YAMAHA DM2000 AND PM1D ARE MORE THAN STUFF

—Digital Consoles Hit the Road With UltraSound and The Dave Matthews Band—

BUENA PARK, CA (October 18, 2002)—As one of the world's top-grossing touring acts, the Dave Matthews Band has had both the luxury and the foresight to invest in the latest in concert sound technology—a move which has paid off for both band members and technical staff.
Spring and Summer 2002 were no exception, as the perennial touring favorite took to the road in support of Busted Stuff, with longtime sound reinforcement support from Pro Media/UltraSound, a company who also enjoyed the benefits of another band who was not afraid to push the musical or technological envelope, the Grateful Dead. For this tour, UltraSound's newest technological dividends included two Yamaha DM2000 digital production consoles.

DMB monitor engineer Ian Kuhn with the Yamaha PM1D digital mixing system. (Photo Credit: Rudy Arias)

"I started using the DM2000s on this leg," explains UltraSound crew chief and monitor system tech Lonnie Quinn. As second engineer, Quinn handles in-ear monitor mixes for violinist Boyd Tinsley. "They've been holding up very well. It's very efficient, and Boyd is happy, which is important."

Quinn saw the benefits of a digital mixing console when DMB monitor engineer Ian Kuhn began using a Yamaha PM1D to create in-ear monitor mixes for the remainder of the band.

"We originally went with the PM1D for the number of inputs and outputs," he explains. "We're running around 30 mixes. Each band member gets a stereo mix, the backline techs each have mixes, and we also send mixes to the front of house lighting area, the video truck, even guests. There are no wedges onstage, unless a playing guest requests them. We also have an internal communications system.

"The PM1D really simplified things for Ian; I particularly liked the way that he was able to save settings. If we played a place that looked similar to another venue, the saved settings were a good starting point, and better than dialing in. Plus, having internal effects and compressors on each individual channel eliminated a rack of effects, and the processors that were patched into the in-ears. The only other external pieces left at the monitor rig are a bank of mic preamps that are used on certain instruments, and the transmitter racks for the in-ears.

UltraSound crew chief and DMB monitor system tech Lonnie Quinn with the Yamaha DM2000 digital production consoles. Quinn handles in-ear monitor mixes for violinist Boyd Tinsley. (Photo Credit: Rudy Arias)

"The PM1D engines, I/O cards, and power supplys travel in a large grey 'refrigerator' which is air cooled. Since we're usually doing multiple shows, we keep things completely powered up all night long, and never had any problems with overheating," Quinn adds. "There was a situation where a connection worked loose, the system switched to Engine B, and we never even noticed. That was a 'bench test' we didn't want, but it was unnoticeable."

Ultrasound's Derek Featherstone introduced Quinn to the Yamaha DM2000 for the 2002 Busted Stuff tour. "For my applications," Quinn explains, "the fader banks on the PM1D worked great, but as far as 'flipping' this and that, I could never have a set of faders for Boyd, so I'd use a combination of a PM1D and a Gamble EX56. This year, UltraSound had re-assigned those boards to other tours, and Derek asked if I'd be willing to try another console, so I took the DM2000 to the first date. It was very user-friendly; the mic pre's and the internal effects blew me away—they sound absolutely great."

He continues, "Right now, we're running around 45 inputs. With the band going to in-ears, we needed more outputs, so rather than purchase a bank of external mic pre's, it was more cost-effective to buy a second DM2000. Using two boards also allows me to have a straight one-to-one match with front of house.

"Digital mixers are an idea whose time has come," he concludes. "We're more than happy to be on the forefront."

For more information on the DM2000 and PM1D, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Commercial Audio Systems Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; e-mail infostation@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamaha.com/proaudio.