Las Vegas, NV–Studer’s Vistonics control topology has made its way into two console offerings from Harman Pro this spring, the first being an adaptation of the technology in the Soundcraft Vi6 live console, and the latest incarnation is in the compact Vista 5 digital live broadcast and production platform.
Vista 5, aimed at live television and install applications, combines a small footprint with Vistonics control. The Vista 5 is the first of the Vista series (over 200 Vista series consoles have been sold to date) to be produced with PCB assemblies from the Soundcraft Studer Group’s updated manufacturing facility in the U.K., employing extensive surface-mount technology and manufacturing techniques that give the desk enormous capabilities for the control surface size, at a new, lower price point than the rest of the Vista line.
The Vista 5 control surface incorporates 32 faders with 20 channel strips for input control and 12 additional “versatile strips” for control of both output and input channels. Up to 52 channels are available for immediate control via the Vistonics interface (which employs controls mounted through TFT touch-sensitive display screens, with the display area associated with each control adapting to selected functions for an intuitive operational paradigm). A new DSP core developed for the Vista 5 allows a total of up to 240 channels to be accessed from the control surface. DSP capabilities and I/O are scalable, depending on the needs of a given operation.
I/O options include analog Mic/Line, ADAT, TDIF, AES/EBU, SDI and MADI, and can exceed 1,700 I/O channels. The “SCore Live” DSP engine (shared with the Soundcraft Vi6) is 6U-high and includes a basic complement of I/O, giving the Vista 5 ample power with a relatively small installation space requirement.
Setup of the Vista 5 can employ the optional Studer Configuration Editor software to adapt the console structure for different applications, dynamically reconfiguring channel counts, outputs and DSP allocation. Processing available for assignment includes the groundbreaking (though DSP-intensive) Studer VSP (Virtual Surround Panning) algorithms, which include delay, tonal processing and early reflection simulation for more lifelike panning than is possible with amplitude control alone. The Vista 5 can be configured for surround operation with other broadcast specific capabilities like N-1 outputs and multichannel to stereo down-mixing. Output options include LCR and LCRS in addition to stereo and 5.1.
System diagnostics and hardware redundancy options (DSP, power supplies, control surface-to-DSP link and MADI to I/O links) were developed with critical operations in mind. Automation on the Vista 5 is snapshot-based, with extensive control over included (or excluded) elements and snapshot editing, with theatrical-style cue list control. Mute groups and matrix bussing capabilities extend the console’s flexibility. The Vista 5 is Harman HiQnet-compatible, and can serve as the controller hub for a system incorporating Harman family wireless microphones, signal processing, amps and loudspeakers that also employ HiQnet.
–Frank Wells
Studer
www.studer.ch
