Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Undertone Audio Custom Console

UTA Custom Console #1



UTA Custom Console #2




UnderTone Audio made the UTA Custom Console because of their dissatisfaction with the sonics of modern consoles and the constant and sometimes impossible maintenance of the vintage consoles.

The UTA Custom Console has some unusual features. For instance, the main work surface is made of a porous material called ATWS (Acoustically Transparent Work Surface) instead of metal to alleviate comb filtering caused by the console reflecting the signal from the monitors.
Here's a graph showing the difference with Yamaha NS10Ms:


Notice the much flatter response with the ATWS (blue line) in the critical midrange frequencies.

Another feature that I like about this console is that you can bypass each of the four equalizer bands separately. Also "instead of having a switch to select between a shelf and peak shape UTA uses a potentiometer, making it possible to blend between the two shapes. This “Shape Control” offers extraordinary flexibility in deriving the contour and slope of a particular EQ move. It is possible to emulate the contour and slope of any other equalizer made."
UTA is in the process of making a channelstrip that incorporates this eq called the MPEQ-1.





Last but not least UTA uses vacuum tube amplifiers for the mix buss and Control Room Output.

Options/Specifications:

  • 24 busses 
  • 6 aux sends 
  • 4 additional external monitoring inputs 
  • 3-way speaker selection 
  • Individual left/right speaker cut & mono switches 
  • Integrated talkback and studio monitor control 
  • Configurable up to 108 inputs (transformer option on all outputs) 
  • 2 switchable line inputs per channel 
  • Electronically balanced signal inputs 
  • Analog VU metering for channels, busses, & aux sends 
  • Built-in audiophile headphone amp 
  • Stereo aux input channels available without EQ 
  • EQ & Insert switching automation 
  • Individual level & pan control on buss sends for surround mixing 
  • HP & LP filters with variable frequency and Q adjustment 
  • Variable phase adjustment within specific frequency range 
  • Blend between peak and shelf shapes on all 4 bands of EQ 
  • Active circuitry on removable modules for easy serviceability 
  • Long life low-ESR electrolytic capacitors 
  • Bipolar 28V supplies 
  • Power supply short protection on each circuit




1 comment:

  1. Gary,

    Thanks for the interest!

    I have a blog about my day to day experiences working at Undertone Audio:

    http://mikesundertoneaudioadventures.blogspot.com/

    Keep in touch,
    Michael Westbrook

    ReplyDelete