"Audio Quality in Networked Systems" series

Hi everyone,

Have you read the series of articles? I believe this is the first time to introduce the material to you here.

- Audio Quality in Networked Systems -
This biweekly series of white paper presents a summary of the most important quality issues in networked audio systems to support system designers and sound engineers in maximizing their system’s Performance and Response, achieving the maximum Audio Quality and Sound Quality.

And we have uploaded the sixth chapter of the "Audio Quality in Networked Systems" series yesterday.
I hope you will find something new with it.

Shaun

Audioversity 2011 -- Las Vegas

Audioversity 2011 is on the way! If you missed the event last year in Nashville, you definitely don't want to miss this one. We'll have plenty of Yamaha and NEXO staff members on hand to train you on almost every piece of equipment we offer. In addition, we're giving away a LS9-16 digital mixing console on each day of the event! For more details, please visit www.audioversityexpo.com.

Audioversity 2010 Photos

Audioversity 2010 Class Schedule

YCATS Seminars in Nashville

Hello all! Registration for the YCATS seminars in Nashville are officially open. Classes being offered include our new Digital Sound Reinforcement 201 -- Club, Introduction to NS-1, M7CL for Beginners, M7CL for Advanced Users, and the Digital Network and System Design Clinic. The classes will be held during the week of July 18th. Please click on the link below to register. We hope to see you there!

YCATS Registration

In addition to our seminars in Nashville, we are close to finalizing training sessions in Chicago and New York this August. Be sure to keep an eye out for schedule updates...

YCATS Schedule Posted

Hello all!

We've just posted some tentative training dates, for the first half of the year, to the training page of our website. Dates and locations still need to be finalized, but now you have an idea when and where we might be!

Want to see the schedule? Click here!

HOW Team at Worship 4:24 in Cedarville, OH

Many times during our seminars, Jose and I are asked about training for church volunteers who are new to digital mixing and the M7CL. Our House of Worship Marketing staff supports several events throughout the year and conducts entry level training sessions designed to help church volunteers improve their skills. On January 28th and 29th, 2011, the HOW staff will be in Cedarville, OH supporting Worship 4:24.

For registration information and details on the breakout sessions available, please click here. Registration for the conference and breakout sessions is handled by Cedarville University. There is a fee to attend.

2010 Training Schedule

We have had many inquires about our 2010 Training Schedule lately, so I thought I would post a note here! Our free training seminars are hosted outside of our Buena Park, CA office between April and November. Between December and March, the majority of our classes are held at our Buena Park office.

Jose and I are currently in the process of working out our travel and class schedule for next year. If you would like to stay updated on our schedule, please subscribe to our Google calendar. Tentative dates will be posted there first and will not post to the Yamaha website until all details (i.e. location, catering, etc) have been finalized. If you would like us to consider your City or facility for a seminar location, please submit your request to ycats@yamaha.com.

Toronto Training Seminars -- November 2009

Thank you to all who joined us in Toronto! We hope that you enjoyed the classes just as much as we did. Until next time!

PM5D Operational Training Seminar -- November 3, 2009










PM5D Scene Management and Expansion Seminar -- November 4, 2009











M7CL Training Seminar -- November 5, 2009










Digital Mixing 101 Seminar -- November 6, 2009

Montreal and Toronto Seminars

The YCATS team will host a round of seminars in Montreal and Toronto in the next few weeks. The Digital SR Systems 101 and M7CL Training seminars will be held in Montreal during the week of October 26, 2009. While the PM5D Operational Training, PM5D Scene Management and Expansion, M7CL Training, and Digital Mixing 101 Seminars will be held in Toronto during the week of November 1, 2009. If you would like more information on the classes being offered, please click on the link below. The link to the application can be found at the bottom of the description page. See you soon!

Digital SR Systems 101


Digital Mixing 101


PM5D Training Seminars


M7CL Training Seminar

Dallas Seminar Photos -- September 2009

Thank you to everyone who joined us in Dallas! Jose and I had a great time as always and we look forward to seeing you again next time.


M7CL Training Seminar -- September 22, 2009










M7CL Training Seminar -- September 23, 2009










Digital Mixing 101 Seminar -- September 24, 2009









PM5D Operational Training Seminar -- September 25, 2009

Dallas Seminars Accepting Applications

The Yamaha Commercial Audio Training Staff will be hosting a round of seminars during the week of September 20th, 2009. Seminars being hosted that week include the M7CL Training Seminar, Digital Mixing 101 Seminar, and the PM5D Operational Training Seminar.

