SOS
|
|
Updates to the Yamaha AW4416 preview
I would like to thank you for the preview of the AW4416 in last month's SOS, though I feel that I ought to clarify one point. The preview reads: "Although the advertising claims that the AW4416 has an 'O2R inside', the mixer section is more closely related to that of the smaller O1V."
This statement makes it sound as if our marketing is misleading. Although the faders are 60mm and the physical analogue inputs and outputs may be closer to those of the 01V, the internal mixing engine (both DSP chips and source code) was taken directly from the 02R and then improved, hence "02R inside". This takes it far beyond the capabilities of the 01V, as I'm sure you know.
Hugh Robjohns correctly stated that the AW4416 has 44 channels, 8 busses and 8 aux sends -- this matches the specifications of the 02R. It also has the 02R's full EQ on every channel and dynamics on the 40 mono input channels. Furthermore, it was perhaps not clear that the effects board in the AW4416 is better than that of the 02R and the effects input/output patching is also far more flexible. Finally, the AW4416 has the full internal dynamic automation system taken directly from the 02R.
There have also been some changes to the specification since the preview was written. The maximum number of Undo/Redo times has been reduced from 16 to 15. The AW4416 now offers 130 storage tracks in total (16 Playback x 8 Virtual = 128 tracks + one Stereo track). The maximum number of song titles has been reduced from 50,000 to 30,000. Exporting of WAV files will not be possible using the first version of the AW4416's operating software, but is planned for a future software revision.
James Baker
MI Pro Audio Marketing Manager
Yamaha Kemble Music (UK) Ltd
Technical Editor Hugh Robjohns replies: Apologies if I have caused any confusion in my comparison of the AW4416's mixer section with the O1V in which I was referring to that console's features and facilties, not the number of input channels. The new workstation does indeed share the underlying DSP structure of the O2R in terms of the number of input channels and busses and I don't doubt that much of the software has been derived from that used in the O2R.
However, as I understand it, the AW4416 is one of the first products to incorporate a new generation of Yamaha's bespoke DSP chips (the DSP5 replacing the DSP3 employed in the O2R and its siblings) -- which is why the source code has been "improved" on that of the O2R.
In comparing the AW4416 mixer with the O1V I was simply trying to highlight some important improvements over the ageing O2R. Although the O1V doesn't have as many input channels as that venerable console, its equalisation, dynamics and automation facilities are broadly similar, but it has far better servo control of its motorised faders, greatly improved analogue input circuitry, enhanced effects algorithms and more flexibility in analogue outputs courtesy of the Omni-out facility. In other words, the ways in which the O1V console improved on these aspects of the O2R are exactly the same as those James Baker is proclaiming the AW4416 to have made!
So, whilst I accept that the AW4416 has a foundation in the original O2R gene pool, it has also clearly benefitted directly from the most recent evolution of the family tree too. Therefore I feel my comparison -- in terms of features and facilities, if not the number of channels -- is entirely valid and may be a lot more meaningful to potential customers. 
