BRENTWOOD, TN — CTS Audio of Brentwood, TN, has taken delivery of its first Yamaha Rivage PM10, adding to an already ample assortment of Yamaha digital consoles. CTS Chief Engineer, Jon Schwarz (pictured here) shared his recent experience using the flagship console at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville while mixing FOH for the Wallflowers. He credited the console for its Rupert Neve Designs transformers, onboard EQs and its ability to offer users two stereo busses.
More details from CTS Audio (www.ctsaudio.com) and Yamaha (www.yamahaca.com)
“Pivotal to this console are the Rupert Neve Designs transformers, which I have been able to get into,” Schwarz notes. “The transformer emulation really smoothes things on condensers for overhead cymbals, AC30 guitars really have a bark and bite to them, and the ability to create a lot of analog warmth.”
Other PM10 features Schwarz points out are the onboard EQs and having two stereo busses. “Sonically, the onboard EQs give you a lot of soundscapes like aggressive EQ on drums and a smooth EQ for vocals that are very transparent and natural. Having two stereo busses on the PM10 is really fantastic; I route the entire band to stereo A where I use a Rupert Neve Designs buss compressor, and then route all vocals to stereo B where I have a dynamic EQ and can pocket the mid-range of the vocals while keeping them right on top of the band. I then route them to the matrix to feed the PA; a feature I’ve looked for a long time in a console. Yamaha has brought excellence to the table with this console.”
Mike Taylor, vice president, CTS, says the company was an early adopter of the PM1D and never had a serious issue with any of the Yamaha platforms. “From a reliability standpoint, we’ve had nothing but customer success with our Yamaha consoles. Once we saw the Rivage system, we knew that this console was next in line to dominate the market like the PM1D. It felt like a throwback to analog. We really enjoy seeing a large format desk that feels like a large format desk.”
Taylor said that reliability is the most important feature from his seat in sales. “I never get a call that a Yamaha desk stopped working in a show. That is a comfortable feeling when my head hits the pillow at night. The other side is that the new console has such good onboard processing, built-in effects, and Rupert Neve Designs legacy products, the need for external support pieces are not required.”
CTS staff had private training sessions on the PM10, as well as at tradeshows, and in house. “The best part,” adds Taylor, “is that if you are familiar with any of the Yamaha legacy products, the learning curve on the new desk is minimal.”
