ProAudio Review - May 2008 - (Page 12) LIVE | REVIEW two 3-segment ladders (for left and right) and the pan control is replaced with a balance control (for stereo line use) that reverts to a pan control when the strip is used as a mono channel. The Master section on the H1020 is home to three 100mm master faders (Mono, Center and L-R) with corresponding LEDs to indicate signal present. Just above this main with source selections, headphone outputs (both 1/4-inch and eighth-inch), headphone level, a monitor output control (great for feeding a cue wedge) and a stereo alt output. There is also a four-pin light socket and an intensity control. As mentioned, the input/output bay can rotate ninety degrees to facilitate vertical or horizontal (or in between if you have a slant rack case) use. All of the console’s main, group and aux outs show up on XLR. All of these connections are mirrored to the inputs. That means that they are turned upside down so that the release tab on the cable’s connector will be pointing down and you won’t have to try and squeeze your fingers between that and adjacent insert jacks (all of these outputs have them). All of the group masters also have TRS jacks for Bus inputs (handy when linking consoles). Speaking of linking, the H1020 has solo linking jacks (in and out) for linking multiple consoles and maintaining a solitary monitor point (headphones on the master desk). | IN USE Based on my previous experience with APB’s Spectra board, I had great confidence that this desk would sound and work at a level befitting professional use. So, armed with that confidence, I put the board to use. My first adventure was a speech by Presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama, to a group of hundreds of supporters. The venue was a two-story open area in an art museum complete with lots of marble surfaces. The Senator’s good mic technique (using a handheld wireless with a hyper-cardioid capsule) and the APB’s pristine sonics APB DYNASONICS continues on page 14 ➤ APB DYNASONICS Continued From Page 10 tion’s (1-6) pre setting between pre-fader and pre-EQ. Additionally, sends five and six can be coupled to form a stereo pair with one knob becoming the pan and one dedicated to volume for the pair. The channel control section of each mono strip features a pan control, a large mute switch (internally illuminated), a sixsegment LED meter, a 100mm fader, assignment buttons (Mono, Center, L/R, 1-2, and 3-4) and a large PFL switch (also internally illuminated). As mentioned earlier, the Stereo channels on the H1020 have dual XLR and 1/4inch inputs. They also have 1/4-inch direct outs but are lacking the inserts seen on the mono strips. As would be expected, these stereo channels feature a scaled-back EQ section (with only one sweepable mid control [200Hz-6kHz] but the same HPF, low and high controls) but, surprisingly, it has dual input trim controls, dualmono/stereo source switches, a phantom power switch and a polarity reversal switch. This allows the strip to truly function as either a stereo line strip or two mono mic channels (except that one will be without use of the polarity reversal). The stereo strips have a similar Aux section to the mono channels (with a mono sum of the left/right signal feeding the auxes) except that aux sends five and six are only capable of controlling one side of the signal (5 left, 6 right) when in stereo mode. The channel control section of the stereo strips is virtually identical to the mono channels except that the LED ladder is broken into All of the board’s 16 channels have XLR inputs (in fact, the stereo channels have two) and feature preamplifiers based on the renowned Spectra series desks. fader bank is the sub-group section. There you’ll find four small faders with assignment buttons and PFL buttons. Above the subgroup area are four 8-segment LED ladders. These can show level at the Main busses (M, C, L&R) or, with the push of a button, the four sub-groups. The L-R ladder also shows signal whenever a PFL button is depressed on the console. Just above the Sub faders are the Aux masters. Each of these six rotary controls has a corresponding AFL solo button (internally illuminated like all the PFL buttons on the desk) and a solitary signal LED. The board has a full-fledged monitor section A drawing of the H1020’s rear connections. 12 | ProAudio Review | May 2008 www.proaudioreview.com http://www.proaudioreview.com
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