As of the date we published this article, this console was one of Yamaha’s latest bets on digital sound, taking the 02R as its base and adding several improvements. By the time we published the text it had already been on the market for a while, but when we wrote it, production companies, studios and television networks were just beginning to make it a standard.
It has a total of 26 inputs, 8 of them digital, and a stereo output that works both analog and digital. This offers broad possibilities for combining sound sources of different kinds and for sending a specific signal in the format required by whatever device is designated to receive it. In addition, the first eight channels have phantom power for condenser microphones, which need a higher excitation voltage to operate. It also has 4 bus outputs for distributing the signal and a total of 4 auxiliaries, which can be used as sends to recording points as well as monitor sends.
Like the 02R, it has the same number of controls for the internal effects, which include reverb, chorus, flange and delay, among others, and any channel’s signal can be sent to them.
The YGDAI (Yamaha General Digital Audio Interface) with 8 digital outputs assignable through a single slot also lets us record eight tracks simultaneously, provided that we assign the 4 bus outputs plus the 4 auxiliary outputs to the YGDAI slot, or else opt for assigning 8 direct channel outputs.
The interface system is ready to accept CD-8AT, TD, Y, CS and AES. The console itself adapts to whichever system is required.
The O3D has a parametric EQ on each channel, which means we can vary the gain, the frequency, the Q and the bypass. It is a four-band equalization system offering a total of 160 EQ bands. There is also a library with 40 presets and 40 free slots where users can store their own EQ settings.
It features dynamics processors offering compression, expansion, ducking and noise gate.
The compressor lets us attenuate signals above a specific value set by the engineer. Its basic use is to even out the fluctuations caused by level changes throughout a signal. The compressor can also be used as a limiter when its compression ratio is 10:1, preventing the overload of a signal that, once clipped, can’t be fixed. The values you can adjust on the compressor/limiter are THRESHOLD, which sets the input level above which the compressor starts to act; RATIO, which determines the amount of compression, that is, how many decibels come out at the output relative to the decibels that went in; KNEE, the way in which compression sets in, with two options: gradual (soft knee) or hard knee; ATTACK, the time it takes for the compression effect to kick in; RELEASE, the time it takes for the compressed signal to return to its original state; and OUT GAIN, the output gain used to balance the signal level that has been altered by the compression.
Another dynamics process is the noise gate, or Gate, whose function is to make inaudible any signals that fall below a specified threshold, such as microphone and amplifier noise, among others. It is also useful for multitrack recording, so that each signal comes in as clean as possible on its own recording channel, trying to keep other signals from turning into annoying background noise. The gate has the same adjustable parameters as the compressor/limiter.
The third dynamics element is Ducking, which is generally used when voice is combined with another element such as music. When the voice comes in, the other signal is lowered and drops into the background. It has the same adjustable parameters as the previous two processors.
The expander acts on signals that fall below the threshold level, reducing low-level, low-frequency noise, which improves the dynamics of the signal and in turn improves the signal-to-noise ratio. Finally, there is the Compander, which combines a compressor, an expander and a limiter, so that the signal processing is the sum of the effects produced by the three dynamics elements. There is also a dynamics library with the same number of presets and free slots as the EQ library.
This mixer can be expanded by cascading it with two other 03D consoles, or by connecting it to a 02R and another 03D.
A distinctive feature of the 03D is the TO HOST connector, which lets you hook the console directly to a personal computer without having to use a MIDI interface.
Digital consoles let us eliminate noise and distortion when processing audio signals. Remember that in digital audio, signals are represented by binary numbers obtained by sampling and encoding the original signal. Once the digital signal processors have done the binary calculation, it is so exact that there is no room for modifications or degradation of the signals. With the 03D, crosstalk, distortion and noise in the audio signal are completely eliminated. A/D conversion uses 64x oversampling at 20-bit linear, and the reverse, D/A, uses 8x oversampling at 20-bit linear.
The console can store up to a total of 50 scenes, or working settings (slightly fewer than the 02R allows).
It has motorized faders that recall the positions in which a given scene was recorded, or store the parameters when an automix is played back.
For this automix function, the external time code source can be MTC (MIDI Time Code) or MIDI clock. Like its predecessor, the mixer allows grouping by fader and by mute, as well as stereo pairs.
One important feature I would highlight is the surround panning, which lets you give the sound various movements: left to right, front to back, rear left to front right diagonal, rear right to front left diagonal, left to right in a semicircle, front to back in a semicircle, and a circle. The size and shape of the patterns defined with the sound are adjusted through the width and depth parameters. This surround panning is characterized by three modes: 2+2, 3+1 and 3+2+1. That way, sounds move through a two-dimensional space in real time.
The 03D’s audio performance is specified at the industry-standard sampling rates of 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz, or it can be synchronized to an external clock source from 32 kHz –6% to 48 kHz +6%. Its typical dynamic range is 105 dB for both the stereo input and the stereo output. Frequency response is 20 Hz-20 kHz, with a variation of +1 to –3 dB. Internal digital audio processing is 32-bit and the digital EQ processing is 44-bit.
The console lacks PFL (Pre-Fader Listening), but it does have a SOLO function, as the 02R does, which lets you listen to one or several channels in isolation. On this point, I think this is the biggest drawback for live use, since to activate the function you have to use the same buttons that turn the channels on. In short, it’s one button with two functions, which can easily lead to a mix-up at a critical moment.
Conclusions
Given all these features, and because the 03D offers quite reasonable value for the performance and price, this console became one of the most in-demand among industry professionals.