Yamaha 01V96 Channel Strip Package "Add on Effects"

[Richard Lightstone, CAS]

I have been working with the Yamaha 01V96 for over four years now and one of my pet peeves has been the lack of a good set of limiters for dialogue recording from among the long list of 53 preset programs from the "Effects Library". Those of you who are exclusively wireless don't need limiters in the individual channel inputs. But I am a stickler for hardwired booms and limiters are essential.

I've finally installed the Yamaha Channel Strip Package which was previously only available for the Yamaha DM1000 and 02RV96. It is a simple installation and now I have two compressors and a 6 band equalizer available to "insert" into as many channels as I want. The Compressor 260 emulates the famed DBX 160, the Compressor 276 emulates the Universal Audio 1176 and the Equalizer 601 emulates the classic 70s analog circuitry with six bands. You can tweak the settings via the computer based "Studio Manager" with it's cool looking graphic of the components or directly on the Yamaha.

The Channel Strip Package Version AE011 lists for $499. but you can get it heavily discounted from vendors such as Hollywood Sound, or Guitar Center.

Prior to installing this I would ride the trims - which I've always done even with my good old Sonosax. After experimenting with the settings I can happily report that the Compressor 260 is excellent and it's there for those sudden and unplanned "whisper to a scream" actors. It's also freed up my hands quite a bit too.

RL

[Jeff Wexler]

I've finally installed the Yamaha Channel Strip Package which was previously only available for the Yamaha DM1000 and 02RV96. It is a simple installation and now I have two compressors and a 6 band equalizer available to "insert" into as many channels as I want.

RL

This is where a software driven digital mixer really shows its stuff. How terrific is it to get all that functionality installed when in the past this wpould require a lot of hardware purchases, hard wired connections and configuration and so on. I'm jealous --- but not so much so that I would make the leap --- though seriously less sophisticated, the analog limiters on my Cooper 208 work very well.

Regards,  Jeff Wexler

[DWsoundservice]

Richard,

  This may be a stupid question. Are the controls servo driven so that when you change the settings on Studio Manager, It will change the setting of the control on the mixer??

David White

D.W. Sound Service

[Darren]

My experience with Studio Manager and the 01v96 is that the two are completely tied together.  What you do on one affects the other.  i.e. you can push the faders up and down on studio manger and watch them physically move on your hardware.

-Darren

Richard,

   This may be a stupid question. Are the controls servo driven so that when you change the settings on Studio Manager, It will change the setting of the control on the mixer??

David White

D.W. Sound Service

[Philip Perkins]

But you were talking about wanting a limiter--and you got compressors.  How fast and extreme can these comps get?  Where are they inserted in the signal chain?  Are you really doing a 6 band EQ on location (have time etc )? 

Philip Perkins

[Richard Lightstone, CAS]

Darren,

Exactly, Studio Manager and the Yamaha interact solely through software. Changes made on the computer (Mac or Windows) will instantly change on the Yamaha and vice versa.

RL

[Richard Lightstone, CAS]

Phillip,

First I am not using the 6 band eq -- but it's nice to have it available and who knows when I might use it. I only do minor roll off - - and try to deliver the most uncolored product possible.

The compressor can be set anywhere in the chain - Input pre-fader, post fader, output channels etc. - in my case on the first stage of the input.

Here are the specs: Threshold: the range is from –60.0 through 0.0 dB. Attack: range is from 0.010 through 80.00 ms. Release: range is from 6.2 through 999.0 ms. Ratio: range is from 1.0 through ∞. Knee: options are Soft, Medium and Hard.

Output: range is from –20.0 through 40.0 dB.

The Compressor acts like a limiter through the settings of the Threshold and the Ratio.

RL

[Philip Perkins]

Phillip,

First I am not using the 6 band eq -- but it's nice to have it available and who knows when I might use it. I only do minor roll off - - and try to deliver the most uncolored product possible.

The compressor can be set anywhere in the chain - Input pre-fader, post fader, output channels etc. - in my case on the first stage of the input.

Here are the specs: Threshold: the range is from –60.0 through 0.0 dB. Attack: range is from 0.010 through 80.00 ms. Release: range is from 6.2 through 999.0 ms. Ratio: range is from 1.0 through ∞. Knee: options are Soft, Medium and Hard.

The Compressor acts like a limiter through the settings of the Threshold and the Ratio.

RL

Does the 01v96 react differently when you have a lot of plug ins working (as some DAWS do)?  Do you notice more latency if you have say comps on a lot of channels and a lot of routing?  Nice that you could put 2 comps on a channel--it might be easier to get something truly unnoticeable working but still doing a lot of gain control w/ 2.  The earliest the comp can be is just after the input trim?

