20 years on, Cadac is focused on combining the best of digital and analogue technology in its latest generation designs, with the D16 going into production in Summer 2004 and plans for a full-scale integrated digital console to be announced later this year. Cadac's R&D team has worked closely with operators and sound designers to develop the D16 concept, majoring on extending the control facilities through Cadac's Sound Automation Manager (SAM) software. With the D16, SAM provides an essential extra tier of control - enabling users to create a virtual set of modules to reflect a traditional console layout, with the software "views" in turn providing live updates for real-time control of the D16 and operation of SAM's more conventional cue-based automation facilities.
The D16 provides a powerful and reliable digital engine that delivers the hallmark Cadac audio quality. The current unit is designed for operation as a stand-alone audio processor for smaller-scale performances or as an expansion mixer for existing analogue Cadac consoles. As an input expansion mixer for use with Cadac analogue consoles, the D16 is equipped with a 37-way 'D' type socket that permits connection directly into a console's audio bus to link the D16 directly into the console's audio bus expansion connectors. The D16 is operated via a control screen that is part of the revised SAM software. This permits the function of both the console automation and the D16 to be controlled simultaneously from the same cue list.
As an input matrix to the console, several D16s can be bussed together to provide additional inputs - for example, 32x16, 48x16 etc. The D16 is equipped with 16 line level analogue inputs and outputs, working with 24-bit samples at a sample rate of 96kHz. Each channel provides 4-band parametric EQ, high and low pass filters, compression and gating dynamics control, plus adjustable level routing to 16 output mixes (Pre EQ, Post EQ or Post Fader).
(Lee Baldock)
