PreSonus® announced an important update to its UC Surface Mac, Windows, and iPad control software for StudioLive™ RM-series Active Integration™ rack-mount digital mixers. The update adds Filter DCAs, a key feature that lets you organize a 32-channel mix in new, more flexible ways that better fit smaller-format control surfaces such as iPads.
Modern mixers have tried to address the problem of managing complex mixes with population/view groups that reduce channels viewed at one time and DCAs that control a group of channels. PreSonus has combined the best parts of these solutions—and removed the strict limits to the number of groups—by introducing Channel Types and Filter DCAs. With these tools, you don’t have to scroll through 32 channels or make critical decisions about which channels are most important.
Choosing a Channel Type assigns an icon and name to a channel (kick, snare, guitar, and so on) for quick identification. UC Surface uses this information to create Filter DCAs so that you can group multiple channels under the control of a single fader (Drums, Guitars, etc.). You can also create your own Filter DCAs with one or more input channels, effects returns, the tape inputs, and the digital returns. Tap a Filter DCA channel fader, and it “expands” to show you the individual channels of which it is composed.
A Filter DCA can contain any combination of available input channels and effects returns; you can create as many Filter DCA groups as you need. You can include the same channel in multiple Filter DCAs, or “nest” filter DCAs inside each other (Drums > Snare / Kick / Tom / Hi-Hat / Overheads >Floor Tom Left / Floor Tom Right / Rack Tom), thereby slicing and dicing the mix in various creative ways.
Filter DCAs also work independently on each mix giving you control of the same group on the main mix or any aux mix. Say you want to turn up all the drums in the main mix and then turn them all down in the bass player’s aux mix; you can do it with ease thanks to Filter DCAs.
All of your Filter DCAs consolidate into one Filter DCA Masters view that even fits on an iPad, where you can mix the groups. Want to drill down? Just touch a single fader to access and adjust the mix of the channels within a Filter DCA group. Then exit right back to the Masters view. With your selection of Filter DCAs and the Masters view, you can create your own custom layer that puts exactly the channels and groups you need under your fingers.
For more information about UC Surface, visit www.presonus.com/products/UC-Surface.
For more information about StudioLive RM-series digital mixers, visit www.presonus.com/products/StudioLive-RM-Series.
