Headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, with satellite operations in Telgte, Germany, and Oregon, US, SM Pro Audio has established an enviable reputation as a designer and manufacturer of innovative and technologically advanced products, at affordable prices for the professional and project studio, live sound, and installed AV markets.
Blake Augsburger, president of Harman Professional Division, states that the depth of innovation and quality of engineering talent at SM Pro Audio provides Harman Professional with a strong internal technology partner for a broad range of products. “I am very pleased to welcome the SM Pro Audio team to the Harman fold,” Augsburger says. “Together, we look forward to bringing a new depth of innovation to the broadest array of customers around the world.”
“To that point, we have already envisioned ideas and concepts where SM Pro Audio products and technologies could benefit Soundcraft and Studer mixers, dbx signal processing, AKG transducers, and more,” Augsburger explains.
SM Pro Audio always surprised the market with solution-oriented products full of innovative features, and the company was undoubtedly one of the highlights at the 2014 Musikmesse and Prolight+Sound show in Frankfurt when it announced the new uMiX Series of Wi-Fi remote controllable digital mixers. The uMiX family included the uMiX mini (eight channel), uMiX 12 (12 channel), uMiX 16 (16 channel) and uMiX 24 (24 channel) models, delivering the benefits of digital mixing, with 56-bit double precision audio signal path, detailed Parametric EQ, Dynamics, and digital FX available on all channels. All uMiX models included an on-board secure Wi-Fi and Ethernet router and remote microphone preamps, providing a truly out-of-the-box remote mixing solution.
The uMix portable mixers also included USB recording capabilities and simultaneously playback using the integrated digital media player and featured Waves MaxxBass and MaxxVolume processing. Prices for the uMix mixers where projected at $249 to $999 MAP. Following the acquisition by Harman, those products have been now announced at the 2015 NAMM Show as the new Soundcraft Ui Series Digital Mixers with only two models for the moment—the Ui12 and Ui16 and several updated specifications and features.
Like the original uMix mixers, both Soundcraft models feature an integrated, onboard Wi-Fi router and can be controlled via a tablet, PC or smartphone. Compatible with iOS, Android, Windows, Mac OS, and Linux devices, the mixers support up to 10 control devices simultaneously.
The Soundcraft-branded models replace the original Waves processing by built-in signal processing from dbx, DigiTech and Lexicon, including dbx AFS2, DigiTech Amp Modeling, and more. Both the Ui12 and Ui16 now feature fully recallable and remote-controlled mic gain and phantom power, along with four-band parametric EQ, high-pass filter, compressor, de-esser and noise gate on input channels. Both mixers also offer 31-band graphic EQ, noise gate and compressor on all outputs, plus real-time frequency analyser (RTA) on inputs and outputs. Built in are three dedicated Lexicon FX busses: Reverb, Delay and Chorus.
In addition, mixer controls include Subgroups, Mute groups and View groups, among others. The Ui Series mixers feature full Show/Snapshot recallability with channel recall safes. Security lockout features allow customization of device access to only specific functions and mixes if needed. Both mixers also offer independent network interfaces on board for simultaneous control by Wi-Fi and Ethernet, plus a floor-ready rugged chassis for live applications.
The Ui12 also features four XLR combo mic/line inputs, four XLR mic inputs, two channels of Hi-Z/instrument inputs, as well as a stereo RCA line input. A 2-channel USB media player is included, along with two balanced XLR Aux outputs, two quarter-inch headphone outputs with level control, plus balanced stereo XLR and quarter-inch main outputs. Two-channel USB audio playback is compatible with MP3, WAV, and AIFF formats.
The Ui16 boasts eight XLR combo mic/line inputs, four XLR mic inputs, two channels of Hi-Z/instrument inputs, as well as a stereo RCA line input. A 2-channel USB media player is included, along with four balanced XLR Aux outputs, two 0.25” headphone outputs with level control, plus balanced stereo XLR, and 0.25” main outputs. Two-channel USB audio playback is compatible with MP3, WAV and AIFF formats, and two-channel USB Record direct-to-memory devices functionality is possible as well. The Ui16 also has an HDMI display connection output.
www.smproaudio.com | www.soundcraft.com | www.harmanpro.com
