Yamaha PM5D/PM5D-RH Digital Mixing Console

YAMAHA Updated: 2007-10-05

The PM5D is a great live sound console, its quality and reliability has made it the world's first choice of large digital mixer. Despite its maturity and popularity, the large user base of discerning professional engineers always wanted to add more features to suit their many different applications.

The PM5D V2 is the result; it's loaded with new features grounded in actual day-to-day experience ranging from subtle refinements to seriously notable innovations. And owners of the original PM5D aren't excluded from the good news: a free firmware update, downloadable from Yamaha's Pro Audio website, will bring any existing PM5D up to the PM5D V2 specification.

DSP5D Digital Mixing System Compatibility for Doubled or Tripled Capacity
System scalability was another big request from PM5D users and now this is achieved by adding Yamaha DSP5D Digital Mixing System units. DSP5D provides essentially all the functionality of a PM5D-RH V2 in a rack-mountable unit that can be seamlessly controlled from a PM5D V2 console. Up to two DSP5D units can be used with a single PM5D V2 console. A PM5D V2 plus one DSP5D gives you a total of 96 mono and 16 stereo input channels, while adding two DSP5D units to a PM5D V2 provides 144 mono and 24 stereo input channels to comfortably handle large-scale applications. And of course your processing power is doubled or tripled, respectively.

All the Effects and Processing You'll Need Onboard
The PM5D V2 offers every processing facility you'll ever need onboard. Every input channel has 4-band EQ plus a high pass filter, a separate gate and compressor, and delay of up to 1000 milliseconds. The stereo and mix outs have 8-band EQ, compressor, and delay. The matrix outs have 4-band EQ, compressor and delay. The cue and monitor outs even include a useful 1000 millisec delay. But the PM5D V2 doesn't stop there! It features twenty 31-band GEQs or a combination of 12 GEQs and eight independent VCM type or SPX2000-class multi-effect processors that can be patched into any of the console's input, stereo, mix, or matrix channels, offering a comprehensive range of reverb, delay, modulation, and combination effects. The PM5D V2 also comes with Yamaha's incomparable ADDON EFFECTS built in! You have immediate access to acclaimed REV-X Reverb programs as well as the Compressor276, Compressor260 and EQ601 programs from the AE-011 Channel Strip package and the Open Deck programs from the AE-021 Master Strip package.

Virtual Soundcheck
Here's a perfect example of a version-2 feature that has been implemented in response to feedback from the field. With a multi-track recording systems such as Steinberg's Nuendo DAW, the PM5D V2 can not only be part of a top quality recording set up, but a live recording made during a rehearsal or performance can be temporarily patched to a selection of the console's inputs and used for setup and adjustment when certain musicians or performers aren't available. The results of this "Virtual Soundcheck" can then be directly saved to a scene without the need for complex re-patching, console reboot or fear of accidental changes to setting. And unlike similar features found in other consoles, the PM5D V2 lets you assign individual channels to the Virtual Soundcheck function as required, so you can keep sound effect or BGM channels alive while doing a sound check.

Extra EQ
The PM5D's eight SPX2000-class internal effect processors offer a vast amount of DSP power. But since not every application requires full use of eight powerful effect processors, some of that power may be diverted. In version 2 that potential can be put to good use in providing additional insertable graphic and parametric EQ units. The PM5D V2 offers a plentiful supply of independent equalizers with new narrower Q settings for input and output processing, but every engineer runs up against situations in which no amount of EQ seems to be enough. That's where the expanded EQ capability provided by this new feature will really shine.

Solid Security
Although the original PM5D offered plenty of security-oriented features, version 2 provides even greater security that will keep the system operating properly in the widest possible range of applications. A new Load Lock function, for example, makes it impossible to inadvertently load data that might change critical settings from external memory or the PM5D Editor. There's also an Output Isolation feature that allows full input channel control while preventing scene recall operations from changing output compression, delay, EQ, fader, patching, and other output parameters that needs to remain constant even through band or program material changes. You can specify any or all of the output parameters you want protected. And you can now assign "read-only" status to specific scenes to prevent them from being overwritten by store, load, or edit operations.

Channel Move Function
This seemingly simple function can be a huge advantage when revising a channel layout plan. Mono and stereo input channel setups can be "moved" to any other channel in one simple operation so you don't have to spend time re-entering all of the related channel settings, including patch and HA settings.