I know plenty of us on the LAB have been waiting for
APB Dynasonics to finish the
MixSwitch and that day has finally come, MixSwitch Analog Master units are now available.
As seems to be a pleasing trend, I received one of the first units off the line for the sole purpose of kicking the hell out of it and reporting back to you here on the LAB. I just un-boxed this little guy today, so all I have is some ripped off feature set info and some photos, but rest assured there will be plenty to come.
Long story short, the MixSwitch provides an easy way to connect more than one thing to your PA without having to run it through a console. I've got this one in my FOH rack so that I can run my console and another for the support act (or headliner, depending on which hat I'm wearing) into the MixSwitch and switch between them for the show, or sum them together to let us both play with the PA. Plenty of metering and PFL capability makes it easy to keep track of what's going on, plus there are additional inputs for my iPod (so I can play setup/pre-show/take down music without tying up my console), an announce mic, and a whole other set of ins for a DJ or CD player. All the non-primary inputs have basic EQ and limiting to keep things under control. Also provided is a 15 pin connector for linking to additional MixSwitch slave units, or to allow general purpose switching/muting and indicators of the success of the same. The "iPod" and Announce Mic inputs are available on the front
and rear panels for easy setup.
While I'm using this in its traditional capacity, clubs that don't have live sound every day may find it handy to tie their DJ into their sound system without re-patching, or to have basic announcements without having to touch anything. There's also plenty of capability to have an emergency system override of the sound system that would mute music from the consoles but still allow the PA to be used for announcements.
For more advanced needs, you can tag on a bunch of MixSwitch slaves (I think I pinned JP down to admitting that 8 would be allowable, which offers 36 input switching).
In any case, here's the full feature set again stolen from APB's website, and some photos:
- Provides Ability To Easily Switch Between A Primary Digital Or Analog Console And A Backup Console
- Select Between Headline And Opening Act Consoles In Concert/Presentation Situations In SWITCH Mode Or Operate Both Consoles Simultaneously In SUM Mode
- Allows Selection Between FOH And DJ Mixers In Club Applications
- Analog & Digital/Analog Versions
- Announce Microphone Input With EQ And Limiting Independent Of Primary Or Secondary Consoles (Master Units)
- Stereo Program Input With EQ And Limiting For Music Playback Independent Of Primary Or Secondary Consoles (Master Units)
- Additional Stereo XLR Line Input Allows Connection To A Third Console Or Facility Input (Master units)
- Input And Output Monitoring via LED Meters and Audio Solo
- Highest Possible Audio Performance – THAT