” architecture was developed to
target the simple replacement of conventional analog consoles. Digital mixing consoles of this class simply did not
exist back when the PM5D was originally released, and many people were
still hesitant to “experiment” with
digital mixing consoles. To make the
transition from analog to digital easier,
the “all-in-one” format was decided
upon rather than a “separate I/O on
stage with digital cabling (stage box)”
solution. Likewise, though more input
channels were considered, we decided
on 48 inputs on the PM5D console to
keep the price of the new technology
reasonable and within reach of our customers. We knew that a stage box-type
solution with expanded input would
become a necessity in the future, so the
PM5D-EX concept had been planned
from the development days of the original PM5D.
QUALITY CONTROL
Yamaha’s Commercial Audio R&D
is based in Hamamatsu, Japan. Core
members of the R&D team are also
located in the US, the UK and Ger-
