When less is more
Published: PRODUCTS
Cadac is drawing the best of both worlds with the brand-new CDC seven mixing console unveiled at last year’s AES. Sandwiched in between the British manufacturer’s CDC six and CDC eight models, users benefit form the medium-format of the CDC six and with the control capabilities of the CDC-seven – dual 23.5-inch hi-definition, widescreen touchscreens and a 36-fader surface.
‘We were extremely pleased with the reception the CDC six received when launched 18 months ago,’ offered Nick Fletcher, director of R&D, ‘As a result of the continual development of our innovative user interface, industry-leading latency management system and unsurpassable audio performance we believe the CDC seven offers an incredibly attractive proposition for those who want something that stands head and shoulders above the norm.’
According to Cadac, the CDC seven maintains all of the ‘feel and familiarity’ of the CDC six, in particular its user operation and minimal learning curve. The new model doubles both the number of large format LCD touchscreens (with the associated encoders) as well as the physical fader count. Expanding the number of inputs to 96, the new console retains the CDC six’s 56 busses; 48 of them configurable.
The high contrast displays feature the same swipe-able graphical user interface that Cadac users will be familiar with. The encoders immediately to the right of and below both screens further encourage the use of touch and swipe gestures to navigate and operate the console. A third, centrally-mounted 6.5-inch LCD touchscreen provides system control. The integration of the two main touchscreens gives users the ability to display and control multiple tasks simultaneously. For example, the VCAs can be displayed on one screen while the inputs to the VCAs are displayed on the other. The faders and encoders will follow the GUI displayed on the individual screens, helping to speed up workflows. The control feature set includes Cadac’s Monitor Mode with Mix Focus, as well as the ability to create custom fader layers. All 36 motorised faders on the CDC seven are stated to offer stereo metering and a full-colour user-definable OLED display.
The desk can also be integrated into Cadac’s own MegaComms digital audio network, reportedly resulting in a total through-system latency from stage inputs to console outputs (including all console processing and A/D/A conversions) in 37 samples, or just under 400μs, when operating at 96 kHz.
The CDC seven also integrates 16 onboard stereo effects and comes preconfigured with a built-in 64 x 64 Waves interface allowing direct connection to a Waves MultiRack SoundGrid server and the Waves’ effects library while also enabling multitrack recording straight to a laptop.