If you pay any attention to the current pro-audio market space,you are already aware there’sisno shortage of full-featuredaudio consoles available.However,Wavesrecently introduced a new mixing system for live sound reinforcement that is bound to get some attention in thehouse ofworship market.Yes,WavesreleasedtheEMotionLV1 consolemore thanthree years ago. And while it’s evolved significantlysince then, the real news is that Waves is now selling it as apart of acomplete mixing witha computer, server and touchscreen that are optimized to work with the LV1mixer.Previouslya sound engineerwould have to cobbletogetherall of thesecomponentsto build their own complete system,and then hope for the best.
TheEMotionLV1 is asoftware-basedconsole. It’s asoftware package,rather than a hardware-baseddevice with faders andon-boardDSP--not exactly a mainstream, conventional approach in this day and age, but it could be the wave of the future.This newsystemalsoincludes afullyintegratedWavesSoundGridsystem that provides real-time networking andaudioprocessing.All I/O(inputs and outputs)for the system is provided by outboard interfaces on theSoundGridnetwork. This is akin to connecting I/O expander packs viaCat6cable to a more traditional digital console.As acontinuation to all of this integration, the LV1 mixer isalsofully integrated with theWavesplug-ineffectstopology.With LV1 you can runWavesplug-ins natively within the mixer screen simplyby placing plug-ins into thedesired channel strip of the mixer.The mixer window will render the plug-ins right there in the channel controls and will allow you to manipulate them like you would any other channel stripparameter. On the backend the LV1 will manage all of the plug-ins, assign them to an appropriateSoundGridserver, and route the audio for you. Ittakes careofallthe management for you,so all that you have to do is think about your mix.
The LV1 comes in 16-, 32-, and 64-inputoptionswith the number ofauxes, groups, and matrixesincreasing respectively. The systemWavesprovidedto usfor evaluation was a 64-input mixing solution comprised of theEMotionLV1 mixing software,aWavesAxis Onecomputer optimized for LV1, aSoundGridImpact Server for hosting plug-ins and performing the necessary DSP,and aSoundStudioSTG-1608 interfaceproviding16-in/8-outI/O.
In action
It’s quite a powerfulsystem,using a32-bit floating-pointmix engineforaudioprocessingthatsupports up to a 96K sampling rate.The LV1 software can be run on both Windows and Mac operating systems and supportsthe patching of up to 16SoundGridservers (hardware orsoftware-basedservers) and can facilitate up toeightplug-ins per channel,which isa lot of audio processing for a single strip. All processing is done on the networkedSoundGridservers which ensures that the system continues processing audio in the case of an LV1 failure. The system also provides automatic latency compensation for the internal mix busses allowing you to,again,think more about what processingto dorather than how to do it.Remember it’s a specially designed component system, as opposed to a set ofsoftware andcomputers that a user hopes willbe compatible.
Systemset-up of our review unitwas very straightforward,which was especially impressive considering how complex a fully software-based architecture could beifit’snotwellplanned. A few small questions came to mind during theprocess,but they were very quickly and efficiently answered byWaves’excellent support staff. Inretrospect, the largest part of theset-upwas unboxing the system components and wiring them together. Once everything was poweredup,configuration was as simple as selecting the desired system devices from a graphical menu (it found them automagically) and indicating that you wanted them to be part of the system configuration. From there,a very intuitive matrix screen allows you to map system I/O to the mixer’s inputs and outputs.
Audio used formuch of our testing was provided by pre-recorded performancetracks played back using freelyavailableplayback software hostedon a laptop. Here again,theWavesecosystem proved to be robust and easy to use. By simplyinstallingWaves’SoundGriddriverson the playback laptop,the laptop was easily identifiedas aSoundGriddeviceon the system network. Audio routing was setup via the LV1’smatrix routing screen.In short, we per pushing audio quicker than expected.Wavesobviously spent some time considering how to put together system workflows and user interfaces.
While we are on the topic of user interfaces, the LV1mixersupports thesimultaneoususe of up to four touchscreendisplays allowing you to create a very customizablelayout. The console software itself allows you to havetwomixer screens configured with each one supporting up toeightlayers (customized if you choose)with each layer holding up to 16 channel strips. With this amount of flexibility users should not have any issues setting up a workflow that suits them.
TheLV1alsosupports all of the major workflow constructs thatyouwould expect from a modern digital console such asDCA’s, recall, recall safe, mute groups, etc.,along with a few other nifty tricks.For example,link groups, which are something akin to DCA’s,allowfor the simultaneous manipulation of parameters on all of the channel strips associated with the link groupsimply by adjusting only one of the channels in that group.So,if you had multiple inputs associated with a single guitar and they were in a common link group, turning an EQ knob on one of them would adjust the same EQ knob on all of them,allowingyou to adjust the EQ as a group. This couldeffectivelybe used to emulate bus processing withoutactuallytaking up a bus. Another interesting feature is the ability to control pan as well as width and rotation for stereo channels.
Andstillmore action
From the moment we started pushing audio, it was clear the system soundedquite good and didn’t demonstrate any bad habits.Additionally,due tothe tight integrationbetween the DSP, the LV1 application, and its plug-in capabilities,timespentputting a mix together was really about the mixandnot about how to route audio orhow to get the system to do what you wanted it to do.With specific comment towards plug-in integration, plug-in usage becomes part of the normalworkflow with LV1, rather than something that’s bolted onto the side as with many other consoles. I found this to more beneficialthanexpected when I realized I was adding plug-ins as a normal course of mixing a channel strip, rather than stopping my flow to add the plug-in via a different screen or a different computer.The distinction isasubtleone, butforsome users I expect that itwillalsobea freeing one.Ultimately, mixing with theLV1 is really more like mixing with a DAW than a traditional console,except that you are“printing”to a PA rather thanafile. Though you could do that pretty easily too if you wanted tosimply by routing to a capture device. The system is quite flexible.
This DAW-likeinteraction, ironically, may be the onearea to cause some engineers pause.WhileWaveshas done a very good job at creating an intuitive interface that is easy to understand, LV1 is much more like driving a computer than it is like driving a console and I suspect that for some users this will be difficult getting used to. Though it should be notedthatLV1 does support external control surfaces such asWaves’Platform Mcontrol surface, which may make the transition easier for those cases.
Waveshas done an excellentjob at puttingtogethertheWaveseMotionLV1 live mixing systembundleand it opens somenew, interesting and perhapsgreat possibilities for churches. We are now entering a time when engineers can throw their consoles into a backpack(LV1 on a laptop)and simply plug into the campus’sSoundGridnetwork when they arrive for service. Do you have two computers? If so,now you haveconsoleredundancy, something many churches have never been able to afford. This is pretty cool stuff.
John Spicer
As a freelance engineer who likes to write, John Spicer also coaches a number of churches related to audio production, placing emphasis on personnel growth and organizational alignment via Broken Soul Audio. (http://www.brokensoulaudio.com)
Read more by John Spicer
