Notes: Updated version of WMD's exceptional performance mixer. Full stereo design with improved sound quality, revised layout and increased expandability. An even better version of what was already one of the best mixing solutions in Eurorack.
Supplier's Notes:
Enter the WMD Performance Mixer MKII - Eight years after the MKI was released, the MKII builds on all the valuable feedback received. This is a serious upgrade, with feature enhancements and engineering improvements affecting every bit of the design.
Decisions, decisions, decisions!
If you recall, WMD showed a previous version of the PM MKII a year ago. That version was very similar to the original, with a few enhancements. Primarily focused on manufacturability and overall noise floor with some great recording features. WMD moved to an 8-layer board, replaceable channel strips, developed the MIDI and bootloader, pre/post fader headers, and made it work on both AUXs simultaneously.
Noise Performance - The MKI was alright with noise, there was a little bleed too. Going to 8-layer boards meant I could put ground planes between trace layers, and spread the traces out triple the spacing of what they were on the MKI, this reduces bleed/crosstalk by a factor of about six.
Noise Performance 2 - On the Original, the Level VCA was before the Panning VCAs, which saved on parts/power, but it meant that the Panning VCAs were always connected to the mix bus, adding noise floor that couldn't be attenuated. Making all the channels stereo and putting the Pan circuit first eliminated this problem, now the noise add is controlled by the fader. This did force WMD to make every channel stereo, so the design got simpler through figuring this out.
Panning / Crossfader - The above panning/level improvement made it possible to convert the Pan control into a crossfader, buy simply routing the post pan signals through a switch to the opposing channel, summed at the Level control. This huge improvement allowed the A/&/B input switching scheme to still work on the PM MKII, a bit differently, but it's there in spirit.
Modular Design - The channel strips are all now stereo, and identical, which makes assembly much easier, and lowers the cost. It also makes replacing them easier should a mechanical part fail or get spilled into. Further, the Patchbay, Power board, and Master section are all separate parts, so if there's a failure, they can be quickly swapped without having to RMA the whole unit.
Patchbay - The MKI and rev E MKII still had jacks misaligned with channels. This was a source of frustration for d many users of the PM MKI. And I decided to just be done with it. It didn't make sense to try to put jacks over the channel, it wasted too much space on the panel... So all the jacks go left, keeping the mixer clear of cables, this let me space the knobs out a bit to take up all 3U. It's cleaner, simpler to make, and intuitive to use.
Expandability - It's super modular now, the DB25 can connect to any two headers that spits out audio, they're all the same format across PM MKII and Channels MKII. Pre, post, mixes, connect it however you want. And the connectors can't be hooked to power, meaning no more blown opamps and RMAs to the factory. They're all shrouded too so they won't get bent in shipping!
Features Overview:
Everything is stereo. Inputs, Busses, Auxes, and Cue Mix.
INPUTS: IN LEFT is normalled to IN RIGHT.
GAIN: Each channel has a Gain trim range of -12dB to +20dB, this will let you use line level devices easily.
GAIN CLIP LED: lights red 1dB before clipping the input stage.
LVL FADER: smooth intuitive curve for easily adjusting the mix level on the fly. A yellow indicator shows the level.
MUTE: Press the channel button and the channel will soft mute with a red LED indicator.
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