Philip Perkins

[Richard Lightstone, CAS]

Phillip,

Since the Yamaha 01V96 is a stand alone Digital Mixing Console and not a DAW there is no problem with the comps on a lot of channels. The 01V96 has 4 of what they call "Effects Processors" which have 2 inputs and outputs each. The Compressor 260, for example has a pair of discrete  modules that you can link. I am using them separately feeding two channels from one of the "Effects Processors". Since there are 4 processors, with 2 inputs/outputs each you could place them on 8 separate channels.

The 01V96 only allows one effects processor per channel. In terms of the use of the compressors -- I would use one just after the trim of the input channel and if you need more place the other on the output channel post fader. Since we are always doing live mixes, we are constantly thinking about the unexpected and having limiting (a compressor) on the input side is a career saver.

Ed Green of live award show fame uses them at the output side as well -- but that's so he doesn't overload the broadcast end.

You can download the 300+ page manual for the 01V96 and see all it can (or cannot do) for yourself.

http://www.yamaha.co.jp/manual/english/result.php?WORD=01V96&div=pa

RL

[Darren]

The following has been cut and pasted from:

"Sound on Sound" Review of Yamaha's Add On Effects packages:

While the v2 upgrade brings many useful benefits of its own (see the box on the previous page for examples of what installing the v2 OS did for the review DM1000, for example), its real raison d'être is the embedded support for the Add-on Effects packs, of which three were available at the time of writing, with two more anticipated shortly. The three packs reviewed here are the AE011 Channel Strip package (providing two mono and two stereo compressors, plus a six-band equaliser), the AE021 Master Strip package (containing four tape-machine emulations that can be mixed and matched), and the AE031 Reverb package (which brings Yamaha's most sophisticated REVX technology to the consoles with hall, room and plate algorithms).

'Compressor 276' and (below) 'Compressor 260' from the AE011 Channel Strip.

Two additional packs which weren't yet available for review when this was written were the AE041 Surround Post package and the AE051 Vintage Stomp Box, which recreates three classic Phaser effects pedals. The Surround Post pack is intended for sophisticated film and TV post-production applications, and includes an early-reflections generator with source-position tracking, a Doppler shift system to modulate the pitch of a source moving around the surround-sound stage, and a program which allows the entire spatial field to be rotated. This optional pack cannot be used on the 01V96 console, because it has no surround-capable effects facilities.

The new Add-on effects packs are based upon three innovative Yamaha technologies. 'Virtual Circuit Modelling' (or VCM) is used for the Channel Strip, Master Strip and forthcoming Vintage Stomp Box plug-ins, and the idea is that by modelling every aspect of an analogue electronic circuit, its sonic nuances can be emulated precisely. This origins of this VCM technology are to be found in Yamaha's first physical modelling synths, the VL1 and VP1, released in 1994. The early modelling techniques were developed by a team of Yamaha engineers led by Toshifumi Kunimoto in what became known within Yamaha as 'K's Lab.' The R&D work continued, and for the last few years it has been focused on the modelling of analogue circuits (instead of acoustic instruments) with a view to emulating classic analogue signal processing.

Virtual Circuit Modelling technology has now reached the stage where it can emulate every key parameter and nuance, not only of electronic components such as transistors, resistors, capacitors and so on, but also of complex inductive devices like tape heads, transformers and even magnetic tape. In fact, a lot of the R&D effort has been expended on modelling the subtle magnetic saturation effects that are such an integral element of a lot of analogue audio systems.

The Surround Post pack will apparently employ another set of modelling techniques: Yamaha's innovative Interactive Spatial Sound Processing (iSSP) technology. The idea here is to produce precise simulations of real acoustic spaces by using modelling to accurately predict reflections and decays, taking into account a specified room shape, surface materials, and the directivity of the sound sources. This is supplemented with further processing which uses source position data to generate distance-related decay and pitch characteristics, providing precise imaging information and even doppler shifts as a mono source is panned around, for example.

The Reverb pack uses the sophisticated REVX algorithms which were first introduced in Yamaha's top-of-the-line SPX2000 multi-effects unit. This system represents the current state-of-the-art in reverb from the Yamaha stable, and broadly equates to the top-flight systems from Lexicon and TC Electronic.

Each of these plug-in effects packs is supplied in the form of a CD-ROM, with an Installation Guide. The effects algorithms themselves are already embedded in the console's v2 software, and the CD-ROM is essentially a means of authorising and enabling the relevant software components. The authorisation process requires a computer with Internet access linked to the console via USB, and each Add-on effects pack is authorised for use on that specific console via Yamaha's web site. If you want to load a pack onto a different console, you must disable it on the first console, cancelling the authorisation via the web site, before attempting to load and re-authorise it on a second desk.

I found this whole enabling and authorising process painless and fairly quick, and was able to activate and license all three current Add-on effects packs easily within 15 minutes. Once authorised, the relevant effects appear in the console's effects library (starting at position 53), and the desired effects can then be routed and applied within the console as required. Most of the effects reviewed here are probably best used as an insert into a channel, group or master, but the reverbs will obviously be more appropriately used within an effects send and return loop.

