When it comes to choosing consoles, everyone has a different idea of what's most important. Talent wants a console that's easy to and won't confuse them. Engineering wants one that'll stand up to the abuse that jocks dish out. And management wants a good price. How can any console satisfy them all?
Jocks love it. We've packed Element full of powerful, useful features to help talent run smoother, more error-free shows. All the controls you need are designed for speed and placed right where you'd expect them to be, so there's no fumbling around during fast-paced air work. Phone system and delay controls are right on the board, so jocks never have to divide their attention. Lesser-used controls are placed out of the way, but are still easy to access at a moment's notice. Need to record a phone bit in the middle of a show? One button makes it happen. Need to load special settings for a remote? You can pre-load those settings and change scenes at the touch of a button.
Element is really configurable. You can choose a single-frame console (like in the pic on top) with anywhere from 2 to 30 faders. Or, go for the slick split-frame option (shown in the lower pic) that can handle as many as 42 faders. (Gee, those pictures are small! Click the thumbnails for a bigger view -- or visit our Client Photos page >><
So do engineers. Element was designed in part by former PR&E engineers, so you know it's built to take whatever jocks can throw at it. We started by specifying premium, long-life faders, aircraft quality switches, rugged extruded-aluminum modules and LEDs that never need changing. Then we added our own touches, like custom-molded bezels that protect switches from accidental activation or impact.
Makes managers happy, too. Axia clients love to talk about how cool their gear is — but they also love to brag about how much money they save, compared to traditional studio installation. Our clients typically tell us they save between 30% and 40% on new studio costs when using Axia, compared to traditional building/routing methods.
So what can it do?
We think Element just might be the most powerful mixing console ever designed for radio broadcast and production (but we might be a little biased). See what you think:
- Element supports from 2 to 42 faders in single and split-frame configurations, so you can build the size that's right for you.
- Four main Program audio outputs make it hard to run out of mixing buses.
- Four stereo Aux Sends and two stereo Aux Return buses provide plenty of capacity for effects loops or constructing custom IFB feeds.
- Element comes standard with software-selectable 5.1 Surround Sound mixing capability. It's already in there - nothing extra to buy.
- Choose the size of your meter display! Element uses your favorite SVGA monitor to display meter and status info, as big or small as you like.
- There are bright 10-character alpha-numeric readouts on each fader channel, placed at just the right angle for stand-up or sit-down operation. Status Symbol icons indicate mix-minus, talkback and phone line status for each fader, too.
- Element provides automatic telephone and codec Mix-Minus on every fader channel -- you can have as many individual mix-minuses as there are faders on your Element. Perfect for complicated talk or call-in shows.
- The best telephone system integration in the industry puts direct control of Telos new-gen digital phone gear right on the board. Element users can screen calls, take callers to air, even dial out right from the console.
- Element is easy to set up, configure, even administer remotely, thanks to its built-in web interface that you can access from any standard browser.
- Transport and Profanity Delay keys built into the Monitor Module can be assigned to the devices of your choice for even more on-console control of external devices.
- Production goodies include voice processing (EQ, dynamics and de-essing) by industry leader Omnia on all microphone channels...
- ...Plus adjustable three-band EQ with SmartQ that production gurus can apply to any or every audio source. EQ settings can be pre-set, changed on-the-fly, or locked out entirely for on-air use.
- Element's one-button Show Profile "snapshot" feature makes it easy for jocks to work the way that suits them best. Talent can set up and save personal board configurations, then recall saved Profiles with just one button press. Perfect for special show setups, too.
- Hate setting up the board to record phone bits? Us too. Element's Record Mode function lets you set up a macro to assign mics, generate a mix-minus, start a recording device, etc. with just a single button press. And Record Mode can be customized for individual Show Profiles, too.
- Element's rugged, hot-swappable fader modules use aircraft-grade switches and controls, and super-duty long-life conductive-plastic faders for reliable, bulletproof service.
- Excellent IFB Talkback capabilities let operators talk to other studios, external remote feeds, phone callers or any other source with its own backfeed.
Large or small - the choice is yours.
Hey - size matters. If you're building a control room to accommodate fast-paced talk shows with multiple call-in and remote lines, you probably need a surface with a couple dozen faders. But if you're building a news booth or a dubbing station, you might only want a handful.
Element combines intelligent operations with grow-as-you-go modular design. You can get Element frames in a variety of sizes to accommodate as few as 2, or as many as 30 faders in a single frame. And if that's still not enough, Element supports up to 40 faders in multiple linked frames.