Used WR-DA7 | For Sale Item# 29276

WR-DA7

Panasonic have already built up something of a reputation for their wide range of digital products such as DAT machines and CD players, and their pro-audio arm Ramsa have a certain credibility in the live sound Arena. However, this is their first foray into digital consoles, and most impressive it is too.

The DA7 is a fully automated assignable mixer with comprehensive equalisation and dynamics on every channel and mix buss, 32 main inputs (with up to 24 ADAT, TDIF, AES-EBU or analogue I/Os via three further option cards), six aux sends with dedicated returns, eight mix busses, external MIDI device control through a separate fader layer, and 5.1 surround mixing capability. An optional timecode card allows synchronisation with external machines and video systems, there is an optional meterbridge, and the entire console can be controlled remotely from a PC or Mac.

The only thing the DA7 does not provide is onboard effects, but I'm not sure I would class that as a drawback. The number and flexibility of the aux sends and insert points is perfectly adequate for most applications in which the Ramsa would find itself, and it avoids the duplication and redundancy of effects which tends to occur when a studio replaces its trusty old analogue desk with a shiny new digital one with its own built-in effects.