This past weekend I did a show for Ryan Star, and I needed a console for it. So I called up the rep for Allen & Heath and Roland and asked what he had kicking around. Turns out, they just got in the brand-new Roland M-480, and his boss wanted me to try it out.
The setup was my S4000 stagerack, configured 32 analog inputs, 4 analog outputs, and 4 AES digital outputs, plus a S0816 offering 8 analog inputs and 16 analog outputs, plus the 8 analog I/O on the console itself. So plenty of inputs and outputs everywhere.
In use, I had about 30 channels of inputs for the band on stage, plus CD and computer playback at FOH, and talkback. Outputs had main L and R to a DR 4800 over AES digital, plus main C over AES to a DR4820, plus an analog send for VRX front fills, along with 6 monitor mixes. The console handled all this just fine, no issues, crashes, REAC (protocol Roland uses to transfer digital audio on an IP network) errors, or anything worthy of mention.
The console is pretty much exactly the same as the old, discontinued M-400, which I owned for a while, with a couple key differences that I noticed: way more graphic and parametric EQs for the outputs, more FX processors, comp/gate on every channel (was only on 24 on the M-400 due to DSP power limitation), the comp and gate have a sidechain filter, there are 6 dedicated stereo returns for FX so I don't have to eat channels for that anymore, the user layer is actually 3 layers now instead of 1, and there are knobs for the Q of the high and low EQ filters. Seems every input and output now have delay also.
One thing they seemed to drop is the 'threshold' knob of the gate and comp on the surface, now I have to mess with the screen to change it, which is a bit of a drag, especially if critical channels are way out of line.
There are still no subgroups unless you want to route an aux back to mix, so I guess it's possible to compress a group if you really want to. With 16 auxes there should be plenty.
The remote software is essentially the same as before, and with that said, it's fantastic. The computer can only connect via USB, but the software is super fast, mirrors the console screen, and is super easy to control with a tablet when remoting the computer connected to the console. Of course, I couldn't get my WiFi to stay stable enough to do a soundcheck from on stage, but oh well.
So, the M-480 does literally everything the M-400 didn't, and while neither are on any riders, they make great boards for churches, small providers, and pretty much anyone else that needs a really good feature set in an economical board.
The setup was my S4000 stagerack, configured 32 analog inputs, 4 analog outputs, and 4 AES digital outputs, plus a S0816 offering 8 analog inputs and 16 analog outputs, plus the 8 analog I/O on the console itself. So plenty of inputs and outputs everywhere.
In use, I had about 30 channels of inputs for the band on stage, plus CD and computer playback at FOH, and talkback. Outputs had main L and R to a DR 4800 over AES digital, plus main C over AES to a DR4820, plus an analog send for VRX front fills, along with 6 monitor mixes. The console handled all this just fine, no issues, crashes, REAC (protocol Roland uses to transfer digital audio on an IP network) errors, or anything worthy of mention.
The console is pretty much exactly the same as the old, discontinued M-400, which I owned for a while, with a couple key differences that I noticed: way more graphic and parametric EQs for the outputs, more FX processors, comp/gate on every channel (was only on 24 on the M-400 due to DSP power limitation), the comp and gate have a sidechain filter, there are 6 dedicated stereo returns for FX so I don't have to eat channels for that anymore, the user layer is actually 3 layers now instead of 1, and there are knobs for the Q of the high and low EQ filters. Seems every input and output now have delay also.
One thing they seemed to drop is the 'threshold' knob of the gate and comp on the surface, now I have to mess with the screen to change it, which is a bit of a drag, especially if critical channels are way out of line.
There are still no subgroups unless you want to route an aux back to mix, so I guess it's possible to compress a group if you really want to. With 16 auxes there should be plenty.
The remote software is essentially the same as before, and with that said, it's fantastic. The computer can only connect via USB, but the software is super fast, mirrors the console screen, and is super easy to control with a tablet when remoting the computer connected to the console. Of course, I couldn't get my WiFi to stay stable enough to do a soundcheck from on stage, but oh well.
So, the M-480 does literally everything the M-400 didn't, and while neither are on any riders, they make great boards for churches, small providers, and pretty much anyone else that needs a really good feature set in an economical board.
I personally love the integration of the m48's and 40 channel multitrack recording over 1 cat-5 cable to a pc. The console sounds great and is really easy to use. I've used it many times, never had a glitch.