by Myron Nettinga

Mixing consoles have become far more powerful in recent years. We've used fader automation for several decades, but recent advances in digital signal processing technology have allowed manufacturers to go much further. It's now possible to customize the entire board so completely that we might as well call it a "virtual console." Any fader can be patched to any device or to multiple channels at once. Every aspect of the board can be customized. To manage the resulting potential chaos, manufacturers have moved to create features that make it easier to set up and route the board for specific uses. The Euphonix System 5 offers some unique features in this regard and a great deal of its power and smoothness comes from its extensive customization features. Once the necessary configurations have been created and saved to disk, you can switch between them at the touch of a button.

Most mixers have favorite setups for the board or the task at hand, be it temp dubbing, predubbing, finaling, printmastering or making M&E's. With the Euphonix, it's easy to create a single default setup that can serve any of these functions with very little variation. That kind of simplicity and consistency makes mixing much easier and it's a big plus for engineers and recordists, as well.

The System 5 I've been using is powered by two DSP engines with 310 I/O's on the effects side where I work, and about 160 on the dialogue/music side. Each fader can be switched between two inputs (A/B input faders), which means that I have 620 inputs available. (And I do use those B inputs quite frequently!) There are also five modules ("buckets") containing eight channel faders and a group bucket of another eight faders without dedicated processing knobs. The dialogue/music section contains another 300 inputs or so, which brings the total board capacity to over 900 inputs. With this many sources, a slick, easy-to-use layout is essential and makes the job much less complicated.

Default Title

I start by creating a standard default title in my setup folder ("FX Defaults"). Other mixers and engineers using the board will have their preferred setups in their own setup folders. When I start a new show, I create a new project and copy my default title into a new show folder and give it a new name (for example, "FX Defaults" would be changed to "Insomnia Defaults").

The first step is to configure the patching of the I/Os. I organize the effects section in the following order:

I/O 1-128	Predubs 1-16	128 channels
I/O 129-216	Raw Source FX	88 channels
I/O 217-246	Reverb returns	30 channels
I/O 247-262	Stage Workstations	16 channels
I/O 263-310	Recorder Dynamics/filters	48 channels

This setup allows for 16 separate predubs, each occupying eight channels, giving flexibility in predub formats (5.1, 5+3, 7.1 etc.). The next set of I/O's is used for source effects, followed by the outboard gear, a stage workstation, with the last 48 channels for recorder processing.

I've found this to be an extremely flexible arrangement if I need to make a change. Keeping the predubs and recorders on the first and last I/O's means that the middle section can contract and expand with minimal disruption. For example, if I'm temping and have 100 channels of source effects, I will rarely be running more than a couple of predubs or conformed stems, so I can borrow the I/O's used for predubs 15 and 16 to get my extra 12 channels. The majority of the layout is untouched. The same works for the final mix but in reverse. One scenario would be that there are 20 predubs, with 24 tracks of unpredubbed source effects running along. For predubs 17-20 (32 channels) I'll expand into I/O 129 and up. The 24 channels of new material will be routed starting at I/O 161 and up.

Finally, the primary stage workstation (typically 16 inputs) is also patched to the B-inputs of every 16 inputs across the board through I/O 246. (This uses up a lot of I/O patch points, which might be a DSP drain on some boards, but with the Euphonix, DSP allocation is never an issue.) The B-inputs can come in handy if a change is made to a predub on the stage workstation. I can simply switch to the B-input and have all my mix moves incorporated on top of the changed/updated predub -- I don't have to remix the predub just because it's coming from a different source.

Layouts

The next step in creating a default is to establish layouts. Layouts configure the operating surface (the I/Os and groups that will be displayed on the board) and are accessed from the main menu panel (Figure 1). Since we can play far more channels than we can display on the board at one time, layouts are essential. Up to 48 can be stored within a production title, allowing me to look at a wide assortment of track groupings.

Figure 1. The main menu panel allows the mixer to quickly access and adjust board configuration and modes.