Please click on the links above for more information. The link to the application can be found at the bottom of the description page. See you in Dallas!

Correction

To readers of the Trainers on the road.

The previous post was corrected in the last paragraph. Please see the web site and check it.

"The only exceptions are the DM1000, DM2000, and 02R. On these units, the unity point is found at -18dBFS -14dBFS."


The unity point we are talking here is the internal signal level of consoles when the consoles output +4dBu (0VU). This is the reference level of most equipment we use. Which means, when you see -20dBFS on your output meter of your M7CL, the console outputs signal of +4dBu.

Signal Level Management on Digital Consoles -- Part 2

The Search for Agent 0

There is a big difference between the meters on most analog and digital consoles. The meters on most digital consoles are dBFS (Full Scale) and represent how much headroom you have left in the signal path. When you reach the "Over" (red) point on your digital meters, you have no headroom left in the signal path and the signal will clip. On the other hand, when you reach the "Peak" (red) point on your analog meters, you still have about 3dB's of headroom remaining before the signal begins to clip.

So where is the unity point on my digital meters?

The unity point on your digital console will vary by manufacturer. However, on almost all of the newer Yamaha digital consoles, the unity point is found at -20dBFS. The only exceptions are the DM1000, DM2000, and 02R. On these units, the unity point is found at -18dBFS -14dBFS.

Signal Level Management on Digital Consoles -- Part 1

One of the most common problems that we encounter during our seminars is lack of proper signal level between the input and output stages. Some engineers don't provide enough head amp level at the input stage and as a result, there is not enough level sent to the various monitor mixes and effects. Others provide too much gain at the inputs and end up clipping the signal before it hits the output stage. In the days of analog consoles, it was OK to push the meters into the red. In fact, some consoles sounded BETTER that way. But in the digital world, red on the meters is usually really bad. Why? Well, digital distortion isn't all warm and fuzzy like the good ole' analog distortion we love to hear. Digital distortion is really degrade the quality of the output signal and it usually sounds bad…very bad!

Over the next few weeks, we will have some short posts regarding signal flow on digital consoles. Please feel free to comment.

Digital Mixing 101 -- October 16, 2008

Well, it had been a while, but the Digital Mixing 101 Seminar finally made its return to our schedule. Thanks to all of those who joined us in Calgary. We had a great time as always. See you next time!

Digital Mixing 101 in Charlotte, NC -- 11/1

Thank you!
We have M7CL here today. This was a very active class. There are good discussions, questions and answers.

By the way, a event is being setup at the hotel parking. We will find out....

Digital Mixing 101 in Toronto, ON -- 10/18

I'm sorry for uploading this picture late....
Now you can download the picture.

Digital Mixing 101...Orlando

Thanks everyone for making out here for our seminars.

We will see you soon.

Thanks

Digital Mixing 101 in Denver

Thank you for attending the class!!
Jose's examples are always funny. Did you enjoy them today?
Actually, very important points are behind them. Just remember his face and jokes, then it will be much easier to remember those points.

Digital Mixing 101 in Frisco, TX

Thank you very much.
My part was too slow.... Sorry about that. But I hope you could get good information from this class today.
Your comment will be appreciated!

Digital Mixing 101 in Buena Park

I was very much behind the schedule... I could skip a couple of parts, but I couldn't. Because it was so fun to talk about those technical stuff. ;-)

When I was in an university in Japan (more than 10 years ago....), I was mixing bands for "Folk-ken" which is a rock and pop music band club. I was playing drums for some rock bands and a jazz fusion band in the club. The second year with the club, I was assigned to the chief audio engineer for the club and had been fascinated with mixing live music.
A couple of years later, I got a master degree of engineering and joined to Yamaha Japan. The way to be assigned to a job in a company is different from here in US. We are hired as electrical engineers and we didn't know which part of Yamaha we would be assigned to. I hoped to be assigned to the professional audio division and hopefully I was.

The first console I personally owned was "Yamaha ProMix01". I switched the club's old analog board with it at one of club concerts. I was surprised with the cleanness of the sound so much. It was my first encounter with a digital console.

With Yamaha, I designed analog consoles because it is more interesting than digital console but I was mixing many small live shows with a small digital console, 01v, because it was so powerful for many types of applications.

I hope you could get clear idea for signal flow of the system. It was most important part of the seminar today.
See you next time!

Shaun