LE MOBILE UPGRADES MOBILE MIX ARSENAL

—New Yamaha DM2000 Integrates With Classic Neve to Maintain Signature Sound—

BUENA PARK, CA (April 11, 2003)—Chances are, if you're producing a high-profile audio event and remote recording capability is needed, the Le Mobile recording truck will be busy on-site making it all happen, toute suite. Le Mobile's charismatic owner/engineer Guy Charbonneau has been perfecting his craft (and his vehicle) for more than 25 years, and is proud of the company's reputation for capturing pristine audio quality for music CDs, DVDs, motion pictures, tour archives and television events.

Le Mobile engineer Charles Bouis mans the new Yamaha DM2000.

While Charbonneau stays abreast of the latest technical tools (he uses various digital recorders, for instance), his pride and joy is Le Mobile's vintage but highly modified Neve 8058 recording console, which he prizes for its "classy, analog" sound. Recently, Charbonneau added a Yamaha DM2000 Digital Production Console to the truck's arsenal—a powerful digital board that offers surround capability and automation features, and integrates seamlessly with his Neve when extra mixing capacity or recall are needed.

Over the past two years, Charbonneau has been evolving the design of his Neve with the addition of digitally controlled analog circuitry to add full surround capability, recall functionality and other features. "As part of that concept, we're integrating the DM2000 when we need to add submix capability or to mix surround," he explains. "While the Neve is always the 'heart' of Le Mobile, the DM2000 integrates very well, and has become an extra 'arm.' The combination of both the Yamaha and the Neve consoles is for me, fantastic.

"I was very impressed with the console's value, as well as its sound," he continues. Of course, our highest priority is audio purity, and the sound going through the DM2000 is very neutral. Its compact size is also great, since obviously space is limited. I'll use the Yamaha console if there is a large show, or maybe a live broadcast with multiple bands. We use the recall functions and do the extra mixes on it."

Charbonneau adds that the Yamaha DM2000 will also be very useful for surround DVD projects. "I'll start to incorporate some of the surround and panning functions," he says. "Those projects will be a combination of analog and digital: recorded on Studer DASH format and Tascam hard disk/Pro Tools recorders, mixed through the Neve to Studer analog recorders with Dolby SR, then to the DM2000 for the surround parts, and finally to high-definition digital. Other targeted applications include TV shows and situations with multiple setups where I need to recall the monitoring quickly."

Le Mobile's chief engineer, Charlie Bouis, first became interested in the DM2000 to use in his Digidesign Pro Tools-based project studio, which he uses for side projects as well as some Le Mobile work, including transfers. Yamaha loaned Le Mobile a board and Bouis put it through the paces in his studio. "The compact size and flexibility were really perfect for my room," he said. "We brought it into the truck and it worked great, so it was pretty much a 'no-brainer.'"

Bouis recalled a recent Josh Groban special which he thought would be an excellent event to test the Yamaha DM2000. It later proved itself at a Tom Petty show and then at Don Henley's Stormy Weather 2002 benefit. "We had a full band setup [with Groban] with about 50 inputs, plus a full orchestra with about 48 inputs," he recalls. "I was able to concentrate on the orchestral mix while Guy and the guest engineers did the main mix. I had all the outputs needed for multitrack recording and a stereo mix for broadcast. For one show, I even did a submix of the orchestra for front-of-house, sending back submixes of the various sections. It's really incredible having that kind of quality and flexibility in such a small console."

Bouis has also used the Yamaha console successfully for recording, mixing and monitoring applications. "The next step may be to do a surround mix," he said. "I expect that to work out fine. The DM2000 has everything you need. For the size of the console and for what it does, nothing can touch it."

For more information on the DM2000, contact Yamaha Corporation of America, Commercial Audio Systems Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622, telephone 714-522-9011, email infostation@yamaha.com or visit www.yamaha.com/proaudio.