The great thing about the System 5 is that you're not tied to "layers" where every channel has to appear somewhere on your desk if you plan to use it. With layouts, I can access any predefined set of channels.

My first set of layouts are dedicated to each consecutive group of 64 I/Os, regardless of their function. By selecting these layouts, I can quickly "interrogate" or display the whole board with a few button pushes. Then there are layouts that make it easy to look at various sources: Recorders, Outboard, Pre-dubs 1-8 or 9-16 and various groupings of raw source tracks.

I also have a variety of other standard layouts for particular mixing functions. I use several layouts while predubbing: "1-64," and "->88" contain all 88 source channels, while "PD1-8" and "PD9-16" contain existing predubs that are playing back simultaneously. I have a "Final" layout that has my primary mixing surface on for final mixes and I make a duplicate of this layout ("Final Alt") so I can make modifications during the mix and easily get back to the original (Figure 2). Dialogue mixers often do the music as well, and they might have different layouts for production, ADR and music.

Figure 2. The layout menu allows quick interrogation of predefined sets of I/Os.

Once these layouts have been created, it's easy to flip quickly between them. When we're finaling I'll have all my predub groups and some outboard processing and workstation group faders contained in the "Final" layout. But I may carry as many as 32 channels of un-predubbed source material (such as conceptual sound effects that we decided to wait until the final to include). When I get to the section with the conceptual effects, I'll switch my layout to "1-32" which has the 32 source faders on the surface along with all outboard processing that I might need (just like I would during predubbing). When I've finished mixing the conceptual stuff, I flip back to my "Final" layout and continue.

There is also a "Dark" layout with no I/O channels or group masters on the board. This completely darkens the board so there will be no distractions and minimal lights illuminated during playbacks.

Snapshots

The System 5 also allows you to take a "snapshot" of any aspect of board routing or audio setup, either globally or for individual groups of channels. Snapshots differ from layouts in that they contain the actual values of knob and switch settings, while layouts only describe the organization (patching and routing) of the board surface. This means that one can recall any board configuration needed. Because I keep the channel placement of predubs consistent, I can use the snapshot function to set panning and routing configurations to match the type of predub I'm using for a particular mix. I usually use one of three basic formats: either a 5.1 (with two centers on 7 and 8), a 5+3 (LCRLsRsLCR) or a 7.1/7-1. (I use the dot to indicate a sub-channel and a dash to indicate a second center.) When I set up for a final, I can look at the list of predubs and their formats and then simply select the appropriate snapshot. For visual simplicity I keep the two most common formats for each predub side-by-side on the snapshot pages (Figure 3).

Figure 3. In this illustration snapshots, are used to configure the panning for different predub formats. On the left are the 5+3 formats and on the right are the 5.1 versions. At the beginning of a dub, I simply go down the list and select the appropriate format.

I also create similar snapshots for the recorders, utilizing their dynamics and filter sets, with different thresholds, compression ratios and boom filtration. If you prefer to have a particular EQ setup rather than the factory default, you can make an EQ snapshot for the whole board with frequencies, Q factors, and types included.

Misc Settings

You can also include the settings for several other items in your default title.

• Stem inserts in or out (which can include the processing for the recorders).
• Fader meters (whether you want automation or input levels displayed).
• Automation modes and operation (such as knob and switch pickups, glide times and prerolls).
• Record buss formats and naming.

Meter setups for the screen displays can also be configured, but I've found that by simply having the meters follow the faders I get sufficient feedback. Group faders on the surface will also display the corresponding slave channels (up to eight can be displayed per group). If I'm wondering what predub contains a particular sound, I can see all 128 tracks playing above the 16 group faders. If I "spill" any group out on the surface, the meters immediately switch to the inputs associated with them.

Of course it's time-consuming to create your personal setups, layouts and snapshots, but in the end, it's well worth it. Once you've put in the initial work, you'll never again need to come in a day before a big mix to create your board or allocate your DSPs.