Of course, it is the console's dedicated effects processors that are used for these plug-in effects, so the number of plug-ins that can be used at any one time will depend on the quantity of effects processors available in the console — four in the case of the DM1000 and 02R96, and eight in the case of the DM2000 — although all can be used at any sampling rate up to 96kHz without limitation.

The 01V96 is more limited, however, offering four effects at standard sample rates but only two at double rates. Nor does it have any provision for dedicated surround effects, whereas both the DM1000 and 02R96 can run a single surround effect in addition to three mono/stereo effects. The top-of-the-range DM2000, meanwhile, can run two surround effects and six mono/stereo effects.

All of the selected plug-in effects parameters can be controlled from the console's LCD screen in the usual way, just as for any other internal effect. Alternatively, they can be controlled remotely from the Studio Manager software, using either the generic Effects Editor window, or the bespoke and very attractive graphical interfaces provided for each of the new effects within the version 2 Studio Manager software, screenshots of which you can see throughout this article.

AE011 Channel Strip

The Channel Strip package provides three effects — two compressors and a stereo six-band EQ — all modelled from classic analogue devices dating back to the 1970s, with the effect's name and graphical interface giving fairly generous clues as what has been modelled... but without risking copyright litigation! Each of the compressors is available in dual-channel, mono and stereo forms, giving a total of five effects in all. These appear in the Effects Library in positions 53 to 57.

'Equaliser 601', also from AE011.

'Compressor 276' and 'Compressor 276S' (dual-mono and stereo forms respectively) are modelled on an FET-based compressor with a fast, peak-acting response reminiscent of a Urei 1176 (2-76 — geddit?). The controls are typically simple, with input- and output-level attenuators, Attack and Release controls, and a ratio control that can be switched between 2:1, 4:1, 8:1, 12:1 and 20:1 settings. There is also an automatic gain make-up option, and a high-pass filter for the side-chain to restrict the amount of compression applied to powerful low-frequency signals. The stereo version uses a single set of controls to configure both channels, whereas the dual-mono version has two complete sets of independent parameters — and the desk's own internal routing allows the dual-mono compressor to be applied to any required channels.

If the input level is raised, the sound thickens up nicely in a distinctly analogue way, with a subtle but detectable saturation effect. The compressor offers plenty of punchy dynamic control, and is ideal for smoothing out bass guitar lines, helping to fatten up drum parts, and tightening vocals — much the same purposes that suit a classic 1176, in fact. Compared to the standard desk channel compressor, the 276 plug-in sounds less clinical, transparent or precise. It introduces a distinct character and thickness to the sound which worked well in appropriate situations and certainly reminded me of the classic 1176 effect.

It may sound odd, but I found this compressor easier and more precise to control from the console's LCD screen. Having said that, the Studio Manager graphic is very attractive and presents the control information clearly, complete with useful analogue-style metering offering signal-level or gain-reduction displays. Adjusting the controls with a mouse on the computer screen seemed cumbersome compared to the LCD and data wheel of the console, but I dare say practice — and a larger screen than the 13-inch one on my laptop — would help.

The 'Compressor 260' (dual mono) and 'Compressor 260S' (stereo) plug-ins are undoubtedly based on the old Dbx 260 VCA-based compressor. Again, the stereo model provides a single set of user controls whereas the dual-mono version has two independent sets. This compressor features RMS level detection and has an adjustable knee characteristic with soft, medium and hard options. The Ratio control offers extremely precise settings, starting at a very gentle 1.05:1 and increasing with astonishing resolution all the way to a genuine infinity:1. Other controls include Threshold, Output Level, and the usual Attack and Release times.

Two of the modelled open-reel recorders from the AE021 Mastering Strip package.

The RMS detection and adjustable knee used here gives a very different kind of response to that of 'Compressor 276', providing for some very smooth compression effects if required. I found '260' worked well as a stereo compressor on complete mixes, and I also used it to bring out the room character of distant drum miking. It was also very controllable on individual sources, especially guitars and keyboards, maintaining control without becoming distracted by occasional transients.

The final offering in this pack is the stereo 'Equaliser 601', the graphical interface for which looks remarkably like an old Neve rackmount EQ unit. This effect can be switched between Clean and Drive modes, the latter providing a much higher internal signal level which results in significant but musical saturation artefacts.

The EQ provides high and low shelf bands (with switchable slopes, and alternatively configurable as high- and low-pass filters), plus four fully parametric mid bands — all with separate Bypass buttons. The mid band sections all offer up to 18dB of cut or boost, with variable Q from 0.5 to 16, and centre frequencies spanning 16Hz to 20kHz (and up to 40kHz in 96kHz sampling mode). An inherent part of most analogue filter designs is the interaction between bands, and Yamaha have ensured that this modelling emulation behaves in the same way — which you can see from the very clear graphical interface within Studio Manager (see page 183).

