With this in mind, 2007 was the year that ESS decided to bite the bullet and embrace all the advantages that digital audio offers. Yet, although it was a very significant move for this previously all-analogue company, the benefits of digital were so quickly embraced that digital has already become ESS's standard format, with analogue offered as an option.
"When we decided to buy digital consoles we had three key criteria, all of which had to be fulfilled," says the company's Phil McDaniel. "These were the reason that we have initially chosen two Yamaha PM5Ds and two M7CLs.
"Firstly the desks had to be what we regarded as 'industry standard' - widely used and known. Yamaha digital consoles have been around for 20 years and the company has vast experience of the digital format. There are many Yamaha digital desks out there, so from that Yamaha was an obvious choice.
"Secondly," he says. "They had to be reliable and flexible. Of course, we couldn't risk them being unstable during a show, despite the fact that they were to be used pretty intensively. I have seen both the PM 5D and M7CL used and abused in all conditions, with no problems. And when I've used them myself they have been extremely reliable. They also are very versatile."
"Finally," he says. "They had to be acceptable to the majority of potential users. Because we do a lot of one-off shows, we couldn't have engineers turning up saying 'We're not gonna use that'. We often get lists of preferred consoles and, across the board, these were the most acceptable. If they weren't first, they were second or third on almost all the lists. There are so many in use across the industry that most engineers will have used one."
He concludes: "At ESS, we now consider digital to be our standard format and we offer analogue as an option. That's how much the industry is changing, it's effectively being turned on its head."
(Jim Evans)
