Mid Atlantic's most respected middle market production house CLP Audio & Staging has selected the Violet Audio dMix 128 digital mixing platform for its future live production work.
CLP has been providing audio services for concerts, festivals and corporate events, as well as offering church production services and band management/artist development since the mid-1990s. The choice of the dMix 128 system followed an extensive evaluation of current mid-market consoles conducted by CLP Audio & Staging owner and veteran live sound engineer. JR Everhart – also the host of the popular series Grumpy Sound Guy.
After building his business around other manufacturers’ console platforms for many years Everhart has adopted the dMix 128 for its ability to offer the performance and workflow of a large-format mixing system with the flexibility, feature set and price point fitting regional production companies.
‘I’ve mixed on just about everything in this market,’ Everhart says. ‘The dMix 128 isn’t simply another rack mixer; it sounds like a console from an entirely different class. The preamps have the warmth and headroom I expect from high-end touring desks, the processing is outstanding, and the workflow just makes sense. For what it delivers at this price, I honestly don’t think there’s anything else like it.’
Everhart began beta testing the dMix 128 months before its commercial release, using it in demanding real-world production environments rather than controlled demonstrations. That experience, he says, gave him confidence in both its sonic performance and long-term reliability…
‘The more I used it, the less processing I found myself needing,’ he says. ‘The console sounds incredibly natural right out of the gate. The dynamic EQ, saturation, effects and overall signal path give you the tools you need without getting in your way. After months of use, it has been rock-solid.’
Designed around a 96kHz audio architecture, the dMix 128 is an FPGA-based live mixing platform delivering full processing on 128 channels, 88 buses, 32 microphone inputs and 24 outputs in a compact, scalable design. Featuring integrated effects, redundant power supplies, optional Dante connectivity, Madi/AES3 with AES67 redundant networking, browser-based control and Q-Sys/Crestron integration, it supports live sound, touring, broadcast and installed audio applications.
For Everhart, one of the greatest advantages is how the system fits the realities of regional production companies. ‘Most aren’t looking for a $40,000 console,’ he says. ‘They’re looking for something that delivers professional performance while still making financial sense. The dMix 128 gives you capabilities that simply haven’t existed in this segment before. It opens doors for companies that want to take on larger productions without an enormous investment.’
Everhart also likes mixer’s intuitive operation, noting that engineers familiar with popular rackmounted digital consoles can become productive quickly while still benefiting from significantly expanded functionality: ‘The workflow feels familiar where it should, but the feature set goes much further,’ he says. ‘Once you start exploring everything it can do, from routing and networking to processing, you realise this isn’t an incremental upgrade from your standard rack mixer. It’s a completely different platform.’
‘JR works in exactly the environments we designed the dMix 128 for,’ says Violet Audio US CEO Phil Wagner. ‘He depends on his equipment every day, and his business is built on reliability, sound quality and efficiency. Seeing him put the console through months of real-world production before deciding to make it part of his company’s future speaks volumes about what the platform is capable of.’
Everhart expects the dMix 128 to become an increasingly common sight in regional production, corporate events, houses of worship and installed sound systems. ‘When engineers finally get behind one and hear it for themselves, they’re going to understand why I’m so excited about it,’ he says. ‘I genuinely believe this is one of the most important new consoles to hit the middle market in years.’