John Kurlander Fairlight EVO - Audio Media

fairlight evodon’t need to stretch too far to get to essential controls. “The nature of theEVO means that you can see things a lot easier – everything is close,” saysFibaek. “We combine tactile controls with really powerful graphics and wewant to make it so that your body motor control takes over and lets youoperate the EVO while leaving your brain to concentrate on being creative.”Barnsley adds; “In addition to all of that, it’s really simple to use. I’ve neversee a system that’s so intuitive to operate. It’s the first time I’ve sat behind adesk and thought, ‘I don’t need a manual, this is obvious’.”Fibaek considers that, to an extent, the technology used in modernaudio production systems is now irrelevant. “It’s not the technology; it’sthe end product that’s important,” he says. “We’ve taken the graphicspower available to heart to see how far we can push graphical feedback.”EVO is designed from the off as a flexible system. “This is version 1,” says Fibaek.“We can put the EVO in front of the users and listen to what they have to say.Then we could, if necessary, bring out a new version that was fundamentallydifferent – it could have a bunch of new things in it that we hadn’t thoughtof first time around. We’re not constrained by the hardware in the waywe used to be.” Fairlight has taken this customisation to a new level withthe EVO, by letting the user get down and dirty with the software itself.“We’ve developed a programming language that sits inside the system and,if there are things you’d like done differently or need some extra features orfunctionality, you can change things,” says Fibaek. “For example, if you’d liketo reassign the function of any given switch, you can write a piece of codeto do just that. We believe we understand the basic needs of our customers,but we also appreciate that every single installation is different and the userhas different needs.”Multi-faceted FacilitiesThe days of audio people working in just one area are long gone.The modern studio needs to be able to handle pretty much anything thatcomes its way and the EVO is designed to cope with multiple users andconfigurations – as Fibaek explains. “For example, you might be doing ADRwith multiple talents, so you’d bring up your layout of the in-line panelson the EVO so that it’s got the inputs side by side, perhaps along withgain controls and headphone mixes – you make the console work for you.”The EVO’s 48 assignable dual concentric knobs can be used to easily controlplug-ins (the console supports the VST standard), while the centre section’stouch screen and self-labelling key switches mean that it can hold its ownin more traditional editing scenarios. “You might be picking up audio froma database, exporting to different formats and maybe playing embeddedvideo – the world isn’t as simple as it was in the past,” says Fibaek. “You don’thave a room that does a single job – you have a room that does a lot of jobs,and that’s what we are trying to facilitate with the EVO.” Barnsley hastensto add; “On top of that we have the music guys who don’t just do musicanymore – they work in multi media and find the multiple configurationsetups particularly useful.”Modern high-end production tools are so powerful now that theannouncement of a system capable of handling hundreds of tracks eachwith multiple EQ and compressors is almost commonplace. But allowingusers to instinctively harness all the potential available is not easy – butFairlight is attempting to tackle this problem with the EVO. ”The complexityof using that power can be really mind boggling and not particularlyintuitive, “says Fibaek. “What we are heading towards is a convergence ofall the elements needed in today’s high end productions – editing, mixing,recording, plug-ins, video processing – and putting them logically in frontto you so you can get to them quickly. This is not a control surface that plugsinto a separate mix engine, that plugs into a separate video system, thatplugs into an editing system – it’s a truly integrated console.” ....................................INFORMATION GB£ - TBA Fairlight.Au Pty Ltd., Unit 3, 15 Rodborough Road, Frenchs Forest,NSW 2086, Australia +61 2 9975 1777 +61 2 9975 1999 www.fairlight.com.au sales@fairlightau.comAUDIO MEDIA APRIL 201033