A New Era For Yamaha Audio Systems

Yamaha launched its redeveloped ProVisionaire suite of system design, control and management software at ISE this year. This suite allows fully customisable configuration and operation of complex audio systems. It is being launched alongside the new, exceptionally powerful DME7 Digital Signal Processor.

Renowned for its flexibility, the ProVisionaire platform has been redeveloped with three core applications which support the user’s entire workflow: ProVisionaire Design for system design, ProVisionaire Control for system operation and ProVisionaire Cloud for system management. DME7 is an open architecture-type digital signal processor, which offers state-of-the-art performance and connectivity, 96kHz sound quality and support for up to 256 input/output channels.

ProVisionaire Suite

Equally suitable for both the entertainment and ProAV markets, Yamaha’s fully-customisable ProVisionaire software lets users create complex, fully-scalable audio systems — from the smallest to the largest — using just one software suite. What’s more, it delivers the ability for them to be operated very easily by anyone — from the most knowledgeable audio engineer to the most inexperienced user — using a tablet, laptop or desktop computer.

This remarkable flexibility has been radically improved by ProVisionaire’s reincarnation as an integrated suite of software products for the design, operation and management of entire Yamaha and NEXO audio systems, comprising mixers, I/O, amplifiers, processors and more, meaning the ProVisionaire platform supports the customer’s entire workflow. Furthermore, setup and control of a range of third party products is supported.

For the entertainment sector, its high customisability makes it ideal for applications like theatre and live music. It delivers flexible design and operation for audio productions, including customised control with freely assignable parameters to control mixes, DSP and much more. An offline simulation for logic control and probe component also provides verification of system setup and operation, reducing on site setup and checking time.

For ProAV applications, system design can be precisely tailored for permanent installations, for example in corporate, educational, hospitality and retail facilities, sports and theatre infrastructure, plus much more. Bespoke control panels can be easily created to satisfy customer needs, while flexible components like acoustic echo cancelling (AEC) and Dan Dugan auto-mixing are included, meaning entire systems can be controlled by staff with no audio experience. Again, the offline simulation function lets users check system operation offline and probe component at any point in the DSP chain to shorten the time needed for on-site installation.

ProVisionaire Design is a Windows-based system design application and supports a wide range of Yamaha products, including the DME7, MTX5-D and MTX3 processors, PC-D series and XMV series amplifiers, DZR series loudspeakers, R-series, Tio and EXio I/O units, as well as Unified Communications products like the RM-CG and RM-TT microphones. It supports logic control, allowing control sequences to be assembled.

The parameters of systems created in ProVisionaire Design are assigned to the ProVisionaire Control application, which provides unified remote control and monitoring through custom-designed panels. Design time for these can be reduced by using stylish user interface templates, available for download from the Yamaha web site.

A broad range of devices is supported by the control application, including DME7, MTX and MRX processors, CL, QL and TF digital mixers, R-series I/O units, XMV, PC-D and NEXO power amplifiers. It also supports Unified Communications products like the RM-CR, RM-CG, and RM-TT microphones. This enormous range of product and application support makes ProVisionaire Control truly unique. Panels created with ProVisionaire Control can be output to the ProVisionaire Control Kiosk (Windows) and ProVisionaire Touch Kiosk (iPad) applications for dedicated operation. This prevents users from making unintentional changes to control panels.

System management is provided by Yamaha’s new cloud service, ProVisionaire Cloud. Initially, this will manage additional functionality licenses for Yamaha audio equipment, such as the DME7, with activation and deactivation of licenses allowing for efficient management of assets. Further services using the ProVisionaire Cloud infrastructure are in development.

DME7 Digital Signal Processor

Yamaha’s new hardware DME7 digital signal processor is fully-compatible with the ProVisionaire platform and features 96kHz audio quality plus up to 256 channels of input/output.

The DME7 provides 64 channels of Dante I/O and matrix mixer as standard, with further channels added via three additional 64-channel licences, activated through ProVisionaire Cloud. These offer the ability for 128×128, 192×192 or 256×256 channels of Dante I/O and matrix mixer to be handled by a single DME7. Additional licences can be activated on a permanent or temporary basis.

A wide range of DSP components is included as standard. These can be freely selected, connected and configured for extremely flexible system construction. These, along with 96kHz audio quality, support for GPI input/output, Logic control, OSC and other protocols, as well as ProVisionaire Design/Control and optional controllers, the DME7 is suitable for the widest range of installed and temporary audio systems, from entertainment applications and sports facilities to retail complexes, office buildings and education.

“For many years, Yamaha has been an industry leader in the development of audio processors, mixers and a variety of other hardware products which harness its expertise in sound and music. More recently, our software products have made setup and control of compatible products much easier, allowing complex systems to be operated very simply,” says Thomas Hemery, General Manager of Marketing & Sales, Pro Audio Division. “With the redeveloped ProVisionaire software family and advanced DME7 Digital Signal Processor, we are taking audio system design and control to a new level. Now we can offer setup and control solutions for much bigger, more versatile projects, where things like voice lift for audio conferencing, multi-zoned BGM, live entertainment and other non-permanent event systems can all be part of the same network, with every element working to its maximum flexibility, but all with simple, straightforward control.”

The revamped ProVisionaire software suite and DME7 Digital Signal Processor will be available from Spring 2023.