In fact, this graphical display allows the frequency response to be adjusted either by clicking on the control knobs, or by dragging nodes on the response chart itself. There is also a very useful 'Flat' button to cancel previous EQ settings.

I have become rather attached to this EQ, and in many ways, it's a shame that I can only access four stereo instances of it on the DM1000 — it would be fantastic if it was available on every channel as standard! Not only is it superb for gentle musical tweaking and shaping, it also serves well for most surgical duties, and in the Drive mode it can add a welcome analogue-like richness and body to suitable sounds if the input knob is cranked up a bit. Unlike so many digital EQs, I found when running at 96kHz sample rates that this one was able to add the kind of 'air' or sparkle that is the hallmark of a good analogue EQ.

AE021 Master Strip

I thought the modelling was impressive in the Channel Strip package, but I was completely blown away when I first saw and heard this one! The Master Strip pack provides 'Open Deck' simulations (effects program 58) which recreate the typical analogue circuitry and magnetic tape characteristics of four different open-reel tape recorders, two kinds of tape, and two tape speeds — all of which influence the sound in important ways, of course.

The recorders that have been emulated so carefully are three Studer machines, the A80 MkI, A80 MkIV and A820 (identified as 'Swiss 70', 'Swiss 78' and 'Swiss 85' respectively), plus the American Ampex ATR100 (called 'American 70' here). The two types of tape are modelled on new BASF and older Ampex formulations.

The effect is a stereo-in, stereo-out patch, and in setting it up you can choose which recorder model to use for the record electronics, and which for the replay, in addition to selecting new or old tape and 15 or 30ips 'tape speeds'. On the record side, controls are provided to adjust the virtual high-frequency equalisation, the bias level and the overall record drive, while on the replay side there are high- and low-frequency equalisers, plus replay gain. For convenience, the record and replay gains can be linked with an Auto Make-up mode to maintain consistent output signal levels regardless of the amount of drive applied to the tape.

I found the differences between the various vintage recorder electronics very subtle, but changing the tape type and speed, the record drive level and especially the bias control really did alter the sound in precisely the way I would expect a real recorder to behave. There are lots of digital emulations of analogue tape recorders around, with varying degrees of success, but I found this one to be particularly accurate, controllable and easy to set up.

The transient crushing effect is delicate but perfectly judged, as is the gentle response-rounding at both frequency extremes, and the finesse with which the sound can be tailored is remarkable. And if the sound quality is not enough on its own, the graphical interface in the Studio Manager is pure joy, complete with whirling tape reels, waggling meters and dented face plates!

This is not an effect that should be overdone, of course, although Yamaha's are more subtle than many similar systems I have heard. When used across the main stereo output as a mastering process, where some gentle analogue rounding and warming is required, I found the Open Deck modelling to be virtually as creative and effective as the real thing, but a lot easier and more flexible to set up and maintain; all the sonic benefit without the chore of cleaning heads and rollers! Analogue die-hards will have to try hard to find fault, but digital converts will enjoy using this plug-in very much indeed.

Conclusions

The three new Add-on effects all introduce useful and impressive features to the 0- and DM-series consoles. Clearly, given the nature of the effects and processing provided, and that the number of effects useable at any one time is limited, these plug-in effects are intended to be used mainly for final mix sweetening rather than on a track-by-track basis.

The compressors and EQ all work superbly well and offer a useful range of facilities and characters, with a distinctly analogue sonic quality. The open-reel plug-in is intriguing and surprisingly flexible, and will be an instant hit with anyone wanting to add an analogue flavour to their digital productions. Equally, the REVX algorithms provide a very useful step up in quality from the standard-issue reverb effects. Useable though these older effects are, they aren't in the same league as the best, which is why I have a Lexicon PCM90 permanently hooked up to my DM1000. It's seen much less use since I installed the REVX plug-ins!

[Brandon Barnts]

Hey guys,

While this all does sound very good and I look forward to playing around with it myself, I don't understand how a software limiter/compressor can ever provide true overload protection since its after the AD converter in the audio chain. I mean, if its too hot going into the AD converter, those 1 and 0s are already bad right? Is there a way to use a plug-in like this that I'm not understanding?

Brandon

[Richard Lightstone, CAS]

[Added clarification]

If the SPL is too high that it overloads the microphone first -- then you would be right. You have control of the level coming into the board via the trim pot -and your boom operator can pull the mike back from the source too.

Since I am using the Add On Effects - Compressor 260 - which is the same as found in the DM 1000, 02R etc - I can report that they work very effectively - as you would expect the compressor/limiters to act on either a Cooper or Sonosax.

RL