Digital Microphones

[per]

Hello.
Wouldn't it be cool to have direct control of digital microphones according to the AES42 standard, built into the Pyramix mixer?
Digital microphones are definitely here to stay, but today you need external software to control gain, eq, compression, etc. There are hardware mixers with this feature already built-in and Merging is supposed to be at the frontline. Right?


All the best
Per

[jeremyvanslyke]

The specification for AES-42 relates to an interface, not software. Even if this functionality were built into Pyramix, there would still need to be a way to send 10V power, clocking (Mode 1, Mode 2) etc. These functions are currently carried out by AES-42 interfaces such as those by RME and Neumann.

A more realistic solution would be to see AES-42 modules available for the new Horus interfaces. These could take the place of an 8 channel AD or DA card. what do you think, Claude? Any chance we'll see AES-42 in the Horus down the road?

[klaukholm]

It would make more sense to replace the 24ch AES IO with 24ch AES42 inputs

[per]

It would make more sense to replace the 24ch AES IO with 24ch AES42 inputs

This would be cool, but as the Mykerinos cards are most probably going away, I think this will not happen.

The specification for AES-42 relates to an interface, not software.

Yes, I know and I was expressing myself a bit sloppy I have the Neumann DMI interface and the software that comes with it to control the microphones (set gains, compressors, eq, etc). But this means I need to swap programs in order to set these parameters. If you could do this directly from PMX...

Not a big deal, really

Cheers
Per

[klaukholm]

It would make more sense to replace the 24ch AES IO with 24ch AES42 inputs

This would be cool, but as the Mykerinos cards are most probably going away, I think this will not happen.

Cheers
Per

Per, I am talking about the 24 ch AES IO on the Horus

[per]

Aha!
That's a good thought!

Per

[jeremyvanslyke]

That's a thought... thought looking at the rear panel, it doesn't seem like the AES I/O would be as modular as the AD/DA section. Does anyone make a device with switchable or hybrid inputs (AES3 and AES42) ? This could be an interesting design challenge. If met, it could help accelerate the adoption of AES42 microphones.

[Paulo M]

That's a thought... thought looking at the rear panel, it doesn't seem like the AES I/O would be as modular as the AD/DA section. Does anyone make a device with switchable or hybrid inputs (AES3 and AES42) ? This could be an interesting design challenge. If met, it could help accelerate the adoption of AES42 microphones

Yes, the Horus AES is not modular, it comes as standard. Apparently the Horus mic pres are going to be controlable from a browser, I guess in a similar way to the DAD Man in Sphynx. But this doesn´t mean that you´ll find a soft gain control in Pyramix mixer strip, when that strip is assigned to an Horus mic pre input, although I think that that should be the basic degree of control.

But it´s just a guess, I didn´t see the actual software implementation yet, so...

Regarding digital mics and control: I think that yes, AES42 enabled mics are here to stay. But I think that it will represent a niche market for certain applications, like classical music and some parts of broadcast. In studio music production though, I don´t think it will be much popular, considering the crescent interest in analogue these days.

[jeremyvanslyke]

I did hear a rumour that Pyramix 8 will have the capability to control the gain, +48 etc of the Horus (and possibly other Ravenna devices) from within the mixer...
If there are modules being made with AES3 to Analog (DA) and Analog to AES3 (AD), why not offer a module that's AES42 to AES3?

[klaukholm]

I did hear a rumour that Pyramix 8 will have the capability to control the gain, +48 etc of the Horus (and possibly other Ravenna devices) from within the mixer...
If there are modules being made with AES3 to Analog (DA) and Analog to AES3 (AD), why not offer a module that's AES42 to AES3?

The chassis is rather expensive already, maybe it is for the better.
I would look to DoTec for something like a AES42-ravenna or AES42-madi interface. I would not be surprised if they did something afordable and clever