Peavey

Peavey focused attention on a new live sound desk made in Australia - the Smart Console. Really, it's a work surface designed to be used with products such as Peavey's Nion (now we see their logic). The control surface comes in three formats - 48-, 72- and 96-channel, each topped by a sweeping arc bridge which exemplifies the innovative approach taken by the Smart Console. Besides being a meter bridge, the arc gives the operator instant access to any channel by sweeping a finger along the touch-sensitive strip below the channel linear meters. A simple scribble strip beneath each channel is read by character recognition software from below and transferred onto the digital display above the channel faders on the main work surface below.

Highly intuitive, but radically unconventional, the Smart Console is intended as a universal control surface to work with ultimately any engine. Besides Nion, it already works with Mergin/Pyramix, Apple/LOGIC Pro7, Klotz Digital/Vadis, with work under way on the Mackie HUI protocol and Steinberg's Nuendo 3.

Unfortunately, Crest Audio were stymied by a courier snafu that saw all their new products held up till after PLASA closed; rather than spoil the party, they asked that Crest fans visit their website for announcements.

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